A Winter Solstice Landscape | Yarn/Wire
This concert—another installment of Amelia Lukas’ Ear Heart Music series—features the inimitable Yarn/Wire performing the world premiere of the complete Negotiation of Context cycle by leading Icelandic composer Davi∂ Brynjar Franzson. The performance also includes the haunting new piece Solus by Turkish composer Cenk Ergün. We spoke to Yarn/Wire about their upcoming concert back in September:
Tuesday, December 18 at 8 PM
Tickets $15 for general admission, $10 for members/students/seniors
Roulette, 509 Atlantic Ave, Brooklyn, NY
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For Elliott: A Musical Garland in Honor of the 104th Birthday of Elliott Carter
The Juilliard School pays tribute to beloved American composer, two-time Pulitzer Prize-winner, and former faculty member Elliott Carter.
Wednesday, December 19 at 6 PM
FREE
The Juilliard School, Paul Hall, 144 West 66th Street, New York, NY
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Max Richter
British composer Max Richter is now part of Deutsche Grammophon’s acclaimed Recomposed series, in which contemporary artists are invited to re-work a traditional piece of music. The idea of recomposing and re-processing musical works was common practice in Bach’s time and the project presents an exciting opportunity to make favorite classics relevant to a wider audience. However, Richter’s approach differs fundamentally from the preceding releases. In contrast to previous participants, such as Matthew Herbert or Moritz von Oswald & Carl Craig, who reworked recordings from the extensive Deutsche Grammophon catalogue, Richter actually ‘recomposed’ Antonio Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons. He is the first in the series to employ an existing score, ‘inscribe’ his new composition into Vivaldi’s and record a ‘new’ version of a familiar work, thus creating a new piece of music.
Wednesday, December 19 and Thursday, December 20 at 7:30 PM
Tickets $25 advance, $30 day of show
Le Poisson Rouge, 158 Bleecker Street, New York, NY
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Sō Percussion | Where (we) Live
Sō Percussion
In Where (we) Live, Sō Percussion explores the idea of home with a bold experiment in collaborative art-making. Directed by three-time Obie Award winner Ain Gordon (Spalding Gray: Stories Left to Tell), Where (we) Live invites artistic colleagues working in different mediums to participate as both co-collaborator and muse in Sō’s creative process and performance: Grey Mcmurray (itsnotyouitsme, Knights on Earth) writes poignant, personal songs; Martin Schmidt’s videos show the quirky and unnoticed beauty in our homes; and Emily Johnson delivers secret instructions to the performers onstage. Each evening will also feature a special guest artist (listed below). To these and other contributions, Sō adds an astounding range of composed and improvised sounds, inspired by the physical and symbolic places we live.
Wednesday, December 19 to Saturday, December 22 at 7:30 PM
Tickets starting at $16
BAM Harvey Theater, 651 Fulton Street, Brooklyn, NY 11217
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100x John
The environmental sound organization Ear to the Earth and MA.P.S (Media Arts, Performance, and Sound) Program at White Box join forces to present 100 x John, a weekend-long multimedia extravaganza celebrating the end of the 100th anniversary of John Cage’s birth with 100 compositions and sound art pieces by artists from around the world. In a 1937 talk, “The Future of Music: Credo”, Cage said, “I believe that the use of noise to make music will continue and increase until we reach a music produced through the aid of electrical instruments which will make available for musical purposes any and all sounds that can be heard.” As a salute to Cage’s leadership in opening up music to all sounds, 100 x John will feature a vast array of works, all based on field recording, natural and urban, some using traditional instruments and voice. Most of the pieces have never been presented in New York or in a concert setting before.
Thursday, December 20 to Sunday, December 23
Suggested donation $10 per event
White Box, 329 Broome Street #1 New York, NY
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Make Music Winter
Like Make Music New York’s annual flagship event on the first day of summer, June 21, Make Music Winter is a free, outdoor musical event that turns audiences into music makers. Twelve profoundly participatory musical parades are scheduled for neighborhoods in Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, and Staten Island. A full schedule, regularly updated, is posted at www.makemusicny.org. Watch the video of The Gaits we shot last year. The Gaits will be presented this year too…
Friday, December 21
FREE
..:: Website
Annual Winter Solstice Concert | Phill Niblock
Roulette welcomes maverick, minimalist composer Phill Niblock presenting his annual Winter Solstice concert featuring 6 hours of music, film and video as the sun shines directly over the tropic of Capricorn, the longest night of the year unfolds & winter begins in the Northern Hemisphere.
Friday, December 21 at 6 PM
Tickets $15 for general admission, $10 for members/students/seniors
Roulette, 509 Atlantic Ave, Brooklyn, NY
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CONTACT! at the Metropolitan Museum | Andy Akiho, Jude Vaclavik, Andrew Norman, Jacob Druckman
Andy Akiho
The fourth season of CONTACT!, the Philharmonic’s new-music series, launches with a program of works exclusively by New York–based composers. American conductor-composer Jayce Ogren will make his Philharmonic debut leading the World Premieres of two Philharmonic commissions, Andy Akiho’s Oscillate and Jude Vaclavik’s SHOCK WAVES; the New York Premiere of Andrew Norman’s Try; and the ensemble version of Counterpoise by the late Jacob Druckman, Philharmonic Composer-in-Residence from 1982 to 1986, featuring soprano Elizabeth Futral.
Friday, December 21 at 7 PM
Tickets $20
Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1000 5th Avenue New York, NY
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Music at First | Jen Baker
Contemporary music series Music at First announces the departure from its previous two-sets-per-night format starting with the Fall 2012 season, each evening now featuring one artist or ensemble. Artists for 2012 include Iktus percussion, trombonist Jen Baker, and “Matthew Hough and Friends” (Joshua Modney, Megan Schubert, Nicole Camacho). On December 21 composer/trombonist Jen Baker, who has performed with groups such as Asphalt Orchestra, Deep Listening Band, and the Merce Cunningham Dance Company, will bring her unique blend of multiphonics-based composition and improvisation to Music at First.
Friday, December 21 at 7:30 PM
Tickets $10
First Presbyterian Church (Brooklyn Heights) 124 Henry St, Brooklyn, NY
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CONTACT! at the Metropolitan Museum | Andy Akiho, Jude Vaclavik, Andrew Norman, Jacob Druckman
The fourth season of CONTACT!, the Philharmonic’s new-music series, launches with a program of works exclusively by New York–based composers. American conductor-composer Jayce Ogren will make his Philharmonic debut leading the World Premieres of two Philharmonic commissions, Andy Akiho’s Oscillate and Jude Vaclavik’s SHOCK WAVES; the New York Premiere of Andrew Norman’s Try; and the ensemble version of Counterpoise by the late Jacob Druckman, Philharmonic Composer-in-Residence from 1982 to 1986, featuring soprano Elizabeth Futral.
Saturday, December 22 at 8 PM
Tickets $20
Symphony Space, 2537 Broadway New York, NY
..:: Website
