Maggie Stapleton has been chosen as Crossover Media’s Programmer of the Week! Today, Tuesday, June 2 at 11:30 PDT, join Maggie for a Google Hangout conversation with Amanda Bloom about Second Inversion.
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ALBUM REVIEW REVUE: A Look Back at the Year
Last June, we began reviewing albums on a weekly basis and we’re thrilled to celebrate a year’s worth of awesome content at Second Inversion! We’re celebrating by announcing the top 5 reviews. Let the countdown begin!
5. A Far Cry: Dreams and Prayers
“When really, really good musicians get together to play music, something magical happens. Some of the best performances in history have been called divine or heavenly. No matter their faith (or lack thereof), those who appreciate music can agree there’s something otherworldly about an amazing performance or recording.”
4. The Knights: the ground beneath our feet
“If the ground beneath our feet has indeed disappeared in parts of this album, that’s okay: outer space sure sounds pretty good to me.”
3. Christopher Bono: BARDO
“When I had this album playing at home, several friends commented on how “epic” it felt. And that’s true. If you didn’t read the liner notes or have any frame of reference for Bono’s inspiration, it could totally sound like the soundtrack for an amazing RPG or fantasy film. Played straight through it is like a saga told in sound and the fact that you may not know the details doesn’t stop you from connecting to, understanding, and enjoying it.”
2. John Luther Adams: Become Ocean
“As for the recording? The ideal scenario for the listener in a performance of this piece is to be surrounded by the orchestra and furthermore have the opportunity to move around within the physical space, if desired. Listening to this recording in surround sound is the next best thing! Adams told me, ‘In making this recording we took special care to mix in stereo much of the time, so that the experience of hearing this music in stereo is as vivid as possible and gives you a sense of being immersed.'”
1. Ólafur Arnalds: The Chopin Project
“…It’s just one glorious, delicate piece after another. From the gentle shoosh-shoosh in “Reminiscence” (during which there’s a point where you can even hear a performer taking in breath) to the distant chatter and rainfall heard in “Nocturne in G Minor,” the recordings make the listener feel close to the piano – in the same room, even – and so very close to the music. Several tracks use Chopin as a jumping off point, which turns the album as a whole into a dreamlike story arc you wish would never end.”
Huge thanks go out to our staff and interns for their writing: Maggie Molloy, Jill Kimball, Rachele Hales, Seth Tompkins, and Maggie Stapleton.
NEW VIDEO: Simple Measures plays Shostakovich
Simple Measures stopped by our studios for a combined session with the Turtle Island Quartet and shared a little Shostakovich with us, too!
Mark your calendars for Simple Measures’ 2015-16 season – they always put on a great show and balance the “old” and the “new” music brilliantly.
Be sure to check out our other in-studio and on-site videos!
LIVE CONCERT SPOTLIGHT: May 27-31
This week’s imaginative concert calendar has everything from opera to oboe trios to Edgar Allan Poe!
Inverted Space Presents “Don Perlimplín” and Maderna-Fest
Italy has long been a center for innovations in vocal music—the Italians created opera in the late 16th century and, to this day, they still maintain a rich and dynamic vocal music tradition. This weekend, the University of Washington’s Inverted Space Ensemble is celebrating the musical contributions of one contemporary Italian composer in particular: Bruno Maderna.
An influential (but often-overlooked) figure of the avant-garde, Maderna was a 20th century composer known for his expressive musical freedom and commitment to the modernist cause. He moved in the same circles as composers like Karlheinz Stockhausen, Pierre Boulez, and Luciano Berio.
This weekend, Inverted Space is presenting the U.S. premiere of Maderna’s experimental opera “Don Perlimplín,” based on a play about love and loss by the 20th century Spanish dramatist Federico García Lorca. But that’s not all! The celebration continues with “Maderna-Fest,” a four-day festival of Maderna’s music and musical influences. Performances are as follows:
Inverted Space will perform small-scale chamber works by Maderna and Berio this Wednesday, May 27 at 7:30 p.m. at Jack Straw Cultural Center in the U District.
The group will perform the premiere of “Don Perlimplín” this Friday, May 29 at 7:30 p.m. at UW’s Meany Studio Theater.
The musicians will also perform three café concerts featuring vocal and instrumental works by Maderna, Pergolesi, Purcell, and Berio. The first is this Saturday, May 30 at 6 p.m. at Café Solstice in the U District, the second is this Saturday, May 30 at 8:30 p.m. at Stone Way Café in Fremont, and the final performance is this Sunday, May 31 at 8 p.m. at Café Racer in the U District.
Ursula Sahagian Performs Viet Cuong
How many live oboe trios have you seen? None? Well this weekend, you have the opportunity to change that.
This weekend, oboist Ursula Sahagian and friends are presenting an evening of riveting music for double reeds written by composer Viet Cuong. The group will perform his award-winning Suite for Oboe Trio, as well as his “Trains of Thought” for oboe, bassoon, and piano. Sahagian will also perform two of Cuong’s works for solo oboe: “Six Canadian Scenes” and the world premiere of “Soda Apple.” Both pieces push the oboe to the edge of its technical limits and beyond.
The performance is this Saturday, May 30 at 8 p.m. at the Chapel Performance Space at the Good Shepherd Center in Wallingford.
ALBUM REVIEW: Dreamfall by NOW Ensemble
If you’re looking for the latest in contemporary classical, it doesn’t get any more current than NOW Ensemble. The dynamic seven-member group is committed to pushing the boundaries of the classical chamber music tradition, often crossing into new genres and artistic media.
True to their name, NOW ensemble infuses traditional Western art music with contemporary music styles such as indie rock, jazz, pop, and minimalism—bringing classical music to new audiences in the here and now.
The foundation for their one-of-a-kind sound is their eclectic instrumentation: electric guitar, flute, clarinet, double bass, and piano. Currently in their 10th year as a group, the ensemble is comprised of artistic director and guitarist Mark Dancigers, flutist Alexandra Sopp, clarinetist Sara Budde, double bassist Logan Coale, pianist Michael Mizrahi, and composers Patrick Burke and Judd Greenstein.
So NOW, what’s the latest?
The ensemble just released their fourth full-length album, an eclectic new music mash-up titled “Dreamfall.” The expansive new release features works by seven remarkable composers of contemporary music: Scott Smallwood, Mark Dancigers, John Supko, Nathan Williamson, Sarah Kirkland Snider, Andrea Mazzariello, and Judd Greenstein.
“It is a state of immense freedom,” Dancigers said of the album’s title. “The sounds on this record reflect this freedom, this sense of something a little out of our hands, and, beyond all else, the practice of making music that is NOW Ensemble.”
Scott Smallwood’s “Still in Here” is the first piece on the album, and it begins with low, grumbling piano trill—in fact, the graphic score denotes a “slow, drunken piano trill” throughout. The piece is atmospheric and dark, even apocalyptic at times. It swells in dynamics, periodically highlighting the unique texture of each instrument above a blur of musical vibrations. Listen for the soft crinkling of a foil stove burner liner amidst the ambiance. (According to Smallwood, “the handi-foil type 302 liner is a good candidate” if you’re looking to perform this one at home.)
The title track, written by Dancigers, showcases a more expressive side of the ensemble. The three-movement work explores an eclectic collection of melodic fragments, similar to a dreamland—one moment here and the next somewhere completely different. “Dreamfall” showcases the ensemble’s full range of timbral and textural possibilities, capturing the ever-shifting moods and melodies that we experience once we finally let go and start dreaming.
Speaking of dreams, John Supko’s “Divine the Rest” is nothing short of a mesmerizing daze. It immerses the listener in an ambient electroacoustic soundscape, with calm narration whispering over sparse instrumentation. Each and every note gently rings over the surrounding static to create a slowly shifting musical landscape.
The listener is abruptly awoken from this trancelike state with an audacious piano slide introducing the next piece on the album, Nathan Williamson’s vivacious “Trans-Atlantic Flight of Fancy.” Harmonies sprawl across the keyboard with rhythmic verve, restlessly pushing forward beneath bold and brash woodwind melodies.
The ensemble again switches gears for Sarah Kirkland Snider’s “Pale as Centuries,” a musical collage which combines diverse, distinctive, and sometimes even mismatched melodic fragments into a single cohesive image.
Andrea Mazzariello’s “Trust Fall” has a somewhat more linear development, growing gradually in drama and expressivity, from its sparse and simple introduction to its climactic close. However, one thing remains a key focus throughout: lush, dolce melodies.
The album ends with Judd Greenstein’s “City Boy,” a colorful musical depiction of a free and fearless young boy, his eyes twinkling as he playfully explores the world around him. The piece moves rapidly from one melodic idea to the next, switching from a jazzy guitar groove to a circling piano motive to a flowing clarinet melody within a matter of minutes.
The piece serves as a reminder of the major themes present throughout NOW Ensemble’s musical ventures: experimentation, innovation, and above all, a genuine enthusiasm for pursing curiosity. NOW that’s what I call contemporary classical!
(NOW Ensemble’s November 2014 visit to our studios)