Our next live broadcast on Second Inversion’s 24/7 stream is Wednesday, March 25 at 7:30pm (PDT), featuring the Deviant Septet presented by Town Music at Town Hall, curated by Joshua Roman!
They’re performing Stravinsky’s L’Histoire du Soldat, Esa-Pekka Salonen’s Catch and Release, and more!
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This week’s concert calendar has everything from Croatian cello rock stars to traditional Celtic music!
TORCH at the Good Shepherd Center
As the great 20th century German novelist Thomas Mann once said, “Art is the sacred torch that must shed its merciful light into all life’s terrible depths.” And it is precisely this mantra from which the contemporary music quartet TORCH gets its name. This weekend, the fiery foursome is blazing through Seattle to perform an evening of hot new music
Composed of clarinetist Eric Likkel, trumpeter Brian Chin, vibist/percussionist Ben Thomas, and bassist Brady Millard-Kish, the group’s compositions artfully merge elements of progressive jazz, post-rock, and contemporary classical to create a one-of-a-kind sound rooted in groovy melodies and bluesy harmonic backdrops.
TORCH is performing this Friday, March 13 at 8 p.m. in the Chapel Performance Space at the Good Shepherd Center in Wallingford.
2CELLOS at the Moore Theatre
Young Croatian cellists Luka Šulić and Stjepan Hauser are not afraid to break a few bow hairs. The two play with infectious energy, incredible technical prowess, and utterly captivating stage presence—proving that classically-trained musicians can still be total rock stars.
Better known as 2CELLOS, the duo rose to fame in 2011 when their version of Michael Jackson’s “Smooth Criminal” became a YouTube sensation. (Seriously, watch that video—it’s unbelievable.) But it’s not all just classic pop covers: their amazingly diverse repertoire ranges from the Baroque beauty of Bach and Vivaldi to the rebellious rock and roll of AC/DC and everything in between.
2CELLOS is performing this Saturday, March 14 at the Moore Theatre. Doors open at 7 p.m. and the performance begins at 8 p.m.
Earl’s Chair: Celtic & Baroque Music
Nothing says St. Patrick’s Day quite like traditional Celtic music. This Tuesday, celebrate the patron saint of Ireland with Earl’s Chair as they perform a concert filled with Celtic and Baroque music from Ireland, Scotland, and New England.
Earl’s Chair is comprised of violinist, oboist, and countertenor Michael Albert and harpsichordist and organist Henry Lebedinsky. Their shared love of Celtic music from a variety of traditions and time periods brought them together nearly 20 years ago, and now they’re coming to Seattle to share with you an evening of tunes, songs, and stories both old and new from the charming Celtic tradition.
The concert is this Tuesday, March 17 at Naked City Brewery and Taphouse at 7 p.m.
Our next live broadcast on Second Inversion’s 24/7 stream is Thursday, March 19 at 7:30pm (PDT), featuring the Catalyst Quartet presented by UW World Series! They’re performing:
Montgomery: Strum
Tower: In Memory
Glass: String Quartet No.3 Mishima
D’Rivera: Wapango
Ives: String Quartet No.1
Barber: String Quartet Op.11
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Catalyst Quartet was in here in November and recorded an awesome in-studio video. Here’s a taste of Glenn Gould’s String Quartet:
Stay tuned for news on more live broadcasts, in-studio recordings, videos, and broadcasts of recorded concerts throughout the year!
Of all the modern late 20th and early 21st century repertoire out there, it can take a lot to stand out. Bang on a Can co-founder Michael Gordon’s Dystopia succeeds, particularly in two of the areas Second Inversion loves to focus on – rethinking the past and paying homage.
The title track is one of many collaborative projects between Michael Gordon and filmmaker Bill Morrison. They all encapsulate the aura of cities (Los Angeles as the focus here) and in all of these works the music is composed first and the film is conceptualized to fit the score. Bill’s video combines new and old footage from the streets of Los Angeles, as far back as some 1898 footage by Thomas Edison! Here’s an excerpt, courtesy of Cantaloupe Records:
Even without the film, Dystopia provides a “choose your own adventure” visual experience. I recommend you press play, close your eyes, and let the expansive color palette create a journey – whether it’s 90mph traffic ride through LA, a ride on a New York City subway, a motorcycle ride on winding mountain roads. The possibilities are endless.
It truly is a ride that is full speed ahead for eight and a half solid minutes, winds down for a few minutes, and revs back up, ebbing and flowing (like traffic and bumps in the road that slow us down. Flat tire? Overheated engine? We’ve all been there..) throughout the piece.
Gordon combines sounds and textures that offer freshness to the orchestral repertoire. He “explores the gray areas between harmony and dissonance,” which comes to me as enhanced, nuanced, and varied sounds for the orchestra. It’s the most exciting and engaging 30 minutes of music I’ve experienced in a long time.
Many composers pay tribute to those who have inspired or taught them. Gordon says, “Beethoven’s brutish and loud music has always inspired me… At the time it was written, it was probably the loudest music on the planet.” Rewriting Beethoven’s Seventh Symphony was a commission from the Beethovenfest Bonn in 2006 and Gordon utilized one element from each of the original symphony: “From the first movement, I couldn’t resist working with the huge barbaric opening chords. From the second movement, I took the divine and other-worldly theme, adjusting it slightly so that when it ends, it is in a key one half-step higher. The theme continues to cycle around and slowly spirals up. From the third movement, I lifted the background accompaniment and brought it to the foreground. From the fourth movement I used the main theme.”
This homage to Beethoven is so curiously engaging. The retained elements are very apparent from the first chord, which is totally a “fooled ya!” moment as it meows down to dissonance. Throughout the entire piece, the push & pull and transformation of the themes and harmonies fight my ears to hear Beethoven’s original in Gordon’s re-write. It’s as if the notes were tossed up in the air with excellent care, floating and mingling with one another, crisscrossing to land in brand new worlds of musical excitement. I highly recommend this mind-bending piece for an eyebrow-raising, intriguing listening experience.
For a Michael Gordon bonus, I would be remiss without redirecting you to our in-studio performance by Bang on a Can All-Star, Ashley Gordon:
This week’s music calendar features a multitude of musical genres and artistic mediums!
Genre Bender 2015
This weekend Seattle musicians are bending the rules. They’re bending the rules of functional harmony, they’re bending the rules of performance—in fact, they’re bending the very constructs of the music medium itself. City Arts Magazine’s annual Genre Bender event pairs innovative artists working in different media, inviting them to collaborate with one another to create the ultimate genre-defying performance.
This year’s artistic duos include conceptual artist C. Davida Ingram and composer/multi-instrumentalist Hanna Benn, rapper Raz Simone and multimedia artist Justin Roberts, photographer Steven Miller and actress/singer Sarah Rudinoff, vocalist/poet okanomodé and aerialist Lara Paxton, and last but not least, poet Sarah Galvin and musician/filmmaker/philosopher David Nixon.
Genre Bender 2015 is this Friday, March 6 and Saturday, March 7 at the Cornish Playhouse at Seattle Center. Doors open at 7 p.m. and the show begins at 8 p.m. A party in the lobby will follow the performance on Saturday evening.
Seattle Rock Orchestra Performs Beck
Beck shocked audiences around the world when he beat out Beyoncé for the Album of the Year at the Grammys last month. The lowly singer-songwriter who first made it big in 1994 with a song titled “Loser” (you know the one: “I’m a loser baby, so why don’t you kill me?”) proved that maybe, just maybe, he’s not such a loser after all.
This weekend, Seattle Rock Orchestra is paying tribute to this musical underdog with a retrospective of Beck’s lengthy career. With his 12 studio releases, they definitely have a lot to draw from. From the lo-fi folk releases of “One Foot in the Grave” to the funky party music of “Midnite Vultures” to the pensive ballads of “Sea Change,” Beck has never written the same album twice.
The performance is this Saturday, March 7 at the Moore Theatre. Doors open at 7 p.m. and the show begins at 8 p.m.
Seattle Composers Alliance’s 2015 Spring Fling
As the winter months melt away and the beautiful blossoms of spring begin to bloom, it’s always nice to get out of the house and go celebrate the new season. And what better way to do it than with an evening of new music?
Next week Seattle Composers Alliance is presenting its 2015 Spring Fling, featuring live music by a wide range of local musicians. From the jazzy jams of Industrial Revolution Trio and the Tim Carey Quartet to the folksongs of Alchymeia and Aslan Rife, this concert has it all! The evening also includes a silent auction and generous door prizes.
The performance is this Monday, March 9 at the Royal Room at 7 p.m.