VIDEO PREMIERE: ‘Tight Sweater’ by Marc Mellits

by Maggie Molloy

Marc Mellits makes music you can groove to. Funky rhythms, catchy riffs, and pulsing melodies—his music bursts with energy.

Tight Sweater is a prime example. Composed for the unlikely trio of cello, piano, and marimba, the piece dances through one restless and infectious groove after another, each with its own distinctive color and sound.

We’re thrilled to premiere our in-studio video of Mellits’ Tight Sweater performed by cellist Rose Bellini, pianist Brooks Tran, and marimbist Melanie Sehman.


For more music of Marc Mellits (including performances by marimbist Melanie Sehman), check out Good Vibes Only: a concert of minimalist music for vibraphones and marimbas this Friday, Aug. 30 at Washington Hall.

LIVE CONCERT SPOTLIGHT: Parnassus Project

Parnassus Project presents Ruminations on Friday, August 14 at 8pm at the Chapel Performance Space at the Good Shepherd Center in Wallingford.

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Georgia O’Keeffe. Cow’s Skull: Red, White, and Blue, 1931

Parnassus Project has swept the Seattle area up in open arms since the summer of 2011, presenting concerts in restaurants (The Pink Door), art galleries (Design Commission), public parks (Tuesday lunch concerts at Westlake and Occidental parks), coffee shops (Roy Street Coffee & Tea, Zoka, Tully’s), libraries (Seattle Downtown branch), and… the list just keeps going! We admire Parnassus Project’s philosophy of bringing music to the people in intimate settings that encourage conversation and community, often in the presence of excellent food and beverage.

 

They’re also dedicated to presenting new works by up and coming composers and featuring local musicians, two additional things that instantly caught our attention! This Friday, August 14 at 8pm, Parnassus makes their second annual summer appearance on the Wayward Music Series at the Good Shepherd Center in Wallingford. This program, Ruminations, explores American music past and present through works of George Crumb, John Adams, and a world premiere by local composer Cole Bratcher.

Second Inversion is proud to be the media sponsor of this concert – we’ll be recording the concert for our 24/7 stream and online concert archives. Don’t miss the action live and in person – RSVP to their Facebook event! We’ll see you there!

Full program and performer line-up:

CRUMB//Eine Kleine Mitternachtmusik (A Little Midnight Music), 2001
ADAMS//Road Movies, 1995
BRATCHER//Jonah the Sinnerman, 2015 [World Premiere]
GOLIJOV//Tenebrae, 2002

Luke Fitzpatrick, Sol Im, violins//Rick Neff, viola//Haeyoon Shin, cello//Brooks Tran, piano

 

CONCERT SPOTLIGHT: June 11-13

by Maggie Molloy 

This week’s concert calendar spans the musical gamut from viola da gamba to Morton Feldman!

Morton Feldman’s “For John Cage”

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In true New York fashion, composer Morton Feldman first met John Cage at a New York Philharmonic performance of Anton Webern’s Symphony, Op. 21. Disturbed by the audience’s disrespectful reaction to Webern’s work, the two had each individually stepped out into the lobby, where they began talking.

Both composers went on to become pioneers of indeterminate music—and perhaps more importantly, close friends. The two influenced each other over the course of their careers, and in 1997 Feldman wrote “For John Cage,” a 75-minute piece for violin and piano.

This week the University of Washington’s contemporary music ensemble, Inverted Space, is concluding its Long Piece Fest with a performance of this epic (and lengthy) work. Violinist Luke Fitzpatrick and pianist Brooks Tran will breathe life into this unique piece, which is meant to be performed at a barely audible volume. The piece combines Feldman’s expansive harmonies with Cage’s interest in silence and stasis, thus delicately exploring poetic dissonance in a state of prolonged stillness.

The performance is this Thursday, June 11 at 7:30 p.m. at the Chapel Performance Space at the Good Shepherd Center in Wallingford.

 

Joshua Roman Performs Gregg Kallor’s Chamber Music

joshua-roman-683x455Cellist Joshua Roman is well-known in the Seattle classical music community—after all, he became the youngest principal player in Seattle Symphony history at just 22 years old. But his reputation as a gifted and innovative musician expands far beyond just his Seattle achievements. He has performed as a soloist around the world, and this week we have unique opportunity to hear him perform in one of the major classical music centers of America: New York City.

Miranda Cuckson by Beowulf SheehanRoman will be performing a dazzlingly lyrical piece titled “Undercurrent” by composer and pianist Gregg Kallor, the inaugural composer-in-residence at SubCulture in NYC. The performance also features world premieres of two new pieces written by Kallor, performed by violinist Miranda Cuckson, mezzo-soprano Adriana Zabala, and baritone Matthew Worth.

gregg-kallor2-683x1026Kallor’s works blend classical and jazz traditions with a distinctly New York flavor. But since it’s a long flight to NYC, we thought we’d bring the music to you: Second Inversion is going to record the live performance and broadcast it later on our website for your listening pleasure.

The performance is this Thursday, June 11 at 7:30 p.m. at SubCulture in New York. We’ll keep you updated on the details for our Second Inversion broadcast!

Colleen and Hanna Benn

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Violas da gamba may have been popular instruments during the Baroque period, but for the past several centuries the violin family has dominated the classical music scene—which is why one French musician is giving the age-old viola da gamba a new-age makeover.

Colleen is the alias of Cécile Schott, a French musician who reimagines the possibilities of acoustic instruments by taking them out of their usual contexts and pushing them into new musical territory. Over the course of her five albums, she has created a wide-ranging repertoire of compositions spanning from meditative and mysterious to playful and percussive. This weekend, she’s coming to Seattle to present a performance which merges old and new music traditions: viola da gamba with live electronic processing and singing.

Seattle composer and vocalist Hanna Benn will open the show with a rare solo set.

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The performance is this Saturday, June 13 at 8 p.m. at the Chapel Performance Space at the Good Shepherd Center in Wallingford.  UPDATE: This concert is sold out! Please refer to Colleen‘s website and Hanna‘s SoundCloud for future performance info.

 

LIVE CONCERT SPOTLIGHT: May 14-16

by Maggie Molloy

This week’s striking music calendar has Stravinsky, “Saci,” “Suck City,” and more!

Inverted Space Presents Stockhausen’s “Stimmung”

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The word stimmung is German for “tuning”—but it applies to much more than just pitch. While it may be used to describe the tuning of instruments or voices, it can also be used to describe the tuning of a group of people, or the inward tuning of one’s soul.

“Stimmung” is also the title of German composer Karlheinz Stockhausen’s 70-minute sonic meditation for six amplified voices. This week, vocalists from the Inverted Space Ensemble will perform “Stimmung” as part of their “Long Piece Fest” (the name is pretty self-explanatory).

The piece was among the first major Western works to use vocal overtones as a key element of composition—in fact, the entire piece is based on the overtones of a low B-flat. The work was inspired by Stockhausen’s visit to the Mayan ruins in Mexico, and it features a recounting of ancient gods along with some of his own poetry.

The performance is this Thursday, May 14 at 7:30 p.m. at the Chapel Performance Space at the Good Shepherd Center in Wallingford.

Universal Language Project Presents “The Soldier’s Tale” and “Saci”

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Russian composer Igor Stravinsky is best known for his three major ballets: “The Firebird,” “Petrushka,” and “The Rite of Spring”—but his smaller-scale theatrical works are just as striking. This weekend, the Universal Language Project is presenting Stravinsky’s “The Soldier’s Tale,” an hour-long dramatic work based on a Russian folk tale.

The music is scored for very unique instrumentation: a septet of violin, double bass, clarinet, bassoon, cornet, trombone, and percussion. The story is told by four characters: the soldier, the devil, the narrator, and the princess (who is portrayed by a silent dancer). The libretto recounts the tale of a soldier who trades his fiddle to the devil for wealth, only to realize that his greed has led him to unimaginable loss.

The program will also feature a performance of Brazilian composer and pianist Jovino Santos Neto’s “Saci,” a theatrical work scored for seven musicians, narrator, and dance. The work tells the story of Saci, a mythological (and often mischievous) character of Brazilian folklore who is a combination of different cultural strains, including Native Brazilian tribes, African slaves, and Portuguese colonizers.

Performances are this Friday, May 15 and Saturday, May 16 at 8 p.m. at Velocity Dance Center on Capitol Hill.

Concert Imaginaire Presents “Another Day in Suck City”

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What do Edgar Allan Poe, orangutans, and cyber-ant goddesses have in common? They’re all part of Concert Imaginaire’s upcoming music performance, “Another Day in Suck City.”

Don’t let the name fool you—“Another Day in Suck City” is anything but your typical music performance. Concert Imaginaire will be performing musical settings of poetry by Emily Dickinson and Edgar Allan Poe, a dance for an orangutan, the premiere of “Just a Kiss Away” (a 5-minute opera about love and war), and so much more.

Concert Imaginaire is comprised of music director and guitarist David Hahn, violinist Ruthie Dornfeld, keyboardist Jay Kenney, and percussionist Becca Baggenstoss. This performance will also feature guest vocalists Katie Weld, Sid Law, and Gabriel Tachell, along with video accompaniment created by Leo Mayberry.

The performance is this Saturday, May 16 at 8 p.m. at the Chapel Performance Space at the Good Shepherd Center in Wallingford.

LIVE CONCERT SPOTLIGHT: January 29-February 2

by Maggie Molloy

This week’s spectacular music calendar has everything from Schnittke to Stockhausen to saxophone quartets and more!

University of Washington’s Modern Music Ensemble Winter Concert

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As millennials, the students of UW’s Modern Music Ensemble (Inverted Space) know a thing or two about new music. This Thursday, they are presenting a winter concert featuring a wide spectrum of works by contemporary composers.

The colorful program starts off with George Crumb’s “Dream Sequence (Images II),” an ethereal sound tapestry written for violin, cello, piano, percussion, and an off-stage glass harmonica. The students will also perform Alfred Schnittke’s poignant and powerful Piano Quintet, which was written in memory of his mother. Karlheinz Stockhausen’s serial “Kreuzspiel” and Jacob Sundstrom’s “no comment from the Grey Room” round out the program.

The performance is this Thursday, Jan. 29 at 7:30 p.m. at the Floyd and Delores Jones Playhouse Theater at University of Washington.

Ivan Arteaga’s Neijing Ensemble

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What could be better than the sweet and sensual sound of a solo saxophone? Four saxophones at once. This weekend, Seattle saxophonist Ivan Arteaga’s Neijing Ensemble is presenting a series of new improvisational pieces for saxophone quartet.

The ensemble began as something of a saxophone jam circle, which inspired Arteaga to begin creating gestural and improvisational pieces for the group. The quartet has since expanded their repertoire to include a wide range of musical influences. This performance features an arrangement of an Alban Berg string quartet as well as arrangements of American folk songs by Arteaga, Levi Gillis, and Luciano Berio. Three acoustic bassists will join the ensemble to perform two original compositions by Arteaga.

The performance is this Friday, Jan. 30 at 8 p.m. at the Chapel Performance Space at the Good Shepherd Center in Wallingford.

Byrd Ensemble Presents “In Memoriam: Hallock and Tavener”

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Most Seattleites are familiar with the Sunday night Compline at St. Mark’s Cathedral—but are they familiar with the composer who started it all?

Peter Hallock was a composer and liturgist who founded the Compline Choir at St. Mark’s Cathedral, where he served as organist and choirmaster for 40 years. This weekend, Seattle’s own Byrd Ensemble will pay tribute to the late Hallock by performing several of his best choral works—and what better place to sing them  than in St. Mark’s Cathedral? The concert will also honor John Tavener, another late, great composer of religious works.

The performance is this Saturday, Jan. 31 at 7:30 p.m. at St. Mark’s Cathedral.

Matt Haimovitz and Christopher O’Riley Present “Beethoven, PERIOD.”

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Forget the conventional concert-going experience of strict seating, formal attire, and refined performance etiquette. Next week cellist Matt Haimovitz and pianist Christopher O’Riley are bringing the sophistication of Beethoven to a whole new concert setting—Seattle’s own Tractor Tavern.

Following their collaboration on “Shuffle.Play.Listen,” an album exploring the evolution of music post-iPod, Haimovitz and O’Riley are now returning to the very beginnings of the cello and piano genre. In support of their new album, “Beethoven, PERIOD.,” the two will be performing Beethoven’s Sonatas and Variations on period instruments of the early 19th century. The repertoire provides unique insight into Beethoven’s life and work, and the informal setting allows for a contemporary spin on your favorite classics.

The performance is this Monday, Feb. 2 at 7 p.m. at the Tractor Tavern in Ballard.