STAFF PICKS: Friday Faves

Second Inversion hosts share a favorite selection from their playlist. Tune in on Friday, March 31 to hear these pieces and lots of other great new and unusual music from all corners of the classical genre!

Daníel Bjarnason: Skelja (Bedroom Community)

I’ve always been a fan of the contemporary Icelandic label Bedroom Community, which seems to produce a steady stream of magic in its new music offerings. Processions is the debut album of Daníel Bjarnason, and it holds some musical treasures. One is the final track, Skelja, a work for harp and what seems to be a small collection of pitched gongs. The percussion adds a drowsy color to the spare notes of the harp solo, a faint background of dark hues. This is a tender harp work that truly has something to say, and I enjoy listening to it again and again. – Geoffrey Larson


Robin Pecknold: White Winter Hymnal (Portland Cello Project)

Image result for fleet foxes white winter hymnal portland cello projectThis 2.5 minute gem makes me long for winter, even as milder temperatures and cherry blossoms are among us. If I dare say, the Portland Cello Project puts even MORE warmth into this soothing, soulful tune than the original version by the Fleet Foxes. Trumpeter John Whaley soars effortlessly above the cellos with the melody, drifting in and out with ease. I might just have to seek out a trail that still has some snow on it this weekend….  – Maggie Stapleton


Mason Bates: Observer in the Magellanic Cloud (Chanticleer)

Image result for mason bates observer in the magellanic cloudI love this track not only because of the novel subject matter (a distant satellite observing human activity on the Earth) but also because of how it bridges the gap between humanity and technology.  Even while it presents the satellite as a distant observer, out there in the cold blackness and sterility of space, the connection between the satellite and the humans it observes manages to anthropomorphize the machine just enough to make the relationship seem intimate.  Maybe our computerized future won’t be so bad, after all. – Seth Tompkins

New Music Concerts: October 2016 Seattle * Eastside * Tacoma

SI_button2Second Inversion and the Live Music Project create a monthly calendar featuring contemporary classical, cross-genre, and experimental performances in Seattle, the Eastside, Tacoma, and places in between! 

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Keep an eye out for our this flyer in concert programs and coffee shops around town. Feel free to download, print, and distribute it yourself! If you’d like to be included on this list drop us a line at least 6 weeks prior to the event.

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Racer Sessions
A weekly showcase of original music with a jam session based on the concepts in the opening presentation.
Every Sunday, 8-10pm, Cafe Racer | FREE

Wayward Music Series
Concerts of contemporary composition, free improvisation, electronic/electroacoustic music, & more.
Various days, 7:30/8pm, Good Shepherd Chapel | $5-$15
Check website for complete listings

2
Chorosynthesis: New Choral Music Reading Session & Happy Hour
A 3-hour reading session of “hot-off-the-press” choral works from Chorosynthesis’ call for scores, centered on themes of social justice. Happy Hour to follow.
Sun, 10/2, 1pm, UW School Music Room 213 | Free

5
Town Music at Town Hall: Duos
Musical wunderkinds Caroline Goulding, violin & Joshua Roman, cello present a program of duos by Handel-Halvorsen, Kodály, & Ravel.
Wed, 10/5, 7:30pm, Town Hall | $10-20

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Cursive Presents: Imagist Alchemy
Rarely heard American works inspired by the Imagist poetry movement, a world premiere by Peter Nelson-King, and the first performance in 80+ years of George William Thomas’s In a Garden.
Thu, 10/6, 7:30pm, Kenyon Hall | $5-$14

7-9
The Esoterics: WILDE: Like silhouettes against the sky
New music set to Oscar Wilde poems by Kenji Oh, Casey Rule, & Gordon Williamson (2016 POLYPHONOS competition winners) plus new works by Dominick DiOrio & Eric Banks.
Fri, 10/7, 8pm, St Stephen’s Episcopal Church | $15-25
Sat, 10/8, 8pm, Holy Rosary Catholic Church | $15-25
Sun, 10/9, 7pm, Christ Episcopal Church, Tacoma | $15-25

8-9
Early Music Guild Presents Chanticleer
Chanticleer offers an evening of hope through compelling acapella works ranging from Renaissance master Thomas Morley to contemporary Paul Simon.
Sat, 10/8, 7:30pm, Nordstrom Recital Hall | $26 under 35; $46 general
Sun, 10/9, 2:30pm, Nordstrom Recital Hall | $26 under 35; $46 general

11/13
Loop 2.4.3 Percussion
Hear the Northwest premiere of Time-Machine_music by Thomas Kozumplik featuring the chamber ensemble Loop 2.4.3, with original video projections.
Tue, 10/11, 7pm, Old Town Slavonian Hall, Tacoma | Free
Thurs, 10/13, 8pm, Good Shepherd Chapel | $5-15

15
Seattle Rock Orchestra performs Pink Floyd
SRO pays tribute to psychedelic rock pioneers Pink Floyd with a retrospective that features The Piper At the Gates of Dawn, The Wall, & The Dark Side of the Moon.
Sat, 10/15, 7pm, Auburn Performing Arts Center | $22 student/senior; $25 general

22
Seattle Rock Orchestra performs David Bowie
SRO pays honor to David Bowie with a program that explores his early glam years as Ziggy Stardust and culminates with a string of dance hits from his middle and late career.
Sat, 10/22, 7:30pm, Kirkland Performance Center | $40

23
Frequency: Debut Concert
This dynamic new chamber ensemble (Saeunn Thorsteinsdottir, Melia Watras, & Michael Jinsoo Lim) presents interconnected works by Beethoven, Janacek & Watras.
Sun, 10/23, 7:30pm, Meany Hall | $10 student/senior; $20 general

26
Music of Today: Eighty and Ninety: Stuart Dempster and Bill Smith
UW Music celebrates 50 years of collaborative music-making by two beloved faculty all-stars: Stuart Dempster & William O. Smith, turning 80 and 90 in 2016.
Wed, 10/26, 7:30pm, Meany Hall | $10 student; $15 general

28
Seattle Symphony: [untitled] 1
Captivating and remarkable worlds of sound: Two landmark works by Lutosławski (Chantefleurs et Chantefables & Chain 1) alongside Polish composer/singer Agata Zubel’s Chapter 13.
Fri, 10/28, 10pm, Benaroya Hall Lobby | $16

28-29
Universal Language Project: Crowning Day
A new work by Marcus Oldham work focusing on racial reconciliation through the eyes of a NC plantation through the centuries. Featuring Skyros Quartet.
Fri, 10/28, 8pm, Resonance at SOMA Towers | $20
Sat, 10/29, 8pm, Velocity Dance Center | $20

29
The Sound Ensemble: In Nature’s Realm
A program full of music inspired by nature, including susurrus by John Teske, songbirdsongs by John Luther Adams, Hrim by Anna Thorvaldsdottir & more.
Sat, 10/29, 7pm, Good Shepherd Chapel | $10 student/senior; $15 general

30
Live Music Project presents: Dead Music Project
A Halloween benefit concert featuring new works that channel long-dead composers.Enjoy music by (very much alive) Seattle composers Spencer Arias, Kaley Lane Eaton, Aaron Grad, and Michaud Savage.
Sun, 10/30, 7pm, Steinway Piano Gallery of Seattle | $10-$25 suggested donation