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NEW MUSIC, NEW CONCEPTS AND NEW DIALOGUES
2020-2021 Season
“NEW MILESTONES” SERIES
4 Concerts, 15 Composers
COMPOSERS IN FOCUS
Conversations with Zosha Di Castri, Tania León, Jessie Montgomery and Joan Tower
The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center (CMS) is thrilled to present two online series this season dedicated to living composers and their work: New Milestones and Composers in Focus. Both series are being offered for free and include newly-recorded and archival performances of music; interviews and conversations with composers and musicians; documentary film; and online resource guides for audiences. Once again, CMS has moved forward, in the midst of a pandemic, with new approaches to programming, like their intimate online concert series that continue bringing music, musicians, composers and audiences closer, even as they are physically kept apart.
New Milestones, which is primarily a concert experience, supplemented with informational material to provide context, explores and unpacks the work of a wide-ranging selection of international composers: Eleanor Alberga, Andreia Pinto Correia, Patrick Castillo, Zosha Di Castri, Dai Fujikura, Helen Grime, Malika Kishino, Olivier Messiaen, Jessie Montgomery, Juri Seo, Alvin Singleton, Tōru Takemitsu, Alejandro Viñao, Thomas Meadowcroft, and Trevor Weston. This group consciously includes women and people of color, but is also diverse in other ways; there are newcomers and standard-bearers; lovers of tonal melody and artists embracing dissonance; and important composers from the U.S. and many representing other parts of the world, notably Argentina, Australia, Canada, France, Jamaica, Japan, Portugal and Scotland.
Concerts in this series include a rich array of newly recorded performances along with archival recordings, interview clips, and supporting material to help introduce the composers to new audiences and deepen the listening experience for those already familiar with the composers and their work. A special section on the CMS Website will offer additional insights through extensive historical and biographical information along with program notes.
Composers in Focus, a new series this season, welcomes Zosha Di Castri, Jessie Montgomery, Tania Léon and Joan Tower and gives audiences a rare opportunity to sit in on intimate conversations between composers and musicians who know each other’s work, and in some cases have known each other for decades. The webinar-style presentations will include live, real-time conversations with composers as well as pre-recorded performances of their music.
“This season, we are thrilled to present more of today’s dynamic composers than we ever have before in a single season,” said David Finckel and Wu Han, Co-Artistic Directors of CMS. “We want to empower people to become fearless and curious listeners. With New Milestones we’re inviting both existing audiences and newcomers to get to know these brilliant composers and give their work a listen. In our new series, Composers in Focus, we’ll be doing a deep dive into the work of four composers and exploring their relationships with the musicians who bring their work to life. I’m very much looking forward to hearing these wonderful artists share their thoughts on their influences, where they find inspiration, what legacy means to them… and whatever else comes up!”
Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center
New Music Events, 2020-21
All events are available for free, beginning on the date indicated below, at www.ChamberMusicSociety.org
Monday, November 16, 6:30 pm
Composers in Focus: Zosha Di Castri
Livestream conversation with Di Castri, pianist Orion Weiss and violinist Kristin Lee
New York-based Canadian composer and pianist Zosha Di Castri talks with pianist Orion Weiss and violinist Kristin Lee about her influences and her work. DiCastri’s projects extend far beyond purely concert music, often incorporating electronics and sound arts and representing collaborations with video and dance makers. In particular, she discusses her work Sprung Testament, commissioned by Jennifer Koh as a sister piece to Beethoven’s Spring Sonata, and inspired by Beethoven’s desperate but determined Heiligenstadt Testament and Rose-Lynn Fisher’s book of photography, The Topography of Tears.
Thursday, December 3, 7:30 pm
New Milestones 1: Transitions
Works by Trevor Weston, Helen Grime, Zosha Di Castri
ORION WEISS, Piano
KRISTIN LEE, Violin
ARNAUD SUSSMANN, Violin
MATTHEW LIPMAN, Viola
DAVID FINCKEL, Cello
MIHAI MARICA, Cello
Performances in this program have been newly recorded for this concert, except for those indicated with a double asterisk (**), which have been drawn from the CMS archive.
Trevor Weston: Shape Shifter for Cello (2011)
Mihai Marica, cello
**Helen Grime: Aviary Sketches (after Joseph Cornell) for Violin, Viola, and Cello (2014)
Untitled (Habitat)
Aviary (Parrot Music Box)
Deserted Perch
Forgotten Game
Toward the Blue Peninsula (for Emily Dickinson)
Arnaud Sussmann, violin; Matthew Lipman, viola; David Finckel, cello
Zosha Di Castri: Sprung Testament for Violin and Piano (2017-18)
Kristin Lee, violin; Orion Weiss, piano
Photo: Tristan Cook
Thursday, December 10, 6:30 pm
Composers in Focus 2: Tania León
Livestream conversation with León and oboist James Austin Smith
Composer and pianist Tania León talks with oboist James Austin Smith about her wide-ranging career as a composer, conductor and educator and how her Cuban roots have influenced both her career and her music over the past five decades. They also spend some time discussing her work A La Par for Piano and Percussion (1986): how the 12-minute work came to be and how it looks to her three-plus decades later. Ian David Rosenbaum, percussion, and Orion Weiss, piano, perform excerpts of the piece, newly recorded for CMS this season.
Thursday, February 4, 7:30 pm
New Milestones 2: Space
Works by Dai Fujikura, Alvin Singleton, Eleanor Alberga and Olivier Messiaen
ANNE-MARIE MCDERMOTT, Piano
CHAD HOOPES, Violin
ANTHONY MCGILL, Clarinet
All performances in this program have been newly recorded for this concert.
Dai Fujikura: Turtle Totem for Clarinet (2019)
Anthony McGill, clarinet
Alvin Singleton: Jasper Drag for Clarinet, Violin, and Piano (2000)
Anthony McGill, clarinet; Chad Hoopes, violin; Anne-Marie McDermott, piano
Eleanor Alberga: “Duo” from Dancing with the Shadow for Clarinet and Piano (1990)
Anthony McGill, clarinet; Anne-Marie McDermott, piano
Olivier Messiaen: “Louange à l’immortalité de Jésus” from Quatuor pour la fin du temps for Violin and Piano (1940-41)
Chad Hoopes, violin; Anne-Marie McDermott, piano
Wednesday, March 9, 6:30 pm
Composers in Focus 3: Jessie Montgomery
Livestream conversation with Montgomery, violinist Benjamin Beilman and cellist Nicholas Canellakis
Composer and violinist Jessie Montgomery, born and raised in New York City, talks with violinist Benjamin Beilman and cellist Nicholas Canellakis about how her work weaves classical music together with elements of vernacular music, improvisation, language, and social justice and what it means to be composer-in-residence for the Sphinx Virtuosi. They also take some time to focus on her work Duo for Violin and Cello, which Montgomery calls an “ode to friendship.” Benjamin Beilman, violin, and Nicholas Canellakis, cello, perform the piece, which was newly recorded for CMS this season.
Thursday, March 11, 7:30 pm
New Milestones 3: Scope
Works by Andreia Pinto Correia, Tōru Takemitsu, Jessie Montgomery and Alejandro Viñao
BENJAMIN BEILMAN, Violin
MATTHEW LIPMAN, Viola
NICHOLAS CANELLAKIS, Cello
TARA HELEN O'CONNOR, Flute
CHRISTOPHER FROH, Percussion
AYANO KATAOKA, Percussion
IAN DAVID ROSENBAUM, Percussion
Performances in this program have been newly recorded for this concert, except for those indicated with a double asterisk (**), which have been drawn from the CMS archive.
Andreia Pinto Correia: Três quadros de Vieira da Silva/Fragmentos Múltiplos for Violin and Viola (2009)
Benjamin Beilman, violin; Matthew Lipman, viola
**Tōru Takemitsu: Rain Tree for Percussion Trio (1981)
Ayano Kataoka, Christopher Froh, Ian David Rosenbaum, percussion
Jessie Montgomery: Duo for Violin and Cello (2018)
Benjamin Beilman, violin; Nicholas Canellakis, cello
Alejandro Viñao: Formas del Viento for Flute and Percussion (2008)
Dance of the Night Wind
Los pies del Viento
Tara Helen O'Connor, flute; Ian David Rosenbaum, percussion
Ian David Rosenbaum and Ayano Kataoka
Thursday, April 8, 7:30 pm
New Milestones 4: Time
Works by Malika Kishino, Patrick Castillo, Thomas Meadowcroft and Juri Seo
GILLES VONSATTEL, Piano
WU QIAN, Piano
ALEXANDER SITKOVETSKY, Violin
MATTHEW LIPMAN, Viola
BRENDAN KANE, Bass
AYANO KATAOKA, Percussion
IAN DAVID ROSENBAUM, Percussion
DAVID ADAMCYK, Electronic Sound
Performances in this program have been newly recorded for this concert, except for those indicated with a double asterisk (**), which have been drawn from the CMS archive.
Malika Kishino Monochromer Garten VI for Viola (2015)
Matthew Lipman, viola
**Patrick Castillo Incident for Violin and Piano (2015)
Alexander Sitkovetsky, violin; Wu Qian, piano
**Thomas Meadowcroft Cradles for Percussion Duo with Wurlitzer e-Piano (2013)
Ayano Kataoka, Ian David Rosenbaum, percussion; David Adamcyk, electronic sound
Juri Seo #three for Piano, Percussion, and Bass (2015)
Gilles Vonsattel, piano; Ian David Rosenbaum, percussion; Brendan Kane, bass
Wednesday, May 12, 6:30 pm
Composers in Focus 4: Joan Tower
Livestream conversation with Tower, violist Paul Neubauer and bassoonist Peter Kolkay
The hugely influential American composer, performer, conductor and educator Joan Tower talks with violist Paul Neubauer and bassoonist Peter Kolkay about her influences, her career – which now spans more than 60 years – and what the future holds. She also discusses in some detail three of her works: Simply Purple for Viola (2008), Purple Rush for Viola, and Red Maple and for Bassoon, Two Violins, Viola, and Cello (2013). Excerpts of the solo viola pieces are performed by Paul Neubauer; the ensemble for Red Maple is Peter Kolkay, bassoon, and the Calidore String Quartet (Jeffrey Myers, Ryan Meehan, violin; Jeremy Berry, viola; Estelle Choi, cello).
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