THE BOX IS EMPTY’S TOP PICKS:

Lindsay Kesselman /Kate Moroney – Einstein On The Beach. Barbican, London, England.  May 4-13, 2012.

 

Widely credited as one of the greatest artistic achievements of the 20th century, this rarely performed work launched its director Robert Wilson and composer Philip Glass to international success when it was first produced at the Metropolitan Opera in 1976.  It is still recognised as one of their greatest masterpieces. Now, nearly four decades after it was first performed and twenty years since its last production, Einstein on the Beach will be reconstructed bringing this ground-breaking work to new audiences and an entirely new generation.

Einstein on the Beach breaks all of the rules of conventional opera. Instead of a traditional orchestral arrangement, Glass chose to compose the work for the synthesisers, woodwinds and voices of the Philip Glass Ensemble. Non-narrative in form, the work uses a series of powerful recurrent images as its main storytelling device shown in juxtaposition with abstract dance sequences created by American choreographer Lucinda Childs. It is structured in four interconnected acts and divided by a series of short scenes or “knee plays”. Taking place over five hours, there is no intermission, however the audience is invited to enter and exit at liberty during the performance

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Nat Evans curates a program of West Coat composers’ new music.  The Chapel at The Good Shepherd Center, Seattle, WA.  May 5, 2012, 8:00 p.m.

On May 5th composer Nat Evans will present a program of recent West Coast music by Evans, Christopher Roberts, and Jim Fox that explores the aesthetics of nature and place.

Composer-performer Christopher Roberts will play Last Cicada Singing, his serene, entrancing suite of four pieces for solo qin, the zither-like traditional Chinese poet-scholar’s instrument, which he mastered while living in Taiwan. Recently released on the Cold Blue label, Last Cicada Singing is very unusual music—often mimicking nature’s sounds, as is the tradition with qin music, yet seeming at times Feldmanesque, at times almost delta-blues-like, too.

Nat Evans will present Still Life with Transmigration, a new work that delves into the very essence of place and sound by coupling field recordings, conch shells, and other natural objects with the sounds of live trombones.

Penned in the winter of 2011–12, Jim Fox’s The pleasure of being lost is a suite of five short piano pieces/meditations designed to be performed with or without a “tape” backdrop. This performance, its premiere in solo form, and will be played by new-music-champion pianist Cristina Valdes.

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HAPPENING THIS WEEK – 4/30/12-5/6/12 – Seattle

• Jeremiah Cawley/Nat Evans – Still Life.  The Chapel, Seattle, WA.  May 5, 2012, 8:00 p.m.
• Parnassus Project – Cafe Music.  Kirkland Women’s Club, Kirkland, WA.  May 5, 2012, 7:30 p.m.
• Table and Chairs – King Tears Bat Trip King Tears Bat Trip.  The Black Lodge Seattle, WA. May 5, 2012, 7:00 p.m.
• Maria Mannisto – Solo Recital.  Nordic Heritage Museum, Seattle, WA.  May 6, 2012 4:00 p.m.

HAPPENING THIS WEEK – 4/30/12-5/6/12 – Elsewhere

• Lindsay Kesselman /Kate Moroney – Einstein On The Beach. Barbican, London, England.  May 4-13, 2012.

HAPPENING  SOON

• Table and Chairs – IMP Fest IV. Hughes Penthouse Theatre, Seattle, WA. May 10-11, 2012, 7:30 p.m.
• Scott Gendel – Metamorphosis. eGARAGE, Long Island City, NY.  May 11, 2012, 7:30 p.m.
• Inverse Opera – Local Composers.  Second Story Rep, Redmond, WA.  May 11-12, 2012, 9:00 p.m.
• Seattle Modern Orchestra – Music On Paintings.  The Chapel at the Good Shepherd Center, Seattle, WA.  May 19, 8:00 p.m.
• Lauren Husting – Festival Brass. Bethlehem Lutheran Church, Minneapolis, MN.  May 20, 2012, 4:00.
• Kate Maroney – Music of Lisa Bielawa. The Stone, New York, NY.  May 24, 2012, 8:00.
• Seattle Metropolitan Chamber Orchestra – Music of Mozart, Haydn, Bach, and Mahler. Nordstrom Recital Hall, Seattle, WA. May 25, 2012, 8:00.
• Parnassus Project – Music at The Pink Door.  The Pink Door, Seattle, WA.  May 25, 2012, 9:00 p.m.
• Nat Evans – Cutting Wood (World Premier).  Seattle Pacific University, Seattle, WA.  May 29, 2012.
• Lindsay Kesselman – Premiers by Nathaniel Eschler and Steve Roens. Congregational Church of Weston, Weston, MA.  May 30, 2012.
• The Box Is Empty – Music by Van Der Aa, Gordon, Gendel, Evans, and Kirsten.  East Room at the Century Ballroom, Seattle, WA.  June 29, 2012, 8:00 p.m.
• Amy Beth Kirsten – L’ange Pâle with the Pittsburgh New Music Ensemble.  City Theater, Pittsburgh, PA.  July 13-14, 8:00 p.m.