THE BOX IS EMPTY’S TOP PICKS:

Lindsay Kesselman – Louis Andriessen’s The New Maths and Amy Beth Kirsten’s L’ange Pâle with the Pittsburgh New Music Ensemble.  City Theater, Pittsburgh, PA.  July 13-14, 8:00 p.m..

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The incomparable Lindsay Kesselman  solos this week with Pittsburgh New Music in a program that includes Andriessen and Kirsten (two composers The Box Is Empty’s fans should know pretty well by now).

Here’s a little bit about Lindsay…

Lindsay Kesselman, an emerging American soprano, whose singing has been described as “exquisite,” is known for her “captivating” performances, “clear and expressive” tone, and exemplary musicianship. Kesselman is a passionate advocate for contemporary music in America,  commissioning and collaborating with a diverse array of composers. She has recently worked with such composers such as David Lang, Amy Kirsten, Stephen Hartke, Julia Wolfe, Kieren MacMillan, Michael Ippolito, Abbie Betinis, Anthony Brandt, and Karim Al-Zand.

Equally at home in operatic repertoire, Kesselman made her debut in Chicago’s Orchestra Hall singing Pamina in a scene from Die Zauberflote, and has appeared extensively in full productions across the country.  Her recent concert engagements include Carl Orff’s “Carmina Burana” and Ralph Vaughan Williams’ “Dona nobis pacem” with the Akron Symphony Orchestra (OH), Harbison’s “Mirabai Songs”, Pergolesi’s “Stabat Mater”, Samuel Barber’s “Knoxville:  Summer of 1915″ with the Cleveland Heights Chamber Orchestra, and an appearance with the Westmoreland Symphony Orchestra.  As a result of winning an Encore Grant from the American Composers’ Forum in 2008, she was presented in a recital of music by Abbie Betinis at The Schubert Club in St. Paul, MN, Rice University and Kent State University.

Here’s a little bit about Pittsburgh New Music…

The Pittsburgh New Music Ensemble (PNME) was founded by composer David Stock in 1976, and since then has commissioned and premiered over 200 works by composers including established masters like John Cage, Ellen Taaffe Zwilich, Michael Daugherty and David Lang, and emerging voices like Derek Bermel, Pierre Jalbert and Kevin Puts. Current Artistic Director Kevin Noe assumed that post in 2000 and implemented a new artistic vision that completely transformed the company. Today’s PNME is a fixed ensemble (flute, clarinet, violin, cello, piano, percussion and bass-baritone voice) of artists from around the world, chosen through a rigorous audition process, who perform a summer festival season at City Theatre in Pittsburgh’s vibrant South Side neighborhood. This format has resulted in radical improvements in critical response and an amazing 600% increase in audience since 2002.

Currently PNME produces 8 concerts each year in Pittsburgh featuring existing contemporary works and new commissions; produces educational programs that provide opportunities to increase knowledge and appreciation of contemporary music; produces recordings of contemporary music; and tours concerts of contemporary music both nationally and abroad.

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Table and Chairs – Andy Clausen/Riley Mulherkar Quintet.  Various Locations, Seattle, WA.  July 10-12, 2012

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Riley Mulherkar is a prodigy of the prestigious Garfield High School jazz program. Described by the New Yorker magazine as a “brilliant teen-aged trumpeter,” Mulherkar is already making a name for himself. He has been recognized by Downbeat Magazine and also received the “Ella Fitzgerald Outstanding Soloist” award at the 2010 Essentially Ellington Competition in New York City. He has shared the stage with the likes of Wynton Marsalis, Benny Golson, Jimmy Heath, Paquito D’Rivera and Roy Hargrove and has performed nationally and internationally at such festivals as Umbria Jazz Festival, Jazz a Vienne, Lionel Hampton Jazz Festival and the Reno Jazz Festival. In August,  Last summer, Riley joined fellow Julliard students for a tour of Brazil as part of Julliard’s Student Outreach program.

Trombonist/composer Andy Clausen has enjoyed an equally impressive trajectory. He rose through the ranks of the acclaimed Roosevelt High School jazz program. At just 14 years of age, Andy was already writing original compositions and leading his own sextet, which played throughout the Seattle area. In 2009, he was named as the “Emerging Artist of the Year” by Earshot Jazz and in that same year, also won the Gerald Wilson Award for Jazz Composition from the Monterey Jazz Festival. The Andy Clausen Large Ensemble has also garnered high praise; the New York Times hailed the band as “sleek, dynamic large group jazz.”  Andy has performed in across the U.S. as well as in Italy, France, Austria, Slovenia and Croatia. His compositions have been performed by Winton Marsalis and recorded by Cuong Vu.

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HAPPENING THIS WEEK – 7/9/12-7/15/12 Seattle:

• Table and Chairs – Andy Clausen/Riley Mulherkar Quintet.  Various Locations, Seattle, WA.  July 10-12, 2012
• Nat Evans – Sound installation in the online gallery Violet Strays.  July 13-19, 2012.

HAPPENING THIS WEEK – 7/9/12-7/15/12 Elsewhere:

• Evan Smith – Solo Recital at the World Saxophone Congress XVI, St. Andrews, Scotland.  July 11, 2012, 9:30 a.m..
• Lindsay Kesselman – Louis Andriessen’s The New Maths and Amy Beth Kirsten’s L’ange Pâle with the Pittsburgh New Music Ensemble.  City Theater, Pittsburgh, PA.  July 13-14, 8:00 p.m..

HAPPENING SOON:

• Nat Evans – Sound installation in the online gallery Violet Strays.  July 13-19, 2012.
• Table and Chairs – Neil Welch & John Teske.  Ravenna Park, Seattle, WA.  July 20, 2012, 7:00 p.m..
• Nat Evans – Blue Hour.  Greenlake, Seattle, WA..  July 28, 2012.  Mt. Tabor Park, Portland, OR.  August 4, 2012.
• Parnassus Project – Music at Kirkland Summerfest.  Downtown Kirkland, WA.  August 10, 2012, 6:00-7:00 p.m..
• Table and Chairs – Operation ID.  Seattle Center, Seattle, WA.  September 8, 2012, 12:00 p.m..
• Nat Evans – Blue Hour.  Big Car, Indianapolis, IN.  September 15, 2012.
• Lindsay Kesselman/Kate Moroney – Einstein on the Beach.  Opera House, Brooklyn, NY.  September 10-24, 2012.
• Lindsay Kesselman – Premiere of a new works by Sarah Gibson and Amy Beth Kirsten.  USC, Los Angeles, CA.  November 16-18, 2012.