by Timothy Robson
György Kurtág, unlike his friend and fellow Hungarian György Ligeti, never softened his composing style. While his early works were more or less tonal, Ligeti’s style turned to modernism in the 1960s before evolving to become considerably more approachable by casual listeners. Kurtág’s severely modernist music is austerely beautiful and darkly dramatic, perhaps more to be admired than loved. [Read more…]
by Jarrett Hoffman
“I don’t know what my brain knows,” says filmmaker Kasumi in her 2015 TEDx talk Portrait of the Artist as a Young Meme. “One tiny stimulus fuels infinite branches, reactions, associations…if we were consciously aware of everything we came in contact with, we would explode, or go crazy. I became an artist…and technology is the hammer I use to open the universe of memory.”
On Tuesday, June 20 at 6:30 and 8:30 pm at Transformer Station, ChamberFest Cleveland will present a new perspective on Kafka Fragments, György Kurtág’s hour-long work for solo violin and voice. The piece draws on excerpts from the Prague-born author’s notebooks, diaries, and letters. Joining mezzo-soprano Lauren Eberwein and the tag-teaming duo of violinists Alexi Kenney and Yura Lee will be 2011 Guggenheim Fellow and Cleveland-based filmmaker Kasumi, whose digital imagery fragments were commissioned by the Festival.
by Mike Telin
To make it in the music business, you need to be able to capitalize on any opportunity that comes your way. Someone who has always been prepared to do exactly that is the versatile cellist Jeffrey Zeigler. A former member of the Kronos Quartet, Zeigler has premiered works by John Adams, Henryk Gorecki, Steve Reich, Terry Riley, and John Zorn. He has collaborated with a diverse roster of artists including Laurie Anderson, Vijay Iyer, Glenn Kotche, David Krakauer, Kimmo Pohjonen, and Tom Waits. On Wednesday, April 26 at 7:30 pm at Transformer Station, Zeigler will present a solo recital as part of the Cleveland Museum of Art’s Performing Arts Series.
Given Zeigler’s diverse career, what does he have in store for his Transformer Station concert? “I’m excited about the program that I’m bringing to Cleveland,” the cellist said during a recent telephone conversation. “It’s a bit eclectic and will include some technology and some good, old-fashioned solo cello pieces. I think the musical language has a really nice breadth to it, so I hope to take the audience on a sonic and emotional journey.”
by Daniel Hathaway
There may be more vocal techniques to explore in addition to the sighs, slides, hums, whistles, heterodyning, Spanish tongue-twisters, and keening that the four women of Quince Contemporary Vocal Ensemble produced with larynxes, mouths, lips, and teeth on Wednesday, March 22 at Transformer Station. But selections from works by eleven composers gave an ear-opening introduction to state-of-the-art vocal chamber music, a field that’s still evolving. [Read more…]
by Mike Telin
How do you describe a vocal ensemble made up of three sopranos and one mezzo that is dedicated to the commissioning and performance of contemporary vocal music? “If I only had ten seconds I’d say that we’re a string quartet for voices,” Amanda DeBoer said during a telephone interview. On Wednesday, March 22 at 7:30 pm, the Cleveland Museum of Art will present Quince Contemporary Vocal Ensemble (Amanda DeBoer, Elizabeth Pearse, and Carrie Henneman Shaw, sopranos, and Kayleigh Butcher, mezzo-soprano) at Transformer Station.
DeBoer said that when Quince was first formed, it was a battle to differentiate themselves from other a cappella groups. “We realized right away that there was not a lot of repertoire for unaccompanied treble voices. You have a lot of Medieval, Renaissance, and Baroque choral traditions, but we weren’t trying to be an early-music ensemble — we wanted to sing contemporary repertoire.” [Read more…]
by Mike Telin
Although Luciano Berio composed his Sequenza VIII for Carlo Chiarappa, it was the violinist’s student, Francesco D’Orazio, whose performance of the piece from memory ultimately left a lasting impression on the composer. On Friday, December 9 at Transformer Station, D’Orazio gave a stunning performance of that work and other contemporary Italian compositions for solo violin. [Read more…]
by Mike Telin
By the time Italian violinist Francesco D’Orazio decided to learn Luciano Berio’s Sequenza VIII, many violinists were already playing the challenging work. He knew he would need to bring a new approach to the piece if he were to stand any chance of impressing the composer. “So I decided to play it from memory,” D’Orazio said during a telephone conversation from Italy, “and nobody was doing that back then.”
Audiences will have the opportunity to hear the celebrated violinist perform Berio’s Sequenza VIII this week, when he makes his Cleveland debut on Friday, December 9 at 7:30 at Transformer Station as part of the Cleveland Museum of Art’s Performing Arts Series. The concert will feature contemporary Italian works for solo violin.
D’Orazio’s professional relationship with Berio dates back to when the violinist was studying with Carlo Chiarappa, for whom Sequenza VIII was written. [Read more…]
by Timothy Robson
When the young man at the admissions desk offered me earplugs for experimental electronic musician Otomo Yoshihide’s appearance at Transformer Station on Monday evening, May 9, I knew that this was not your run-of-the-mill concert. [Read more…]
by Timothy Robson
The Calder Quartet’s concert sponsored by the Cleveland Museum of Art on Thursday evening, March 31 was an extraordinary event both musically and in its setting. It took place in Cleveland’s Hingetown neighborhood in Transformer Station’s white-washed, post-industrial salon, a lofty cube with menacing chains and hooks dangling from the ceiling. The sold-out concert was wisely limited to about 40 people, surrounding the quartet, who were placed in the center of the room. This arrangement created an unusual intimacy between performers and audience, and made for an intense musical experience. [Read more…]
by Mike Telin
On Thursday, March 31 at 7:30 pm in Transformer Station, the Calder Quartet (Benjamin Jacobson and Andrew Bulbrook, violins, Jonathan Moerschel, viola, and Eric Byers, cello) will present the final concert of their two-year residency as part of the Cleveland Museum of Art’s Performing Arts Series. The performance coincides with the ensemble’s final residency activities at the Oberlin Conservatory.
“We’re excited to see everybody again,” violinist Andrew Bulbrook said during a telephone interview. “It’s been nice to have had both of these opportunities.”
Thursday’s sold-out concert will begin with Swedish composer Anders Hillborg’s Kongsgaard Variations, a work Bulbrook said appeals to people on many levels. “It’s a beautiful piece, and it references the Arietta theme from Beethoven’s final piano sonata. Years ago we went to Stockholm with Thomas Adès, and that’s when Anders was first put on our radar. I don’t think there are a lot of quartets touring his music in the U.S. at the moment.” [Read more…]