Frustrating to be posting an ostensibly timely feature a day late, but life and work sometimes collude to prevent free time. On the other hand, curiously enough, I hadn't made note of any particular events for Monday or Tuesday — go figure. My agenda for The New York Times this week is lively and diverse, including two visits to the Ecstatic Music Festival and a first date with a familiar ensemble recently reconfigured.
Wednesday, March 19: Timo Andres, Gabriel Kahane, Ted Hearne, Becca Stevens & Nathan Koci
Merkin Concert Hall; 7:30pm; $25
Polymath pianist and composer Timo Andres gathers a small group of similarly multifarious artists for the world premiere of a new song cycle, Work Songs, based on texts by authors and poets who've written about their working processes. Further selections by Kahane, Hearne and Stevens round out the program, which repeats in St. Paul, MN, on Friday and Saturday.
Saturday, March 22: Colin Stetson and Brooklyn Youth Chorus
Merkin Concert Hall; 7:30pm; $25
Multi-instrumentalist Colin Stetson is widely celebrated for his rigorous yet songful unaccompanied saxophone pieces, but he's also proved adept at integrating his conception with those of song-based bands like Bon Iver and Arcade Fire. Here, he's presenting a new piece with the unfailingly bold Brooklyn Youth Chorus, and also leading an all-star avant-rock band in a rendition of Gorecki's Symphony No. 3. "What's it got to do with classical music?" one colleague demanded. Let's find out.
Sunday, March 23: Emerson String Quartet
Alice Tully Hall, Lincoln Center; 5pm; $45–$100
I've been privileged to hear the Emerson Quartet many times before, but never with cellist Paul Watkins, who joined the band last year. That alone would make this concert worthwhile, but hearing Shostakovich's Quartets Nos. 11 and 12 (with a Mendelssohn intermission) is a major plus.
Elsewhere and -when
Wednesday, March 19: Matt Ingalls at the Old Stone House of Brooklyn (more)
Wednesday, March 19: John Zorn: Masada, Book 3 at the Town Hall (more)
Thursday, March 20: Thomas Buckner with Bradyworks at Roulette (more)
Thursday, March 20: Mellissa Hughes at the Kaplan Penthouse, Lincoln Center (more)
Thursday, March 20: Object Collection at Trans-Pecos (more)
Thursday, March 20: thingNY plays Jonathan Zorn and Dave Ruder at the Firehouse Space (more)
Thursday, March 20: Jude Traxler, Joey Van Hassel, Sayun Chang and Stuart Sanders Smith play Sanders Smith at the Gershwin Hotel (more; repeats on Saturday at Spectrum)
Friday, March 21: Coppice and Anne Guthrie & Richard Kamerman at Issue Project Room (more)
Friday, March 21 and Saturday, March 22: Okkyung Lee at the Kitchen (more)
Friday, March 21: Gregory Oakes and Amir Khosrowpour play Louis Andriessen, Giacinto Scelsi, Andy Akiho, Reiko Füting and others at the Firehouse Space (more)
Saturday, March 22: Bruka Band plays Milica Paranosic at Gallery MC (more)
Saturday, March 22: Eco-Music Big Band plays Jay Rodriguez, Fred Ho, Cal Massey and Marie Incontrera at IBeam Brooklyn (more)
Saturday, March 22: Trevor Saint and Bill Solomon play Matt Sargent at the Firehouse Space (more)
Saturday, March 22: Jude Traxler, Joey Van Hassel, Sayun Chang and Stuart Sanders Smith play Sanders Smith at Spectrum (more)
I solemnly swear to post Agenda on time next Monday, since two of the week's most important, inviting events — this one and this one — both happen that night.
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