Night After Night

Playlist, with postscript.

Roger Sessions - Symphonies Nos. 4 & 5 - Columbus Symphony Orchestra/Christian Badea (New World)

Roger Sessions - Symphonies Nos. 6, 7 & 9 - American Composers Orchestra/Dennis Russell Davies (Argo)

Roger Sessions - Symphony No. 8 - American Symphony Orchestra/Leon Botstein (New World)

Beat Furrer - Aer - Trio Catch; ...cold and calm and moving - ensemble proton bern; Lied - Maximilian Haft, Samuel Fried; auf tönernen füssen - Mira Tscherne, Eva Furrer; Studie - Nicolas Hodges (Musiques Suisses)

Jürg Frey - Mémoire, horizon - Konus Quartett; Extended Circular Music No. 1; Extended Circular Music No. 2; Extended Circular Music No. 5; Extended Circular Music No. 6; Extended Circular Music No. 3; Extended Circular Music No. 7 - Konus Quartett, Mondrian Ensemble; Architektur der Empfindungen - Mondrian Ensemble (Musiques Suisses)

King Crimson - In the Court of the Crimson King (DGM)

Jason Lescalleet - This Is What I Do, Vol. 1 (Glistening Examples)

nmperign/Jason Lescalleet - Love Me Two Times (Sedimental)

Günter Müller - Cym_Bowl (Mikroton)

King Crimson - In the Wake of Poseidon (DGM)

King Crimson - Lizard (DGM)

William Walton - Improvisations on an Impromptu of Benjamin Britten; Concerto for Cello and Orchestra; Symphony No. 2 - Paul Watkins, BBC Symphony Orchestra/Edward Gardner (Chandos)

Robert Schumann - Kreisleriana (first edition); Elliott Carter - Night Fantasies; Igor Stravinsky - Trois mouvements de Pétrouchka - Eric Huebner (New Focus)

Jeremy Bible vs. Mousecop - Jeremy Bible vs. Mousecop (Hausu Mountain < Bandcamp)

Grasshopper - Dark Sabbath: Symbols of Evil (Hausu Mountain < Bandcamp)

Allison Miranda - "Follow Me" (Soundcloud)*

* It's possible that Allison Miranda is not the actual or accurate name of the young woman who recorded and posted "Follow Me," embedded and linked above. Her Soundcloud handle is aliespirituzomg. On YouTube she posts as jhonnbalance. Until 15 minutes ago, I'd never encountered her. But I'm fascinated by this post on her blog, which might be called Shadow Grounds, and which I found by following links from a Jürg Frey clip she posted on YouTube.

all i listened to was Michael Pisaro (Continuum Unbound), Toshiya Tsunoda (Detour with Manfred Werder), Morton Feldman (Two Pianos), and members of the collective Wandelweiser. read works of John Cage (Silence). the most important thing i have read in recent times is this: Time's Underground. became inspired then closed my eyes.

Allison, if you see this, I swear that I'm not a stalker; I really, truly like your piece. (And your "Michael Pisaro Is God" tag, too.)

The Nile Project at Tsai Performance Center, March 27, 2015

The Nile Project, by Kayana Szymczak for the Boston Globe

The Nile Project at Tsai Performance Center, March 27, 2015
Boston Globe
March 30, 2015

I'm reasonably sure that I didn't use the word fad when I filed this review, since that term doesn't accurately portray my feelings about artistic and cultural fusion, which can be a powerful and progressive force. But I can live with the rest of this non-specialist's view of a performance by The Nile Project: a dozen fine musicians who represent the 11 nations of Africa's Nile Basin, and a collective whose goals extend well past singing in perfect harmony.

For more background on the Project, its workshops, and its aspirations, check out the excellent preview that I tapped Siddhartha Mitter to write for the Globe, here.

Some thoughts on Symphomania.

So, Andrew Norman's "Play" might be the best orchestral work that the 21st century has seen thus far

— Will Robin (@seatedovation) December 20, 2014

We have Andrew Norman to thank, and Will Robin, too, for Symphomania, the 24-hour marathon of 21st-century orchestral music that web radio station Q2 Music streamed on March 24 and repeated on the 28th. And, no question about it, mighty thanks and admiration are due.

Norman's part was to compose Play, a 47-minute cycle commissioned by Boston Modern Orchestra Project in 2013. A recording was issued on that ensemble's label, BMOP/sound, late last year.

It's a brilliant piece, a major addition to the repertoire. Hearing it compelled Robin – a diligent scholar, a compelling blogger, a social-media adept, and an invaluable contributor to the Arts & Leisure rotation at The New York Times – to sing the work's praises on Twitter. His endorsement earned a quick outpouring of retweets and favorites, suggesting widespread agreement.

The response caused Robin to muse further.

What are the best large-scale orchestral works of this century? As in, 30+ minutes? (And not opera)

— Will Robin (@seatedovation) December 20, 2014

Twitter promptly responded in great gushes, churning up an invaluable tide of recommendations that Robin summarized with a Storify post, "Towards a 21st century orchestral canon."

In January, I was contacted by Alex Ambrose, intrepid managing producer of Q2, who invited me to participate among a gathering of 21st-century music practitioners and observers in Symphomania, a 24-hour webcast based on Robin's Norman invasion of Twitter and Storify. Ambrose asked if I would speak about 21st century orchestral music in general, and hold up a single piece as exemplary.

Given that I'm a huge Q2 fan, and also eager to keep myself engaged in the Cultural Conversation from my new home base, I immediately assented. But I asked for an important clarification – one having to do with an issue that I'd been mulling for quite some time.

The pieces that came to mind instantly: In Vain, by Georg Friedrich Haas. Cryosphere, by Rand Steiger. Penelope, by Sarah Kirkland Snider. Jagden und formen, by Wolfgang Rihm. Akrostichon-Wortspiel, by Unsuk Chin. Schnee, by Hans Abrahamsen. Hrim, by Anna Thorvaldsdottir. For Lou Harrison, by John Luther Adams. torsion: transparent variation, by Olga Neuwirth. La sette chiese, by Bruno Mantovani.

None of which was composed for "Full Blown Symphony Orchestra," which was what Ambrose had stipulated when I inquired. (It's worth noting that Robin had not made this stipulation.)

In thinking about the new pieces I've heard in this young century that really made an impact on me – that struck me as moving the discourse forward in some fundamental way, that broke new ground, that demonstrated something that we hadn't heard before – none of the music that jostled to the head of my personal queue had been composed for the orchestra, per se.

Which is not to suggest that I hadn't heard any worthy orchestral music in the 21st century – that would be a ridiculous claim. On the Transmigration of Souls by John Adams, for one, still guts me. But I guess that I thought of Adams, perhaps wrongly, as being a composer whose style and substance solidified during the late 20th century, and entered the common discourse at that time.

Likewise, works by some of the composers whose music I love best – Harrison Birtwistle, John Corigliano, Christopher Rouse – didn't cross my mind, for feeling more like an extension of an established career than something of this century. I was less interested in a work's calendar date than in a sense that it was going to some place we hadn't been before. (I recognize that this is a pedantic and perhaps specious argument, since I know that among the pieces I cite as "new" are some that could be deemed nothing of the sort by colleagues and musicians whose views I know and respect.)

In the end, I selected a different piece by Anna Thorvaldsdottir, Aeriality, for its keen mix of tradition and innovation, and for the sense of inevitability that I get from all of her strongest pieces. (Become Ocean, the Pulitzer Prize-winning piece by John Luther Adams, was spoken for already; still, my vote would not have varied.)

In my rambling Q2 interview – an edited portion of which is archived here, among the humbling likes of David Robertson, Susanna Mälkki, Gil Rose, Robert Spano, Ludovic Morlot, and Alex Ross – I mentioned that most of the 21st-century non-chamber music I'd pondered did not meet the "Full Blown Symphony Orchestra" criterion.

The pieces I held in highest esteem tended to be championed by groups called Alarm Will Sound, Signal, Contemporaneous, and wild Up, or whose names included terms like "sinfonietta" and "ensemble" and "project" – as in Boston Modern Orchestra Project, responsible for Norman's Play, and, as it happened, a number of other important and worthy pieces that would be included in Symphomania.

Here, courtesy of Schott Music, is the instrumentation for Play:

2(2.pic).2.2.2(2.cbsn)-4.3.2ttbn.1btbn.1-3perc(I. vib, 4bng, 5tempbl, 3splash cym, 5tin cans, kick d, brake d, washboard, slapstick; II. crot, 5log d, 4opera gongs, 4tom-t [sm], kick d, spring coil, tri, guiro, tam-t [lg], slapstick; III. xyl, 4wdbl, 5cow bell, h.h, kick d, ratchet, slapstick, b.d)-pno-str(12.10.8.6.4)

Does an ensemble with a 40-member string section qualify as a "Full Blown Symphony Orchestra," in the modern post-MahlerBerg sense? Actually, it's slightly smaller than the 44 players that Our Friend Wikipedia cites as the standard for the Classical era. Big, blown implements and percussion phalanx aside, Norman's orchestra is closer to Beethoven's than to Mahler's.

I'm splitting hairs about a sensational composition that provided an exciting premise for a wholly remarkable, repeatedly illuminating webcast, and I absolutely do not mean to throw shade on the proceedings.

But what I tried to express in my Q2 interview – and ended up sort of raising by glancing implication in the edit that aired – is my deeply held skepticism about the orchestra being a fundamental aim, a realistic aspiration, or even a desirable goal among many of today's most compelling composers.

How many of your favorite living composers – how many living composers, period – will be invited to write a major orchestral work, let alone one that stands a chance of being widely heard, circulated via recording, and repeated?

Not many. And far fewer in the United States, I'd reckon, than in Europe, where municipal and national funding for the arts has created a more viable playing field than exists here, where most orchestras have neither the money nor the time to invest in music of the present day to any meaningful extent – nor, in some cases at least, an audience amenable to support the effort.

Among the important compositions that Europe produces, too few reach these shores, and those that do, usually years late. Beyond those points are well-documented disparities residing in issues like gender and race, as well as, presumably, a subtle politics of taste among the performing rank and file.

As I said before, chewing tenaciously on this particular sock isn't new for me. Presently residing in a cardboard moving box somewhere is a cassette tape that contains an interview I once conducted with Brad Lubman, a founder of Signal and a noted new-music conductor, whose then-new debut CD as a composer (Insomniac, Tzadik Records, 2005) included no orchestral music.

I forget the actual topic of our discussion now, but in passing, and in light of his new CD, I asked Brad whether the orchestra was still useful or meaningful to the contemporary composer. Alas, his answer ended up on the cutting-room floor. (I really should try to find that tape.)

Very much on my mind at that time was a downsizing of the American Composers Orchestra from "Full Blown Symphony Orchestra" to chamber band, a reduction that now seems permanent. The diminution of this proud and important ensemble infuriated me: a slight to composers past, present, and future, prompted by vulgar economics, or so it appeared. But was it also a sign of the times, a tacit admission that music itself had moved on?

The Symphomania webcast proved resoundingly that excellent pieces are still being written for the orchestra – a claim that remains accurate even if you remove BMOP's contribution entirely. But as much as I enjoyed the hours that I was able to take in, and as much as I regret not being able to hear the whole thing (as if!), I can't say that my view of a significant decline in the orchestra's primacy as a viable vehicle for new music was changed.

You could even argue that BMOP's name cedes the point: a "project" intended to address a dearth of opportunity for the creation of new large-ensemble repertoire, and undertaken as well to document shadowy corners and creches of the existing canon.

Those are noble, necessary goals. But there is something terribly sad about the idea that, for most major American orchestras, certainly, generating new music can seem to be no more than a byproduct, a diversion from cash-beholden business as usual.

A few more observations gleaned from the process of learning about Symphomania, exploring its topical terrain, preparing to talk about it on Q2, and listening to the results:

1. Forget the clickbait lists about which orchestras is the best in the world; it's time we all acknowledge that the SWR Sinfonieorchester Baden-Baden und Freiburg might well be the most important orchestra in the entire world, both for the overwhelming amount of new music it plays, and also for the diligence, rigor, and excellence with which it handles its job.

2. Jerusalem (after Blake), by the 49-year-old Luxembourg-born Australian composer George Lentz, was the marathon's jaw-dropping discovery; no surprise that it came via the intrepid David Robertson, ever among the top-rank American conductors who doggedly insist on flying a new-music flag. No question that 58 strings meet the "Full Blown Symphony Orchestra" requirement. The back story also proved compelling: Lentz's stirring piece was prompted by a tragic loss of lives.

3. Will Robin did an excellent job of curating 24 hours of contemporary orchestral music, not only covering an admirable span of ages, styles, and personal demographics, but also inventing some fascinating juxtapositions. Take a look at the complete playlist – I know that I was not the only one to note the sequence that meaningfully conjoined Martin Smolka, Nico Muhly, Bernhard Gander, and David Lang.

Finally, here is a short and admittedly personal list of remarkable 21st-century orchestral pieces that I discovered (or rediscovered) as a result of scouring the Web for the sake of Symphomania, or via links posted by friends and colleagues on social media as a result of the #21cOrch hashtag initiative that Q2 coordinated – many of which did not make the final tally, and, sadly, few of which I anticipate having a chance to hear performed live. In that, I would love to be proved wrong.

Peter Ablinger - Drei Minuten für Orchester (from Altar) - SWR Sinfonieorchester Baden-Baden und Freiburg/Sylvain Cambreling (YouTube)

Hans Abrahamsen - Let me tell you - Barbara Hannigan, Berlin Philharmonic/Andris Nelsons (Berliner Philharmoniker Digital Concert Hall < YouTube sample)

Julian Anderson - Eden - City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra/Martyn Brabbins; Imagin'd Corners - City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra/Sakari Oramo (NMC)

Mark Andre- ...auf... III - SWR Sinfonieorchester Baden-Baden und Freiburg/Sylvain Cambreling (NEOS Music < YouTube 1, 2)

Georg Friedrich Haas - Limited Approximations - Pi-hsien Chen, Christoph Grund, Florian Hoelscher, Akiko Okabe, Sven Thomas Kiebler, Julia Vogelsänger, SWR Sinfonieorchester Baden-Baden und Freiburg/Sylvain Cambreling (NEOS Music < YouTube)

Georg Friedrich Haas - 7 Klangräume (with Mozart, Requiem) - Genia Kuhmeier, Anton Holzapfel, Salzburger Bachchor, Mozarteum Orchestra of Salzburg/Ivor Bolton (YouTube)

Anders Hillborg - Clarinet Concerto ("Peacock Tales") - Martin Fröst, Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra/Esa-Pekka Salonen (Bis)

Helmut Lachenmann - Schreiben - London Sinfonietta/Brad Lubman (YouTube)

Bernhard Lang - DW 8 - Dieter Kovacic, Marina Rosenfeld, Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra/Peter Rundel (col legno < YouTube)

Isabel Mundry - Ich und Du - Thomas Larcher, SWR Sinfonieorchester Baden-Baden und Freiburg/Pierre Boulez (NEOS Music < YouTube)

Isabel Mundry - Penelopes Atem - Salome Kammer, Teodoro Anzellotti, SWR Sinfonieorchester Baden-Baden und Freiburg/Sylvain Cambreling (NEOS Music < YouTube)

Tristan Murail - Le Désenchantement du monde - Pierre-Laurent Aimard, New York Philharmonic/David Robertson (New York Philharmonic broadcast)

Tristan Murail - Les sept paroles - Netherlands Radio Orchestra and Chorus/Marin Alsop (YouTube)

Brice Pauset - Symphonie IV "Der Geograph" - Nicolas Hodges, SWR Sinfonieorchester Baden-Baden und Freiburg/Susanna Mälkki (YouTube)

Brice Pauset - Symphonie V "Die Tänzerin" - SWR Sinfonieorchester Baden-Baden und Freiburg/Sylvain Cambreling (NEOS Music < YouTube)

Enno Poppe - Keilschrift - SWR Sinfonieorchester Baden-Baden und Freiburg/Sylvain Cambreling (NEOS Music < YouTube 1, 2)

Rebecca Saunders - Miniata - Teodoro Anzellotti, Nicolas Hodges, SWR Vokalensemble Stuttgart, SWR Sinfonieorchester Baden-Baden und Freiburg/Hans Zender (Kairos < YouTube)

Rebecca Saunders - still - Carolin Widmann, BBC Symphony Orchestra/Lionel Bringuier (YouTube)

Michel van der Aa - Violin Concerto - Janine Jansen, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra/Vladimir Jurowski (YouTube)

Akiko Yamane - Dots Collection No. 6 - New Japan Philharmonic/Kazumasa Watanabe (YouTube)

Playlist.

A Winged Victory for the Sullen - A Winged Victory for the Sullen (Kranky)

King Crimson - Carnegie-Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA, Oct. 31, 1981 (DGMLive)

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart - Violin Concerto No. 5 in A (K. 319); Henri Vieuxtemps - Violin Concerto No. 4 in D minor - Hilary Hahn, Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie/Paavo Järvi (Deutsche Grammophon)

Thomas Meadowcroft - Walkman Antiquarian; Marianthi Papalexandri-Alexandri - Quartet for Motors and Resonant Bodies; Christopher Trapani - Writing Against Time - Yarn/Wire (Bandcamp)

Bob Bellerue - Damned Piano (Anarchymoon Recordings < Bandcamp)

Olivia Block - Karren (Sedimental)

"Symphomania: 24 Hours with the 21st Century Orchestra" (Q2 webcast)

King Crimson - Teatro Smeraldo, Milan, Italy, June 20, 2003 (DGMLive)

Elder - Lore (Armageddon Shop < Bandcamp)

Antonio Vivaldi - L'incoronazione di Dario - Anders Dahlin, Sara Mingardo, Delphine Galou, Riccardo Novaro, Roberta Mameli, Lucia Cirillo, Accademia Bizantina/Ottavio Dantone (Naïve)

Alex Cobb - Chantepleure (Students of Decay)

Loren Connors - Airs (Recital)

A.F. Jones & Derek Rogers - Repetend, Pallalax (Glistening Examples < Bandcamp)

King Crimson - Supper Club, New York, NY, November 12, 2000 (DGMLive)

Vijay Iyer Trio - Break Stuff (ECM)

Caravan - In the Land of Grey and Pink (Deram < YouTube)

Hawkwind - Warrior at the Edge of Time (Atomhenge < YouTube)

Olivier Messiaen - Chronochromie; La Ville d'en haut; Et exspecto resurrectionem mortuorum - Cleveland Orchestra/Pierre Boulez (Deutsche Grammophon)

Pentangle - The Pentangle (Transatlantic)

Elliott Carter - Clarinet Concerto - Michael Collins, London Sinfonietta/Oliver Knussen (Deutsche Grammophon)

Roger Sessions - Symphony No. 1 - Japan Philharmonic Orchestra/Akeo Watanabe; Symphony No. 2 - New York Philharmonic/Dmitri Mitropoulos; Symphony No. 3 - Royal Philharmonic Orchestra/Igor Buketoff (CRI/New World)

Music of Pierluigi Billone at Boston University, March 19-20, 2015

Samuel Dunscombe and Curt Miller, by Sean Procter/Boston Globe

Music of Pierluigi Billone at Boston University, March 19-20, 2015
Boston Globe
March 23, 2015

Two concerts featuring compositions by the Italian-born, Vienna-based composer Pierluigi Billone, whose name and music I first encountered because of the Talea Ensemble. How often have I spoken or written that particular phrase now, I wonder? In this case, I saw Talea's Alex Lipowski perform Billone's Mani.Matta in a concert at the Austrian Cultural Forum in New York City, which I reviewed for The New York Times a little more than a year ago.

Talea was originally supposed to perform at Boston University as part of a Billone residency that started on March 16 and runs through April 1. Plans changed, alas, but the BU programming is still quite rich. Plus, Talea will now play its own Billone program (including Mani.Matta, plus a world premiere and a U.S. premiere) at Columbia University's Italian Academy on April 8, and Boston will still see Talea on May 8 at the Institute of Contemporary Art/Boston, where it will perform Happy End by Georges Aperghis. And Lipowski still served as an expert witness in David G. Weininger's excellent Boston Globe preview of the BU residency.

Almost invariably when I read my reviews in print, I come upon something that I regret, and that's true in this case. No, it's not the invocation of Shakespeare, Wagner, Beckett, and Herriman, all of which suited how those concerts left me feeling.

Rather, I regret that I forgot to mention something I discussed briefly on Friday night with Joshua Fineberg, the founding director of the Boston University Center for New Music and the organizer of the Billone residency: namely, that no matter how many times you might listen to a recording of a Billone composition like ITI. KE. MI. beforehand, nothing can prepare you adequately for the overwhelming barrage of sensation that a live encounter brings on. There's just something so tactile, so present, so vulnerable, so very human about the sensation of witnessing a performance like the one that Marco Fusi gave on Thursday...humbling is among the words that comes to mind.

As I state at the end of the review, there are two more concerts remaining in Billone's residency: one by bassoonist Christopher Watford on Tuesday night, and one by the ensemble [sound icon] on April 1, both at BU's College of Fine Arts Concert Hall (855 Commonwealth Ave.) Here's a bit of Watford playing Billone to provide incentive.

New Music Boston: April 2015

Tania León, by Niels Leiser

NEW MUSIC BOSTON
April 2015

(Updated March 22)

1

Pierluigi Billone residency
Verticale Muto; Mani. Matta
Mike Williams, percussion; [sound icon]
College of Fine Arts Concert Hall, Boston University, 855 Commonwealth Ave., Boston
8 p.m.
Free admission
More information

Philip Glass
Words Without Music: A Conversation with Philip Glass
Berklee Performance Center, 136 Massachusetts Ave., Boston
7 p.m.
$30, includes signed copy of new Glass memoir
More information

NEC Philharmonia
Aaron Jay Kernis, Too Hot Toccata; plus works by Tchaikovsky and Sibelius
Rainer Crosett, cello; Hugh Wolff, conductor
Jordan Hall, New England Conservatory, Boston
8 p.m.
Free admission
More information

2

Boston Trio
John Musto, Trio for Piano and Strings; plus works by Rachmaninoff and Brahms
Rainer Crosett, cello; Hugh Wolff, conductor
Jordan Hall, New England Conservatory, Boston
7 p.m.
Free admission
More information

Carson Cooman
James Woodman, Four Versets and a Canzona (Mixolydian) (world premiere); Marco Lo Muscio, Trittico Toscano — Homage to Pienza (world premiere); plus music by Domenico Zipoli
Adolphus Busch Hall, Harvard University, Cambridge
12:15 p.m.
Free admission
More information

Marianne Nowottny & Barry Schwabsky
Calderwood Hall, Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, 280 The Fenway, Boston
7 p.m.
$15, seniors $12, students $5, members and children 7–17 free
More information

4

Harvard Composers Association
Amir Bitran, Vermilion; Auburn Lee, The Swallow's Tail; Stella Fiorenzoli, The Truth Depends on a Walk; Ben Weatherfield, The Secret Society of Loss; Brandon Snyder, (untitled)
Dinosaur Annex
John Knowles Paine Concert Hall, Harvard University, Cambridge
7 p.m.
Free admission
More information

Benjamin Nelson + Anne-F. Jacques + LAN
Presented by Non-Event
Washington Street Arts, 321D Washington St., Somerville
8 p.m.
$10 suggested donation
More information

7

NEC Percussion Ensemble
Leonard Bernstein, Halil; Steve Reich, Six Marimbas; Nebojsa Zivkovic, Trio per Uno; Larry Wallach, Winter Music (world premiere)
Paula Robison, flute; Deborah De Wolff Emory, piano; Frank Epstein, conductor
Jordan Hall, New England Conservatory, Boston
8 p.m.
Free admission
More information

8

Dublin Guitar Quartet
Presented by Celebrity Series of Boston
Philip Glass, String Quartet No. 2 “Company”; Leo Brouwer, Cuban Landscape with Rumba; Urmas Sisask, Songs in Honour of the Virgin Mary; Nikita Koshkin, Changing the Guard; William Kanengiser: Gongan; Philip Glass: String Quartet No. 3 “Mishima”; John Tavener, The Lamb; Cyrillus Kreek, Maga, maga Matsikene; György Ligeti, Musica Ricercata
Pickman Hall, Longy School of Music of Bard College, 27 Garden St., Cambridge
8 p.m.
$20 and up
More information

Robert Aiki Aubrey Lowe + Greg Davis
Presented by Non-Event
Metropolitan Waterworks Museum, 2450 Beacon St., Boston
7 p.m.
$15, students and members $10
Limited parking
More information

9

Boston Symphony Orchestra
Gunther Schuller, Dreamscape; plus works by Mozart and Richard Strauss
Richard Goode, piano; Andris Nelsons, conductor
Symphony Hall, 301 Massachusetts Ave., Boston
8 p.m.
$36-$135
More information

10

Boston Artists Ensemble
Matthew Aucoin, Trio (world premiere); with works by Mozart and Brahms
Hamilton House, 9 Chestnut St., Salem
8 p.m.
$27, seniors $24, students $10
More information

Boston Symphony Orchestra
Gunther Schuller, Dreamscape; plus works by Mozart and Richard Strauss
Richard Goode, piano; Andris Nelsons, conductor
Symphony Hall, 301 Massachusetts Ave., Boston
8 p.m.
$36-$135
More information

HC Chamber Players
Vittorio Rieti, Triptych for Two Harpsichords; Sonata Breve for Violin and Harpsichord; Victor Kalabis, Sonata for Violin and Harpsichord, additional works by Israeli composers
Brooks Concert Hall, College of the Holy Cross, 1 College St., Worchester
8 p.m.
Free admission
More information

Parker Quartet
Augusta Read Thomas, Helix Spirals (premiere); plus works by Felix Mendelssohn and Erwin Schulhoff
John Knowles Paine Concert Hall, Harvard University, Cambridge
8 p.m.
Free admission, but tickets required
More information

11

Boston Musica Viva
Shirish Korde, Kala-Cakra (Cycles of Time) (world premiere); Chou Wen-chung, Ode to the Eternal Pine; Franco Donatoni, Arpege; Sebastian Currier, Whispers
Gitanjali Mathur, soprano; Wu Tong, sheng and vocalist; Sandeep Das, tabla
Pickman Hall, Longy School of Music of Bard College, 27 Garden St., Cambridge
8 p.m.
$30, seniors $25, students and children $10
More information

Boston Symphony Orchestra
Gunther Schuller, Dreamscape; plus works by Mozart and Richard Strauss
Richard Goode, piano; Andris Nelsons, conductor
Symphony Hall, 301 Massachusetts Ave., Boston
8 p.m.
$37-$145
More information

12

Boston Artists Ensemble
Matthew Aucoin, Trio; with works by Mozart and Brahms
Wilson Chapel, Andover Newton Theological School, 234 Herrick Rd., Newton
3 p.m.
$27, seniors $24, students $10
More information

Peggy Pearson with the Apple Hill Quartet
James Primosch, Oboe Quartet (world premiere); plus works by Haydn and Brahms
Unitarian Universalist Church, 26 Pleasant St., Newburyport
4 p.m.
$20 suggested donation, seniors $10, students and children free
More information

14

Zackery Belanger
Presented by Non-Event
Café Fixe, 1642 Beacon St., Brookline
8 p.m.
$5
More information

Boston Symphony Orchestra
Gunther Schuller, Dreamscape; plus works by Mozart and Richard Strauss
Richard Goode, piano; Andris Nelsons, conductor
Symphony Hall, 301 Massachusetts Ave., Boston
8 p.m.
$36-$135
More information

NEC Wind Ensemble + NEC Symphonic Winds
Friedrich Gulda, Concerto for Cello; Michael Gandolfi, Winding Up, Winding Down: Concerto for Clarinet and Wind Ensemble; Stanislaw Skrowaczewski, Music for Winds; Ingolf Dahl, Concerto for Alto Saxophone; plus music by Mendelssohn
Kenny Lee, cello; Douglas Monroe, clarinet; Samuel Meyer, alto saxophone; William Drury, Charles Peltz, Yi Yang, conductors
Jordan Hall, New England Conservatory, Boston
7 p.m.
Free admission
More information

15

Betsy Schramm
CD release concert: Arrays of Light; Restless Airs; Light Excelleth Darkness; Luminous Duo; Suite for Flugelhorn; Transformations
Mark Ponzo and Terry Everson, trumpets; JeongSoo Kim, piano
Tsai Performance Center, Boston University, 685 Commonwealth Ave., Boston
8 p.m.
Free admission
More information

16

Tania León
Interview with Alejandro Madrid
Farkas Hall Studio, 10-12 Holyoke St., Cambridge
4 p.m.
Free admission
More information

17

Boston Conservatory Sinfonietta
John Adams, Chamber Symphony; David Vess, Rift; plus music by Stravinsky
Eric Hewitt, conductor
Boston Conservatory, 132 Ipswich St., Boston
8 p.m.
Free admission
More information

Fromm Players at Harvard
Voces de America Latina
Carlos Iturralde, Cupid's Deeds; Hilda Paredes, Seed of Time; Marisol Jimenez, Caro Cibus; Gabriela Ortiz, Huitzitl Estudio Tongolele; Pozzi Escot, Jubiliation; Tania León, Toque
International Contemporary Ensemble
John Knowles Paine Concert Hall, Harvard University, Cambridge
8 p.m.
Free admission
More information

The Shakespeare Concerts
Joseph Summer, The Tempest (world premiere)
Christian Van Horn, bass-baritone (Prospero); Stefan Lano, conductor
Somerville Theatre, 55 Davis Square, Somerville
8 p.m.
$25-$55
More information

18

A Far Cry
Noam Elkies, Allegro Troppo; plus works by Farina, Boccherini, Mozart, and Hindemith
St. John's Church, Revere St. & Roanoke Ave. Jamaica Plain
4 p.m.
$15
More information

Fromm Players at Harvard
Voces de America Latina
Felipe Lara, Tiento; Leo Brouwer, Parabola; Julio Estrada, Memorias para teclado; Mario Davidovsky, Divertimento No. 8 "Ambiguous Symmetries; Marcos Balter, Codex Seraphinianus; Tania León, Indigena
International Contemporary Ensemble
John Knowles Paine Concert Hall, Harvard University, Cambridge
8 p.m.
Free admission
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Terry Riley 80th Birthday Concert
Poppy Nogood and the Phantom Band (all-live arrangement by Evan Ziporyn); White Space Conflict; new compositions by Keeril Makan, Elena Ruehr, Christine Southworth, and others
Terry Riley, Eviyan, Gamelan Galak Tika, Sarah Cahill, Wallace Halladay and the University of Toronto Saxophone Ensemble, Eliot Gategno
Kresge Auditorium, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 48 Massachusetts Ave., Cambridge
7 p.m.
$20; seniors, students, and MIT alumni $10; MIT students, faculty, and staff free
More information

19

A Far Cry
Noam Elkies, Allegro Troppo; plus works by Farina, Boccherini, Mozart, and Hindemith
Calderwood Hall, Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, 280 The Fenway, Boston
1:30 p.m.
$27, seniors $24, members $17, students and children 7–17 $12
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Boston Chamber Music Society
Pierre Jalbert, Street Antiphons for Clarinet, Violin, Cello, and Piano; plus works by Schubert and Brahms
Sanders Theatre, Harvard University, Cambridge
7:30 p.m.
$8-$56
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Chameleon Arts Ensemble of Boston
Steven Stucky, Allegretto quasi Andantino (Schubert Dream); plus works by Schubert, Debussy, and Stravinsky
Gloria Chien & Elizabeth Schumann, piano four-hands
Goethe-Institut Boston, 170 Beacon St., Boston
4 p.m.
$45
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Dawn Upshaw and Bard Graduate Vocal Arts Program
First Songs
Pablo Ortiz, Garden Songs; new and recent works by Shawn Jaeger, Tamzin Elliott, and others
Pickman Hall, Longy School of Music of Bard College, 27 Garden St., Cambridge
3 p.m.
Free admission (suggested donation $10-$20)
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21

Arneis Quartet
Andrew List, String Quartet No. 5, "Time Cycles" (world premiere); Jonathan Berger, String Trio No. 2; plus Stravinsky, The Dove Descending
Second of two concerts exploring the connections between T.S. Eliot’s Four Quartets and works by Beethoven, Gubaidulina, Stravinsky, Berger, and List.
Morse Auditorium, Boston University, 602 Commonwealth Ave., Boston
8 p.m.
Free admission
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22

NEC Contemporary Ensemble
Luciano Berio, Opus Number ZOO; Steven Stucky, Four Poems of A.R. Ammons; Yi Yiing Chen, Pulse; Olivier Messiaen, Quatuor pour la fin du temps
Jordan Hall, New England Conservatory, Boston
8 p.m.
Free admission
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Trio Jean Paul
Wolfgang Rihm, Fremde Szenen III; plus works by Beethoven and Dvořák
Pickman Hall, Longy School of Music of Bard College, 27 Garden St., Cambridge
8 p.m.
$20-$60
More information

23

Boston Symphony Orchestra
Thomas Adès, Three Studies from Couperin; plus works by Mozart and Ravel
Jean-Yves Thibaudet, piano; Bernard Haitink, conductor
Symphony Hall, 301 Massachusetts Ave., Boston
8 p.m.
$30-$104
More information

24

Boston Symphony Orchestra
Thomas Adès, Three Studies from Couperin; plus works by Mozart and Ravel
Jean-Yves Thibaudet, piano; Bernard Haitink, conductor
Symphony Hall, 301 Massachusetts Ave., Boston
1:30 p.m.
$31-$97
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Brand New Music/New Music Brandeis
Carlton Vickers, flute
Slosberg Music Center, Brandeis University, Waltham
8 p.m.
Free admission
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Mischa Salkind-Pearl
Faculty recital: Silt; Loess; Where I'm likely to find it; Hands and Lips of Wind
Matt Sharrock, marimba; Lilit Hartunian, violin; Philipp A. Stäudlin, alto saxophone; Yoko Hagino, piano; Christina Pecce, soprano; Stephen Marotto, cello
Studio 401, Boston Conservatory, 31 Hemenway St., Boston
Free admission
More information

25

Boston Symphony Orchestra
Thomas Adès, Three Studies from Couperin; plus works by Mozart and Ravel
Jean-Yves Thibaudet, piano; Bernard Haitink, conductor
Symphony Hall, 301 Massachusetts Ave., Boston
8 p.m.
$37-$145
More information

Brand New Music/New Music Brandeis
Brandeis Electro-Acoustic Music Studio: BEAMS half-marathon 2015
Slosberg Music Center, Brandeis University, Waltham
8 p.m.
Free admission
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G*PARK + Matt Krefting
Presented by Non-Event
Boston debut of G*PARK (Marc Zeier) of Swiss Aktionist collective Schimpfluch-Gruppe
SMFA Boston, 230 The Fenway, Boston
8 p.m.
$15, students and members $10, SMFA students free
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Peggy Pearson with the Apple Hill Quartet
James Primosch, Oboe Quartet; plus works by Haydn and Brahms
Bass Hall, Monadnock Center for History and Culture, Peterborough, NH
7:30 p.m.
$15, seniors and students $10
More information

26

Claremont Trio
Lembit Beecher, Piano Trio; plus works by Schubert and Brahms
Calderwood Hall, Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, 280 The Fenway, Boston
1:30 p.m.
$27, seniors $24, members $17, students and children 7–17 $12
More information

Dinosaur Annex
Hi-Fi Sci Art: Preserving Our Planet
Compositions by Cody Forrest, Christian Gentry, Eun Young Lee, Seunghee Lee, and Mischa Salkind-Pearl
MIT 265 Massachusetts Ave., Cambridge
7:30 p.m.
Free admission
More information

Peggy Pearson with the Apple Hill Quartet
James Primosch, Oboe Quartet; plus works by Haydn and Brahms
St. Paul's Church, 15 St. Paul St., Brookline
7 p.m.
$20, seniors and students $10
More information

28

Boston Symphony Orchestra
Thomas Adès, Three Studies from Couperin; plus works by Mozart and Ravel
Jean-Yves Thibaudet, piano; Bernard Haitink, conductor
Symphony Hall, 301 Massachusetts Ave., Boston
8 p.m.
$30-$104
More information

Fifth Floor Collective
After the Thaw
Compositions by Eric Fernandez, Patrick Greene, Andrew Paul Jackson, Evan Johnson, Andy Kozar, Jenna Lyle, David Reminick, and John Wallace
Loadbang, Arneis Quartet
Davis Square Theatre, 255 Elm St., Somerville
7 p.m.
More information

30

Boston Conservatory Percussion Ensemble
Compositions by Gunn, MacDonald, Sekhon, Berger, Silverman, and Harrison
Sam Z. Solomon and Keith Aleo, co-directors
Boston Conservatory Theater, 8 The Fenway, Boston
8 p.m.
Free admission
More information

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This calendar is maintained as a personal project and has no connection to the Boston Globe. No payment or promotional consideration is required or accepted for inclusion. To send information about a concert, master class, lecture, or other new-music event, email me via the link on the About page.

Newer Music 05: A Winged Victory for the Sullen

"A Winged Victory for the Sullen celebrates serendipity"
Boston Globe
March 21, 2015

The fifth installment of my monthly Newer Music column is out today, and covers the ambient cum post-classical chamber music duo A Winged Victory for the Sullen: Adam Bryanbaum Wiltzie, from Stars of the Lid, and Dustin O'Halloran, of Devics. The duo and their string-bowing retinue will perform at TT the Bear's Place in Cambridge on Monday night at 9pm (tickets here), sharing the bill with fellow Kranky recording artist Loscil.

Here's a track from A Winged Victory for the Sullen's latest release, Atomos, which is recommended.

Older Newer:

01, November 2014: Michael Pisaro
02, December 2014: Asher Tuil
03, January 2015: Zs
04, February 2015: Jeff Witscher (Rene Hell)

Playlist.

King Crimson - Live at the Marquee, August 10, 1971 (King Crimson Collectors' Club/DGM)

Peter Ablinger - Drei Minuten für Orchester (from Altar) - SWR Sinfonieorchester Baden-Baden und Freiburg/Sylvain Cambreling (YouTube)

Helmut Lachenmann - Schreiben - London Sinfonietta/Brad Lubman (YouTube)

Isabel Mundry - Penelopes Atem - Salome Kammer, Teodoro Anzellotti, SWR Sinfonieorchester Baden-Baden und Freiburg/Sylvain Cambreling (YouTube)

Rebecca Saunders - Miniata - Teodoro Anzellotti, Nicolas Hodges, SWR Vokalensemble Stuttgart, SWR Sinfonieorchester Baden-Baden und Freiburg/Hans Zender (Kairos)

Rebecca Saunders - still - Carolin Widmann, BBC Symphony Orchestra/Lionel Bringuier (YouTube)

Georg Friedrich Haas - I Can't Breathe (In Memoriam Eric Garner) - Marco Blaauw (YouTube)

Mick Chillage - Pixels II (Anodize < Bandcamp)

Jürg Frey - Metal, Stone, Skin, Foliage, Air - Nick Hennies (L'innomable <  Bandcamp)

Bill Seaman - f (noir) (Eilean < Bandcamp)

Jenny Olivia Johnson - Now Is the Blue - Michael J. Maccaferri, Agnieszka Kolodziej, Paul Kerekes, Jenny O. Johnson (Soundcloud)

Rapoon - Dark Zero (Retortae)

Susan Alcorn - Soledad (Relative Pitch; due in April)

Guillermo Klein - Solar Return Suite - Bill McHenry, MIT Wind Ensemble/Frederick Harris, Jr.; Chick Corea - From Forever - MIT Festival Jazz Ensemble/Frederick Harris, Jr.; Don Byron - Concerto for Clarinet and Wind Ensemble - Evan Ziporyn, MIT Wind Ensemble/Frederick Harris, Jr. (Sunnyside)

Georg Friedrich Haas - 7 Klangräume (with Mozart, Requiem) - Genia Kuhmeier, Anton Holzapfel, Salzburger Bachchor, Mozarteum Orchestra of Salzburg/Ivor Bolton (YouTube)

Playlist.

Pierluigi Billone - 1+1=1 - Petra Stump, Heinz-Peter Linshalm (Kairos < YouTube)

Pierluigi Billone - ME A AN - Frank Wörner, ensemble recherche/Peter Hirsch; ITI KE MI - Barbara Maurer (Stradivarius)

Pierluigi Billone - Mani. De Leonardis; Mani. Mono; Mani. Matta - Adam Weisman (ein_klang)

Jackie McLean - Let Freedom Ring (Blue Note)

Dire Straits - Making Movies (Warner Bros.)

Robert Fripp - ND Ateneo, Buenos Aires, Argentina, June 9, 2007 (DGMLive)

ProjeKct Two - Irving Plaza, New York, NY, May 6, 1998 (DGMLive)

ProjeKct Six - Berklee Performance Center, October 5, 2006 (DGMLive)

King Crimson - Live at the Wiltern, July 1, 1995 (King Crimson Collectors' Club/DGM)

Unconscious-Lee.

The author, daughter, and Lee Konitz, by Limor Tomer

Annina didn't make it quite to the end of the lovely set that Lee Konitz, a saxophonist who actually warrants the tag "legendary," played with pianist Dan Tepfer at the Museum of Fine Arts yesterday afternoon. Much as I would have liked to hear it, I passed on the preceding conversation with Konitz, moderated by Tim Hagans, reckoning that Annina's attention might be better focused on the music. Instead, we watched an Indian dance demonstration in a nearby gallery.

During the concert, Annina wiggled and bobbed along to elegantly spare re-shapings of "Stella by Starlight" and "Body and Soul," and murmured and pointed during the semi-directed, audience-participatory free improv that followed. Eventually she grew fidgety, though never outright unruly. (Not surprising: We'd missed nap time.) I reckoned that we shouldn't disturb audience members around us, so we made our way up to the vestibule outside Remis Auditorium. Annina gently and swiftly nodded off in her carrier harness, so I caught the last few tunes of the set - one of which included Hagans - through the auditorium door.

Outside, we unexpectedly bumped into old friends from New York, and then I had the distinct pleasure of introducing Mr. Konitz to his youngest admirer. Annina remained blissfully unaware of the privilege, but I enjoyed it.

To get a sense of what the music and mood were like, dip into this sample track from Duos with Lee, the album that Konitz and Tepfer released on Sunnyside Records in 2009:

The MFA's music series doesn't seem to get the attention that it deserves, so here's a list of what remains in the current season:

Jaggery presents The Beautiful and the Grotesque: Inspired by Leonardo da Vinci
Friday, May 1, 7:30 p.m., Remis Auditorium, $25, MFA members $20
Boston-based avant-pop quintet Jaggery presents an evening of original music exploring themes in Leonardo da Vinci's drawings.

An Afternoon of Beethoven
Sunday, May 10, 2 p.m., Remis Auditorium, $25, MFA members $20
Revel in the majesty of Beethoven's piano trios and sonatas, performed by principal members of the Handel and Haydn Society.

So Percussion
Friday, June 5, 7:30 p.m., Remis Auditorium, $25, MFA members $20
Experience the groundbreaking quartet as they "ignite enthusiasm for percussion music old and new" (The New York Times).

Boston Early Music Festival: Keyboard Mini-Festival
Friday, June 12, 10:30 a.m.-4 p.m., Remis Auditorium
10:30 a.m.-noon harpsichord; 12:30-2 p.m. fortepiano; 2:30-4 p.m. clavichord
Individual sessions: $25, MFA members $20
Three-session package: $60, MFA members $48
Hear world-renowned master artists perform on the MFA's period instruments, with three individual lectures and demonstrations on the harpsichord, fortepiano, and clavichord.

Sound Bites: Nancy Lee Clark Concert Series
Every second Thursday, 6-8 p.m., Linde Family Wing for Contemporary Art, free with museum admission
Join us for small-group ensembles performing classical, folk, and world music.

For more information, visit mfa.org/music.