Summer Vibes and Toy Piano Trios: Upcoming Concerts You Can’t Miss

Posted on August 2, 2019 by maestrobeats

Second Inversion and the Live Music Project create a monthly calendar featuring contemporary classical, cross-genre, and experimental performances in Seattle, the Eastside, Tacoma, and places in between!

If you’d like to be included on this list, please submit your event to the Live Music Project at least six weeks prior to the event and tag it with “new music.”

New-Music-Flyer-AUG-SEPT-2019-2

Wayward Music Series
Concerts of contemporary composition, free improvisation, electroacoustic music, and sonic experiments. Coming up: American song cycles, the art of sound healing, and new music from around the world.
Various days, 7:30/8pm, Good Shepherd Chapel | $5-$15

Songs from the Exotic
Emily Ostrom and Peter Nelson-King perform contemporary American compositions for voice and piano, including song cycles by Hale Smith, Judith Weir, and Aaron Kirschner, plus original compositions and rare works from the American song repertoire.
Fri, 8/2, 8pm, Good Shepherd Chapel | $5-$15

Northwest Film Forum: Puget Soundtrack
Archival footage of the Pacific Northwest forms the basis of Naer Vaer, a montage film accompanied by an original live score from local new music ensemble Postcard From the Badlands. Translating to “close-dwelling”, Naer Vaer explores our deep and often contradictory connections to each other and the natural world around us.
Sun, 8/4, 8pm, Northwest Film Forum | $13-$16

Live Music Project: A Trio of Trios
The Live Music Project connects you to classical concerts every day of the year—but this day is particularly special, because all proceeds from the concert (and the beer) benefit the important work of LMP in our community. Enjoy three trios for viola, double bass, and toy piano written specifically for LMP by Spencer Arias, Jessi Harvey, and Joyce Kwon and performed amid smiles and pizza at the Lagunitas Taproom.
Mon, 8/5, 5:30pm, Lagunitas Taproom | $5

Bassist Ariel Kemp, violist Ryan May, and (toy) pianist Tristan Greeno.
Photo by Shaya Lyon of the Live Music Project.

East Coast Meets West
Two trumpet players from opposite coasts come together to present a concert of contemporary works for trumpet and piano, including two world premieres by Seattle-based composer Peter Nelson-King.
Thurs, 8/8, 8pm, Good Shepherd Chapel | $5-$15

Inverted Space Ensemble
Local new music collective Inverted Space presents a unique concert of atmospheric works for violin, piano, and percussion by Brian Banks, Lou Harrison, and Bun-Ching Lam.
Fri, 8/9, 8pm, Good Shepherd Chapel | $5-$15

Symphony for Climate Change
Music, film, and poetry come together in a screening of composer and conductor Christophe Chagnard’s multimedia symphonic work Terra Nostra (“Our Earth”). Presented at the scenic lakeside Discovery Park, the piece aims to engage, educate, and inspire policy change to protect our planet.
Sat, 8/17, 4pm, Discovery Park | Free

Beetle Box
Experimental composer and keyboardist Beetle Box comes to Substation in Fremont for an ear-expanding evening of piano and electronics.
Wed, 8/21, 8:15pm, Substation | Free

Aaron Butler + Bonnie Whiting
Two innovative percussionists, Aaron Butler and Bonnie Whiting, come together in a concert of newly composed solos and improvised duets. Wide-ranging percussion works by Nick Zammuto, Brian Harnetty, and Rob Funkhouser are programmed alongside a long-lost piece for vibraphone solo by David Gibson.
Fri, 8/23, 8pm, Good Shepherd Chapel | $5-$15

Nash Naubert: Music of Now
Originally from Seattle, Nash Naubert has spent the past two decades in India studying the bansuri (a bamboo flute used in Hindustani classical music). For this concert, he returns home to perform a collection of entrancing ragas with Aditya Kalyanpur on tabla.
Sat, 8/24, 8pm, Nordstrom Recital Hall | $24-$30

Good Vibes Only
An all-star lineup of local percussionists tackle a variety of groove-driven tunes for marimba, xylophone, and vibraphone, including works by Steve Reich, Ivan Trevino, and Marc Mellits.
Fri, 8/30, 8pm, Washington Hall | $25

Erin Jorgensen, Storm Benjamin, and Rebekah Ko perform in Good Vibes Only.

Emerald City Music: Tale Retold
The real-life stories of women battling to enlist in the U.S. military are retold in a world premiere by Seattle-based composer Angelique Poteat. Plus, a reimagining of Stravinsky’s iconic The Soldier’s Tale in a cross-disciplinary performance bringing together dance, drama, and music.
Fri, 9/13, 8pm, 415 Westlake | $45
Sat, 9/14 7:30pm, The Minnaert Center (Olympia) | $10-$43

Janaka Stucky and Lori Goldston: Ascend Ascend
Poet and performer Janaka Stucky spent 20 days secluded in the tower of a 100-year-old church, drifting in and out of a state of trance and writing a book of mystic poetry in the process. In this immersive, multidisciplinary performance, he presents his new work alongside Seattle cellist and composer Lori Goldston.
Fri, 9/20, 7:30pm, All Pilgrims Church (Seattle) | $18-$45

The Sound Ensemble: Reflections
The Sound Ensemble meditates on some big questions in this concert of works reflecting on who we are as a community and where we go from here. Structured as an introspective journey of sorts, the program includes a world premiere performance of Jerry Mader’s Zodiac for violin and chamber ensemble featuring violinist Marley Erickson.
Sat, 9/28, 7pm, Good Shepherd Chapel | $15-$20

Aidan Lang on His Time at Seattle Opera: Friday, Aug. 2 at 8pm PT

Posted on July 31, 2019 by maestrobeats

Seattle Opera’s outgoing General Director Aidan Lang with Dramaturg Jonathan Dean.

Aidan Lang has kept pretty busy these past five years as the General Director of Seattle Opera.

Under his leadership the opera has quadrupled millennial audiences, introduced over 200 new opera artists to Seattle, launched bold new chamber operas in different Seattle neighborhoods, forged innovative collaborations with companies around the globe, and even moved into a sprawling new home at Seattle Center.

Before he heads to his new post as General Director of the Welsh National Opera, Aidan joins us for a special episode of NW Focus LIVE this Friday, Aug. 2 at 8pm PT on Classical KING FM 98.1.

Tune in as Aidan looks back on his favorite (and funniest!) moments at Seattle Opera in a conversation with Seattle Opera Dramaturg Jonathan Dean, KING FM’s Sean MacLean, and Second Inversion’s Maggie Molloy. We’ll talk about the creation and commissioning of new works, taking creative license with the classics, and finding the critical relevance of opera in the 21^st century.

Click here to tune in on Friday, Aug. 2 at 8pm PT.

Seattle New Music Happy Hour: June 26 in Fremont!

Posted on June 13, 2019 by maestrobeats

We’re switching it up this summer by hosting New Music Happy Hour in a new neighborhood!

On Wednesday, June 26, drop by The Barrel Thief in Fremont anytime between 5-7pm for casual drinks and conversation with friends from Second Inversion, Live Music Project, and the broader Seattle classical music community. Bring a friend, make a friend, have a drink, and discover connections with fellow music lovers from all over Seattle!

Click here to RSVP and invite your friends. Plus, sign up for alerts for future happy hour dates and day-before reminders so you’ll never miss a beer—er, beat.

‘Become Desert’ Concert Broadcast: June 7, 9pm PT

Posted on June 5, 2019 by maestrobeats

by Maggie Molloy

John Luther Adams is known for crafting vast sonic landscapes that echo with the textures and timbres of the natural world. Most famous among them is Become Ocean, his Pulitzer Prize and Grammy-winning orchestral work commissioned and recorded by the Seattle Symphony in 2013.

Last year, our orchestra premiered the highly-anticipated sequel, Become Desert—and you can hear it this weekend on Classical KING FM.

Tune in on Friday, June 7 at 9pm to hear Adams’ expansive desert sound world in its original concert performance by the Seattle Symphony and Chorale, conducted by Ludovic Morlot. (And as if an immersive new John Luther Adams premiere wasn’t enough on its own, the piece is paired with another musical mammoth: Beethoven’s Emperor Piano Concerto featuring pianist Jeremy Denk.)

Written specifically for Benaroya Hall, Adam’s Become Desert features members of the Seattle Symphony and Chorale divided into five different ensembles which surround the audience, immersing them in sound, space, and “the singing of the light” (a quote Adams borrows from the great Mexican poet Octavio Paz). The piece was composed at a pivotal moment in Adams’ life: after living for most of his career in Alaska, he moved to the Mexican desert.

In this interview conducted before the piece’s world premiere, John Luther Adams speaks with KING FM’s Dave Beck about moving from tundra to desert, his fascination with immense spaces, and the importance of using the right tools—in his case, the perfect number 2 pencil.

Want to hear it again?

A studio recording of Become Desert will be released on June 14 as an album available on Cantaloupe Music. The two-disc set includes a DVD featuring a surround sound mix of the recording, as well as a slideshow of desert images shot by Adams himself.

Click here for more information, and here for NPR Music’s First Listen.

Local Composers and Vocal Wonders: New Music for June

Posted on May 31, 2019 by maestrobeats

by Maggie Molloy

Seattle Symphony’s [untitled] series takes place in the lobby of Benaroya Hall.

Keep an eye out for our flyer in concert programs and coffee shops around town. Feel free to download, print, and distribute it yourself! If you’d like to be included on this list, please submit your event to the Live Music Project at least six weeks prior to the event and tag it with “new music.”

June-2019-New-Music-Flyer

Wayward Music Series
Concerts of contemporary composition, free improvisation, electroacoustic music, and sonic experiments. This month: soaring voices, shamanic rituals, and music from beyond the margins.
Various days, 7:30/8pm, Good Shepherd Chapel | $5-$15

Kin of the Moon: Wander and Wail
Taiko drums and Chinese tea ceremonies are among the inspirations behind two innovative new compositions by Leanna Keith. Kin of the Moon performs them both alongside Kaley Lane Eaton’s new work, which features ultra-soprano Emily Thorner in an exploration of the voice as a conduit for expressing ancestral trauma. Learn more in our interview with the composers.
Sat, 6/1, 8pm, Good Shepherd Chapel | $5-$15

Seattle Girls Choir: Unsung Voices
Women composers across history are celebrated in this concert ranging from the hymns of Hildegard von Bingen to the art songs of Clara Schumann. Plus: hear music from contemporary Pacific Northwest composers like Joan Szymko, Karen P. Thomas, Jessica French, and Carol Sams.
Sat, 6/1, 8pm, Chapel of St. Ignatius at Seattle University | $5-$15

Seattle Symphony: Gabrielli & Clarke
Two recently uncovered chamber works by Rebecca Clarke (only made available to the public in the last decade) are highlighted on this program alongside mesmerizing works by Domenico Gabrielli, Einojuhani Rautavaara, and more.
Sun, 6/2, 5pm, Octave 9 | $35

Seattle Symphony: [untitled] 3
The elegant art songs of Schubert and Schumann are reimagined with the rawness of early 20th century cabaret in Reinbert de Leeuw’s pastiche song cycle Im wunderschönen Monat Mai. Sarah Ioannides conducts this riveting melodrama starring soprano Maria Männistö.
Fri, 6/7, 10pm, Benaroya Hall | $16

Seattle Modern Orchestra: Britten War Requiem
Benjamin Britten’s harrowing War Requiem is brought to life in this concert collaboration between the Seattle Modern Orchestra and the UW Symphony Orchestra and Choirs. Members of the Seattle Girls’ Choir, Seattle Chamber Singers, and guest soloists also perform.
Fri, 6/7, 7:30pm, Meany Hall | $10-$15

Seattle Peace Chorus: ‘Canto General’
Chilean poet Pablo Neruda’s epic hymn to South America, Canto General, is set to music by Greek composer Mikis Theodorakis and brought to life by the Seattle Peace Chorus, accompanied by flutes, plucked strings, and a wide array of percussion.
Sat, 6/8, 7:30pm, Town Hall Seattle | $20-$27

Northwest Chamber Chorus: ‘Lux Aeterna’
A Pacific Northwest native, Morten Lauridsen’s choral works are often inspired by the radiant natural landscapes of our region. His Lux Aeterna explores another type of light: it was written in honor of his late mother, who first introduced him to music.
Sat, 6/8, 7:30pm, University Congregational United Church of Christ | $20
Sun, 6/9, 2pm, University Congregational United Church of Christ | $20

Seattle Symphony: Bolcom, Jolley, Poteat, & Hausmann
Seattle’s innovative new music scene is showcased in this concert featuring Seattle Symphony musicians performing music of local composers. Immersive new works by Angelique Poteat and Jérémy Jolley explore the possibilities of timbre while William Bolcom’s Afternoon Cakewalk harkens back to an earlier musical time.
Tues, 6/11, 7:30pm, Octave 9 | $20

Ancora Choir: In Her Own Words
Celebrating the legacy of writers and thinkers ranging from Emily Dickinson to Anne Frank and Susan B. Anthony, this choral concert serves not only to raise women’s voices but also to share their visions for a world of peace, equality, and justice.
Sat, 6/15, 4pm, Green Lake Church of Seventh Day Adventists | $5-$20

Seattle Modern Orchestra: ‘Mouthpieces’
The line between human voice and man-made instrument starts to blur in Erin Gee’s ongoing collection Mouthpieces. Instruments mirror, mimic, and expand upon her extended vocal sounds to form a kind of “super-mouth” that moves far beyond the physical limitations of a single voice.
Sat, 6/15, 8pm, Good Shepherd Chapel | $10-$25

Town Music: Bach to Bates
From the hallowed music of J.S. Bach to the modern electronic masterworks of Mason Bates, Town Music ends its season with an exploration of what connects old and new classical music.
Fri, 6/21, 7:30pm, Town Hall Seattle | $20

Sound of Late: Let the Light Enter
The intersections of poetry and music are explored in this concert of rarely-performed chamber works by Eve Beglarian, Tina Davidson, Shawn E. Okpebholo, Evan Williams, and Anthony R. Green.
Sat, 6/29, 8pm, Good Shepherd Chapel | $5-$15