A home for new and unusual music from all corners of the classical genre, brought to you by the power of public media. Second Inversion is a service of Classical KING FM 98.1.
byMaggie Molloy Music from Dawn of Midi’s Dysnomia is included in this week’s episode.
You are getting sleepy—very, very sleepy…
When most of us think about hypnosis, the first image that comes to mind is a doctor swinging a pocket watch back and forth in front of the patient’s face, their eyes fixated on the watch as they slowly fall into a trance. And while that’s certainly an oversimplified image of hypnosis, it does get at some of the major characteristics: repetition, visual fixation, altered consciousness.
On this week’s episode of Second Inversion, we’re exploring sonic hypnosis. From aural illusions to mesmerizing trances, we’ll hear works that focus the mind and play with our perception of time.
Pauline Oliveros, Philip Glass, and Ravi Shankar are featured in this week’s episode.
In times of chaos and uncertainty, music can help us find solace, comfort, and clarity.
On this week’s episode of Second Inversion, we’re exploring quiet and introspective sounds from our own backyard and around the globe. From gong vibrations to moonlit meditations, we’ll hear music that invites us to slow down, center ourselves, and just listen deeply.
From ocean to desert, forest to tundra, composers have always found music in nature. The rhythm of waves, the rustling of leaves, the song of the mountain—or the colors of the wind.
On this Saturday’s episode of Second Inversion, we’ll explore music of the great outdoors. We’ll hear the pulse of the Amazon River, a duet with the Moab Desert, field recordings from the Pacific Crest Trail, and even music made from living plants.
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!
Keep an eye out for our flyer in concert programs and coffee shops around town. 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.”
Wayward Music Series Concerts of contemporary composition, free improvisation, electroacoustic music, and sonic experiments. This month: dynamic collaborations, deep ecology, and sounds from the end of the world. Various days, 7:30/8pm, Good Shepherd Chapel | $5-$15
Seattle Symphony: Trimpin, Stiefel, & More Equal parts composer and sound sculptor, Trimpin creates sonic installations at the intersection of music and visual art. Hear his work Solo Flute, Eight Pottery Wheels and Assorted Vinyls alongside music of Andrew Stiefel, Leonardo Gorosito, Rafael Alberto, and Igor Stravinsky. Tues, 4/2, 7:30pm, Octave 9 | $20
Emerald City Music: Dreamers’ Circus Classical music meets Nordic folk song in this globe-trotting Scandinavian trio. Comprised of violin, piano/accordion, and cittern (a lute with a flat back), the trio brings together the warmth and nostalgia of acoustic folk music with the subtle complexities of the classical tradition. Fri, 4/5, 8pm, 415 Westlake | $45 Sat, 4/6, 7:30pm, The Minnaert Center (Olympia) | $20-$25
Dreamers’ Circus. Photo by Kristoffer Juel Poulsen.
James Falzone: The Already & The Not Yet Reflecting on his past three years living in Seattle, composer and clarinetist James Falzone offers a meditation on his long-running solo work, Sighs Too Deep for Words. Plus: new music composed for Tao Trio featuring Falzone alongside pianist Wayne Horvitz and bassist Abbey Blackwell. Sat, 4/6, 8pm, Good Shepherd Chapel | $5-$15
Third Coast Percussion: ‘Perpetulum’ Philip Glass’s first and only piece for percussion ensemble receives its Pacific Northwest premiere in the capable hands of Third Coast Percussion, who commissioned the piece last year. A handful of the ensemble’s own original Glass-inspired works complete the program. Sun, 4/7, 6pm, Nordstrom Recital Hall | $22
Third Coast Percussion.
Harry Partch Ensemble: ‘Daphne of the Dunes’ The ancient Greek myth of Daphne and Apollo is reimagined through the primal rhythms and eerie microtones of Harry Partch’s handmade instruments. His sprawling Daphne of the Dunes (originally composed as a film score) is performed alongside microtonal art songs of the 20th and 21st centuries. Tues, 4/9, 7:30pm, Meany Studio Theater | $10
Harry Partch Ensemble: ‘The Bewitched’ Music, theatre, and ritual merge in Harry Partch’s radical dance satire The Bewitched. Written as a reaction against the rigidity of modern civilization, the piece explores how we might ultimately find a sense of rebirth through a discovering our ancient past. The tale unfolds across 12 scenes played out on Partch’s collection of handmade microtonal instruments. Sat, 4/13, 7:30pm, Meany Studio Theater | $10
Harry Partch’s Chromelodeon. Photo by Maggie Molloy.
Music of Today: Performing with the Brain Performers can create music without movement thanks to a new brain computer music interface developed at the University of Washington. Patients with motor disability improvise with professional musicians in this performance led by composers Juan Pampin and Richard Karpen and neuroscientist Thomas Deuel. Fri, 4/19, 7:30pm, Meany Studio Theater | FREE
Seattle Symphony: ‘Surrogate Cities’ Man, machine, and the modern metropolis are the major themes behind Heiner Goebbels’ new multimedia work Surrogate Cities. Like the city itself, the music is a sprawling blur of human and machine-made sounds enhanced with striking visual effects. Get a sneak preview of Goebbels’ immersive chamber works performed in Octave 9, and hear Surrogate Cities in the main hall over the weekend. Mon, 4/22, 7:30pm, Octave 9 | $25 Thurs, 4/25, 7:30pm, Benaroya Hall | $22-$122 Fri, 4/26, 8pm, Benaroya Hall | $22-$122
Philip Glass: ‘Hydrogen Jukebox’ The pulsing minimalism of Philip Glass and the countercultural activism of Beat poet Allen Ginsberg combine in Hydrogen Jukebox, a 1990 chamber opera reflecting on issues of war, peace, social equity, and sustainability. The UW Vocal Theatre Workshop performs the Northwest Premiere under the direction of Cyndia Siden, Dean Williamson, and Deanne Meek. 4/26-4/27, 7:30pm, Meany Studio Theater | $10
Ladies Musical Club: Northwest Composers Pacific Northwest composers are celebrated in this wide-ranging concert of chamber music featuring works by Karen P. Thomas, Alex Shapiro, Sarah Mattox, and many more. Sat, 4/27, 7pm, Music Center of the NW | FREE
Seattle Symphony: American Horizons Composer-in-Residence Derek Bermel curates an evening of music ranging from Steve Reich to Mary Kouyoumdjian, with world premieres by Kaley Lane Eaton and Bermel himself composed specifically for the immersive new Octave 9 space. Sun, 4/28, 6pm, Octave 9 | $35
Seattle Modern Orchestra: ‘Coming Together’ Frederic Rzewski’s hypnotic classic Coming Together uses text adapted from a prison letter written by Sam Melville, an anarchist bomber who was killed during the Attica Prison uprising in 1971. The harrowing piece is performed here alongside politically-charged works by Christian Wolff. Sun, 4/28, 7:30pm, The Royal Room | $10-$20
Paul Taub: Landscape with Birds Flute music from across three continents is presented in this program exploring the instrument’s wide range of techniques and influences. Paul Taub, who recently retired from nearly four decades of teaching at Cornish, performs music of Pēteris Vasks, Toru Takemitsu, Bun-Ching Lam, Robert Aitken, Janice Giteck, and more. Tues, 4/30, 7pm, Folio | $20
Daníel Bjarnason’s music is at its most potent when he’s writing for symphony orchestra. He has a masterful way of balancing the cavernous depths of a large ensemble against moments of shimmering near-silence, often within a matter of seconds.
His luminous orchestrations are on full display in his forthcoming album Collider, a collection of three works that glisten with timbral detail.Bjarnason conducts the Iceland Symphony Orchestra in the lively, interlocking textures of “Blow Bright” before transitioning to the haunting three-part work “The Isle is Full of Noises,” a setting of three monologues from Shakespeare’s The Tempest featuring the ethereal vocals of the Hamrahlid Choir.
“Collider” unwinds a bit more slowly, moments of eerie stillness gradually building into an eruption of restless energy that pulls the listener deeper and deeper into a shifting sound maze. We’re thrilled to premiere the title track from the brand new album ahead of its October 26 release date. Click below to hear Bjarnason’s “Collider.”
Daníel Bjarnason’s Collider comes out October 26 on Bedroom Community. Click here to pre-order the album.
