LIVE CONCERT SPOTLIGHT: January 16-18

by Maggie Molloy

This week’s multidisciplinary music calendar celebrates local musicians who are exploring new artistic mediums!

Angelique Poteat’s New Chamber Works

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There’s nothing quite like the sights and sounds of the Pacific Northwest—and this weekend, Seattle is celebrating the chamber music of a composer inspired by just that.

Angelique Poteat’s music is heavily influenced by the beauty and splendor of the Puget Sound area. A Northwest native and a devoted cyclist, she often finds inspiration while pedaling through the natural world around her. Breathing life into her compositions this weekend are several of Seattle’s own local musicians, including members of the Seattle Symphony, faculty at the University of Washington and Cornish College of the Arts, and Second Inversion’s own Maggie Stapleton!

The performance is this Friday, Jan. 16 at 8 p.m. at the Chapel Performance Space at the Good Shepherd Center in Wallingford.

ĄRCO-PDX at the Royal Room

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ĄRCO-PDX is a small ensemble with a big sound—a really big sound. The group, whose name stands for Amplified Repertory Chamber Orchestra of Portland, is committed to performing authentic classical music with an amplified sound and a rock music aesthetic.

This weekend, the group is coming to Seattle to perform works by Vivaldi and Northwest composer Kenji Bunch. The program features Seattle violin virtuoso Andrew Sumitani on “Storm at Sea,” ĄRCO-PDX violinist Mike Hsu on “Winter,” and Portland cello shredders Hannah Hillebrand and Liz Byrd on Vivaldi’s Double Cello Concerto. And of course, we can’t forget the concert’s opener: a one-man live cello-and-laptop band named Cellotronik.

The performance is this Friday, Jan. 16 at 8:30 p.m. at the Royal Room in Seattle.

Byron Au Yong’s “Mò Shēng 墨声 Ink Sound”

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In some ways, sound is like paint: it can vary in color, thickness, texture, and quality—and, like paint, when you combine different sounds you can create a beautiful and unique work of art. This weekend, Seattle composer Byron Au Yong is blurring the line between ink painting and sound in a new work titled “Mò Shēng 墨声 Ink Sound.”

The performance, which takes place at the Frye Art Museum, is in conjunction with Chinese artist Pan Gongkai’s exhibition of large-scale, site-specific ink paintings titled “Withered Lotus Cast in Iron.” Surrounded by these paintings, the Passenger String Quartet will perform Au Yong’s “Mò Shēng 墨声 Ink Sound.” The piece was composed in response to Pan’s paintings, inspired by the simplicity and density of sound as it relates to the amount of ink on a brush.

The performance is this Sunday, Jan. 18 at the Frye Art Museum on Capitol Hill at 2 p.m. and again at 3:30 p.m.

LIVE CONCERT SPOTLIGHT: November 7, 8, 9

by Maggie Molloy

Club Shostakovich Celebrates 50th Anniversary of String Quartets No. 9 and 10

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Come lift a glass to Dmitri Shostakovich this weekend as Trio Pardalote celebrates the 50th anniversary his 9th and 10th String Quartets. Though the pieces originally premiered in Moscow in 1964, Trio Pardalote is recreating this historic event a little closer to home.

The trio—composed of violinist Victoria Parker, violist Heather Bentley, and cellist Rowena Hammill—will be joined by violinists Blayne Barnes, Natasha Bazhanov, Artur Girsky, and Mikhail Shmidt to present Shostakovich’s 8th, 9th, and 10th String Quartets. Guests are invited to enjoy the drama and passion of some of Shostakovich’s most exciting string compositions, which were written during a time of great political unrest in the Soviet Union.

The performance will be followed by a late night jazz set with Quartet Royale featuring pianist Wayne Horvitz, vocalist Jimmie Herrod, bassist Geoff Harper, and drummer Eric Eagle.

The performance will take place at the Royal Room this Friday, Nov. 7 at 8 p.m.

 

Seattle Rock Orchestra Presents a Police Tribute

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It’s been nearly 30 years since the critically acclaimed British rock band the Police broke up, but none of us could ever forget classics like “Roxanne” and “Every Breath You Take.” Instead of early awaiting another sold-out reunion tour, you can catch some of your favorite Police tunes this weekend when Seattle Rock Orchestra presents a Police tribute night at the Moore Theatre.

It’s everything you love about the punky 80s power quartet, except for expanded into a 50+ piece orchestra featuring vocalists David Terry, Erin Austin, Andrew Vait, and Annie Janzter. Come witness as some of Seattle’s top classically-trained musicians pay tribute to one of the greatest punk, reggae, jazz-infused rock bands the 80s had to offer.

Renowned Seattle folk artist Naomi Wachira is the opening act. A Kenyan-born musician who grew up singing gospel in a traveling family band, her music is deeply influenced by both her African roots as well as her experience living in the Pacific Northwest.

The performance will take place this Saturday, Nov. 8 at the Moore Theatre. Doors open at 7 p.m. and the performance begins at 8 p.m.

 

Music of Remembrance Presents Schoenberg’s “Verklärte Nacht”

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This weekend marks the 76th anniversary of the tragic Kristallnacht, a massacre against Jews throughout Germany and Austria carried out by Nazi military forces. In honor of the those innocent civilians who lost their lives in these devastating attacks, Music of Remembrance is presenting a performance of Arnold Schoenberg’s “Verklärte Nacht” (“Transfigured Night”), a tender and romantic string sextet.The performance will also be the world premiere of Spectrum Dance Theater choreographer Donald Byrd’s new dances for the enchanting piece.

“Verklärte Nacht” was inspired by Richard Dehmel’s poem of the same name, which tells the story of a woman and her lover walking through a shadowy forest on a moonlit night. The woman confesses to her lover that she is pregnant with another man’s baby, and her lover accepts and forgives her. Schoenberg’s composition captures the grave sorrow of the woman’s confession, the calm and thoughtful reflection of her lover, and the bright, hopeful acceptance of her secret.

The concert will also feature works by Dutch composers under Nazi occupation as well as a medley of songs from cabaret shows staged by prisoners at Terezin, a ghetto and concentration camp in the Czech Republic during World War II.

The performance will take place at Benaroya Hall this Sunday, Nov. 9 at 4 p.m.