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Internal/External Combustion

Friday, April 1, 2011 | 8:00 pm
Chapel of the Holy Innocents | Bard College
Free and open to the public

Saturday, April 2, 2011 | 7:00 pm
Colony Café | Woodstock, NY
General admission $10 | Student admission $5

Whether driven by the ignition of a tight, internal chamber or a blazing combustion from outside, Contemporaneous brings a program of music that is sure to set your spirits aflame. Including three world premieres and a New York premiere, this concert fuses works that will move you from within with works that will make you move on the outside. Three young, emerging composers join three established sages for a high-octane result.

Brilliant young composer Ryan Chase's inspired new setting of the classic Lewis Carroll poem Jabberwocky captures the bizarre nature of the text with deft precision, sharp wit, and staggering intricacy. Contemporaneous is thrilled to be joined by the voraciously versatile soprano Ariadne Greif, to whom the work is dedicated, to present the world premiere of this fantastic new work. For more information about this piece, look at our blog post about it. In a beautifully introverted new piece written for Contemporaneous, Bill Zuckerman brings a heart-warming world premiere to the concert that is propelled by the memory of someone close. Don't be alarmed as we kick it back into high gear for Stephen Feigenbaum's dynamically funky Grooves and Ruts.

John Halle's rock-infused setting of Sam Smith's poignantly hilarious essay Apology to Younger Americans opens the second half of the program with immensely talented soprano Lucy Dhegrae displaying her amazing ability to blend classical and popular vocal styles. Spinning almost out of control, Kyle Gann's world premiere string quartet is a spacial experience lying somewhere between internal and external combustion. To close the program, Bang on a Can co-founder Julia Wolfe's Four Marys is a magnification and infusion of the folk sounds of the mountain dulcimer and the accordion in passionately intimate and wildly strumming piece.

Program:

Ryan Chase (b. 1987): Jabberwocky (2010) 
William Zuckerman (b. 1989): The Sky Ending from Infinity Plus One (2011) (Contemporaneous commission) 
Stephen Feigenbaum (b. 1989): Grooves and Ruts (2008) *

– Intermission –

John Halle (b. 1959): Apology to Younger Americans (2007)
Kyle Gann (b. 1955): Concord Spiral (2010) 
Julia Wolfe (b. 1958): Four Marys (1991)

* New York premiere
† World premiere

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The Unusual Suspects

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Night Canyons