Syzygy New Music Collective at The Nabi Gallery! Friday April 23rd, 7:00 PM

Friday, April 23, 2010, 7:00 PM
The Nabi Gallery
137 West 25th Street, between 6th & 7th Avenues
New York, NY 10001

Admission for the concert is $15 suggested donation and includes a complimentary wine reception.

Nearest subways: 1, 2, 3, N, R, Q, W, F, V to 23rd street

Our Nabi Gallery concert is just a couple of days away and we hope you can all make it! We had our penultimate rehearsal yesterday (photos posted below) and are all really excited for Friday. The program is our strongest yet and it’s going to be an exciting show. All of the composers featured have voices that are unique and well defined, and the group of performers is truly exceptional.

And if the music itself isn’t enough of a reason to get you to the gallery, there will also be a complimentary wine reception at the event! Between the music, the wine and the beautiful backdrop of The Nabi Gallery (which has a stunning Kathy Buist exhibition up at the moment), what more could you ask of a Friday night out? Admission is also only a $15 suggested donation. While the group is in need of funding, if you’re broke we’d rather you come and enjoy the show for a lower price than not at all!

We’ll be opening with Adam Schoenberg’s Fleeting Thoughts of an Architect, scored for violin, cello, piano and clarinet. Schoenberg was inspired by “the idea of someone vanishing, while still being able to hear his or her thoughts,” and the piece seamlessly fuses elements of minimalism with impressive virtuosity.

Next up is Alexandra du Bois,’ The Speaking Tide, for bass clarinet, cello and piano. Originally composed as a collaborative project between the Dance and Music Divisions at The Juilliard School, the piece is haunting and serene. It is also posted in full on our website, so you can take a listen to it now if you’d like.

Following will be Ronnie Reshef’s Suicide, for solo cello, performed by Mike Midlarsky. Inspired by the George Grosz painting of the same title, the piece is as powerful and dramatic as it is virtuosic. Each section of the work corresponds to a different scene within the painting, which is posted to the left.

Finishing the first half of the program will be the world premiere of Scott Ordway’s Sextet. Composed earlier this year to be premiered by Syzygy, the piece is unrelenting, thick and symphonic in scope. It’s an impressive composition, and we’re honored to present it for the first time.

Opening the second half of the program will be the world premiere of From Colors To Lines by Ricardo Romaneiro. Also written earlier this year to be premiered at this concert, the piece successfully fuses electronic elements with more traditional instrumental writing. If you think that concert music is outdated or stuffy, then prepare to be convinced otherwise. You’ll have to stop yourself from dancing…

Following will be the world premiere of Mehr Licht by Danielle Schwob. Intended as a quiet meditation on light, it was inspired by a variety of sources, including artworks such as Cildo Meireles’ Missions/Missions (How To Build Cathedrals) and John Singer Sargent’s Carnation, Lily, Lily, Rose. Designed to evoke many small lights shimmering in the darkness, the piece ebbs and flows delicately, wandering through various complementary soundscapes before arriving at a climax.

Closing the program will be a performance of Jakub Ciupinski’s extraordinarily intricate, Sonar. Scored for six-piece chamber ensemble, the work explores “the technique of acoustic location – a system using reflected sound waves to determine the position of an object; the acronym, ‘Sonar,’ comes from ‘Sound Navigation and Ranging.’ ”

For more information on all the composers and instrumentalists whose talents will be showcased at our Nabi Gallery event please check our website.  We’re looking forward to seeing you on Friday!