Greetings from Down Under! I’m writing this from my sunny hotel room at the Adelaide Festival where I will perform in a little less than 48 hours with the rest of my fellow #zornstars. I wanted to take a moment to point you dear readers to some new interviews I’ve done to help promote my Lincoln Center solo recital on the American Songbook series. I’m absolutely elated to be performing on this series! To say it has been a learning experience is an understatement, and it’s been a great push to get me to write down some of the tunes the voices in my head have been singing for ages!

Last Tuesday I sat down in the studio of my park slope apartment and did a video interview for Lincoln Center. Also, during a layover in the Sydney airport, I penned the following very fun interview with THE CODA. You can read all about it here. I talk about music, Lincoln Center memories and who I would choose to be my desert island mate.

As for the show on the 20th, I plan on performing selections from Jacob Cooper’s newly announced NONESUCH album Silver Threads, (which you can pre-order now), and two pieces for multitracked soprano, or multi-melly; I Remember by Ted Hearne, and Requiem for K.V. by Chris Cerrone, who’s song cycle I Will Learn to Love a Person I had the privilege of performing last Thursday night at St. Anne’s. In addition to these pieces, I will perform some covers of favorite songs of mine and my own vocal improvisations with just voice and electronics.

I would love to see as many of you as I can on March 20th in the Kaplan Penthouse at 8pm! 

I can’t believe that this man is 60. Having recently spent a considerable amount of time with him, I can assure you he has more pep in his step than those half his age. Talk about an inspiration.

The New York Times review from the Guggenheim show is in, and survey says awesomesauce!! You can read the full review here. It’s been a crazy ride putting together Earthspirit and Madrigals and we’re about to tour all of Europe with Holy Visions, the piece he wrote for the Sapphites back in November.  So stay tuned for that! 

(How creepy do we look all in red and black!)

Here’s what the fabulous Steve Smith had to say about our singing:

The sopranos Mellissa Hughes and Jane Sheldon and the mezzo-soprano Kirsten Sollek sang sublimely, their precise pitch and clear tones shimmering and resonating in discordant harmonies and intricate metrical maneuvers.

Those singers and three more —  the sopranos Lisa Bielawa and Sarah Brailey, and the mezzo-soprano Abby Fischer —  brought the same exactitude and luster to “Madrigals,” for which Mr. Zorn assembled phrases inspired by reading Percy Bysshe Shelley. Harmonically consonant, often unambiguously melodic and rhythmically effervescent, these half-dozen songs could easily slip into standard repertory.

 

Needless to say, I’m pleased as punch. These are the hardest pieces I’ve attempted to learn in quite sometime. In fact, so hard, I dragged myself to Guitar Center to buy a keyboard, AND I’m rocking a nasty bruise on my left hand from whacking it with my tuning fork repeatedly. New music can be painful in a variety of ways it seems. 

Dearest friends!

First off, this Sunday I will be performing with one of my favorite new music bands, Alarm Will Sound. Although I’ve  known these folks for many years, and feel like an honorary member of their ensemble, this will be my first time soloing with the group. I’m so thrilled to take part in their John Cage show this Sunday afternoon at 3pm, at the Abrons Art Center where we will perform selections from Cage’s Song Books in addition to portions of  Atlas Elipticals, and Concert for Piano and Variations. Putting this together has been an amazing experience, and it is such a joy to work with Alan Pierson, Nigel Master , AWS’ resident staging director; and noted John Cage expert Rob Haskins. We’ll be touring selections of this program in the midwest the last week of March and more in Europe this summer.

My second series of performances this month is a premiere of a new 30 minute work by David T. Little for the Brooklyn Philharmonic, and the Brooklyn Youth Chorus. “Brooklyn Village” is a multimedia event seeking to pair works of the past with world premieres centered around Brooklyn’s rich and diverging history. This concert will feature works of Beethoven, Bristow and Aaron Copland, as well as works of Sufjan Stevens, and a world premiere of Sarah Kirkland Snider, in addition to David T. Little’s piece “Am I Born”, which you may have heard a sneak peek of back in October at the World Financial Center. “Brookyln Village” premieres March 24th and 25th at 7:30 pm at the new Roulette location in Brooklyn.

Hope to see some of you at these shows, and please drop me a line if you have questions about tickets. I often have comps and discount codes handed to me.

ALARM WILL SOUND
March 18, 2012 at 3:00pm
Abron Arts Center, New York City

John Cage, short theatrical works

BROOKLYN VILLAGE
March 24, 2012 at 7:30 pm
Roulette, 509 Atlantic Ave, Brooklyn NY

David T. Little, Am I Born to Die

BROOKLYN VILLAGE
March 25, 2012 at 7:30 pm
Roulette, 509 Atlantic Ave, Brooklyn NY

David T. Little, Am I Born to Die

ALARM WILL SOUND
March 28, 2012 at 8:00pm
Bowling Green State University, Ohio

John Cage, short theatrical works

ALARM WILL SOUND
March 30, 2012 at 8:00pm
Oakland University, Rochester, MI

John Cage, short theatrical works

ALARM WILL SOUND
March 31, 2012 at 8:00pm
Fontana Chamber Arts, Kalamazoo, MI

John Cage, short theatrical works

I’m so thrilled to announce that on January 19th I will perform Mohammed Fairouz’s “Tawidah” with world renowned klezmer clarinetist David Krakauer at Weill Hall. Please join me for an evening of Mohammed’s vocal and chamber music by stellar performers such as the Imani Winds, the Transatlantic Ensemble, and many others. 

Here is the repertoire that Trinity will be performing beginning on Monday September 4th. All of these concerts/masses are free and open to the public. In addition to these concerts, there are many others that are being offered as part of the same week of concerts, but I’ve only listed the ones that Trinity Choir will be participating in. For a full list please go here.

September 4th

9am Eucharist @ Trinity Church

Gabriel Fauré Messe Basse

Pie Jesu from Requiem

10 am Eucharist @ Trinity Church

J.S. Bach BWV 229 Komm, Jesu, komm

Julian Wachner Ave, dulcissima Maria

8pm Compline @ St. Paul’s Chapel

Improvised Chant

Julian Wachner, Ave, dulcissima Maria

September 5th

Bach at One @ St. Paul’s Chapel

J.S. Bach BWV 106 Gottes Zeit ist die allerbeste Zeit

                  BWV 227 Jesu, meine Freude

                  BWV 225 Singet dem Herrn

September 6th

Bach at One @ St Paul’s Chapel

J.S. Bach BWV 131 Aus der Tiefen rufe ich, Herr, zu dir

                 BWV 228 Fürchte dich nicht

                 BWV 229 Komm, Jesu, komm

                 BWV 226 Der Geist hilft

September 7

Bach at One @ St. Paul’s Chapel

J.S. Bach BWV 106 Gottes Zeit ist die allerbeste Zeit

                  BWV 227 Jesu, meine Freude

                  BWV 225 Singet dem Herrn

September 8

Bach at One @ St Paul’s Chapel

J.S. Bach BWV 131 Aus der Tiefen rufe ich, Herr, zu dir

                 BWV 228 Fürchte dich nicht

                 BWV 229 Komm, Jesu, komm

                 BWV 226 Der Geist hilft

September 9

Trinity Choir 6pm @ St. Paul’s Chapel

György Ligeti Lux aeterna

Herbert Howels Take Him, Earth, for Cherishing

Robert Kyr Selections from Songs of the Soul

Martin Amlin Time’s Caravan

Julian Wachner Four Scenes from the Rubaiyat

8:30 pm @ Trinity Church

Gabriel Fauré Requiem

Randall Thompson Last Words of David

Spiritual Soon ag Will Be Done

Lukas Foss Psalm 23

Anthony Furnivall Amazing Grace

Marjorie Merryman Windhover Fantasy

Johannes Brahms  Mvts V, VI, VII from Ein Deutche Requiem

Leonard Bernstein Chichester Psalms

J.S. Bach Dona nobis pacesm from BWV 232 Mass in B minor

September 10

Bach at One @ St Paul’s Chapel

J.S. Bach BWV 34 O ewiges Feuer, o Ursprung der Liebe

Martin Amlin Time’s Caravan

September 11

9am Eucharist @ Trinity Church

Roxanna Panufnik Westminster Mass

Virgil Thomson My Shepherd Will Supply My Need

Herbert Howells Coventry Antiphon

11:15 Eucharist @ Trinity Church

Herbert Howells Coventry Antiphon

John Tavener Sing for Athene

Antony Furnivall Amazing Grace

8pm Compline @ St. Paul’s Chapel

Improvised Chant

Carlyle Sharpe Peace

György Ligeti Lux aeterna

September 12

Bach at One @ St. Paul’s Chapel

J.S. Bach BWV 79 Gott der Herr ist Sonn und Schild

                  BWV 192 Nun danket ist alle Gott

October 12th

WNYC will host this special free concert featuring music by David T. Little, Corey Dargel, Mos Def, Derek Bermel, Lev Zhurbin and Frederik Rzewski.  I’ll be singing an excerpt of David T. Little’s “Winter Scene” a special collaboration between Little and librettist extraordinaire Royce Vavrek and the Brooklyn Youth Chorus. The full production of this new commissioned piece will be March 24th and 25th. More information on that concert which will also feature works of Sarah K. Snider, Sufjan Stevens, and Bethoven’s 3rd! can be found here.

October 14th

Alex Temple has written a wonderful piece for ACO and myself with electronics. It is entitled “Liebeslied” and here are some of Alex’s notes to me on the piece:

In this piece, I’m trying to do two things at once:  first of all, to expose the hidden similarities between 1940s/50s jazz/pop/crooner ballads and 19th-century German orchestral lieder, and secondly and more importantly, to expose the secret creepiness of those mid-20th-century ballads.  Specifically, I’ve noticed that the metaphors that these songs use for love are often very surreal, and sometimes even disturbing if taken literally.  You’ve got people who can’t see anyone but their lover (“I Only Have Eyes For You”), people who can’t perceive the outside world until they meet their lover (“Till There Was You”), people living out an endlessly cyclical dream-fantasy à la Last Year at Marienbad (“Some Enchanted Evening”), mysterious music floating in the night (“Skylark”), and so on…..In each world, the music becomes more abstract and further removed from the exaggerated pop-ballad style that the piece opens with.  There’s more and more reverb on your voice, and in the last section, the reverb trail is actually pitch-shifted up and down, like a very, very slow vibrato.

Here is some additional info on the other pieces for the opening concert at Zankel 10/14

Orchestra Underground: 21st Firsts
George Manahan, music director & conductor
Kenji Bunch, amplified viola
Mellissa Hughes, soprano & electronics
Daniel Iglesia, videographer

Kenji Bunch – The Devil’s Box (World Premiere, Mary Rodgers Guettel/Meet The Composer commission)
Christopher Stark – …and start west (World Premiere, ACO/Underwood commission)
Alex Temple – Liebeslied with voice, electronics & orchestra (World Premiere, ACO commission)
Andreia Pinto-Correia – Elegia a Al-Mu’tamid (World Premiere, ACO/Patricia Wylde commission)
Wang Lu – Flowing Water Study II for Orchestra & Video (World Premiere, ACO/Jerome Foundation commission)

An all world premiere program featuring Orchestra Underground, ACO’s smaller, flexible, entrepreneurial orchestra that embraces electronics, multimedia, unusual instruments, new collaborations and new influences.

Big News!

Finally, I’m pleased to announce that I’m working this season with Emily Motherwell from OtherArts. Emily represents many other up and coming composers in my field, and has a special talent and affection for working with musicians in the new music community. She’s in largely unchartered territory and is already taking the city by storm!

Be sure to check back soon as I hope to have a post on the very special 9/11 remembrance concerts I will be taking part in, as well as a full listing of my concerts this season.

On Monday I had the privelege of dong a WQXR live chat hosted by the lovely Olivia Giovetti. Joining me was fellow Asphalt and SIGNAL flutist Jessica Schmitz, and the busy violist and composer Ljova Zhurbin.We talked of the upcoming opening concert for the Rite of Summer Festival this Saturday on Governor’s Island, and about the recent burst of outdoor free summer concerts. It was my first time participating in a Live Chat session, and I had a lot of fun. Read the full chat here.

Jessica, Ljova and I will all be participating in a massive 40 member production of Terry Riley’s In C on Saturday at Governor’s Island at 1pm and again at 3pm. Join some of NYC’s hippest musicians, led by piano impresario Jed Distler, for a FREE performance of a pinnacle work of Minimalism.