All I ever wanted.
Time for a quick break… and where to find some new-music action in the meantime.
If you missed last week’s note about my new place and mode of employment, and what impact it will have on this newsletter and everything else, it’s here.
But, having made assurances that this newsletter isn’t going anywhere, today’s note amounts to an out-of-office message: Night After Night is taking a brief break – just this week and next – returning on Tuesday, August 27.
To keep you busy in the meantime, the incredibly abundant Time:Spans series continues at the DiMenna Center for Classical Music on West 37th St. in midtown Manhattan. A killer lineup includes Wet Ink Ensemble (Aug. 15), Quatuor Bozzini * (two programs, Aug. 16 & Aug. 17), Talea Ensemble (two programs, Aug. 18 & Aug. 20), Olivia Di Prato (Aug. 19), JACK Quartet (Aug. 21), Alarm Will Sound (Aug. 22), and Yarn/Wire (Aug. 23).
* EDIT Aug. 16: Note that the two Quatuor Bozzini programs on Aug. 16 & 17 have changed since this newsletter was sent out, owing to visa issues prohibiting planned collaborators from performing.
Composer and critic George Grella, whose vital newsletter Kill Yr Idols has just come roaring back to life, went deep and long on the opening night of Time:Spans, an Ensemble Signal pairing of Fausto Romitelli and Steve Reich, here. George and I evidently don’t see eye-to-eye about about the merits of Hannah Kendall’s premiere by the Festival Orchestra of Lincoln Center. But I find what he has to say valuable even when we don’t agree; criticism that varies from your own view nevertheless provides useful perspective.
Elsewhere, the divinely unpredictable creative music-theater ensemble thingNY is in action Aug. 15–17 at The Brick in Greenpoint, Brooklyn. The program, titled Natural Studies, is a double bill postponed from January, pairing Joseph White’s You Against Nature with the ensemble’s own Mouthful. Tickets are available here—and note that masking is mandatory. While you’re there, be sure to check out To tongue-tie, a multimedia gallery show that includes contributions from thingNY members Gelsey Bell, Paul Pinto, and Erin Rogers.
Need more? Guitar genius Bill Frisell is at the Village Vanguard with two different bands, one this week (through Aug. 18), and another Aug. 20–25. (A moment of silence for the hallowed venue’s mangled marquee.)
Saxophone maverick Immanuel Wilkins is playing four nights in The Stone at The New School Aug. 21–24, beginning and ending with offbeat ensembles I’m gutted to miss.
And the Locrian Chamber Players play a fine free concert at Riverside Church this Thursday, Aug. 15, featuring a world premiere by David Macdonald; works by Christian Carey and Jonathan Newman new to New York; and compositions by Augusta Read Thomas, Oliver Knussen, and Jeremy Beck—all less than 10 years old, per the ensemble’s trademark.
There’s surely more afoot, and here are some reliable sources of illumination:
No For the Record updates this Friday or next, but you’ll always find an assortment of coming attractions on the Master List.
R.I.P. Harold Meltzer, Haleh Abghari, and Dean Roberts. Listen to their music, and cherish their memories.
Until soon…
Photographs by Steve Smith, except where indicated.
I'd heard about Dean, and knew Harold was sick, but didn't know about Haleh. So sad, all three losses.