Everything, all at once.
Jessie Montgomery Overdrive, Julia Bullock at Lincoln Center, and more recommended live new-music events Feb. 11-18.
Anyone could see that composer and violinist Jessie Montgomery has seemed mighty busy just lately, but an email that showed up yesterday put everything into perspective. Here in New York City this week, she’s got a new piece on the high-profile recital Julia Bullock is presenting tonight at Lincoln Center and a Composer Spotlight program at The Juilliard School. (You’ll find details in The Night After Night Watch, below).
Above and beyond those choice gigs, Montgomery has got a whole lot more coming up, here and beyond. Third Coast Percussion presents the New York premiere of Montgomery’s Lady Justice/Black Justice, The Song, along with works by Jlin, Tigran Hamasyan, and the late Zakir Hussain, in a Zankel Hall program on February 27. Montgomery also has a new piece on a big recital by 2025 Grammy winner Karen Slack – about whom, read Olivia Giovetti – at the 92nd Street Y on March 11, and will share a “Juilliard at Carnegie” program with Matthew Aucoin and Caroline Shaw at Zankel Hall on March 24.
And there’s more! Montgomery has a prestigious Miller Theatre Composer Portrait concert featuring vocalist Alicia Hall Moran with a superstar band, with a program that includes a commissioned premiere titled Everything, All at Once, on April 3. And on April 9–11, Jakub Hrůša conducts the New York Philharmonic in another commissioned premiere, CHEMILUMINESCENCE, Montgomery’s contribution to the orchestra’s Project 19 initiative.
After that, Montgomery hits the road with Third Coast Percussion, touring a program that includes her piece and those by Hamyasan and Jlin mentioned above, plus an added treat: Lou Harrison’s Concerto for Violin with Percussion Orchestra, with Montgomery as the soloist. That event won’t happen here, but you’ll see it in Iowa City, IA; Urbana, IL; Notre Dame, IN; Oberlin, OH; Seattle, WA; and Stanford, CA.
Believe it or not, this barely scratches the surface of Montgomery’s overall activity and presence—look for a performance near you on her calendar, and you’ll almost certainly find one.
The Night After Night Watch.
Concerts listed in Eastern Standard Time
NOTAFLOF = no one turned away for lack of funds.
11
Julia Bullock
Alice Tully Hall, Lincoln Center
1941 Broadway; Upper West Side
Tuesday, Feb. 11 at 7:30pm; choose-what-you-pay
lincolncenter.org
Only a scattering of tickets remain for this program by the fearless soprano Julia Bullock, which opens an especially adventurous American Songbook series at Lincoln Center. Accompanied by the New Haven Symphony Orchestra and conductor Christian Reif, Bullock presents History’s Persistent Voice, a program of readings, poetry, spirituals, and newly commissioned songs by Jessie Montgomery, Cassie Kinoshi, Allison Loggins-Hull, Carolyn Yarnell, Pamela Z, and Tania León.
Joe Lovano Trio Fascination
Village Vanguard
178 Seventh Ave. S., Greenwich Village
Tuesday, Feb. 11–Sunday, Feb. 16 at 8 & 10pm; $40
villagevanguard.com
Veteran saxophonist Joe Lovano returns to jazz’s most hallowed basement for a weeklong stint with Trio Fascination, the elegantly ruminative outfit with pianist Marilyn Crispell and percussionist Carmen Castaldi heard on Lovano’s three recent ECM recordings including his latest, Our Daily Bread. (See also Tue 18, Jakob Bro & Joe Lovano, for a related event.)
Theatre of Voices
Zankel Hall, Carnegie Hall
881 Seventh Ave.; Midtown West
Tuesday, Feb. 11 at 7:30pm; $45–$55
carnegiehall.org
Contemporary vocal-music luminary Paul Hillier leads his elite ensemble Theatre of Voices, joined by Bang on a Can All-Stars pianist Vicky Chow and percussionist David Cossin, in the world premiere of Italian Lesson by Julia Wolfe and the first U.S. performance of A Brief Descent into Deep Time by John Luther Adams, both co-commissioned by Carnegie Hall. Completing the program is A Western by Michael Gordon, two portions of which you can hear on Bandcamp.
12
Uri Caine
Glass Box Theatre, The New School
55 W. 13th St., Greenwich Village
Wednesday, Feb. 12–Saturday, Feb. 15 at 8:30pm; $20 cash only
thestonenyc.com
The versatile, inquisitive pianist, composer, and bandleader Uri Caine comes to The New School for a Stone residency spanning his most intimate and expansive modes. He’ll play duos with saxophonist Steve Wilson on Wednesday, perform bagatelles by John Zorn and original solo works on Thursday, and play in a trio with bassist Mark Helias and drummer Ben Perowsky on Friday. The series ends on Saturday with a chamber-scale version of The Passion of Octavius Catto, Caine’s oratorio about a historical abolitionist activist; scored for chorus and orchestra, it’s presented here by Caine, Perowsky, bassist Mike Boone, and vocalist Barbara Walker.
Composer Spotlight: Jessie Montgomery
Rm 543 – Harris/Woolfson Orchestral Studio, The Juilliard School
155 W. 65th St.; Upper West Side
Wednesday, Feb. 12 at 7:30pm; pay-what-you-wish
juilliard.edu
Jessie Montgomery is celebrated as an Arnhold Creative Associate at the Juilliard School with a program of her rich, evocative chamber music, including the New York premiere of her Concerto Grosso and ranging from an unaccompanied viola solo to a quintet for tuba and strings.
13
New York Philharmonic
David Geffen Hall, Lincoln Center
10 Lincoln Center Plaza, Midtown Manhattan
Thursday, Feb. 13, Saturday, Feb. 15, and Tuesday, Feb. 18 at 7:30pm; $113–$188
nyphil.org
Not new music, precisely, but a program worth getting excited about anyway: conductor Karina Canellakis, who canceled her last New York Philharmonic engagement in 2023, makes her belated return with a delectable program featuring Kaija Saariaho’s Lumière et pesanteur, Alban Berg’s Violin Concerto (with soloist Veronika Eberle), Olivier Messiaen’s Les Offrandes oubliées, and Claude Debussy’s La Mer. (For information about Same Day Rush and other discount programs, look here.)
14
Ekmeles
St. Paul’s Chapel, Columbia University
1160 Amsterdam Ave.; Morningside Heights
Friday, Feb. 14 at 7:30pm; free admission with required registration
events.columbia.edu
The restlessly inquisitive vocal ensemble Ekmeles presents “Stimmung Is for Lovers,” its annual Valentine’s Day presentation of Karlheinz Stockhausen’s meditative 1968 work, in the rarefied setting of Columbia University’s St. Paul’s Chapel. Note that unless you have a current valid CU ID, registration is required by no later than 11am on Thursday, Feb. 13. If you can’t be present, the event will be streamed live on YouTube.
Yoko Ono: Wish Tree
Park Avenue Armory
643 Park Ave.; Upper East Side
Friday, Feb. 14–Monday, Feb. 17, hours vary; free admission + ticketed events
armoryonpark.org
A dauntless avant-garde artist and activist crucial to the development of New York City’s downtown arts scenes – and, yes, a fearless musical artist as well – Yoko Ono marks her 92nd birthday with the largest-ever North American installation of her arboreal installation Wish Tree. In conjunction with this free presentation, the ticketed symposium A Dream You Dream Together runs 1–7pm on Saturday and Sunday, chock-full of talks and panels attesting to Ono’s trailblazing vitality. Ticketed concerts are also happening on both of those nights at 8pm: Matmos on Saturday, and Alicia Hall Moran and Carl Hancock Rux on Sunday.
15
See Tue 11, Joe Lovano; Wed 12, Uri Caine; Thu 13, New York Philharmonic; and Fri 14, Yoko Ono: Wish Tree.
16
See Tue 11, Joe Lovano, and Fri 14, Yoko Ono: Wish Tree.
17
See Fri 14, Yoko Ono: Wish Tree.
18
Jakob Bro & Joe Lovano
Village Vanguard
178 Seventh Ave. S., Greenwich Village
Tuesday, Feb. 18–Sunday, Feb. 23 at 8 & 10pm; $40
villagevanguard.com
Danish guitarist and composer Jakob Bro reunites with saxophonist Joe Lovano to revisit Once Around the Room, their 2022 ECM tribute to the inimitable drummer and composer Paul Motian, in whose bands Bro and Lovano both played. They’ve reassembled most of the unorthodox band featured on that album, including Larry Grenadier and Thomas Morgan on bass, Anders Christensen on electric bass, and Jorge Rossy on drums, joined here by fellow drummer Eric Harland.
More vital directories of new-music destinations:
Find even more events in Night After Night Watch: The Master List, here.
Photographs by Steve Smith, except where indicated.
Thanks for the tip on Composer Spotlight: Jessie Montgomery. Will def be streaming that!