Curtis 20/21 Ensemble Presents Ecotone: Selected Works for Solo Instruments on October 31
PHILADELPHIA—October 19, 2017—The Curtis 20/21 Ensemble presents Ecotone: Selected Works for Solo Instruments, the first of four programs in the 2017–18 season, on Tuesday, October 31 at 8 p.m. in Gould Rehearsal Hall. A preconcert discussion will begin at 7:30 p.m. The program and discussion will also be streamed live at Curtis.edu/YouTube. Using highly theatrical performances, this concert explores the Edge Effect, Curtis’s latest all-school project, by focusing on the concept of the ecotone, an area of transition between two environments.
The performance includes works for solo instruments and voice that combine virtuosic technique with theatricality. Luciano Berio’s Sequenza V for trombone pays homage to the composer’s childhood memories of a conflicted clown and Aaron Jay Kernis’s Superstar Etude No. 1 recalls the highly physical playing of Jerry Lee Lewis. The program also features works by Amy Beth Kirsten, R. Murray Schafer, and Gabriella Smith, each transforming the solo musician into a dramatic and dynamic character on stage.
This concert is free and no tickets or reservations are required. Seating in Gould Rehearsal Hall is first-come, first-served. The concert will be streamed live at 8 p.m. EST on YouTube and Facebook Live.
The Curtis Institute of Music’s all-school projects are interdepartmental, educational, and cultural extravaganzas characterized by a simultaneous, intensive examination of a specific composition, genre, or era across the academic curriculum, performance studies, and extracurriculum. This year’s project, “The Edge Effect,” is inspired by an ecological phenomenon wherein two ecosystems meet, resulting in the greatest diversity of life. Curtis students will explore this “edge effect” as it relates to music. On stage and in the classroom, students will focus on the results of external influences on musicians as they have manifested over centuries in the creation and performance of concert music.
Flexible in size and scope, the Curtis 20/21 Ensemble performs a wide range of music from the 20th and 21st centuries, including works by Curtis students, faculty, and alumni. The ensemble has appeared at major U.S. venues such as the Kennedy Center and Carnegie Hall, and has presented concert portraits of iconic composers in residence John Corigliano, George Crumb, Krzysztof Penderecki, and Steven Stucky, among others. Of the ensemble’s Joan Tower portrait program, the New York Times wrote, “Ms. Tower could hardly have hoped for more passionate performances.”
CURTIS 20/21 ENSEMBLE: Ecotone: Selected Works for Solo Instruments
Tuesday, October 31 at 8 p.m.
Gould Rehearsal Hall, Lenfest Hall, 1616 Locust Street
Preconcert discussion at 7:30 p.m.
Program to include
BERIO Sequenza V
Matthew Vaughn, trombone
KERNIS Superstar Etude No. 1
Jia Cheng Xiong, piano
KIRSTEN Pirouette on a Moon Sliver
Emma Resmini, flute
SCHAFER The Crown of Ariadne
Helen Gerhold, harp
SMITH The heaventree of stars hung with humid nightblue fruit
Jordan Dodson, guitar (’13)
Chloe Perkes, dancer
Free; no tickets or advance reservations required.
Streamed live on YouTube and Facebook Live at 8 p.m. EST.
Generous support for the Curtis 20/21 Ensemble is provided by the Daniel W. Dietrich II Foundation.
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