Curtis 20/21 Ensemble Presents The Edge Effect: Composers and their Environmental Influences on February 24
PHILADELPHIA—February 21, 2018—The Curtis 20/21 Ensemble presents Arnold Schoenberg’s groundbreaking Pierrot lunaire on Saturday, February 24 at 8 p.m. in Gould Rehearsal Hall. In an evening of conversation and performance, David Ludwig, chair of composition studies and artistic director of Curtis 20/21, leads a discussion about the piece’s connection to Curtis’s all-school project, “The Edge Effect,” and Arnold Schoenberg’s response to turbulent times through words, music, and theater. The concert will be streamed live on YouTube (Curtis.edu/YouTube) at 8 p.m. EST. Due to popular demand, advance registration for in-person attendance is now closed.
Pierrot lunaire depicts the macabre world of Pierrot the clown, exploring the character’s dark fantasies and hallucinatory visions. At once a revolutionary and a traditionalist, Schoenberg drew from his own cultural history to create new expressive modes of extreme emotion. The first performance in 1912, featuring a noted cabaret singer, caused a scandal, and Schoenberg would feel the effects for the rest of his life. Mezzo-soprano Kendra Broom, a Curtis opera student, headlines this performance.
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
The Edge Effect: Composers and their Environmental Influences
Saturday, February 24 at 8 p.m.
Gould Rehearsal Hall, Lenfest Hall, 1616 Locust Street
SCHOENBERG Pierrot lunaire, Op. 21
Kendra Broom, mezzo-soprano
Lydia Roth, flute
Andrew Moses, clarinet
Tsutomu William Copeland, violin
Andres Sanchez, cello
Junhui Chen, piano
Carlos Ágreda, conductor
Streamed live on YouTube (Curtis.edu/YouTube) beginning 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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