Curtis 20/21 Ensemble Presents “The New Yorkers” February 11, Streamed Live on Curtis Performs

PHILADELPHIA—February 8, 2017—The Curtis 20/21 Ensemble presents “The New Yorkers,” the second in a three-concert series exploring the Darmstadt School and its musical legacy. On Saturday, February 11 at 8 p.m. in Gould Rehearsal Hall (and streamed live at www.curtis.edu/CurtisPerforms), the Curtis 20/21 Ensemble focuses on the “New York School” and works by its most (in)famous member John Cage, an American contemporary to the Darmstadt composers. Cage was a leader in the American avant-garde movement of the 1950s and 1960s, whose experimental work challenged most every convention in art and performance, and whose radical ideas inspired many composers to come. 

This concert is performed in memory of Rosalyn Tureck, a keyboard artist, teacher, and scholar whose multi-faceted career was driven by the same kind of musical curiosity that spurred John Cage. In order to ensure the continuation of collaborative projects, learning, and performances uniquely championed by Dr. Rosalyn Tureck, the Tureck Bach Research Institute merged with the Curtis Institute of Music in 2015.

The February 11 program features five selections from Cage’s ambitious Ten Thousand Things—an indeterminate project that includes a series of pieces that can be performed in any order, concurrently or alone. The work has no fixed ensemble and Cage conceived of it as an ongoing work-in-progress he would add to throughout his life. Performers from the Curtis 20/21 Ensemble will play pieces from the series that include strings, piano, percussion, and speaker. Joining 20/21 to perform as speaker is guest artist Laura Kuhn, director of the John Cage Trust and editor of the recently published Selected Letters of John Cage.

This concert will be streamed live at 8 p.m. EST on Curtis Performs (www.curtis.edu/CurtisPerforms), and the video will remain online for a week. The free event will include a pre-concert conversation on Cage and the “New York School” at 7:30 p.m. with Laura Kuhn and Curtis 20/21 Artistic Director David Ludwig. Live streaming of Curtis 20/21 performances is made possible by BNP Paribas.

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 NEW YORKERS

Saturday, February 11 at 8 p.m.
Gould Rehearsal Hall, Lenfest Hall, 1616 Locust Street

CAGE       59 1/2” for a String Player (1953) (cello)
                 45’ for a Speaker (1954)
                 31’ 57.9864” for a Pianist (1954)
                 26’ 1.1499” for a String Player (1955) (viola)
                 27’ 10.554” for a Percussionist (1956)

The concert is free and no advance reservations are required. 

Streamed live at Curtis Performs (www.curtis.edu/CurtisPerforms), 7:30 p.m. EST preconcert talk, 8 p.m. performance

Live streaming of Curtis 20/21 performances in 2016-17 is made possible by BNP Paribas.

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