From ETHEL Central:
Heavy CD Release
Slated for a March 27th release, Heavy marks ETHEL’s third CD and serves as the group’s counterpoint to their most recent album LIGHT (Cantaloupe Music, 2006), which was selected as #3 on Amazon.com’s “Best of 2006: Top Classical Editor’s Picks”.Recorded by Cornelius Dufallo (violin), Ralph Farris (viola), Dorothy Lawson (cello), and Mary Rowell (violin), Heavy is a salute to ETHEL’s hometown of New York City and features eight celebrated Manhattan-based contemporary composers. Playlist includes:
Don Byron’s String Quartet No. 2: Four Thoughts on Marvin Gaye (2006)
John Halle’s Sphere[‘]s (2004)
Julia Wolfe’s Early that summer (1993)
John King’s No Nickel Blues (2009)
Raz Mesinai’s La Citadelle (2007)
David Lang’s Wed (1996)
Kenji Bunch’s String Circle 1 (2005)
Marcelo Zarvos’s Rounds (2006)Mar TBA – CD Release Concert, New York City, NY
“After Silence” Music of John King, Steve Reich and Aleksandra Vrebalov
The compositions on this program – John King’s AllSteel, Steve Reich’s Different Trains and Aleksandra Vrebalov’s …hold me, neighbor, in this storm… – are all autobiographical in nature. Brought together, these three works render a compelling reflection on the power of music as a highly personal means of “expressing the inexpressible.” Commissioned by and written for ETHEL, King’s AllSteel is an eight-movement work influenced by the tragic events of September 11, 2011. The odd-numbered movements (drafted through the summer of 2001) run from blues-infused riffs to the spirited, driving power of ETHEL’s muscular grooves, while the even-numbered movements (drafted post 9/11) are all meditations and reflections on the subject of peace. Reich’s celebrated Different Trains takes audiences on a gripping musical journey. As a child who rode several wartime trains in the U.S., Reich imagines how different his experiences could have been had he, as a young Jewish child, ridden trains in Europe (as suggested with the use of voices of Holocaust survivors, a retired train porter, his own governess, recorded sounds of European and American trains from the 1930s and 40s, etc…). Vrebalov’s …hold me, neighbor, in this storm… is a profound contribution to this program. It features field recordings of the composer’s homeland (the former Yugoslavia) — from Serbian orthodox monastery bells and Islamic prayer calls, to the frenzy of wartime streets and the composer’s own grandmother’s fragile singing voice. Calling for members of the quartet to also perform on Balkan instruments (the bowed gusle and the tapan drum), this work pulls a listener into a world of ecstatic, intense emotion, while celebrating the simple beauty, and wonder of human interaction.
Jan 23 – Atlas Performing Arts Center, Washington, DC
Feb 11 – Location TBA, Montgomery, AL
Mar 5 – David Friend Recital Hall, Berklee College, Boston, MA“Present Beauty” Music of Philip Glass
ETHEL continues its Present Beauty nationwide tour. ETHEL presents a program celebrating the concepts of Presence and Continuity, featuring the group’s own string quartet arrangement of Philip Glass’ score from The Hours. Additional works will be drawn from ETHEL’s extensive body of fascinating and original material, including Julia Wolfe’s Early that summer and David Lang’s Wed.
Jan 15 – Petree Recital Hall, Oklahoma City University, Oklahoma City, OK
Feb 2 – Hosmer Hall, SUNY, Potsdam, NY
Feb 10 – Location TBA, Montgomery, AL
Feb 17 – Orvis Auditorium, University of Hawaii, Honolulu, HI
Mar 24 – Molloy College, Rockville Centre, NY
Apr 15 – Wellin Hall, Hamilton College, Clinton, NY“Music of the Sun” feat. Robert Mirabal
Grammy and Nammy Award-winning Native American flutist Robert Mirabal joins ETHEL to create a cross-cultural contemporary music event.
Using the instruments of the string quartet, Native American flutes (Tdoop – Pootse) and drums (Mooloo), as well as the spirited voices of students and community members, “Music of the Sun” is a program inspired by the sun mythologies of Native America. In many Native American cultures each day begins with “running to the sun” – a fusion of spiritual and physical discipline. This extraordinary collaboration grew out of the ETHEL/Mirabal work as part of ETHEL’s TruckStop® project, which premiered at the Brooklyn Academy of Music in 2008.
Jan 25 – Forbes Center, James Madison University, Harrisonburg, VA
Jan 27 – Dimnent Chapel, Hope College, Holland, MI
Jan 28 – Lund Auditorium, Dominican University, River Forest, IL
Feb 25 – Troy Savings Bank Music Hall, Troy, NY
Apr 28 – Williams Theater, Tulsa, OKETHEL Concert Tour
ETHEL plays selections from its vast repertoire.
Jan 8 – NYC Winter Jazz Festival w/ Ayelet Rose Gottlieb, Le Poisson Rouge, New York City, NY
Jan 21 – TEDxManhattan, Times Center, New York City, NY
Feb 4 – TEDxBigApple, New York City, NY
Feb 19 – w/ Hawaiian slack key guitarist Jeff Peterson, Kahilu Theater, Kamueal, HI
Mar TBA – Heavy CD Release Concert, New York City, NY
Apr 26 – Bevens Music Room, Lyon College, Batesville, AR
May 3 – w/ Collegiate School Orchestra, Collegiate School, New York City, NY
Related articles
- Reich: WTC 9/11; Mallet Quartet; Dance Patterns (guardian.co.uk)
