NY Phil's CONTACT! Series to Continue with 'Salonen's Floof and Other Delights'

The seventh season of CONTACT!, the New York Philharmonic's new-music series, continues with "Salonen's Floof and Other Delights," curated and hosted by The Marie-Jose?e Kravis Composer-in-Residence Esa-Pekka Salonen, featuring music written by him and composers who influenced him. The program features Lutos?awski's String Quartet, Donatoni's Hot, Castiglioni's Dulce refrigerium, and Esa-Pekka Salonen's Floof (Songs of a Homeostatic Homer). The concert takes place Monday, February 1, 2016, at 7:30 p.m. at National Sawdust, which is co-presenting the program.

Esa-Pekka Salonen said Lutos?awski "was for years the most central influence of my life, from my late 20s until he died." His recording of Lutos?awski's complete symphonies with the Los Angeles Philharmonic was released in 2013. Esa-Pekka Salonen studied composition with Donatoni, who dedicated his final work, ESA (In cauda V), to Mr. Salonen; at the work's premiere, Mr. Salonen called Donatoni "the most influential of his teachers." Following his studies with Donatoni, Mr. Salonen studied with Castiglioni in Milan, from 1980 to 1981, during which time Mr. Salonen composed his Saxophone Concerto, considered a stylistic turning point. Mr. Salonen made his Philharmonic conducting debut leading the U.S. Premiere of Castiglioni's Sinfonia con giardino in 1986.

The 2015-16 season of CONTACT! was planned with the guidance of Esa-Pekka Salonen. "I think it's wonderful to play new music in smaller venues, away from the sort of establishment temples of art," Esa-Pekka Salonen said. "There's a totally different communication between the audience, the musicians, and the music. People are more relaxed, and you can let your natural curiosity guide you."

In November 2013 the Philharmonic presented the CONTACT! program An Evening with Esa- Pekka Salonen, hosted by Mr. Salonen, in which Philharmonic musicians performed several of his chamber works.

CONTACT! will continue with an additional chamber program at National Sawdust hosted by Esa-Pekka Salonen: "The Messiaen Connection," featuring works by Olivier Messiaen and his students, as part of the Philharmonic's Messiaen Week (March 7). The 2015-16 season's final CONTACT! program will take place as part of the second NY PHIL BIENNIAL: the U.S. Stage Premiere of Gerald Barry's The Importance of Being Earnest, conducted by Ilan Volkov and directed by Ramin Gray, as part of the new Lincoln Center-New York Philharmonic Opera Initiative.

Established by Music Director Alan Gilbert in the 2009-10 season, CONTACT! highlights the works of both emerging and established contemporary composers, performed by smaller ensembles of Philharmonic musicians in intimate venues outside the Lincoln Center campus. Since its inception, CONTACT! has presented 21 World Premieres (as of the end of the 2014-15 season), including Matthias Pintscher's songs from Solomon's garden, Sean Shepherd's These Particular Circumstances, Carter's Three Controversies and a Conversation, and Dai Fujikura's Infinite String.