The Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra's Liquid Music and Walker Art Center present David Lang: darker

On Saturday, December 3, 2016 at 8:00pm at the Ordway Concert Hall in Saint Paul, The Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra's Liquid Music Series and the Walker Art Center present David Lang: darker. David Lang, one of America's preeminent living composers and winner of the Pulitzer Prize for music, brings his contemplative work darker to Saint Paul for its Midwest premiere. Scored for 12 strings, darker is more of an object than a piece of music, weaving together intricate solo lines into a delicate and subtly emotional fabric. "My piece, like life, expends a lot of effort to go a very short distance," says Lang. "From beautiful to a little less beautiful, from a little light to something a little darker." The performance will feature hypnotic projections created live by New York based visual artist Suzanne Bocanegra.

"My piece darker is a bit of a paradox," says Lang. "It is a meditative, ambient, gentle piece, bathed in this hypnotic, psychedelic light, but it also happens to have a million notes to play. It is at the same time almost static and relentlessly active, both soft and very hard. It needs really great musicians, and I am very happy and very honored to have darker performed by members of The Saint Paul Chamber Orchestrathrough the Walker Art Center and the SPCO's Liquid Music."

Suzanne Bocanegra reflects on the impetus for the live art that she creates for darker, "I developed a liquid light show for darker that becomes both a moving set and a quasi-narrative. Liquid light shows were originally developed for rock concerts in the 60s to engage the eyes in the mind-altering experience of the music, and I've always been interested in how this form of visual show making is a sort of live abstract expressionist painting. And, just as you see the musicians make the music in front of you, my hands are included in the frame as well, as a echo of the musicians' active hands."

FEATURED ARTISTS:
David Lang

Suzanne Bocanegra
Mischa Santora
Musicians of The Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra

DATE AND LOCATION:
Saturday, Dec 3, 2016 at 8:00pm

Ordway Concert Hall
345 Washington St, St Paul, MN 55102

TICKETS: $20 ($15 for Liquid Music subscribers and Walker Art Center Members)

liquidmusicseries.org | 651.291.1144

The Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra's Liquid Music Series develops innovative new projects with iconoclastic artists in unique presentation formats. Liquid Music performances invite adventurous audiences to discover the new and the fascinating within the flourishing landscape of contemporary chamber music.

Renowned for its artistic excellence, remarkable versatility of musical styles and adventurous programming, The Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra is widely regarded as one of the finest chamber orchestras in the world. Now in its 58th season, the SPCO has recently undergone transformational change with the opening of its new home, the Ordway Concert Hall, the addition of a new generation of players, and significant changes in its artistic vision. Committed to championing new music, the SPCO is primarily an unconducted ensemble that works in close collaboration with a diverse series of artistic partners.

The Walker Art Center is catalyst for the creative expression of artists and the active engagement of audiences, the Walker Art Center examines the questions that shape and inspire us as individuals, cultures, and communities. Established in 1927 as the Walker Art Gallery, in 1940 it adopted a new name and focused on modern and contemporary art exhibitions as well as screenings, performances and public programs. Today the Walker is one of the top-five most visited modern and contemporary art centers in the U.S. Multidisciplinary In Focus, it is equally committed to advancing artistic innovation and interdisciplinary scholarship as it is with increasing access to lifelong learning in the arts. Led by Senior Curator Philip Bither since 1997, the Walker's Performing Arts program under his tenure has been defined by its commitment to the increasingly blurred lines between artistic disciplines, including contemporary dance, new music-theatre, performance art, experimental theatre, avant-jazz, contemporary classical music, new global sounds and alternative rock and pop. In addition to animating its outstanding McGuire Theater, the Walker has also greatly expanded its placement of dance into gallery settings, in its sculpture garden, and beyond, to further encourage a conversation between forms. It has also continued it long-standing tradition of mounting work together with presenters, venues, community-based collaborators, and unique sites across the Twin Cities. Through its endeavors, the Walker has earned an international reputation as "one of America's foremost experimental art spaces" (UK's The Guardian)