The Miller Theatre Presents POP-UP CONCERTS, Now thru 3/24

Miller Theatre at Columbia University School of the Arts brightens this winter with POP-UP CONCERTS.

TODAY, January 27, 2015
Trios by Zorn

Tuesday, February 10, 2015
Curtis 20/21

Tuesday, February 24, 2015
JACK Quartet

Tuesday, March 24, 2015
Yarn/Wire

Free admission • Doors at 5:30pm, music at 6:00pm

at Miller Theatre (2960 Broadway at 116th Street)

From Miller Theatre Executive Director Melissa Smey:
"Pop-Up Concerts have a special place in my heart. I can't imagine a better way to discover new chamber music. I'm delighted to welcome back the JACK Quartet and Yarn/Wire, two groups whose early performances here helped make the series what it is. And I am so excited to feature new works by two composers who are dear to Miller Theatre-John Zorn and Georg Friedrich Haas. It's going to be a great winter on stage at Miller."

POP-UP CONCERTS

Bring a friend, grab a drink, and join some of today's most interesting performers onstage at Miller Theatre on select Tuesday evenings. Now in the fourth season, Pop-Up Concerts have become a beloved mainstay at Miller, providing free, informal performances in the early evening. The unique format of these hour-long concerts allows the theater to test out new ideas, often welcoming emerging ensembles to that stage for their Miller Theatre debut. Free libations contribute to the laid-back ambiance. All concerts start at 6 p.m. Admission is first-come, first-served, and doors open at 5:30 p.m.

Tuesday, January 27, 2015

Trios by Zorn

Vicky Chow, piano
Jennifer Choi, violin
Michael Nicolas, cello
New-music maverick John Zorn created this program of three works for violin, piano, and cello that run the gambit between heaven and hell. The Aristos presents "ten metaphysical ambiguities" for the musicians to perform, while Hexentarot-completed by Zorn on the eve of the Grand Sabbath Beltane-provides music for witches' rites. With Amour Fou, the composer delves into a whirlwind of emotion at the core of human experience: crazy love.

PROGRAM:
John Zorn: The Aristos (2014) ten metaphysical ambiguities for violin, cello, and piano
John Zorn: Hexentarot (2013) twelve simple canons for the witches' Sabbath
John Zorn: Amour Fou (1999)

Tuesday, February 10, 2015

Curtis 20/21
featuring the Curtis Guitar Studio

Alec Holcomb, guitar
Jiyeon Kim, guitar
Xiaobo Pu, guitar
Hao Yang, guitar

The young musicians of the Curtis Institute of Music explore the unique and multifaceted role of guitar in contemporary classical music, with a program that includes pieces by Paul Lansky and Steve Mackey, a Curtis composer-in-residence. A versatile ensemble, Curtis 20/21 has been lauded for their "passionate performances" (The New York Times) in Miller Theatre's Composer Portraits and Bach, Revisited series, as well as previous Pop-Up Concerts.

Program to be announced.

Tuesday, February 24, 2015

JACK Quartet

Christopher Otto, violin
Ari Streisfeld, violin
John Pickford Richards, viola
Kevin McFarland, cello

Praised as "superheroes of the new music world" by the The Boston Globe, the JACK Quartet returns to Miller's stage with the U.S. premiere of a new work by Georg Friedrich Haas. A Professor of Music at Columbia University, Haas has embraced microtonality-breaking sound down beyond the conventional Western scale-without letting go of a Romantic sensibility. JACK has championed his extraordinary resulting compositions around the world.

PROGRAM:
Georg Friedrich Haas: String Quartet No. 8 (2014) - U.S. premiere

Tuesday, March 24, 2015

Yarn/Wire

Ian Antonio, percussion
Russell Greenberg, percussion
Laura Barger, piano
Ning Yu, piano

The "fearless" (Time Out New York) quartet Yarn/Wire performs two new works that introduce an extra component to their unique piano and percussion make-up: electronics. Thomas Meadowcroft explores of how we make and consume music in Walkman Antiquarian, overlaying the live performance with audio samples. Harmonies slide into focus and dissolve in Constellations, as the Canadian-born composer and visual artist Chiyoko Szlavnics interweaves sinewaves with acoustic instrumentation.

On Tuesday, December 2, NEA Chairman Jane Chu announced that Miller Theatre will receive an NEA Art Works grant of $40,000 to support contemporary music programming, including Pop-Up Concerts, Composer Portraits and the Bach, Revisited series.
More info at arts.gov.

Pop-Up Concerts will return in April
for a spring season. Save the dates!

Tuesday, April 14, 2015
Monday, May 11, 2015
Tuesday, June 2, 2015
Tuesday, June 16, 2015

Photo Courtesy of the Miller Theatre's Website

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