Miller Theatre Presents A Composer Portrait Of CHRISTOPHER CERRONE, 3/29

From the very first note, Brooklyn-based composer Christopher Cerrone draws listeners into his vibrant sonic imagination-a sublime world of ethereal colors and deep emotional resonance. Riding high following the extraordinary success of his groundbreaking futuristic opera, Invisible Cities, Cerrone teams up with Grammy-award winning Third Coast Percussion ensemble and mezzo-soprano Rachel Calloway to perform recent chamber works, including the world premiere of a work commissioned for this Portrait.

The New York Times describes Composer Portraits as "Miller Theatre's invaluable marquee series of deep dives, a single living composer at a time."

PROGRAM:
A Natural History of Vacant Lots (2017) world premiere, Miller Theatre and Third Coast Percussion co-commission
Goldbeater's Skin (2016)
Memory Palace (2012, arr. 2015)

ARTISTS:
Christopher Cerrone, composer
Rachel Calloway, mezzo-soprano
Third Coast Percussion

Christopher Cerrone

Winner of a 2015 Rome Prize and a finalist for the 2014 Pulitzer Prize, the Brooklyn-based composer Christopher Cerrone is internationally acclaimed for compositions characterized by a subtle handling of timbre and resonance, a deep literary fluency, and a flair for multimedia collaborations.

In the current season, Cerrone has world premieres of his new string quartet with the Calder Quartet for the LA Phil; a new percussion quartet for Miller Theatre as part of its Composer Portraits series, performed by Third Coast Percussion; and a violin concerto for Jennifer Koh and the Detroit Symphony, led by Leonard Slatkin.

Recent highlights include world premieres with the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra (for Jeffrey Kahane's final concert as LACO Music Director); Third Coast Percussion and Rachel Calloway for the DeBartolo Performing Arts Center; and an electroacoustic work for Tim Munro at Miller Theatre. Cerrone has had recent commissions from the LA Phil, eighth blackbird, Vicky Chow, and works featured on new releases from New Amsterdam Records, VIA Records, and on an all-Cerrone album from Christopher Rountree and wild Up. Recent commissions include the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra; the DeBartolo Performing Arts Center; the LA Philharmonic; Present Music; and Theo Bleckmann and the Albany Symphony's Dogs of Desire.

Cerrone's opera, Invisible Cities, based on Italo Calvino's landmark novel, received its fully-staged world premiere in a wildly popular production (and accompanying album and DVD) by The Industry, directed by Yuval Sharon in Los Angeles' Union Station. His upcoming opera In a Grove with librettist Stephanie Fleischmann had its first workshop with Mahogany Opera Group at the 2017 Various Stages Festival.

Cerrone is one-sixth of the Sleeping Giant composer collective. He holds degrees from the Yale School of Music and the Manhattan School of Music, and is published by Schott NY and Project Schott New York.

Rachel Calloway

As an internationally recognized leading interpreter of contemporary and modern music, mezzo-soprano Rachel Calloway brings versatility and compelling insight to stages worldwide. This season's highlights include a debut with Opera Philadelphia in Lembit Beecher's I Have No Stories to Tell You and her continued collaboration with Third Coast Percussion at the University of Chicago and Miller Theatre in New York.

On the concert stage, Ms. Calloway recently sang Haydn's Lord Nelson Mass with the Oratorio Society of New York at Carnegie Hall and Mahler's Symphony No. 2 with the Omaha Symphony. She debuted with Ensemble Modern in Frankfurt, Germany, singing Alban Berg's Der Wein. She was presented in concert at the Kennedy Center in collaborations with the Amernet Quartet and Pro Musica Hebraica and the Jukebox New Music Series. Ms. Calloway has appeared with the Los Angeles Philharmonic New Music Series, Berkeley Symphony, BAM Next Wave Festival, Bridgehampton Chamber Music Festival, Cal Performances, SONiC Festival, Southern Exposure New Music Festival, and Lincoln Center Festival. Ms. Calloway has performed with Ensemble Signal, Alarm Will Sound, Talea, JACK Quartet, Ekmeles, American Composers' Orchestra, and Continuum. In addition, she has collaborated with today's foremost composers including Gabriela Lena Frank, Georg Friedrich Haas, Unsuk Chin, Oliver Knussen, Nico Muhly, Christopher Cerrone, and Donnacha Dennehy.

Equally at home on the operatic stage, Ms. Calloway created the roles of "Dominant" and "Musicologist" in Steven Stucky and Jeremy Denk's The Classical Style (Zankel Hall, Ojai Festival) with Robert Spano conducting which brought recognition from the New York Times praising her singing as "rich-voiced." She made her European operatic debut as Mrs. Grose in The Turn of the Screw at Opéra de Reims, Athénée Théâtre Louis-Jovet, and Opéra de Lille.

Ms. Calloway holds degrees from The Juilliard School and Manhattan School of Music.

Third Coast Percussion

Hailed by The New Yorker as "vibrant" and "superb," Third Coast Percussion explores and expands the extraordinary sonic possibilities of the percussion repertoire, delivering exciting performances for audiences of all kinds. Since its formation in 2005, Third Coast Percussion has gained national attention with concerts and recordings that meld the energy of rock music with the precision and nuance of classical chamber works.

These "hard-grooving" musicians (The New York Times) have become known for ground-breaking collaborations across a wide range of disciplines, including concerts and residency projects with engineers at the University of Notre Dame, architects at the Frank Lloyd Wright School of Architecture, astronomers at the Adler Planetarium, and more. The ensemble enhances the performances it offers with cutting edge new media, including free iPhone and iPad apps that allow audience members to create their own musical performances and take a deeper look at the music performed by Third Coast Percussion.

Third Coast Percussion is the Ensemble-in-Residence at the University of Notre Dame's DeBartolo Performing Arts Center. They have the honor of being the first ensemble at the University of Notre Dame to create a permanent and progressive ensemble residency program at the center. The ensemble performs multiple recitals annually as part of the DeBartolo Performing Arts Center's Presenting Series season.

Third Coast's passion for community outreach includes a wide range of residency offerings while on tour, in addition to a long-term residency in the Back of the Yards neighborhood on Chicago's South Side.

Upcoming Miller Theatre Concerts

Early Music
Saturday, April 7, 8:00 p.m.
Les Délices: Music for Fated Lovers
Single Tickets: $30-$45

Composer Portraits
Thursday, April 19, 8:00 p.m.
Frederic Rzewski
Single Tickets: $20-$30

For the complete 2017-2018 season schedule, please visit www.millertheatre.com

Columbia University's Miller Theatre is located north of the Main Campus Gate
at 116th St. & Broadway on the ground floor of Dodge Hall. Directions and information are available online at www.millertheatre.com or via the Miller Theatre Box Office, at 212.854.7799.

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