A Far Cry & Simone Dinnerstein to Tour New Philip Glass Concerto to Boston, NYC and More

In its 2017-18 season, the Grammy-nominated chamber music collective A Far Cry joins pianist Simone Dinnerstein to premiere a new concerto for piano and strings by Philip Glass.

In celebration of the composer's 80th birthday, select premiere performances of the concerto, paired with J. S. Bach's Keyboard Concerto in G minor, will take place in September in Boston, MA; New London, CT; and at the Miller Theatre at Columbia University, NY. Early in 2018, performances take place in Worcester, MA; Palm Beach, FL; and at the Royal Conservatory in Toronto. A recording of the work for Glass' Orange Mountain Music label is scheduled for release in 2018.

This Glass project, along with the A Far Cry's ambitious The Blue Hour project, are the latest high-profile commissions/collaborations that have become a hallmark for the group.

"Playing with A Far Cry is the ultimate chamber music experience. Every musician is an active listener and contributor. I can't wait to discover this new concerto with them!" - Simone Dinnerstein

2017-18 Tour Dates:

Sep. 22 New England Conservatory's Jordan Hall; Boston, MA [ INFO ]
Sep. 23 Connecticut College; New London, CT [ INFO ]
Sep. 28 Miller Theatre at Columbia University; New York, NY [ INFO ]
---
Feb. 11 Mechanics Hall; Worcester, MA
Feb. 14 Society of the Four Arts; Palm Beach, FL
May 25 The Royal Conservatory; Toronto, ON

DINNERSTEIN SAYS: "The idea for this commission first germinated in Philip Glass's garden, where we met for breakfast one beautiful morning in the fall of 2014. I had been a fan of Glass since my tweens. In fact, his music drama The Photographer was the first live event that I attended without an adult, at age twelve. As a result, I have always associated his music with coming of age. I was thrilled and honored when I received Glass's invitation to breakfast and am eagerly awaiting the arrival of his concerto.

"There are almost no concertos written for piano and strings since Bach's time. Both Glass and I have a strong interest in the music of Bach and how it impacts us today. The pairing of the Bach concerto with his own composition will create myriad strands of connectivity, enabling the listener to create bridges between the old and the new."

A FAR CRY SAYS: "A Far Cry has always been a proponent of new music, and it has been a dream of ours since day one to commission a major work from an iconic American composer such as Philip Glass. We're delighted to be partnering on this project with Simone Dinnerstein, a collaborator beloved by our group and one of America's finest pianists." - Jason Fisher, viola

ABOUT A FAR CRY:

In its 10 years, the Grammy-nominated string orchestra A Far Cry has taken an omnivorous approach to its music-making. Known for its high energy, according to The New York Times, A Far Cry "brims with personality or, better, personalities, many and varied." The seventeen "Criers" are proud to call Boston home, rehearsing at their storefront music center in Jamaica Plain and presenting a nine-concert subscription series, with performances at both New England Conservatory's Jordan Hall and St. John's Episcopal Church in Jamaica Plain. A FarCry has also been Chamber Orchestra in Residence at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum since 2011. Producing a hometown series has allowed the group to innovate in all aspects of its programming and has fostered its exposure on a national and international level. A Far Cry's insightful perspective on the music it plays, along with a propensity for engaging collaboration, are the group's hallmarks.

ABOUT SIMONE DINNERSTEIN:

American pianist Simone Dinnerstein is a searching and inventive artist who is motivated by a desire to find the musical core of every work she approaches. The New York-based pianist gained an international following because of the remarkable success of her recording of Bach's Goldberg Variations , which she raised the funds to record. Released in 2007 on Telarc, it ranked No. 1 on the U.S. Billboard Classical Chart in its first week of sales and was named to many "Best of 2007" lists including those of The New York Times, Los Angeles Times , and The New Yorker.

Dinnerstein's performance schedule has taken her around the world since her triumphant New York recital debut at Carnegie Hall's Weill Recital Hall in 2005 to venues including the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Vienna Konzerthaus, Berlin Philharmonie and London's Wigmore Hall; and festivals that include the Lincoln Center Mostly Mozart Festival, the Aspen, Verbier, and Ravinia Festivals.

Dedicated to her community, in 2009 Dinnerstein founded Neighborhood Classics, a concert series open to the public hosted by New York public schools which raises funds for the schools.

This season, Dinnerstein released her new album, Mozart in Havana, recorded with the Havana Lyceum Orchestra. The Orchestra joined her on tour in June, making their U.S. 3 of 5 debut. Also, in the fall of 2017, Dinnerstein will premiere and begin touring her collaboration with choreographer Pam Tanowitz, New Work for Goldberg Variations. Arriving on the 10 th anniversary of Dinnerstein's acclaimed recording, the work is a setting for piano and a sextet of female dancers.

ABOUT Philip Glass:

Through his operas, his symphonies, his compositions for his own ensemble, and his wideranging collaborations with artists ranging from Twyla Tharp to Allen Ginsberg, Woody Allen to David Bowie, Philip Glass has had an extraordinary and unprecedented impact upon the musical and intellectual life of his times.

The operas - Einstein on the Beach , Satyagraha, Akhnaten, and The Voyage, among many others - play throughout the world's leading houses. Glass has written music for experimental theater and for Academy Award- winning motion pictures such as The Hoursand Martin Scorsese's Kundun, while Koyaanisqatsi, his initial filmic landscape with Godfrey Reggio and the Philip Glass Ensemble, may be the most radical and influential mating of sound and vision since Fantasia. His associations, personal and professional, with leading rock, pop and world music artists date back to the 1960s, including the beginning of his collaborative relationship with artist Robert Wilson. Indeed, Glass is the first composer to win a wide, multi-generational audience in the opera house, the concert hall, the dance world, in film and in popular music - simultaneously.

Pictured: A Far Cry. Photo by Yoon S. Byun.