MATA Festival 2024 Night 1: Automation at Fotografiska

MATA Festival 2024 Night 1: Automation

Nathan Schram – A Night Out [World Premiere]
Adonis Gonzalez – Nrtya [World Premiere]
Cristina Spinei – Missed Deadline [World Premiere]
Adam Schoenberg – AUTOMATION [New York Premiere]

Yves Dhar, cello
Experiential Orchestra
James Blachly, conductor

Solo cello has leaned for far too long on Bach suites and enigmatic 20th-century works.  With Press 1 for Cello, Yves Dhar curates a thrilling evening of music celebrating all things cello. From purely acoustic pieces to those supported by electronics and visual projections, the showstopping program spotlights works specially written for Dhar by acclaimed living composers and features the groundbreaking hybrid orchestra version of Emmy-winning/Grammy-nominated Adam Schoenberg’s AUTOMATION, a double concerto for Human and holographic AI cellists.  You’ll come for the heartwarming melodies that make the cello beloved and leave with jaw dropped wondering, “Was that actually played on the cello?”     

The 26th annual MATA Festival will be presented over four nights at Fotografiska New York, reflecting a newly forged relationship between the MATA Festival and the famed Contemporary Museum of Photography, Art and Culture in Gramercy. The theme of this year’s festival, conceived in alignment with the museum’s spring exhibition, is “INTEGRATION: Music/Technology + Human/Nature” – an exploration of human connection against the backdrop of ever-advancing technology that is changing how we relate to one another and make music.