| Experiments in Opera presents a rare run of "Anthony Braxton Theater Improvisations" at The Flea | |
| Posted by: Official_Press_Release 05:35 pm EST 02/19/20 | |
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| "Experiments in Opera has proven once again that the so-called 'indie' opera companies in New York City can be cultural icons by showcasing innovative, well-written pieces performed by impressive musicians in an intimate space." — I Care If You Listen EXPERIMENTS IN OPERA — the curiously refreshing composer collective — presents the world premiere of Anthony Braxton Theater Improvisations An operatic realization of the rarely heard Compositions No. 279-283 for comedian and improvising musicians by a giant of American music, composer and saxophonist Anthony Braxton. Featuring Rob Reese, actor/director Nate Wooley, trumpet Jessica Pavone, strings Ingrid Laubrock, saxophones Kamala Sankaram, vocals Elizabeth Saunders, vocals Three performances at The Flea (20 Thomas Street, NYC): March 26–28, 2020, 7:00pm Thursday March 26 — Rob Reese, Jessica Pavone, Kamala Sankaram Friday March 27 — Rob Reese, Ingrid Laubrock, Kamala Sankaram Saturday March 28 — Rob Reese, Nate Wooley, Elizabeth Saunders Tickets $30 (general admission) / $75 (VIP) experimentsinopera.com/braxton From EiO's Composer-Leaders: "You could say on some level that Experiments in Opera started with Anthony Braxton. All of the EiO composer-leaders have studied and performed with Anthony extensively and are proponents of his omnivorous vision for contemporary music. His mentorship of us as individuals and as an organization has been invaluable as we have created a place for experimental opera and theater in New York over the last nine years. In his advocacy for composer/performers, large-scale spectacles and original storytelling unfettered by convention, he has proven to be a foundation for our community as we push back against the orthodoxy of the traditional opera world. This realization of Compositions No. 279-283 has been a dream to put together, especially since it occupies a legendary and controversial place in Anthony's musical canon. We are very excited to share this music with our opera audience and also to invite the improvisation and jazz communities in our big conversation about music and performance. Let's kick it about!" – Aaron Siegel, Jason Cady, Kamala Sankaram Compositions No. 279-283 experimentsinopera.com/braxton In celebration of the 75th Birthday of trailblazing composer and EiO mentor Anthony Braxton—one of the most important musicians, educators, and creative thinkers of our time—Experiments in Opera presents a rare run of performances of Compositions No. 279-283 composed for improvisational actor and improvising musicians. This production is part of the Braxton75 festivities in 2020 in collaboration with the Tri-Centric Foundation, which supports the continued evolution of the music of Anthony Braxton. While these works have been recorded, they have never been performed live. Drawing on Braxton's complex systems of graphic notation, character development and narrative poetics, these compositions ask performers to engage with newspaper clippings, traditional improv comedy techniques and historical comedy tropes, all in the name of creating a dynamic and surprising evening of music and theater. These compositions were originally recorded by Braxton and Alex Horwitz as Four Compositions (Duets) 2000 (CIMP). At the time, many traditionalists derided these performances as a 'leap of faith.' And they are often brought up as an example of the extraordinary risks that Braxton has taken throughout his career to explore a broad palate of performance possibilities. Anthony Braxton Theater Improvisations will run in the Siggy Theater at The Flea from March 26–28 and will feature director/performer Rob Reese, as well as a different set of musical improvisors for each night of the run: renowned improvisers Nate Wooley (trumpet), Jessica Pavone (strings), Ingrid Laubrock (saxophones), Kamala Sankaram (vocals), and Elizabeth Saunders (vocals). Together, these performers are re-interpreting Braxton's scores through the lens of Experimental Opera traditions and shedding light on the avant garde nature of Anthony's work. Anthony Braxton taught the three founders of Experiments in Opera (Jason Cady, Aaron Siegel, and Matthew Welch) when they were students at Wesleyan University. Anthony Braxton tricentricfoundation.org Anthony Braxton (born 1945), the Chicago-born composer and multi-instrumentalist, is recognized as one of the most important musicians, educators, and creative thinkers of the past 50 years. He is highly esteemed in the experimental music community for the revolutionary quality of his work and for the mentorship and inspiration he has provided to generations of younger musicians. Drawing upon a disparate mix of influences from John Coltrane to Karlheinz Stockhausen, Braxton has created a unique musical system that celebrates the concept of global creativity and our shared humanity. His work examines core principles of improvisation, structural navigation and ritual engagement – innovation, spirituality, and intellectual investigation. From his early work as a pioneering solo performer in the late 1960s through to his eclectic experiments on Arista Records in the 1970s, his landmark quartet of the 1980s, and more recent endeavors, such as his cycle of Trillium operas and the day-long, installation-based Sonic Genome Project, his vast body of work is unparalleled. His small ensembles of the 1970s through to the present day are considered among the most innovative groups of their respective eras, while his Creative Orchestra Music has brought together the varying streams of American jazz orchestras, marching bands, and experimental practices with the traditions of European concert music in a wholly individual compositional voice. His continuing and evolving current systems of the past 15 years, including Ghost Trance Music, Diamond Curtain Wall Music, Falling River Music, Echo Echo Mirror House Music, and ZIM Music, have served as the artistic incubators for some of the most exciting artists of the current generation. Braxton's many awards include a 1981 Guggenheim Fellowship, a 1994 MacArthur Fellowship, a 2013 Doris Duke Performing Artist Award, a 2014 NEA Jazz Master Award, and honorary doctorates from Université de Liège (Belgium) and New England Conservatory (USA). The Flea Theater theflea.org The Flea Theater, under Artistic Director Niegel Smith and Producing Director Carol Ostrow, is one of New York's leading Off-Off-Broadway companies. Winner of several Obie Awards, a Special Drama Desk Award for outstanding achievement and an Otto Award for political theater, The Flea has presented over 100 theatrical, musical and dance performances since its inception in 1996. Past productions include premieres by Steven Banks, Thomas Bradshaw, Erin Courtney, Bathsheba Doran, Will Eno, Karen Finley, Amy Freed, Sarah Gancher, Sean Graney, A.R. Gurney, Jennifer Haley, Hamish Linklater, Enrique Gutiérrez Ortiz Monasterio, Itamar Moses, Anne Nelson, Qui Nguyen, Adam Rapp, Jonathan Reynolds, Kate Robbins, Roger Rosenblatt, Elizabeth Swados, and Mac Wellman. Successes include Drama Desk nominated She Kills Monsters, These Seven Sicknesses, Restoration Comedy, The Mysteries and ten World Premiere productions by A.R. Gurney, including the WSJ Best New Play of 2013, Family Furniture. The Flea Theater is located at 20 Thomas Street between Church and Broadway, three blocks north of Chambers, close to the A/C/E, N/Q/R/W, 4/5/6, J/M/Z and 1/2/3 subway lines. Purchase tickets online at theflea.org. Experiments in Opera experimentsinopera.com Experiments in Opera's Aaron Siegel, Jason Cady, Kamala Sankaram. Photo by Nina Roberts. Co-Founded in Brooklyn in 2011 by composers Aaron Siegel, Matthew Welch and Jason Cady, Experiments in Opera (EiO) has commissioned 72 new works in nine years, from 47 composers collaborating with over three hundred performers, designers and directors from the New York City artists community. In fall 2018, EiO welcomed composer/vocalist Kamala Sankaram onto staff as Co-Artistic Director. Experiments in Opera is focused on re-writing the story of opera and believes that new operas can be adventurous and fun, focused on strong and intimate storytelling, while also challenging notions of what experimental music can be. EiO invites composers, directors, designers and performers to create new work that embraces unconventional mediums, a range of durations and production scales, and explores collaboration between all types of artists working to share their visions. EiO brings new operas to the stage as quickly as possible, marking the urgency of artists with something important to say and the desire of audiences to be a part of the excitement of risky and rewarding work. EiO has produced events at Roulette and Issue Project Room in Brooklyn, as well as at Symphony Space, HERE, Merkin Concert Hall, The Stone, Le Poisson Rouge, Anthology Film Archives and Abrons Arts Center in Manhattan. Experiments in Opera has presented the work of 47 composers since its first presentation including Jason Cady, Aaron Siegel, Matthew Welch, Roddy Bottom, Gelsey Bell, Georges Aperghis, Robert Ashley, Andrew Raffo Dewar, Joe Diebes, Natacha Diels, Lainie Fefferman, Miguel Frasconi, Anne Guthrie, James Ilgenfritz, John King, Daniel Kushner, Ruby Fulton, Gabrielle Herbst, Nick Hallett, Travis Just, Mary Kouyoumdjian, Joan La Barbara, Lukas Ligeti, Charlie Looker, Cristina Lord, Emily Manzo, Paula Matthusen, Anna Mikailhova, Jonathan Mitchell, Nicole Murphy, Jascha Narveson, Pauline Oliveros, Jessica Pavone, Paul Pinto, Erin Rogers, Dave Ruder, Kamala Sankaram, Elliott Sharp, JG Thirlwell, Justin Tierney, Leaha Maria Villarreal, Dorian Wallace, Shelley Washington, Katie Young, John Zorn, and the Cough Button collective. In addition to all of its live and media projects, EiO will continue to publish thoughts and musings in EiO Gab Bag, an online blog that features writings on and about contemporary opera and storytelling. All of the work developed with Experiments in Opera is documented extensively in videos, images and writings that are available in an online catalogue at experimentsinopera.com. These insightful looks into the origins of artists' ideas and their working habits help to support EiO's mission of building a more robust conversation about how and why opera works the way it does. "So zany, so crazy, so touching." — Seen and Heard "Experiments in Opera continues to reinvent the very idea of what opera is each time they put on a show." — The Brooklyn Rail "An innovative opera venture." — The New York Times "Raw, funny, surreal, and disarmingly human" — Opera News "Experiments in Opera is telling stories that are not being told in other places" — The Wall Street Journal "Some of the most avant-garde players in the game today" — Huffington Post Experiments in Opera's 2019-2020 season is made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governer Andrew Cuomo and the New York State Legislature, by the public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council and by support from the Casement Fund. |
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