eighth blackbird plays Reich at Carnegie & on Q2 next week
It was eighth blackbird that commissioned, premiered, and recorded Steve Reich’s Pulitzer Prize-winning Double Sextet (2007), and the coming week offers the chance to hear the group’s rendition of the work both live at Carnegie Hall, as the centerpiece of the “Music of Steve Reich” festival on Saturday, April 30, and on Q2, Classical 105.9 WQXR’s contemporary music stream. On Monday, April 25, Q2 airs the Grammy Award-winning ensemble’s recent Nonesuch recording of Double Sextet, which graced numerous “Best of 2010” lists, and presents the group’s pianist, Lisa Kaplan, in conversation with fellow Reich experts.
Three years ago, eighth blackbird premiered Double Sextet in Carnegie’s Zankel Hall. Now, for “Music of Steve Reich” – the historic venue’s 75th-birthday tribute to “our greatest living composer” (New York Times) – the group takes the Pulitzer Prize-winning piece upstairs to Carnegie’s main stage, for an all-live performance with the Bang on a Can All-Stars. The program features a who’s-who of contemporary music, from eighth blackbird to the Kronos Quartet (Sunday, April 30 at 8pm).
eighth blackbird’s recent recording of Double Sextet, made under the composer’s supervision and issued last fall on the Nonesuch label, was selected as one of the best releases of 2010 by numerous media outlets, including the Los Angeles Times, Chicago Time Out, the San Jose Mercury News, Minneapolis Star Tribune, and NPR Music. Now Q2 showcases the Nonesuch release with a special edition of The New Canon, the station’s weekly new-music round-up, entitled “Wild Reich”. Hosted by Olivia Giovetti, “Wild Reich” – complete with eighth blackbird’s Double Sextet recording – will air at 10am on Monday, April 25, with encore broadcasts on Wednesday, April 27 at 4pm and Sunday, April 30 at 8pm.
At 4pm on Monday, April 25, the contemporary music stream also offers the chance to hear eighth blackbird pianist Lisa Kaplan discussing Reich’s music and influence with fellow panelists Jeffrey Zeigler of the Kronos Quartet, Adam Sliwinski of So Percussion, and Bang on a Can co-founder David Lang. Listeners are encouraged to join the discussion by tweeting comments and questions beforehand with the hashtag #q2new, or by commenting at www.wqxr.org/programs/newcanon/2011/apr/25/#chat.
As Gramophone magazine explains, Double Sextet “holds a special place in eighth blackbird’s voluminous and diverse repertoire.” “It’s the closest we have to a rock ’n’ roll piece,” explains Kaplan, while Reich himself admits, “Double Sextet is definitely one of my best pieces and I’m glad the Pulitzer committee felt the same way.” After a recent eighth blackbird performance, the Philadelphia Inquirer’s David Patrick Stearns observed, “Double Sextet is…among the finest pieces of our time. … Music should induce ecstasy. Both the piece and the performing musicians succeeded on that front – to say the least.”
A list of eighth blackbird’s spring engagements follows below, and much additional information is available at the group’s web site: www.eighthblackbird.com.
eighth blackbird’s spring engagements:
April 30, 8pm
“Music of Steve Reich”
Reich: Double Sextet (all live, with musicians from Bang on a Can All-Stars)
Carnegie Hall
NYC
May 8, 2pm
“Reverberations: The Influence of Steve Reich”
“Still Life”
Missy Mazzoli: Still Life With Avalanche (European premiere)
Thomas Adès: Catch
Philippe Hurel: …a mesure
David Lang: these broken wings 3
Barbican Hall
London, UK (London debut)
May 8, 6pm
“Reverberations: The Influence of Steve Reich”
Reich: Double Sextet (all live, with musicians from Bang on a Can All-Stars)
Barbican Hall
London, UK
May 10
“Elektrostatic: Music and Film”
“Still Life”
Missy Mazzoli: Still Life with Avalanche
Thomas Adès: Catch
Stephen Hartke: Meanwhile (European premiere)
David Lang: these broken wings 3
Steve Reich: Double Sextet
Colston Hall
Bristol, UK
May 12
“A Nod to John Cage”
Missy Mazzoli: Still Life with Avalanche
David Lang: these broken wings 3
Philip Glass: Music in Similar Motion
Thomas Adès: Catch
Stephen Hartke: Meanwhile
De La Warr Pavilion
Bexhill, East Sussex, UK
May 18
Contempo: “Tomorrow’s Music Today”
University of Chicago
Chicago, IL
May 20
“Still Life” with world premiere of Stephen Hartke’s Netsuke for violin/piano duo
Library of Congress
Washington DC
May 22
Contempo: “Tomorrow’s Music Today”
U of Chicago
Chicago, IL
May 27
On a Wire
with Cleveland Orchestra
Cleveland, OH
May 29
“Still Life”
Severance Hall
Cleveland, OH
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