Joshua Roman Follows TED Triumph with Two World Premieres: at NYC’s SubCulture This Thursday (June 11) and in Seattle (June 27)
Bill T Jones, Joshua Roman, and Somi perform at TED2015: “Truth and Dare,” Session 7, March 16-20, 2015, Vancouver Convention Center, Vancouver, Canada (Photo: Bret Hartman/TED)
After wowing TED audiences – live and online – in collaboration with legendary choreographer Bill T. Jones, cellist Joshua Roman takes part in two world premieres this month. At New York’s SubCulture on Thursday (June 11), he helps debut a new piano trio by Aaron Copland Award-winner Gregg Kallor, with Miranda Cuckson on violin and the composer at the piano. Their program also features Roman’s reprise of Riding Light, his own work for solo cello, whose “pop rhythms …, interesting harmonic shades, and pleasant melodic lines” impressed San Francisco Classical Voice at its 2013 premiere. Then, to conclude his eighth season as artistic director of the popular Town Music series at Seattle’s Town Hall, Roman conducts members and alumni of the Seattle Youth Symphony Orchestras in accounts of John Adams’s Shaker Loops, Bartók’s Divertimento for Strings, and the world premiere of a new Town Hall commission from Timo Andres, the young composer whose work “achieves an unhurried grandeur that has rarely been felt in American music since John Adams came on the scene” (New Yorker). This pair of premieres highlights a summer that also finds Roman rocking such staples of the literature as Elgar’s Cello Concerto, for which he joins the Westchester Philharmonic this coming Sunday (June 14).
Roman explains:
“This is an exciting month for me. I always learn so much, working with composers like Gregg [Kallor] and Timo [Andres], and I’m especially looking forward to leading Timo’s new orchestral piece together with Shaker Loops in Seattle – that’s going to be an evening to remember!”
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These summer engagements follow Roman’s recent triumph at the TED2015 Vancouver conference in March. A 2011 TED Fellow, the cellist took part in an improvised collaboration with MacArthur Award-winning choreographer Bill T. Jones and East African singer-songwriter Somi. Offering TED audiences the chance to witness structured improvisation and cross-disciplinary collaboration in action, the three artists – none of whom had previously worked together – came together to create a new work, from conception to performance, in just two days. Inspired by Isadora Duncan and titled The Red Circle and the Blue Curtain, their finished piece went live on TED.com in early May, and has already accrued more than 650,000 views. Click here to see the video of the performance, and here to read about their creative process on the TED blog. The cellist recalls:
“Improv is a wonderful way to get to know people. You see so much about their musical and organizational ability. We allowed ourselves to go into some pretty fun and funky places as a way of getting to know each other; as a way of exploring the boundaries and the limits of what it is we were about to do. We let ourselves become very vulnerable with each other.”
More information about Roman’s summer follows. Further details are provided at the websites listed below, and high-resolution photos may be downloaded here.
Joshua Roman: upcoming engagements
June 11
New York, NY
SubCulture
Chamber recital with Miranda Cuckson, violin; Gregg Callor, piano
Gregg Kallor: Undercurrent for cello and piano (2013)
Joshua Roman: Riding Light (2013)
Gregg Kallor: Piano Trio (world premiere)
June 14
Purchase, NY
Westchester Philharmonic / Danail Rachev
Elgar: Cello Concerto
June 27
Seattle, WA
Town Hall Seattle
Seattle Youth Symphony Orchestras (members and alumni)
Artistic Director and conductor
Adams: Shaker Loops
Bartók: Divertimento for Strings
Timo Andres: new work for string orchestra (world premiere of Town Hall commission)
July 2
Sewanee, TN
The University of the South
Guest Artist in Residence
Solo recital
July 9
Rockport, ME
Bay Chamber Concerts
Opening Night Gala
Schubert: Notturno for piano trio in E-flat, Op. 148 (with Bella Hristova, violin; Renate Rohlfing, piano)
Schubert: Piano Trio in E-flat, Op. 100 (with Bella Hristova, violin; Renate Rohlfing, piano)
Schubert: An die Musik, Op. 88 (arr. Thomas Cabaniss; with Julia Bullock, soprano; Bella Hristova, violin; Renate Rohlfing, piano)
July 10
Rockland, ME
Bay Chamber Concerts
Bach: Cello Suite No. 1 in G, BWV 1007
Esa-Pekka Salonen: Knock, Breathe, Shine for solo cello
Ravel: Sonata for Violin and Cello (with Bella Hristova, violin)
July 31
Napa Valley, CA
Music in the Vineyards
Frog’s Leap Winery
Tchaikovsky: Souvenir de Florence for string sextet
Aug 2
Napa Valley, CA
Music in the Vineyards
Black Stallion Winery
Schubert: “Trout” Quintet
Aug 7
La Jolla, CA
La Jolla Music Society
MCASD Sherwood Auditorium
Tchaikovsky: Souvenir de Florence for string sextet
Aug 8
La Jolla, CA
La Jolla Music Society
MCASD Sherwood Auditorium
Brahms: String Sextet in B-flat
Aug 11
La Jolla, CA
La Jolla Music Society
MCASD Sherwood Auditorium
Bach: Brandenburg Concerto No. 6
Vivaldi: Concerto for Four violins in B minor
Aug 14
La Jolla, CA
La Jolla Music Society
MCASD Sherwood Auditorium
Franck: Piano Quintet in F minor
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© 21C Media Group, June 2015