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Home , Groove Collective, Henry Threadgill, Josh Roseman, Liberty Ellman, Pi Recordings, Pulitzer Prize for Music

Please turn off all electronic Photography and audio/video recording devices before entering the in the performance hall are prohibited. performance hall. JOHN ROGERS/PULITZER DEPARTMENT OF These performances are made possible in part by: PERFORMING ARTS, MUSIC, The P. J. McMyler Musical Endowment Fund AND FILM The Ernest L. and Louise M. Gartner Fund The Cleveland Museum of Art The Anton and Rose Zverina Music Fund 11150 East Boulevard The Frank and Margaret Hyncik Memorial Fund Cleveland, Ohio 44106–1797 The Adolph Benedict and Ila Roberts Schneider Fund The Arthur, Asenath, and Walter H. Blodgett Memorial Fund [email protected] The Dorothy Humel Hovorka Endowment Fund cma.org/performingarts The Albertha T. Jennings Musical Arts Fund #CMAperformingarts

Programs are subject to change.

Series sponsors:

Friday, January 11, 2019 TICKETS 1–888–CMA–0033 cma.org/performingarts Welcome to the PerformingHenry Threadgill Arts 2018–19 Cleveland Museum of Art cma.org/performingartsZooid and Oberlin Contemporary Music Ensemble In the season ahead, the museum’s performing arts series #CMAperformingarts continues its exciting schedule with a range of artists from Timothy Weiss, conductor traditions far and wide, old and new. This year, a major Chamber Music in the Galleries Henry Threadgill Wednesday, October 3, 6:00 Friday, January 11, 7:30 commissioning program brings six internationally respected composers to Cleveland from around the globe to create VoxFriday, Luminis January 11, 2019, 7:30 p.m. Chamber Music in the Galleries new works inspired by the museum’s collection. Co- Wednesday,Gartner Auditorium, October 24, 7:30 the Cleveland MuseumWednesday, of FebruaryArt 6, 6:00 sponsored by the Cleveland Foundation’s Creative Fusion Chamber Music in the Galleries CIM Organ Studio program, the series of world premieres extends into 2020. Wednesday, November 7, 6:00 Sunday, March 3, 2:00 Oberlin Contemporary Chamber Music in the Galleries In the Galleries Music Ensemble Wednesday, March 6, 6:00 Sunday, November 11, 2:00 William Morris: Designing an Earthly Paradise PROGRAM Aya Nishina Chamber Music in the Galleries Friday, March 8, 7:30 Through January 13 Wednesday, December 5, 6:00 Pathways (2018) World Premiere Carolin HenryWidmann Luther Threadgill In Her Image: Photographs by Rania Matar Paul Goussot Friday, March 29, 7:30 (b. 1944) Through January 13 at Transformer Station Sunday, December 9, 2:00 Emmanuel Culcasi Clarence H. White and His World: Sunday, March 31, 2:00 The Art and Craft of Photography, 1895–1925 Chamber Music in the Galleries Wednesday, April 3, 6:00 Through January 21 Zooid Renaissance Splendor: Henry Threadgill, alto saxophone//bassAvi Avital flute with Omer Avital Wednesday, April 10, 7:30 Catherine de’ Medici’s Valois Tapestries Elliot Humberto Kavee, drums Through January 21 Chamber Music in the Galleries , guitar Wednesday, May 1, 6:00 Georgia O’Keeffe: Living Modern Christopher Hoffman, cello Cenk Ergün Through March 3 Jose Davila, trombone/tuba Wednesday, May 8, 7:00 Who RU2 Day: Mass Media and the Fine Art Print Through March 24 Oberlin Contemporary Music Ensemble Charles Burchfield: The Ohio Landscapes, 1915–1920 Timothy Weiss, director and conductor Through May 5 Remy Libbrecht, English horn Lauren Anker, horn Please turn off all electronic devices before entering Camille Vogley-Howes, violin the performance hall. Devin Cowan, viola Matthew Frerck, double bass Photography and audio/video recording in the Tyler Smith, percussion performance hall are prohibited. DIRECTOR’S NOTE that many of the major artists who define the field like Eighth Blackbird, Claire Chase, International Happy New Year! Our performing arts series reaches Contemporary Ensemble (ICE), and others all another milestone tonight with the world premiere came through Oberlin. It would be difficult to imagine of “Pathways” by composer Henry Threadgill. The a work like this emerging from anywhere else. In the Cleveland Museum of Art is home to the longest running words of another great composer, , the curated concert series among any major museum in result is a music that is “beyond category.” the US, dating back to 1917. And while the museum has presented countless major composers in its hundred- Special thanks to the Cleveland Foundation, who, for year history—Béla Bartók, John Cage, Amy Beach, John the first time, have turned the focus of the Creative Adams, Maurice Ravel, Olivier Messiaen, to name just Fusion grant to a cohort of composers. Six composers a few, have all graced this stage—this year for the first from around the world will develop new works under time the Cleveland Museum of Art commissions new the auspices of the museum, building on a unique music from artists of international renown. legacy unlike that of any other museum in the US. This would not have been possible without the Cleveland Tonight’s concert is the first of a series of works that Foundation’s visionary leadership. will be premiered over the coming seasons, and it started with a simple question: What is possible Thank you for coming. when composers are invited into the museum to find Thomas M. Welsh inspiration here? Whether from a particular object in Director of Performing Arts, Music and Film the collection, or an installation, or the architecture, the people, the city—with this series of commissions the museum leads the way towards new approaches into the life of a museum and its place in the community. Written for eleven musicians, “Pathways” joins Mr. Threadgill’s remarkable improvising group Zooid with chamber musicians of the Oberlin Contemporary Music Ensemble making a truly unique and flexible small . While discussing ideas for collaborative partners with Mr. Threadgill, it quickly became clear that CME under the direction of Tim Weiss is the ideal match—these young musicians are virtuosic and fearless. Indeed, considering the landscape of contemporary classical music today, it’s no coincidence

4 5 COMPOSER’S NOTE Pathways

Pathways I = 84 q This piece—Pathways—started out with my talking with II = 76 Tom Welsh about Cleveland and what inspiration it q = 69 might hold in terms of supplying a backdrop or source q for a work of art. Well, the museum for one has a history = 96 q for presenting music and art that is a long path in itself. I a. Free tempo — = 112 q I told Tom I was always concerned about the 4th bar tempo revitalization of Lake Erie as one salient point. The lake I b. = 112 q is a gift to humans who reside here. II = 72 q The Oberlin music world has a long history that is also II a. = 104 q another pathway to Cleveland, and in this time Oberlin II b. Free tempo (7, 7, 7, 7) has partnered with the museum to make it possible for II c. = 60 the musical aggregations that come together. q II d. = 92 I have no literary words in preview of the music. The q III = 108 music as always speaks its own language. q III a. = 76 I would take this concert premiere performance as q an opportunity to honor a great American who has III 1. = 108 q donated some part of his life in music to Oberlin. I III 2. = 66 dedicate tonight’s performance to someone who has q III b. = 110 been a beacon for me from the time I got music in me. q To Sonny Rollins. III c. Free tempo III b. 1. = 110 I would also like to acknowledge another composer. q (1917–2013) and I are the only two III d. = 104 q artists who held the position of US Army Arranger IV = 80 and Composer at Fort Riley, Kansas, and also won the q IV a. = 108 for Music. Robert Ward was born and q IV b. = 108 raised in Cleveland. q Henry Threadgill January 2019

6 7 ABOUT THE ARTISTS He returned home for Chicago and reenlisted with what was now the AACM, but in 1970 left for the perennial lure of ’s Henry Threadgill Big Apple, . For the next 40 years, while Henry challenged bedrock ideas about jazz, he settled into New York Only three jazz artists have won a City, where he lives with his wife. Around the East Village, he’s a Pulitzer Prize. In spring 2016, Henry familiar face on the streets and in the cafes; old friends like Philip Threadgill joined and Glass and Allen Ginsburg and total strangers alike engage him in as Pulitzer laureates, animated conversation. But he regularly decamped for months at when he was honored for In For A a time to Goa to recharge his creativity in a faraway, very different Penny, In For A Pound (Pi, 2015), the latest album by Zooid, his world. That openness to ideas and experiences has always been unconventional quintet (reeds, acoustic guitar, cello, tuba, drums). vital to who Threadgill is and how his music works. As Charlie “Unconventional” describes not just Henry Threadgill’s music, but Parker put it, “If you don’t live it, it won’t come out of your horn.” his life. It was in the East Village—long a seedy, tumultuous haven Born in Chicago in 1944, Henry grew up on the South Side, where for outsiders of all types—that Henry Threadgill launched the parade bands and the blues filled the air. He played percussion, unconventional concepts that led to his Pulitzer-winning art. AIR then in the Englewood High School band, but switched to (Artists In Residence), his 1970s trio, reimagined ragtime without sax at 16. Idolizing Sonny Rollins, , Ornette Coleman, the —a lot like dropping the electric guitar from rock. and Lester Young, he adored Fritz Reiner’s Chicago Symphony His 1980s Sextett, pairing complex compositions and dynamic and avant-classical composers like Luciano Berio. He was 17 when soloists, combined heft and agility, and birthed the “little big he joined the ’ Experimental Band, which band” sound. In the 1990s, Very Very Circus stepped deeper into later expanded into the Association for the Advancement of unorthodoxy, with two electric guitars, two tubas, a trombone/ Creative Musicians (AACM); there he found like-minded musical , drums, Henry’s alto sax and flute, and frequent explorers. add-ons. With Make A Move, a fluid lineup mixing French horn, tubas, electric and acoustic guitars, and cello, he began exploring When bebop broke, most swing players thought it was nonsense the approaches to composing and improvising that led to Zooid. and claimed boppers couldn’t play “real” jazz. The members From 2000 on, Zooid became his primary vehicle. of what became the AACM faced a similar reaction. So Henry performed at dances and parades, joined polka and Latin bands, As a composer and improviser, Henry sees artistic process and sat in theater pits, and raised the roof in churches. He played product as inseparable, the essence of jazz. Duke Ellington and the blues at joints like the South Side’s Blue Flame with local Charles Mingus strove toward the same goal. Rooted in that heroes like Left Hand Frank. All the while, he kept studying Berio, history, Henry’s solutions have taken radical new tacks. For Stravinsky, and Debussy. Zooid, the Pulitzer committee explained, “A set of three note intervals assigned to each player…serves as the starting point for In 1967, he enlisted in the Army as a clarinetist-saxophonist, was improvisation.” Zooid’s musicians make in-the-moment decisions upgraded to composer-arranger, and then shipped to Vietnam about structure, shaping the work-in-process. The unpredictable to join the 4th Infantry Division Band. Injured during the 1968 Tet results are jazz’s “sound of surprise” updated for the 21st century. offensive on his way back from guard duty, he was sent home and honorably discharged with two campaign ribbons. After decades of probing music, cult status, and critical acclaim, Threadgill’s Pulitzer Prize caps growing high-culture recognition: 2016 Doris Duke Artist Award; 2015 Doris Duke Impact Award; 8 9 2008 Artist Fellowship; 2003 Guggenheim Liberty Ellman Fellowship. He is especially proud of being the first black non- classical musician to get a Copland House Residency Award. Based in Brooklyn New York, guitarist In July 2016, the annual Leadership Conference of the Vietnam / composer Liberty Ellman has Veterans of America honored him with their Excellence in the Arts performed and or recorded with award—a very special moment for the only Vietnam veteran ever a host of standout creative artists awarded a Pulitzer for music. including: , , , Butch Morris, , , With his new lineups Ensemble Double-Up (two , two , , Nels Cline, Somi, Matana alto saxes, tuba, cello, and drums) and 14 or 15 Kestra: AGG, Roberts, Ledisi, JD Allen, , , this consummate creative shapeshifter is upending artistic , , , Steven Bernstein, expectations yet again, while planning a unique international and . In 2014 Ellman worked with Jason concert series. Moran on Luanda Kinshasa, a video installation by visionary filmmaker Stan Douglas. Jose Davila Mr. Ellman is perhaps best known for his long tenure in Henry Threadgill’s groundbreaking ensemble, Zooid. The group has Tuba player and trombonist Jose recorded several critically lauded albums. Their most recent Davila is a versatile New York-based recording In For A Penny, In For A Pound earned a Pulitzer prize musician whose work spans across for Mr. Threadgill. In addition to playing guitar, Mr. Ellman is a broad spectrum of musical genres; credited as producer and mixing engineer on that recording. He everything from traditional to cutting- has mixed and mastered many other recordings as well, including edge jazz, to salsa and classical music. He is currently a member Gregory Porter’s “Be Good,” which was nominated for a Grammy. of Henry Threadgill’s Zooid and bands led by guitarist Liberty Ellman and alto saxophonist Steve Lehman. His work with both Ellman has released 4 of his own critically acclaimed albums: Threadgill and Ellman extends the tuba from its traditional role as Orthodoxy, Tactiles, Ophiuchus Butterfly, and 2015’s Radiate on part of the rhythm section to a front-line solo voice. His playing . His compositional style has been described as “At can also be heard on the Grammy-nominated salsa recording once highly controlled and recklessly inventive,” and the Wall Un Gran Dia en el Barrio from the Spanish Harlem Orchestra Street Journal said: “Ellman, along with his peers, is helping to and Remembranzas and Siguendo la Tradicion from Soneros del define post millennial jazz.” Voted #1 Rising Star Guitarist in the Barrio. 2016 Downbeat Critics Poll, he was also honored in the 2015 Jazz Times expanded critics poll, as one of the four guitarists of the Davila has also worked in the bands of Ray Charles, Andrew year alongside , , and . Hill, Tito Puente, Celia Cruz, Marc Anthony, Eddie Palmieri, , Butch Morris, Ted Nash, along with the Lincoln Center Liberty Ellman has also worked beyond the jazz world: hip Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra and the American Symphony and New hop artists Midnight Voices, and The Coup, dance producer York City . DJ Joe Claussell, and worked on remixes of N’Dea Davenport, , Ann Dyer, Ayo and others. He also made an A native of Puerto Rico who was raised on the East Coast, appearance on the Grammy nominated Groove Collective record, Jose received his formal musical training from the University of People People Music Music. Connecticut and Mannes College of Music. 10 11 Christopher Hoffman Timothy Weiss Christopher Hoffman is best known as Conductor Timothy Weiss has earned a cellist and composer. He writes for his critical acclaim for his performances ensembles Multifariam, The Silver Cord and bold programming throughout Quintet, and Company of Selves. He the United States and abroad. currently performs in Henry Threadgill’s His repertoire in contemporary Zooid (recipient of the ), Double-Up Ensemble, music is vast and fearless, including masterworks, very recent and 14 Or 15 Kestra: Agg; Tony Malaby’s Tubacello Quartet; and compositions, and an impressive number of premieres and Jeremiah Cymerman’s Pale Horse. Christopher has had the honor commissions. He has been a recipient of the Adventurous of working with Martin Scorsese, Yoko Ono, Bleachers, Marianne Programming Award from the League of American Orchestras. Faithfull, Iron & Wine, Ryan Adams, , Michael Pitt, For more than two decades, Weiss has directed the Oberlin Anthony Coleman, and many more. Contemporary Music Ensemble, bringing the group to a level of artistry and virtuosity in performance that rivals the finest Elliot Humberto Kavee new music groups. Recent engagements include the Arctic Elliot Humberto Kavee has performed/ Philharmonic in Norway, Orchestra 2001 in Philadelphia, Eastman recorded ground-breaking new music Broadband Ensemble, BBC Scottish Symphony, Britten Sinfonia with Omar Sosa, , in London, International Contemporary Ensemble (ICE), and the Henry Threadgill, , Don Melbourne Symphony in . Cherry, Cecil Taylor, Francis Wong, Ben A committed educator, Weiss is professor of conducting and Goldberg, John Tchicai, Glenn Horiuchi, Elliot Sharp, Tim Berne, chair of the Division of Contemporary Music at the Oberlin Jon Jang, Rudresh Mahanthappa, Vijay Iyer, and his own projects. Conservatory of Music, where he helped create and mentor the Before moving to New York, he was the drummer of choice among ensembles Eighth Blackbird and ICE. He also serves as a faculty the San Francisco Bay Area’s most gifted creative musicians, member and conductor of the Aspen Contemporary Ensemble playing on over 40 critically acclaimed recordings. In addition, at the Aspen Music Festival and School, and he is music director Kavee was a musician, composer, musical director, actor and writer of the Arctic Philharmonic Sinfonietta in Bodø, Norway. He with the Tony award-winning San Francisco Mime Troupe for seven holds degrees from the Royal Conservatory of Music in Brussels, years—the only musical director in the group’s 40-year history Northwestern University, and the University of Michigan. to win a dramalogue award. He was a percussionist, cellist, and composer with the Club Foot Orchestra, who performed their score for G.W. Pabst’s Pandora’s Box at Lincoln Center. His collaboration Oberlin Contemporary with Asian-American Jazz pioneer Francis Wong has yielded 20 Music Ensemble recordings and countless performances. As a founding member of the trail-blazing Omar Sosa Sextet, Kavee recorded four CDs and The Oberlin Contemporary Music has toured the world. For his debut recording as a solo performer Ensemble (CME) has served as a (on Eliasound records), “not only did Kavee make his skin and fertile training ground for scores of metallic percussion instruments sing by effecting a polytimbral/ powerhouse new music performers polyrhythmic approach, he further mixed up the program by and groundbreaking ensembles, including the multiple Grammy doubling on cello. (Yes: drums and strings, one player, at the same Award-winning sextet Eighth Blackbird and the International time)”—SF Weekly. Contemporary Ensemble. In performances throughout the 12 academic year, CME performs music of all contemporary styles 13 and Welcomegenres, from minimalism to the to serialism, and from electronic to Performing Arts 2018–19 cross genre, mixed media, and beyond. Cleveland Museum of Art cma.org/performingarts Under the direction of Timothy Weiss, CME has collaborated In the season ahead, the museum’s performing arts series #CMAperformingarts withcontinues many prominent its exciting composers schedule fromwith aa rangevariety of of artists backgrounds, from includingtraditions Stephen far and Hartke, wide, Georgeold and Crumb,new. This Harrison year, a majorBirtwistle, Chamber Music in the Galleries Henry Threadgill Wednesday, October 3, 6:00 Friday, January 11, 7:30 Helmutcommissioning Lachenmann, program David brings Lang, sixJoan internationally Tower, Frederic respected Rzewski, Vijaycomposers Iyer, and many to Cleveland others. CMEfrom premieresaround the works globe byto createprominent Vox Luminis Chamber Music in the Galleries Wednesday, October 24, 7:30 Wednesday, February 6, 6:00 Oberlinnew faculty, works inspiredstudent, by and the alumni museum’s composers, collection. as wellCo- as distinguishedsponsored guests. by the ClevelandIn addition Foundation’s to its concerts Creative at Oberlin, Fusion CME Chamber Music in the Galleries CIM Organ Studio Wednesday, November 7, 6:00 Sunday, March 3, 2:00 regularlyprogram, tours the the series United begins States, with with world performances premieres in inearly recent years taking2019 the and ensemble extends to into the 2020. Winter Garden, Miller Theatre, Merkin Oberlin Contemporary Chamber Music in the Galleries Music Ensemble Wednesday, March 6, 6:00 Concert Hall, Harvard University, Benaroya Hall, Palace of Fine Arts, Sunday, November 11, 2:00 In the Galleries Aya Nishina Chicago’s Ganz Hall, and Carnegie Hall’s Weill Recital Hall, as well Chamber Music in the Galleries Friday, March 8, 7:30 Marlon de Azambuja and Luisa Lambri as in numerous partner concerts with the Cleveland Museum of Wednesday, December 5, 6:00 Through December 30 Carolin Widmann Art. The ensemble was featured as part of Bang on a Can’s 30th Paul Goussot Friday, March 29, 7:30 anniversary celebration at the Brooklyn Museum. Sunday, December 9, 2:00 William Morris: Designing an Earthly Paradise Emmanuel Culcasi Through January 13 Sunday, March 31, 2:00 In Her Image: Photographs by Rania Matar Chamber Music in the Galleries UPCOMINGThrough January PERFORMANCES 13 at Transformer Station Wednesday, April 3, 6:00 Carolin Widmann Fri/Mar 29, 7:30, St. John’s Episcopal Church, Ohio Avi Avital with Omer Avital Clarence H. White and His World: Wednesday, April 10, 7:30 City. TheA wonderfully Art and Craft versatile of Photography, musician, 1895–1925 violinist Carolin Widmann’s activities span the great classical concerti, new commissions Chamber Music in the Galleries Through January 21 Wednesday, May 1, 6:00 specially written for her, solo recitals, and a wide variety of chamber Renaissance Splendor: Cenk Ergün music. Widmann was awarded the Bayerischer Staatspreis for music Catherine de’ Medici’s Valois Tapestries Wednesday, May 8, 7:00 in 2017, honoring her individuality and exceptional musicianship. She Through January 21 rarely performs in the US, and this solo performance of old and new repertoireGeorgia will O’Keeffe: be a special Living treat. Modern $25, CMA members $22. Through March 3 Avi Avital with Omer Avital Wed/Apr 10, 7:30, Gartner Auditorium. Grammy-nominee mandolinist, Avi Avital, comes from a classical tradition whilst award-winning bass virtuoso and oud player, Omer Avital,Please is an turn acclaimed off all jazzelectronic performer devices and before composer. entering In “Avital meetsthe Avital,” performance these hall.two musicians—joined by Omer Klein on piano and Itamer Doari on percussion—draw on the diverse influences of MoroccanPhotography and Northand audio/video African sounds, recording folkloric in the and classical traditions,performance Israeli hallharmonies are prohibited and Mediterranean. rhythms creating a musical melting pot where the finesse of chamber music meets the raw emotional energy of jazz. $33–$45, CMA members $30–$40. 14 Please turn off all electronic Photography and audio/video recording devices before entering the in the performance hall are prohibited. performance hall.

DEPARTMENT OF These performances are made possible in part by: PERFORMING ARTS, MUSIC, The P. J. McMyler Musical Endowment Fund AND FILM The Ernest L. and Louise M. Gartner Fund The Cleveland Museum of Art The Anton and Rose Zverina Music Fund 11150 East Boulevard The Frank and Margaret Hyncik Memorial Fund Cleveland, Ohio 44106–1797 The Adolph Benedict and Ila Roberts Schneider Fund The Arthur, Asenath, and Walter H. Blodgett Memorial Fund [email protected] The Dorothy Humel Hovorka Endowment Fund cma.org/performingarts The Albertha T. Jennings Musical Arts Fund #CMAperformingarts

Programs are subject to change.

Series sponsors:

Creative Fusion: Composers Series generously supported by:

TICKETS 1–888–CMA–0033 cma.org/performingarts