Eighth Blackbird Nathalie Joachim, Flutes Michael Maccaferri, Clarinets Minghuan Xu, Violin Nicholas Photinos, Cello Matthew Duvall, Percussion Lisa Kaplan, Piano
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02-14 Insert 1.qxp_Layout 1 1/27/16 1:18 PM Page 15 Sunday, February 14, 2016, 7pm Hertz Hall eighth blackbird Nathalie Joachim, flutes Michael Maccaferri, clarinets MingHuan Xu, violin Nicholas Photinos, cello Matthew Duvall, percussion Lisa Kaplan, piano PROGRAM Hand Eye (2015) Christopher CERRONE (b. 1984) South Catalina (2015) Andrew NORMAN (b. 1979) Mine, Mime, Meme (2015) Robert HONSTEIN (b. 1980) Conduit (2015) I. Touch II. Pulse III. Send INTERMISSION Timo ANDRES (b. 1985) Checkered Shade Ted HEARNE (b. 1982) By-By Huey Jacob COOPER (b. 1980) Cast Matthew Ozawa, Stage Direction Hand Eye was commissioned by the Maxine and Stuart Frankel Foundation for the Great Lakes Chamber Music Festival and by Carnegie Hall. This performance is made possible, in part, by Patron Sponsors Greg and Liz Lutz. Cal Performances’ '%&(–'%&) season is sponsored by Wells Fargo. 15 02-14 Insert 1.qxp_Layout 1 1/27/16 1:18 PM Page 16 PROGRAM NOTES Hand Eye is a collection inspired by a collec - Andrew Norman, Mine, Mime, Meme tion. Each of the six composers of Sleeping Giant chose a work belonging to the Maxine Mine, Mime, Meme was inspired by rAndom and Stuart Frankel Foundation for Art to use International’s installation piece Audience , in as motivation for their own musical contri - which a field of small, mirrored machines ro - bution to Hand Eye . Some composers chose tates to follow the movements of any viewer to recreate or aurally represent their chosen that steps into their midst. In my three short artist’s process, while others responded more pieces, the cellist finds himself in a sonic broadly to the work’s subject matter or char - space where everything he does is mimicked acter. Heard as a continuous whole, Hand Eye by the five other instrumentalists. As the is an audio tour through a stunning collection music progresses through various moods and of contemporary art, and a testament to the modes of expression, the followers get better power of dialogue across artistic disciplines. and better at predicting the cellist’s moves, eventually subsuming the cellist into their Below are program notes from the composers collective motions and then fighting amongst themselves: themselves for supremacy. Christopher Cerrone, South Catalina Robert Honstein, Conduit South Catalina draws its inspiration from two Conduit takes its cue from an interactive sources. Swarm , an interactive sculpture by sculpture by digital artists Zigelbaum and the London-based collective, rAndom Inter - Coelho. In their 640 by 480 the human body national, responds to sounds with a blast of merges with computational process, facilitat - beautifully asynchronous lights. The first ing simple copy/paste operations between time I saw the work, which is at the entrance sculptural elements. Set in three movements— to the gallery, I immediately had the idea for Touch, Pulse, Send —Conduit evokes this man/ a piece of music in which sharp and loud machine synthesis. As bright waves of color attacks in the piano and percussion would explode from repeated sonic bursts, Touch inspire a flurry of wild and improvisatory ges - compulsively repeats the gesture so funda - tures from the rest of the ensemble. mental to how we interact with our devices. In Pulse long lines in the flute and cello move When I lived in Los Angeles in the fall of through a cloud of asynchronous repeated 2013, I was struck by its quality of light. Every notes, evoking the instantaneous moment day in Southern California was unfailingly when data passes from finger to screen. bright, and while this can be initially en - Finally, Send completes the transfer. Action chanting for an East Coaster used to gray follows as the music energizes and accelerates, winters, it can also feel oppressively out of moving briskly to a wild conclusion. sync with one’s mood. South Catalina draws on both of these sensations, with driving op - Timo Andres, Checkered Shade timism but also relentless and unforgiving forward movement. South Catalina depicts The patterned pen-and-ink abstractions of two successive days, with their unrelenting Astrid Bowlby—and by association, the work brightness, and the divergent path that each of Edward Gorey—inspired the textures of one takes. Checked Shade . The piece is structured as a gradual zoom outward; tiny fragments of re - peated material resolve into larger patterns, PLAYBILL 02-14 Insert 1.qxp_Layout 1 1/27/16 1:18 PM Page 17 PROGRAM NOTES which, at the urging of the violin, eventually music that forces the other instruments to fol - coalesce into an expressive chorale. low or be left behind, but its strings are muted for much of the piece, leaving its voice muz - Ted Hearne, By-By Huey zled and growling. Robert Arneson’s painting By-By Huey P . is a Jacob Cooper, Cast portrait of 24-year-old Tyrone “Double R” Robinson, who murdered Huey P. Newton Cast draws inspiration from Leonardo Drew’s (co-founder of the Black Panther Party) in paper casts of everyday objects like dolls, trin - 1989. Robinson, a member of the Black kets, and kitchenware. It aims to reflect the Guerrilla Family, is painted with a giant pray - sense of absence and nostalgia evoked by ing mantis superimposed over his face, its Drew’s work, and to provide an aural ana - wings circling Robinson’s bloodshot eyes. logue to his artistic process. I incrementally When I saw this work at the Frankel Gallery, build a “cast” of disparate and self-contained my guide told me Arneson included the man - instrumental gestures (a detuned clarinet tis in the portrait because “they eat their own.” arpeggio, an isolated flute multiphonic, a brush across the violin bridge) around a cen - Like Arneson’s painting, my piece By-By Huey tral “object” (a gentle monolithic vibraphone memorializes the (self-)destructive. The line). I then gradually remove the “object,” piano leads, with aggressive and unhinged leaving only the sonic encasement. 02-14 Insert 1.qxp_Layout 1 1/27/16 1:18 PM Page 18 ABOUT THE ARTISTS EIGHTH BLACKBIRD ’s “super-musicians” ensem ble served as Music Director of the Ojai (Los Angeles Times ) combine the finesse of a Music Festival (2009), enjoyed a three-year string quartet, the energy of a rock band, and residency at the Curtis Institute of Music, and the audacity of a storefront theater company. holds ongoing Ensemble-in-Residence posi - The Chicago-based, three-time Grammy tions at the University of Richmond and the Award-winning sextet has provoked and im - University of Chicago. The 2015-16 season pressed audiences for 20 years across the brings a lively residency at Chicago’s Museum country and around the world with impecca - of Contemporary Art, featuring open re - ble precision and a signature style. hearsals, an interactive gallery installation, performances, and public talks. The group One of the industry’s most formidable en - makes its debut in Poland, and with the sembles, eighth blackbird began in 1996 as Philadelphia Chamber Music Society this sea - a group of six entrepreneurial Oberlin son, and returns to Carnegie’s Zankel Hall, the Conservatory students. Over the course of Kennedy Center, the Philharmonic Society of two decades, the ensemble has commissioned Orange County, Vancouver New Music, UT and premiered hundreds of works by dozens Austin, and UC Berkeley. of composers including David T. Little, Steven Mackey, Missy Mazzoli, and Steve eighth blackbird’s members hail from the Reich, whose commissioned work, Double Great Lakes, Keystone, Golden, Empire, and Sextet , went on to win the Pulitzer Prize Bay states. The name “eighth blackbird” de - (2009). A long-term relationship with rives from the eighth stanza of Wallace Chicago’s Cedille Records has produced six Stevens’ evocative, aphoristic poem, Thirteen acclaimed recordings, including three Ways of Looking at a Blackbird (1917). For Grammy Awards for strange imaginary ani - more info, visit www.eighthblackbird.org. mals (2008), Lonely Motel: Music from Slide (2011) and Meanwhile (2013). Guest violinist MingHuan Xu , who appears in place of Yvonne Lam while on maternity leave, The group’s mission extends beyond per - has performed extensively as a concerto formance to curation and education. The soloist, duo recitalist, chamber musician, and PLAYBILL 02-14 Insert 1.qxp_Layout 1 1/27/16 1:18 PM Page 19 ABOUT THE ARTISTS orchestral member throughout five continents. Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Canadian Opera Recent appearances include Weill Recital Hall, Company, San Francisco Opera, Santa Fe Merkin Hall, Symphony Space, the Library of Opera, the Macau International Festival, and Congress, and the Smithsonian Institute. An Opera Siam. He has collaborated with world- accomplished and devoted teacher, Xu taught renowned artists including Peter Sellars, at Grand Valley State University before mov - Francesca Zambello, Rob Ashford, Meredith ing to Chicago, where she is now an Artist- Monk, and Isaac Mizrahi. Recent directing Faculty member at Roosevelt University’s credits include: Arizona Lady (American pre - Chicago College of Performing Arts. miere, Arizona Opera), Matt Aucoin’s Second Nature (world premiere, Lyric Unlimited), eighth blackbird is ensemble-in-residence with Tsuru (world premiere, Houston Ballet / Asia Contempo at the University of Chicago, and artist- Society), Porcelain (Prologue Theatre in-residence at the Museum of Contemporary Art Company), and Snow Dragon (world pre - Chicago for the 2015-16 season. Michael J. miere, Skylight Music Theater/ Opera Siam). Maccaferri is a D’Addario Woodwinds Artist. Matthew Duvall proudly endorses Pearl Drums Upcoming directing credits include Nabucco and Adams Musical Instruments, Vic Firth (Lyric Opera of Chicago) and The Root of the Sticks and Mallets, Zildjian Cymbals, and Black Wind is Water (Houston Grand Opera). Swamp Percussion Accessories. Lisa Kaplan is Among Ozawa’s numerous awards are a 2007 a Steinway Artist. directing and a 2008 dramaturgy fellowship with Oregon Shakespeare Festival, and the Stage Director Matthew Ozawa has an inter - James S.