My top choice is:

JAZZ:  LIVE AT MEZZROW – Roger Kellaway – Cellar Music Group and SmallsLIVE Foundation

I have an admission to make. I didn’t know about pianist Kellaway until this recording made its way to me. I started the album which opens with Try to Remember from the musical The Fantasticks.

It’s a standard, to be sure, but the delicacy with which Kellaway plays the song makes it feel new again. He follows that with All Blues by Miles Davis (the first of three Davis tunes) and, once again, makes it his own. So I jumped ahead to his own composition All My Life and started the album from the top and listened to this live recording. His compositional skills are prefaced by the incredible arrangements. The album closes with a terrific rendition of Billy Strayhorn’s Take the A Train. 

Joining Kellaway are guitarist Roni Ben-Hur who appears as a special guest, Jay Leonhart on bass and Dennis Mackrel on drums.

Here is the rest of New In Music This Week: May 17^th:

CLASSICAL: J.S. BACH: COMPLETE KEYBOARD WORKS Vols. 1-3 – Evan Shinners – NEW CULL

You can’t say that keyboardist Evan Shinners is unambitious. This first three volumes are just the beginning of a decade-long 24-volume project in which Shinners will perform all of Bach’s keyboard works.

This means he will be playing the clavichord, harpsichord, organ, piano and Yamaha TransAcoustic piano throughout these recordings. He’s also providing commentary throughout the recordings.

Volume 1 features Five Early Suites. Volume 2 is Four Original Compositions for ‘Lute-Keyboard.’ Volume 3 is Misc. Preludes and Fugues Part One.

These first recordings are interesting and I think the best way to consider this project is ultimately going to be at its conclusion. For fans of Bach’s music will no doubt want to take this ten-year journey with Shinners 

CLASSICAL:  ANTON BRUCKNER: SYMPHONY No. 5 in B-Flat Major – Lahav Shani, Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra – Warner Classics

Last year conductor Shani and the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra released a highly acclaimed recording of Bruckner’s 7^th Symphony. This recording of the composer’s Symphony No. 5 is going to be equally received.

Bruckner is a composer who has proven tricky to perform persuasively. There is no such issue with Shani’s recording. He makes Bruckner feel utterly fresh and compelling from the opening minutes of the first movement through to the symphony’s end over an hour later.

CLASSICAL:  SEASONS INTERRUPTED – Trey Lee, English Chamber Orchestra – Signum Classics

Cellist Lee has written new arrangements of four lieder by Franz Schubert and The Four Seasons of Buenos Aires by Astor Piazzolla.  For the former his cello takes the place of vocals. 

What makes this album stand out is Lee’s performance of Kirmo Lintinen’s four-movement Cello Concerto. His playing is outstanding, but this work, being unfamiliar to most listeners, is the most intriguing part of the album.

CLASSICAL:  SONATAS & MYTHS – Elizabeth Chang, Steven Beck – Bridge Records

If you love early 20^th century music, you won’t want to miss this recording from violinist Chang and her regular collaborator, pianist Beck.

The album features Karol Szymanowski’s Mythes, Op. 30; Ernst von Dohnányi’s Violin Sonata in C-Sharp Minor and Béla Bartók’s Violin Sonata No. 1.

Chang is fiercely invested in this recording and her playing reflects a true understanding of these works. For 66 minutes she and Beck give you music that obviously inspired countless composers who followed these three gentlemen.

CLASSICAL: SCHUBERT: WINTERREISE – André Schuen, Daniel Heide – Deutsche Grammophon

Italian baritone Schuen has recorded a truly stunning performance of Schubert’s song cycle.  When done well, as it is here, this song cycle feels like a dramatic monologue about love lost and unrequited.

Schubert composed these songs, based on 24 poems by Wilhelm Müller, in 1827. He wrote this for a tenor, but Schubert transposed the work for other voices as well. 

Schuen’s warm baritone voice serves these pieces well. Just as he serves them with utmost respect and appreciation. Pianist Heide proves to be a perfect partner for this recording.

CLASSICAL: VIRGIL THOMPSON: A GALLERY OF PORTRAITS FOR PIANO AND OTHER PIANO WORKS – Craig Rutenberg – Everbest Music

Composer Thompson wrote over 150 portraits for the piano. They were compositions that served as his musical portraits of those in his inner circle and countless public figures who inspired him.

Pianist Rutenberg, who recorded over forty of these works on his 1990 album, Portraits and Self-Portraits, returns to these works for a massive recording which runs two hours and 45 minutes and centers on finishing out his goal of recording all of Thompson’s portraits.

Amongst those about whom Thompson composed the works on this superb recording are Paul Bowles, Aaron Copland, Louis Lang and Pablo Picasso..

CONTEMPORARY CLASSICAL:  CHRISTOPHER CERRONE : BEAUFORT SCALES – Lorelei Ensemble – Cold Blue Music

Readers know how much I admire composer Christopher Cerrone’s work. This album is no exception. 

Cerrone has written a 35-minute work that defies norms (as much of his work does) and explores our world where climate change is arguably the most urgent issue of our time.

He does this by combining music and text. Some of the text is from the Beaufort Wind Force Scale and other text comes from the writings of Anne Carson, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Herman Melville and the King James Bible.

Beaufort Scales was written for electronics and treble voices.  The Lorelei Ensemble beautifully performs this work which is certainly not easy, but is essential listening. This is music as advocacy in the best possible way.

CONTEMPORARY CLASSICAL: DANNY ELFMAN: PERCUSSION CONCERTO, WUNDERKAMMER – Colin Currie, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Joanna Falleta – Sony Classical

One-time Oingo Boingo front man and film composer Elfman composed this Percussion Concerto for Currie. Listening to this fascinating work makes me want to watch Currie in action. I can only imagine what this concerto requires of him during a performance.

The second work, Wudnerkammer, is a concerto for orchestra.  Both of these works have all the hallmarks of Elfman’s work. Working in the concerto form allows Elfman more time and space to develop his themes than film scores allow. For that reason alone, this is a must-have for Elfman’s fans and more than a curiosity for those who wonder how he fares in the contemporary classical world.

CONTEMPORARY CLASSICAL: SOPHIA JANI: SIX PIECES FOR SOLO VIOLIN – Teresa Allgaier – Squama Recordings

I’m always a bit skeptical with solo violin recordings. It takes both incredible compositional skills and performance skills for me to give myself over completely to such a recording.

There was no such issue with these works by Sophia Jani. Prior to listening to this recording I was not familiar with Jani’s work. I think you’ll want to explore more of her compositions just as much as I do once you listen to Allgaier’s performance of these seemingly simple, but deceptively complicated, works.

JAZZ:  LABYRINTH – Temple University Studio Orchestra – BCM+D Records

Billy Childs’ Labyrinth had its world premiere by Temple University Studio Orchestra on March 31, 2023.  Childs was inspired by artist M.C. Escher for this work that serves as a rhythmic puzzle for the musicians and the audience alike. It proves once again how vital Childs is to music today. This recording also proves how talented this orchestra is. (And mart, too. They commissioned Labyrinth.)

Also on the album are Red Braid composed by Banks Sapnar and Bill Cunliffe’s Rainforests.

Joining the orchestra on this excellent recording are Terell Stafford and Dick Oatts who teach at Temple University.

JAZZ:  EPIC COOL – Kirk Whalum – Mack Avenue Music

On his first studio album in over five years, saxophonist Whalum has written or co-written 8 of the 11 tracks on this enjoyable album. The opening track, Bah-De-Yah! launches the album with a funk riff that is impossible to ignore. My favorite track is Film Noir which is near the end of the record.

MF might have you thinking the title references a popular curse word, but I’m guessing it is named after cowriter Marcus Finnie, who might just be a badass MF. Who knows?

MUSICALS: HERE WE ARE – Original Cast Album – Concord Theatricals Recordings

Unless archivists discover something unreleased, this is likely the last new music composed by Stephen Sondheim. Here We Are is a musical inspired by two Luis Buñuel films: The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie and The Exterminating Angel.

I saw the show in January and liked it very much. I was also very sad that it wasn’t fully completed as Sondheim had hoped. Nonetheless, this recording is terrifically produced and serves as an opportunity for Sondheim fans to hear this music. If I were guessing, Here We Are is not going to be a show that will get a  lot of productions – not that it doesn’t deserve them.

The cast includes Francois Battiste, Tracie Bennett, Bobby Cannavale, Micaela Diamond, Amber Gray, Jin Ha, Rachel Bay Jones, Denis O’Hare, Steven Pasquale, David Hyde Pierce and Jeremy Shamos.

The vinyl release of Here We Are is scheduled for September 6^th.

MUSICALS: WATER FOR ELEPHANTS – Original Broadway Cast Recording – Ghostlight Records

Last month I saw the musical Water For Elephants and was completely blown away. I wasn’t a big fan of the movie and haven’t read the book, but this musical captured me from the opening song, Anywhere/Another Train and didn’t let me go until the end of the show.

The question when I listened to this recording was would this music by Pigpen Theatre Co. prove to be as entertaining as the show is without director Jessica Stone’s incredible staging.

I’m happy to report that the score holds up very well indeed. This story of a young man looking for a new life who stumbles upon a circus train and joins the circus is clearly laid out by the 19 songs on the album. This includes the love triangle at the center of the story involving the ringmaster/owner and his wife.

The greatest joy for me in both the show and this recording is the ability to see and hear the incredible Gregg Edelman in another musical. He’s long been one of my favorite Broadway performers. Water for Elephants is one of my favorite new scores.

That’s all for New In Music This Week: May 17^th.

Enjoy the music.

Enjoy your weekend.

Main Photo: Part of the album art of Labyrinth by Temple University Studio Orchestra

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Our top pick is:

OPERA:  IN A GROVE – Opera by Christopher Cerrone and Stephanie Fleischmann (In a Circle Records)

In February of 2022 I published my interview with composer Cerrone and librettist Fleischmann about this opera which is based on the same short story that inspired Akira Kurosawa’s classic film Rashomon.

Opera News said of In a Grove, “An opera that will linger long in my memory.” Now it can find a place in your memory with the release of this album. I love it and can’t wait to see a full production (hopefully sooner as opposed to later.)

Here’s what else is New In Music This Week: July 21^st:

CLASSICAL:  YSAŸE: 6 SONATAS FOR VIOLIN SOLO, OP. 27 – Hilary Hahn (Deutsche Grammophon)

This recording by violinist Hahn is the Gramophone Magazine Recording of the Month and for good reason. This isn’t commonly recorded music and Hahn performs it here as it it was music she had been performing her whole life.

Composer Eugène Ysaÿe lived from 1858 to 1931 and was born in Belgium. He composed numerous works for solo violin including cadenzas for concerti by Beethoven, Brahmas, Mozart and Tchaikovsky.

If this is your first introduction to Ysaÿe’s work, you are going to be richly rewarded.

CLASSICAL:  SLEEP & UNREMEMBRANCE/THE RITE OF SPRING – San Francisco Symphony (Apple Music Classical)

If you are a fan of Esa-Pekka Salonen’s work as a conductor, you’ll want to check out these two new recordings from concerts performed by the SF Symphony in March 2022.

The first is Elizabeth Ogonek’s Sleep & Unremembrance. The composer was inspired by Wislawa Szymborska’s poem While Sleeping for this work. 

The second is a work I’ve heard Salonen conduct several times with the Los Angeles Philharmonic: The Rite of Spring by Igor Stravinsky. It’s a work that seems just a powerful and modern today as it did when it was first performed 110 years ago.

No matter how many recordings you’ve heard of The Rite of Spring, I find there’s always something fascinating about hearing the way individual conductors and different orchestras perform this groundbreaking work.

Both of these recordings are only available on Apple Music Classical.

JAZZ:  A.R.C. – Chick Corea, Dave Holland, Barry Altschul (ECM Records Digital Release)

This 1971 trio album from pianist/composer Corea is notable for the way they start the album: Wayne Shorter’s Nefertiti. That’s a ballsy way to start an album. And it only gets more interesting from there.

Holland plays bass and Altschul is the drummer for this album which was recorded in 1971 and came out the same year. All three musicians composed the second track, Ballad for Tillie and Holland composed Vedana. The rest of the compositions were written by Corea.

JAZZ:  ILLUSION SUITE – Stanley Cowell (ECM Records Digital Release)

There are quite a few digital releases from ECM’s early years being released this week and this album by pianist Cowell may be my favorite. Bassist Stanley Clarke and drummer Jimmy Hopps join Cowell for the six tracks on this album that was released in 1973.

This was Cowell’s third album as a leader, his second album as a trio. I think you’ll find a lot to love on this album and will probably find yourself listening to more of Cowell’s music as a result of the joy Illusion Suite brings.

JAZZ:  INFLATION BLUES – Jack DeJohnette’s Special Edition (ECM Records Digital Release)

This album was recorded in 1982 and released in 1983. Drummer/pianist DeJOhnette composed all five songs: Starburst, Ebony, The Islands, Inflation Blues and Slowdown. He’s joined on this album by Chico Freeman on tenor and soprano saxophone plus bass clarinet; John Purcell on baritone and lato sax, flute and clarinet and Rufus Reid on bass. Trumpeter Baikida Carroll joins for all but Ebony.

Inflation Blues received great reviews upon its release. It’s well worth your time.

JAZZ:  THE GOLDEN SÈKÈRÈ – Douyé (Rhombus Records)

The songs on this album by vocalist Douyé are much better known than she is. But one listen to her renditions of Cherokee, Speak Low, My Funny Valentine and more will prompt repeated listens.

Then you’ll do as I did and look up her other albums which includes 2019’s Quatro and 2017’s Daddy Said So (which includes an incredible version of Billy Strayhorn’s Lush Life).

JAZZ:  SOL DO MEIO DIA – Egberto Gismonti (ECM Records Digital Release)

Gismonti is a guitarist, pianist and composer from Brazil. If you’re expecting Brazilian jazz or music in the style of Gilberto Gil, this album isn’t for you. There is some improvisation here that could be right at home in jazz clubs today (particularly by Jan Garbarek on soprano saxophone on the last track of the album). There’s also some of the most beautiful music to be heard as well, particularly Coração.

All tracks were composed by Gismonti.

JAZZ:  CONCEPTION VESSEL – Paul Motian (ECM Records Digital Release)

This 1973 album was the first album by drummer/composer Paul Motian as a bandleader. He was joined in this album byguitarist Sam Brown, flautist Becky Friend, bass player Charlie Haden, pianist/flautist Keith Jarrett and violinist Leroy Jenkins.

There’s a topicality to the titles on this album which serve as a signpost to the era in which it was written and performed. They include Ch’i Energy, American Indian: Song of Sitting Bull and Inspiration from a Vietnamese Lullaby. Motian composed all six tracks on Conception Vessel.

JAZZ/FUNK: EN MEDIO – Garrett Saracho (Impulse! Records/Ume)

If you don’t know this album from 1973, don’t be surprised. In spite of tremendous critical response and the support of artists from Herbie Hancock and Wayne Shorter, Saracho’s album failed to get the attention it deserved.

For the album’s 50^th anniversary the album is getting a wide vinyl release (it’s also available digitally.) When you hear the work of the then 23-year-old Saracho, you’ll be amazed at the fusion of styles and how prescient his work actually was.

JAZZ:  THE COLOURS OF CHLOË – Eberhard Weber (ECM Records Digital Release)

This was the first record by double bassist and composer Weber. The album was released in 1974. There are four tracks on this album which is Weber’s best known:  More Colours, The Colours of Chloë, An Evening with Vincent Van Ritz and the epic No Motion Picture.

Is it true jazz? Symphonic jazz? Is this album a product of its time or a truly ambitious work that stands the test of time? There’s only way to find out. Listen to it!

VOCALS: IN A BROADWAY BAG – Bobby Darin (Direction Records)

The Bobby Darin estate has released five albums from his Bespoke Label. This album from 1966 finds Darin singing some of Broadway’s best-known songs including Mame, Don’t Rain on My Parade and Feeling Good.

Darin’s style is a throwback to a different time, but his passion for the material is present in this recording.

Those are our picks of the best of What’s New In Music This Week: July 21st.

Enjoy the music and enjoy your weekend.

Main Photo: Extraction from the cover for In a Grove

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Cerrone was a Pulitzer Prize finalist for his opera, Invisible Cities, which was performed in Los Angeles by The Industry and directed by Yuval Sharon. He’s composed works that have been performed by the opera singer Sasha Cooke, violinist Jennifer Koh, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Wild Up and more.

Fleischmann has written libretti for The Long Walk, After the Storm and The Property. She has multiple new projects in the works including collaborations with Julia Adolphe, Anna Clyne and Dawn Upshaw. She’s also a playwright and dramaturg whose work has been seen in venues around the world.

Adapting Akutagawa’s short story (also titled In a Grove) is the first collaboration between the two. A few weeks ago, as rehearsals were about to get under way, I spoke via Zoom with Cerrone and Fleischman. What follows are excerpts from that conversation that have been edited for length and clarity.

Let’s start where conversations about new operas usually do and that is with the lyrics of Don Henley of The Eagles. He wrote, “There’s three sides to every story baby: yours, mine and the cold hard truth.” What is your definition of the truth and how does that find its way into In a Grove?

Fleischmann: It’s a great question. When we started we were really very much in the Trump era and that was informing our work at the time. That kind of reality has shifted somewhat. So even though there are huge questions about truth in our culture, I think that the piece became a sort of response to that shift and became more about personal and subjective truths as opposed to manipulation of facts to some extent.

Cerrone: I’m really hesitant to tie it to any kind of specific political figure because I think that’s a simplified narrative. I actually think that the whole point of the piece is to avoid simplified narratives. So what I would say is that it appealed to me early on because I was originally interested in doing a piece where multiple perspectives were brought in because a lot of my favorite literature all stems really from this story.

In my opinion, society has shifted away from simpler uncomplicated truths in favor of simple dishonest truths and I think that is not something that can be reduced to any kind of political party ideology. I think most people are asked to make an innumerable number of extremely exponentially more complicated moral decisions in our world. Therefore, I’m not surprised that there’s a tendency towards some kind of simplification urge. I think that is very directly related to that fact that it can be very easily exploited. And I think that that is sort of where we are now. 

The short story is only seven pages long. What inspired the changes from the original story to what you present in In a Grove?

Fleischmann: We started talking about the fact that this was a Japanese story and the three creative forces behind it were not Japanese. What would happen if we took it out of Japan and set it somewhere that was more culturally resonant to us? Especially in terms of the issues of what happens to the woman and the relationship between the man and the woman. And the notion of shame which is really very embedded in Japanese culture in a way that I couldn’t begin to understand or none of us could really. So we started thinking about where we might set it and when. We were interested in the year that Akutagawa wrote the story which was 1921 as a possible moment in time. Which, ironically, is soon after the influenza pandemic.

Cerrone: Not only is this work a masterpiece, but it’s also adapted into a film that is also separately a masterpiece. I don’t think it’s necessary to do a straight telling of the story. We’re not Japanese, so it’s not going to be in Japan. We wanted to keep the connection to Japan, but also bring it to America. And the other question was do we need another opera centering around rape? I think what the story really became at that moment was this idea of a story not about literal truth. That was already a sign that the story was going to shift based on just who we are as artists.

Fleischmann: I think that just choosing to set it in 1921 as opposed to today says a lot. What we were really interested in were these people and how these people struggle to communicate or not communicate or manipulate each other and what the repercussions are of human flaws. Taking it away from now allows us to focus on that.

Given that multiple perspectives are presented in this story, does the music became a kind of variations on a theme?

Cerrone: Very much so. I remember Beckett talking about this and also Martin Feldman talking about this idea of deliberately trying to forget and then rewriting something so that you don’t consult the original material. It’s just in your memory and then you try to reconstruct it. I tried to use the memory process itself as a form of variation. So there are these elements that are quite prominent that do come back, but they’re rewritten without consulting the earlier material. I tried to remember what it was and sort of allowed the fallibility my memory to just sort of guide a lot of that.

Fleischmann: We also structured the libretto that way, too. First there was a draft or four drafts and then the fifth draft. We were really working hard at making those moments that were somewhat repeating something that happened before, but they were slightly different. 

This is your first collaboration with each other. What have you learned from this process that will inform what you do either separately or together in the future?

Cerrone: Be nice to your collaborators because sometimes it’s really hard.

Fleischmann: I think that the process of evolving what we were making we did so collaboratively. I think that is incredibly valuable. I hope that it shows in the cohesiveness and organic-ness of of the work. It takes an incredible amount of patience and pliability, but also rigor and respect and and what happens is we all have different strengths. So if we can be open to those different strengths then we’re really building something incredibly strong. That’s the goal.

Cerrone: Someone said, your first opera why did you not work with a librettist? And I said I wasn’t emotionally mature enough because it’s really hard to collaborate. And I give Stephanie a lot of credit for her clever person skills. I think it involves an enormous amount of trust in the process and that can be really, really hard sometimes. It’s taught me that real collaboration is possible and I know for a fact that this work, to me feels, like greater than the sum of its parts as a result.

To see the full interview with Cerrone and Fleischmann, please go to our YouTube channel here.

In a Grove will be performed at Pittsburgh Opera on Feb. 19th, 22nd, 25th, 27th & March 1st and 3rd. For tickets go here.

Cerrone did reveal that there were plans to livestream In a Grove after its premiere. We’ll update you with details.

Photo: Madeline Ehlinger, Andrew Turner and Yazid Gray in In a Grove (Photo by David Bachman Photography for Pittsburgh Opera)

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This year’s Bang on a Can Marathon takes place on Sunday, October 18th. The performances begin at 3:00 PM EDT/12:00 PM PDT and run through 9:00 PM EDT/6:00 PM PDT. There is no charge to watch the performances. However, like most institutions and musicians, donations are happily accepted. Tickets/donations can be purchased here.

Bang on a Can was founded by David Lang, Michael Gordon and Julia Wolfe.

The six hour festival gets started by celebrating the 91st birthday of composer George Crumb. Awarded the 1968 Pulitzer Prize for Music for his composition Echoes of Time and the River. He won a Grammy Award in 2000 for Star-Child.

Here is the line-up for the Bang on a Can Marathon 2020:

3:00 PM

Susan Grace performs selections from A Little Midnight Music by George Crumb

Ken Thomson performs the world premiere of Curveballs and Asteroids by Annie Gosfield – Thomson is a clarinetist, saxophonist and composer. Gosfield collaborated with Yuval Sharon on War of the Worlds in Los Angeles in 2017.

Composer Christina Wheeler gives the world premiere performance of her work A Coda for the Totality of Blackness Trilogy – Wheeler’s Totality of Blackness is described on her website as “a four-part tone-poem suite for a recumbent audience listening in color-spectrally controlled virtual darkness through a multi-speaker array sound system.”

Seth Parker Woods performs Argoru II by Alvin Singleton – Woods is a cellist and Singleton’s composition had its world premiere in 1970.

4:00 PM

Haushka is the pseudonym for Volker Bertelmann who has composed the scores for such films as Hotel Mumbai and Lion. His work credited as Haushka is primarily focused on music for prepared piano.

Mark Stewart gives the world premiere performance of Santuario by Jeffrey Brooks. Guitarist Stewart is a member of Bang on a Can. Brooks is a regular collaborator with the ensemble.

Mazz Swift will perform her work Give up the world – Swift, a member of Silkroad Ensemble, is a violinist and vox performer in addition to being composer.

David Cossin gives the world premiere of John Paul George and Ringo Pry Open the Gates of Hell by Greg Saunier – Cossin is a percussionist and member of Bang on a Can. Saunier is also a drummer and is a founding member of Deerhoof.

Nathalie Joachim gives the world premiere of Fear of Flying by Gemma Peacocke – Joachim plays flute and piccolo, sings and composes. Peacocke’s work is for flute and mixed electronics.

5:00 PM

David Longstreth, guitarist and lead singer for Dirty Projects, open the hour.

Mike Harley performs Come Closer by John Fitz Rogers – Harley is a singer/pianist/bassonist. Come Closer was written by Rogers in 2011 and is scored for four low winds and four click tracks.

William Parker gives the world premiere performance of his Hum Spirituals – Parker is a jazz bassist and composer.

Andie Tanning performs The Warmth of Other Suns by Leaha Maria Villarreal – Tanning is a violinist and Villarreal is the co-founder of Hotel Elefant in addition to being a composer.

6:00 PM

Tyshawn Sorey opens this hour with performances of his own work. He’s a multi-instrumentalist and composer.

JIJI performs Paisanos Semos! and Bailarín by Tania León – JIJI is a classical guitarist and León is a composer and founding member of Dance Theater of Harlem.

Anna Webber is a flutist, saxophonist and composer who primarily works within avant-garde jazz and experimental classical music

Tim Munro performs the first two movements of Liminal Highway by Christopher Cerrone – Munro is a flutist whose new album features a complete performance of Limnal Highway. Cerrone wrote the music for the opera Invisible Cities

7:00 PM

Vicky Chow gives the world premiere performance of Brevis by Valgeir Sigurðsson – Chow is the pianist with Bang on a Can All-Stars and Sigurðsson has collaborated with Björk and created the Bedroom Community label in 2006 with Nico Muhly and Ben Frost.

Nels Cline & Yuka C. Honda – Cline has a new album due from Blue Note Records and Honda is a director/producer/animator. The couple is married.

Arlen Hlusko gives the world premiere performance of Why Did They Kill Sandra Bland? by Daniel Bernard Roumain – Hlusko is a bassist with Bang on A Can All-Stars and Roumain is a violinist and composer.

Du Yun – Du Yun is a Pulitzer Prize-winning composer (Angel’s Bone) and recently collaborated with The Industry on Sweet Land.

8:00 PM

Robert Black gives the world premiere performance of Arise by Krists Auznieks – Black is a bassist with Bang on a Can All-Stars and Auznieks is a composer whose work has been performed all over the world.

Bill Frisell, guitarist and composer, closes the marathon.

Photo: Bang on a Can (Photo by Peter Serling/Courtesy Bang on a Can website)

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For Invisible Cities, you begin your journey in Harvey House, a restaurant space that houses the orchestra. From there, you follow whichever characters you like as they walk and sing through Union Station. Along the way you might encounter other singers, dancers, and most certainly the general public. And the whole time, you’re wearing headphones that amplify the musicians and the singers.

“Los Angeles is the inspiration for the work that I’m doing with the Industry in every way,” Sharon explained on the phone during a rehearsal break a few days before opening night. “Doing the opera at Union Station reflects that. It is an icon of Los Angeles that honors both the architecture and the city itself.”

But who stages an opera in a train station? “Composer Christopher Cerrone proposed the work when I was project director at New York City Opera’s VOX. The inner life of the music had to be made manifest on a stage. Calvino’s novel is more a piece of philosophy, a tone poem rather than a novel in the traditional sense. The opera is very quiet. Singers sing at low volume for most of the opera. You want to feel that the characters are singing in your ear.” It was then that the idea of using headphones and roaming around a large physical space was born.

“What you are hearing has no connection with what you are seeing,” Sharon says. “You have the opportunity to create relationships between eyes and ears. The book is fundamentally about what happens to us internally when we face a journey anywhere in the world. How much external reality is just a reflection of what’s happening with us. This was the perfect way to realize the piece that Christopher had been trying to create.”

The only thing missing was the location. “I started thinking where was a place the audience could move freely? Where could we do an intervention that wouldn’t disrupt daily life? The romance, the beauty around Union Station—you are instantly back in 1939 imagining the past in L.A. All of this speaks beautifully with the themes of the book and the opera.”

While the opera is being performed, trains continue shuttling passengers to and from the City of Angels. “Everyday life is a crucial part of the way the piece works. The life of the station, the people, and the subtle displacement are key elements,” Sharon says. “We are used to having our physical and mental reality not necessarily reinforcing each other. We carry so much in our phones.  As our lives get so digitized, these experiential type of performances resonate very deeply because they are something that our phones can’t do. The headphones and the public space are not the show. They are the means to experience a really beautiful opera.”

If the day-to-day hustle and bustle of Union Station isn’t enough, on Halloween there’s another level of engagement. “The life of the station on Halloween is going to be so electric. Costume designer E.B. Brooks and I had the idea of having a costume contest. It doesn’t change the nature of the performance at all. The creative act does not reside only by the artist. It is the spectator that is doing creative work with the artist.”

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