Tickets
Food and drink will be available
About the Show
Composer Martin Bresnick celebrates his 70th birthday in a concert presenting selected works from the last four decades – performed by some of the greatest musicians of our time. Don’t miss this unique event.
Program
Tent of Miracles (1984) (Taimur Sullivan, baritone saxophone and 4 channel playback)
Bird as Prophet (1999) (Elly Toyoda violin & Lisa Moore, piano)
Joaquin is Dreaming (2008) (Benjamin Verdery, guitar)
Prayers Remain Forever (2012) (TwoSense: Ashley Bathgate cello & Lisa Moore piano)
Intermission
Prophetic Strain (2009) (Margaret Lancaster flute & Lisa Moore)
Ishi’s Song (2012) (Lisa Moore)
Songs of the Mouse People (1999) (New Morse Code: Hannah Collins cello & Mike Compitello vibraphone)
Every Thing Must Go (2007) (Red Clay Saxophone Quartet)
Other Fall Highlights
Jodie Landau | You of All Things
November 19, 2016 - 10:00pm Even if, in addition to writing, playing and singing his own material, Jodie Landau had not brought on board an established producer, three other L.A.-based composers, six chamber musicians, and an entire Icelandic women's chorus, you of all things would still be a most unusual debut album.
Jeff McErlain Presents: A Night Of The Delta Blues With CeDell Davis And His Band
October 20, 2016 - 7:00pm The blues is one of the great American contributions to world. It reaches down to the heart of the human condition in the most direct way and transcends all boundaries. It is the truth and we know it when we hear it. We are lucky enough to have some of these original blues artist still with us to share the music in it’s purest form. CeDell Davis is one of those artists. At 90 years old he is living history. I am very excited to bring CeDell Davis to National Sawdust for this very special performance.
Timo Andres & Yevgeny Kutik
October 19, 2016 - 7:00pm Acclaimed composer/pianist Timo Andres will be joined by celebrated violinist Yevgeny Kutik, giving the New York premiere of Andres’ Words Fail and the world premiere of Michael Gandolfi’s Arioso Doloroso/Estatico, both of which Kutik commissioned for his new album, Words Fail (Marquis, October 2016). These premieres will be featured alongside works by Nico Muhly, Mendelssohn, and Stravinsky, each continuing the theme of “songs without words.
National Sawdust and Manhattan School of Music Present: The House Taken Over
October 7, 2016 - 8:00pm An opera based on the 1946 short story by Argentine writer Julio Cortázar featuring a score by composer Vasco Mendonça. It tells the story of a brother and sister living together in their ancestral home which is being "taken over" by unknown entities. Directed by Artist-in-Residence R.B. Schlather, The House Taken Over starts in a realist manner, slowly introducing a scene in which natural laws are distorted within a unique 4-D set.
National Sawdust and Manhattan School of Music Present: The House Taken Over
October 9, 2016 - 8:00pm An opera based on the 1946 short story by Argentine writer Julio Cortázar featuring a score by composer Vasco Mendonça. It tells the story of a brother and sister living together in their ancestral home which is being "taken over" by unknown entities. Directed by Artist-in-Residence R.B. Schlather, The House Taken Over starts in a realist manner, slowly introducing a scene in which natural laws are distorted within a unique 4-D set.
ECM Records: Sun of Goldfinger
December 3, 2016 - 7:00pm The mercurial trio comprising saxophonist Tim Berne, drummer Ches Smith and guitarist David Torn explores the edges of the genre, infusing it with perspectives ranging from the minimalist to the cinematic to the metallic. The improvisation-based group effortlessly, seamlessly shifts from atmospheres into shattering mayhem to thrilling effect.
YPC Presents: Transient Glory
November 4, 2016 - 7:00pm Transient Glory, the groundbreaking new music commissioning series created in 2001 by Artistic Director Francisco J. Núñez for the Young People’s Chorus of New York City, returns with the world premieres of six new works, representing a wide range of perspectives and styles, by six distinguished composers: Mason Bates (Sirens), Michael Gordon (Great Trees of New York City), Joan La Barbara (A Murmuration for Chibok), YPC alumna Jessie Montgomery (Danse Africaine), Robert Xavier Rodriguez (A Surfeit of Similes), and Charles Wuorinen (Exsultet).
Theo Bleckmann & Shai Maestro: All Souls in the Dark
November 03, 2016 - 7:00pm Vocalist Theo Bleckmann and pianist Shai Maestro are performing “All Souls in the Dark”: turn off your cell phones, lay down, close your eyes and immerse yourself in the sounds, melodies and landscapes of these two master musicians in complete darkness. This is a refuge from the hectic and overstimulation we live in daily; a musical meditation of sorts. Pillows will be provided.
A ‘Winterreise’ for the 21st Century Showcase
December 14, 2016 - 7:00pm Original texts by Wilhelm Müller – just as Schubert used. New music by Dutch composer Boudewijn Tarenskeen (who received the most prestigious Dutch Composers’ Prize Matthijs Vermeulen Prijs in 2009)
CCO Presents: Anaïs Nin and Odysseus’ Women, Louis Andriessen
October 15, 2016 - 8:00pm The desire of the mythical Ulysses and the desire of the legendary Anaïs Nin. Dutch director Jorinde Keesmaat brings in a U.S. premiere two distinctive works by Louis Andriessen together in one direction. The rarely performed Odysseus' Women (1995) for four female voices and synthesizer and the famous Anaïs Nin (2010).
Bresnick@70
November 6, 2016 - 7:00pm A celebration of Martin Bresnick's 70th birthday. Featuring performances from the Red Clay Saxophone Quartet, Taimur Sullivan, Benjamin Verdery, Lisa Moore, New Morse Code and more.
Birdman Live Scoring
November 5, 2016 - 10:00pm Experience the explosive Oscar winning FILM BIRDMAN, accompanied LIVE by composer Antonio Sanchez with his Grammy Award winning score that provides the heartbeat of the film. The Oscar winner for Best Picture by maverick director Alejandro Inarritu stars Michael Keaton as a washed-up action star trying to reinvent his career as a credible actor and director on the Broadway stage. For this special performance, the film will be accompanied live by renowned jazz drummer Antonio Sanchez playing his electric, GRAMMY winning score.
