Chris Grymes Open G Series:
A Night with George Crumb
6pm doors • 7pm show
About
Open G Records, founded by clarinetist Chris Grymes, is committed to producing music that is rooted in the classical tradition, but brings artists and their fans together in new and innovative ways.
Chris and Open G present a concert of mystical, celestial music by seminal American composer George Crumb, one of the most significant composers of the last half century, in honor of his 90th birthday. The program includes the classic Night of the Four Moons, a setting of dreamlike texts by Lorca for the intriguing combination of mezzo-soprano, flute, banjo, electric cello, and percussion. Written in 1969 as a response to the Apollo 11 mission to the moon, the piece unfolds in whispers and echoes, amid an enigmatic landscape peppered with the sounds of Tibetan prayer stones, Japanese Kabuki blocks, African thumb pianos, and Chinese temple gongs. The evening will also feature the premiere of a new short film about Crumb by Zac Nicholson, produced by Open G Records and National Sawdust.
Don’t miss this celebration of this titan of contemporary music and some of his most enchanting work.
Tickets
The Artists
George Crumb (b. 1929) is one of the most frequently performed composers in today’s musical world. Crumb is the winner of Grammy and Pulitzer Prizes, and continues to compose new scores that enrich the lives of all who come in contact with his profoundly humanistic art. Crumb’s music often juxtaposes contrasting musical styles, ranging from music of the Western art-music tradition, to hymns and folk music, to non-Western musics. Many of Crumb’s works include programmatic, symbolic, mystical, and theatrical elements, which are often reflected in his beautiful and meticulously notated scores.
A shy yet warmly eloquent personality, Crumb retired from his teaching position at the University of Pennsylvania after more than 30 years of service. Honored by numerous institutions with honorary Doctorates, and the recipient of dozens of awards and prizes, Crumb makes his home in Pennsylvania, in the same house where he and his wife of more than 60 years raised their three children. George Crumb’s music is published by C.F. Peters and an ongoing series of Complete Crumb recordings, supervised by the composer, is being issued on Bridge Records.
