Tickets
About the Show
National Sawdust is thrilled to announce a new venture with John Zorn’s artist movement THE STONE. THE STONE is opening a new chapter in its storied history of artist empowerment through a monthly commissioning series at National Sawdust, directly investing in the careers of the most exciting composer/performers of New York. This move by THE STONE is the next step in Mr. Zorn’s mission, allowing the venue to transcend its walls to expand its reach and exist in multiple places. National Sawdust is honored to be a prominent host for THE STONE’s evolution, and looks forward to this new opportunity to continue empowering the artist community.
Other Winter Highlights
Late Night at National Sawdust: a Live Radio Broadcast Vol. 1
January 20, 2017 - 10:00pm Returning audiences to the glory days of live radio broadcasts, Late Night at National Sawdust is a collaboration between Open G Records and Access Contemporary Music on a quarterly concert series airing live on Relevant Tones, the world’s only weekly syndicated contemporary music radio program.
Alternative Guitar Summit 2017: Guitars of Heaven, Guitars of Hell
March 15, 2017 - 7:00pmFounded and produced by Joel Harrison and Life Force Arts, The "Summit" is a yearly gathering of some of the most creative guitarists on earth.
Sxip Shirey Presents: Baby Dee
February 23, 2017 - 7:00pm One of the industry's most incredible musical discoveries of the last decade, Baby Dee is an enchanting song writer, classically trained harpist, circus sideshow veteran, and west side street legend Her infectious cackle and extraordinary talent on piano, harp and accordion has caught her many musical admirers including Will Oldham, Matt Sweeney, Maxim Moston, and Andrew WK, all of whom have produced unique and magnificent albums for her.
Sxip Shirey presents: Trevor Wishart
March 25, 2017 - 6:30pm Encounters is an 8-channel sound-surround piece based on speaking voices recorded in the North East of England where Trevor Wishart was A.C.E. Composer-in-Residence from October 1st, 2006 to September 2009, based at the University of Durham. The piece is constructed in 4 Acts of approximately 20 minutes each, combining portraits of individual speakers (accompanied by sounds and imaginary instruments derived from the voices themselves) with computer animation of the entire community of voices - speech that waltzes, speech that locks in harmony, clouds of speech that circle the audience, culminating with speech that transforms into song. The piece was finally completed on January 1st 2011.
yMusic: Freshly-Minted
February 5, 2017 - 3:00pm Hailed by NPR’s Fred Child as “one of the groups that has really helped to shape the future of classical music,” yMusic is a group of six New York City instrumentalists flourishing in the overlap between the pop and classical worlds. Their virtuosic execution and unique configuration (string trio, flute, clarinet, and trumpet) has attracted the attention of high profile collaborators—from Ben Folds to Dirty Projectors to Jose Gonzalez—and inspired an expanding repertoire of original works by some of today’s foremost composers, including Nico Muhly and Andrew Norman.
National Sawdust+ /ˈəntrəpē/ Mickalene Thomas + Terri Lyne Carrington
February 28, 2017 - 7:30pm Acclaimed Brooklyn-based distinguished international artist and filmmaker Mickalene Thomas, a 2015 United States Artists Francie Bishop Good & David Horvitz fellow, turns her gaze from her arresting, often glittering and provocative mixed-media work to present /ˈentrəpē/ , a collaboration of music and art with three-time Grammy Award-winning jazz musician, Terri Lyne Carrington.
Timo Andres Presents: Work Songs
March 18, 2017 - 7:00pm "Inspired by old American parlor songs, I've written a set of “Work Songs” on the general subject of artists writing about their work." -Timo Andres
Turquoise Lake, featuring Humayun Khan and Douglas J. Cuomo
March 12, 2017 - 4:00pm Humayun Khan and Douglas J. Cuomo have formed Turquoise Lake, an eight-piece ensemble of musicians from a variety of improvisational traditions to create music that blends the raga tradition of North India and Afghanistan, Farsi poetry of the great Sufi masters, and Afghan folk melodies and ghazals, with western jazz and rock styles.
A Mouth is Not for Talking: La voix humaine
March 10, 2017 - 7:00pm In this theatrical concert, Poulenc and Cocteau’s cautionary tale La voix humaine receives a reflective update when paired with world premiere songs from Forrest Pierce’s The Burning Harp, set to texts of Rumi. Soprano Laura Bohn and pianist Mila Henry’s dual conversation forces listeners to ask: in this age of technology, can we connect with others without losing ourselves?
Prototype Presents: Funeral Doom Spiritual
January 13, 2017 - 7:00pm Funeral Doom Spiritual is a song of mourning for what Anthony Paul Farley calls “the motionless movement of death through slavery, segregation, and neo-segregation.” This new monodrama composed by M. Lamar and Hunter Hunt-Hendrix draws on themes of apocalypse, end times, and rapture found in Negro Spirituals, what Lamar calls “Doom Spirituals.”
The New American Songbook
January 11, 2017 - 7:00pm The quarterly web magazine for experimental music, Sound American, moves from the text to the sonic in order to answer the question: “What does a truly modern American Songbook sound like?”
Ferus Festival: Revert to Sea (Yuka C. Honda)
January 6, 2017 - 10:00pm National Sawdust artist-in-residence Yuka C. Honda presents a brand new multimedia work-in-progress based on the writings of Japanese author Ryu Murakami. Murakami, while not well known in the United States, is one of Japan’s most celebrated and iconic living literary figures.
