New Music. New Jazz. Curated by John Zorn.

The John Zorn Commissioning Series celebrates Zorn’s revolutionary venue, The Stone, a non-profit venue that was “dedicated to the experimental and avant-garde,” and served as a vital spot for new-music in Manhattan’s Alphabet City for over a decade. Held on the last Wednesday of every month, National Sawdust honors the spirit of the Stone, hosting the world premiere of new works.

Composer and revolutionary saxophonist Jon Irabagon premieres After Talk, a new song cycle for classical voice, piano and improvising saxophone.  Irabagon’s intergenerational collaborations have garnered worldwide rave reviews, and he combines both worlds tonight in a brand new long-form work that depicts a relationship from start to finish and all the love, anger and anguish in between.

Flashes of jazz standards, 12 tone serialism, ragtime, showtunes, tango and Romantic-era waltzes appear and blend together to form a new, unique contribution to the canon.

Performers for the evening include some of new music’s most prominent players:

Jon Irabagon — mezzo soprano saxophone
Jennifer Beattie — mezzo soprano voice
Adam Marks — piano

with
Conrad Freiburg – narration and poetry
Zach Pulse – oboe
Jennifer Woodrum – clarinet