Check out the upcoming CLASSICAL events at LPR!

Evan Ziporyn's "Typical Music"
File Under: contemporary classical

Evan Ziporyn’s Piano Trio Typical Music, a 30-minute genre-defying virtuosic romp, ferociously performed by protean violinist Todd Reynolds (Ethel, the Books, Meredith Monk) & Bang on a Can All-stars Ashley Bathgate (cello) & Vicky Chow (piano). The New York premiere of this work and this stunning ensemble. Also: Ziporyn’s No Return for violin, clarinet & electronics.



Check out Evan Ziporyn's "Typical Music" w/ Todd Reynolds, Vicky Chow & Ashley Bathgate @ LPR on Monday, September 27th! To purchase tickets, click here!















Unsilent Film Series presents: Matt Darriau's Paradox Trio performs a live score to Battleship Potemkin
File Under: film, world fusion

New York based PARADOX TRIO creates original music inspired by Eastern European traditions driven by an improvisational NY edge . With their new CD, GAMBIT, on the ENJA label, Just released in the US via Allegro distribution! and three CD's on the Knitting Factory label, Paradox Trio has been influential in advancing world fusion with their innovative exploration of Balkan modes, Gypsy, middle eastern and klezmer music. For the past 12 years these four musicians have been notorius for their high energy concerts throughout North America, Canada and Europe. The group's dynamic performances and approach cut across stylistic and geographic boundaries creating an unusual and eclectic sound - redefining the concept "world beat". Gambit, their fourth CD, is now out on the ENJA label (Munich) and features the Bulgarian kaval virtuoso, Theodosii Spassov. Their third Knitting Factory Records CD, Source, explores the common ground between Balkan and Klezmer music. Their second CD, Flying at a Slant is regarded as a work that gives voice to a truly organic fusion of several idioms - unifying the high energy, complex rhythms and oriental modes of Balkan and Rom (gypsy) music with jazz composition and improvisation. Their 1st CD Paradox Trio was nominated for the prestigious 1996 German critics prize. Paradox Trio is currently working on a collaboration with the great Serbian/French pianist, Bojan Z. They have written and performed live music scores for the silent films Battleship Potemkin (Eisenstein), Un Chien Andalou (Bunuel/Dali) and Isaac Babel’s Benya Krik about a famous Jewish gangster in Odessa in revolutionary Russia. They have also created music for independent films and a PBS documentary on Dashiel Hammet. The group features: Matt Darriau on sax and clarinet & two unique Bulgarian instruments, the Kaval (end-blown flute) and the Gaida (bagpipe). Brad Shepik on guitars and Balkan strings. Rufus Cappadocia on 5-string cello. Seido Salifoski on dumbeks and percussion.




Check out the Matt Darriau's Paradox Trio @ LPR on Sunday, October 3rd! To purchase tickets, click here!

















The Music of Julia Wolfe w/ JACK Quartet, Robert Black & the Hartt Bass Band & Matthew Welch
File Under: contemporary classical, classical

Julia Wolfe, cofounder of Bang on a Can, comes to LPR with three passionate works for 8 double basses, string quartet, and bagpipes. Wolfe's music is distinguished by an intense physicality and a relentless power that pushes performers to extremes and demands attention from the audience. In the words of the Wall Street Journal, Wolfe has "long inhabited a terrain of [her] own, a place where classical forms are recharged by the repetitive patterns of minimalism and the driving energy of rock."

With Stronghold, for 8 double basses, Bang on a Can All-Star Robert Black and the Hartt Bass Band become a mega bass with wild harmonic rolls, soaring tunes, and an earthquake of low strings. In the relentless and breathless Dig Deep the ferocious JACK Quartet whip all 16 strings up to a frenzy, and in LAD, for multiple bagpipes, piper Matthew Welch builds dense walls of reedy sound that turn to a cacophony of gigs and reels.

Come see The Music of Julia Wolfe @ LPR on Sunday, October 3rd! To purchase tickets, click here!















Cameron Carpenter
File Under: contemporary classical, classical

Cameron, who designs organs, as well as performs on them, knows better than most what the organ requires – both physically and intellectually. The musical virtuosity, sophistication, and showmanship for which Cameron has been critically acclaimed (The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The New Yorker, The Los Angeles Times, MUSO, FanFare, The Advocate, National Public Radio, Dallas Morning News) require athleticism not ordinarily associated with the organ.

Preconceptions of the organ as religious and esoteric are crumbling under Cameron as he revitalizes it with his unorthodox arrangements that range from Bob Dylan to John Williams. His openness to musical influences outside of the classical world does not assign him to the refusal of previous methods commonly associated with revolutionary artists. A strong advocate of the virtual pipe organ, Cameron has also chosen to play one of his major 2009-2010 season concerts on the traditional pipe organ at the Church of St. Mary the Virgin in New York’s Times Square. He considers the 1932 Aeolian-Skinner organ there to be a “model of excellence,” a scientific phrase used to indicate setting a high standard.



Check out Cameron Carpenter w/ Marion Felder @ LPR on Tuesday, October 5th! To purchase tickets, click here!


















Kronos Quartet
File Under: classical, contemporary classical

For more than 30 years, the Kronos Quartet—David Harrington, John Sherba (violins), Hank Dutt (viola) and Jeffrey Zeigler (cello)—has pursued a singular artistic vision, combining a spirit of fearless exploration with a commitment to expanding the range and context of the string quartet. In the process, Kronos has become one of the most celebrated and influential groups of our time, performing thousands of concerts worldwide, releasing more than 40 recordings of extraordinary breadth and creativity, collaborating with many of the world's most eclectic composers and performers, and commissioning hundreds of works and arrangements for string quartet. Kronos' work has also garnered numerous awards, including a Grammy for Best Chamber Music Performance (2004) and "Musicians of the Year" (2003) from Musical America.



The Kronos Quartet will be playing on Friday October 8th, and Saturday October 9th! To purchase tickets for the 8th, click here....or to purchase for the 9th, click here!


....and don't forget to check out:

Robert McDuffie

Yale in New York