US premiere of Thomas Adès: Concentric Paths – Movements in Music at Lincoln Center’s White Light Festival
Nov. 03, 2015
The music of celebrated British composer Thomas Adès can be heard on several occasions throughout New York City this month, including the US premiere of “Thomas Adès: Concentric Paths – Movements in Music”, a monumental choreographic event presented by Lincoln Center’s White Light Festival.
“Concentric Paths” opens on November 20, with Adès joining the Orchestra of St. Luke’s as conductor and pianist, alongside violinist Thomas Gould, soprano Anna Dennis, and the Calder Quartet. The production joins four esteemed choreographers in settings of Adès’s music to movement: Wayne McGregor’s Outlier sets an ensemble of 9 dancers to the violin concerto Concentric Paths; Karole Armitage, director of the storied Armitage Gone! Dance Company, pairs her dance piece with the chamber work Life Story, for soprano, two bass clarinets and double bass; The Grit in the Oyster by Alexander Whitley choreographs a trio of dancers to Adès's Piano Quintet; and Crystal Pite’s monumental rendering of Polaris sets in motion a cast of 66 dancers.
On November 5, Jeffery Milarsky leads Juilliard’s AXIOM Ensemble in a performance of Adès’s The Origin of the Harp and Catch at Alice Tully Hall. The program also features performances of George Benjamin’s Three Inventions for Chamber Orchestra and Oliver Knussen’s Requiem – Songs for Sue. On November 6 and 7, the Metropolitan Museum of Art hosts a performance of Adès’s Chamber Symphony with André de Ridder leading the New York Philharmonic as part of the orchestra’s CONTACT! series.
Adès is also the recipient of the 2015 Léonie Sonning Music Prize, following past recipients including Kurtág, Ligeti, Messiaen and Stravinsky. Adès conducted the prize-giving concert on October 8 in DR Byen that featured the Danish National Concert Choir and the Danish National Symphony Orchestra in Asyla, America: A Prophecy and the Danish premiere of Totentanz. The concert marked the conclusion of a mini-festival in Copenhagen in which Adès performed alongside both the Danish String Quartet and the Athelas Sinfonietta conducted by Pierre-André Valade.
Details on the performances can be found at whitelightfestival.org, juilliard.edu and nyphil.org.
For more information on Thomas Adès, visit fabermusic.com.
Thomas Adès
Catch (1991)
for clarinet, piano, violin, and cello
9’
Chamber Symphony (1990)
for chamber ensemble of 15 players
fl(pic, afl).ob.basset cl. bcl-hn.tpt(wine bottle).tbn-2perc-pno(acc)-2vn.va.vc.db
13’
Violin Concerto – Concentric Paths (2005)
for violin and chamber orchestra
2(2pic).2.2(2acl).2-3.2.1.1-timp.2perc-str(10.8.6.5.3)
20'
Life Story (1993)
for soprano, 2 bass clarinets, and double bass
text (Eng) by Tennessee Williams
9’
Piano Quintet (2000)
for piano, 2 violins, viola, cello
20’
Polaris (201)
for orchestra
3(2pic.3.pic, afl).3.3(3.bcl).2.contraforte(or cbsn with low A)-4.4(1.pic.tpt).3.1(optional additional 4hn.2tpt)-timp-6perc-2hp-pno(cel).org(opt)-str
14’
Asyla (1997)
for large orchestra
3(2/3.pic, 3bfl).3(2/3ca).3(2.bcl, 3.cbcl).3(3.cbsn)-4.3(3.pic tpt).3.1-6perc-kbd.pno.cel-hp-str
25’
America – A Prophecy (1999)
for mezzo-soprano and large orchestra with optional large chorus
4(3/4.pic).4.2bcl.cbcl.4(4.cbsn)-4.3(1. pic tpt).2.tbtn.btbn.1-timp.4perc-pno.hp-large SATB chorus-str(16.16[or 14].12.10.8)
15’
Totentanz (2013)
for mezzo-soprano, baritone and orchestra
3.3.3.3-4.3.2.btbn.cbtba-timp-6/8perc-hp-pno(cel)-str
40’
The Origin of the Harp (1994)
for chamber ensemble
3cl(2, 3.bcl)-perc-3va.3vc
9'
George Benjamin
Three Inventions for Chamber Orchestra (1995)
2(1.pic, 2.pic, alf).1(ca).2(2.bcl).bcl(cbcl).1(cbsn)-2.1(flhn, pictpt).1(euph).0-2perc-pno(cel).hp-3vn(3.va).2va.2vc.2db
15’
Oliver Knussen
Requiem – Songs for Sue (2006)
for soprano and ensemble
fl.afl.2cl.bcl-2hn-perc-hp-2va.2vc.db
12’