Third Coast Percussion Premieres Christopher Cerrone's "Goldbeater's Skin"

by Ted Gordon on Feb. 7, 2017, 10:27 a.m.

On February 4th, Grammy-nominated Third Coast Percussion and mezzo-soprano Rachel Calloway premiered a new work byChristopher Cerrone at the University of Notre Dame's DeBartolo Performing Arts Center entitled Goldbeater's Skin. Goldbeater's Skin, which was commissioned by Elizabeth and Justus Schlichting and the DeBartolo PAC, sets poems by G.C. Waldrep from the book of the same name.

Waldrep lived for many years in an Amish community in North Carolina, and his poems reflect that "earthy mysticism"; Cerrone takes the percussive title of Waldrep's collection and realizes it with his signature blend of poeticism, lyricism, and texture. In the South Bend Tribune, Third Coast Percussionist David Skidmore notes that "There are a lot of ways to describe what [Cerrone] does, but it's best described as 'beautiful music,' which is saying a lot."

Cerrone has set many American poets' work to music, and he is the third member of the Sleeping Giant collective to work with Third Coast Percussion, which has previously commissioned works by Timo Andres (Austerity Measures, available on PSNY) and Ted Hearne (Thaw). Check out the world premiere of Austerity Measures below. 

New York Festival of Song Features Christopher Cerrone & Friends

by Ted Gordon on Dec. 7, 2016, 11 a.m.

Now in its 29th year, the New York Festival of Song will present an evening of music and poetry curated by PSNY composer Christopher Cerrone. Hosted at National Sawdust on December 8th, 2016, this evening features music by Cerrone, along with works by Timo Andres, Ted Hearne, Erin Gee, and Scott Wollschleger, setting poetry by GC Waldrep, Bill Knott, Dorothea Lasky, and Andrea Cohen. 

Vocalist Theo Bleckmann will perform the New York debut of Cerrone's The Naomi Songs, which he premiered at EMPAC in 2015. Cerrone will also preview a new composition, Apocatastasis, which sets the poem of the same name by G. C. Waldrep. Also previewed this evening will be Three songs based on Lasky poems, by Ted Hearne. 

Timo Andres will join Bleckmann as pianist for his recently-premiered Mirror Songs, and the program also features two of Erin Gee'sMouthpiece works, as well as Scott Wollschleger's Fragment on Fragments.  

Check out an excerpt of Cerrone's The Naomi Songs below. 

Tim Munro's "Recounting" Features Soper, Cerrone

by Ted Gordon on Nov. 8, 2016, 5:02 p.m.

The flutist Tim Munro has recently described his work as an artist as storytelling: communicating from one person to another using the media of instrument, sound, and performance. After a long tenure with the Grammy-award-winning ensemble eighth blackbird, Munro has been developing a solo performance practice which explores the boundaries of his instruments—flute, breath, voice, speech. His upcoming solo performance at Columbia's Miller Theatre, entitled "Recounting", focuses on the moments between wakefulness and sleep, featuring works that weave between these two states. 

Christopher Cerrone's Liminal Highway, commissioned by Munro with assistance from New Music USA to be premeired on November 10th, is written for flute and four-channel electronics, and begins from the moment of "falling asleep in transit." This work serves as the impetus for the entire program, which includes five additional works—featuring appearances by soprano and composer Kate Soper, vocal ensemble Face the Music, and lighting designer Mary Ellen Stebbins. Soper and Munro will perform her 2011 work, Only the Words Themselves Mean What They Say, which sets text by Lydia Davis. Echoing Cerrone's evocation of an "altered state", Soper's work questions the one-ness of the performer, turning a single "instrument" into a site of multiplicity.