At first look, acclaimed pianist Awadagin Pratt could appear an odd match for the Southern Publicity New Music Sequence, the place he is scheduled to carry out alongside members of the USC Symphony Orchestra and violinist Ari Streisfeld on February 4 and solo on February 7.
Pratt received the Naumburg Worldwide Piano Competitors in 1992 and has obtained three acclaimed levels from Baltimore’s Peabody Conservatory (piano, violin, and instrumental) and has spent the previous few a long time as one of many nation’s preeminent pianists. He’s identified primarily for his dynamic performances of the canon of Western classical music – works by Beethoven, Bach, Brahms and the like. However he arrived at Columbia excited to play works from his newest venture, the TS Eliot-inspired Stillpoint collection.
Utilizing a couple of lead traces from the “Quartet Quartet” of the modernist greats as a place to begin, Pratt commissioned seven composers, from rising superstars Tyshawn Sorey and Paola Prestini to avant-garde composers like Alvin Singleton and Pēteris Vasks, to write down new items for piano, string orchestra, and unusually , an acoustic group referred to as Roomful of Tooth. The group is a pioneering experimental vocal ensemble.
“We wished to have piano and string orchestra as a result of whereas there may be some music written for piano and string orchestra, it isn’t a deep a part of the repertoire,” stated Pratt. “After which there was the thought so as to add an acoustic part to it, which was additionally very uncommon. I wished to go away it open for the composers to resolve.”
As for its modernist inspiration, Pratt had lengthy been a fan of the “Quartet of 4” and thought it might be an idea to unite the varied commissions. After acquiring permission from the publishing agency Faber & Faber to make use of an excerpt from the poem, Pratt selected a couple of key traces (“Neither from nor path; on the mounted level there’s a dance, / However no arrest nor motion”) because the seed concept.
He muses: “I like the thought of a ‘mounted level’ and … that the dancing takes place at a set level. There is a sort of duality of opposites in a approach. Lovely. The traces are stunning. I assumed it will be a very good inspiration for the authors.”
Saturday evening’s Southern Publicity collection live performance will characteristic concert events for piano and strings by Singleton and Prestini, together with a couple of looser and extra intimate solo items from Philip Glass, Vasks and Francois Couperin.
The free efficiency will probably be at Johnson Efficiency Corridor within the basement of the Darla Moore College of Music at 7:30 p.m
Later within the week, on February 7, Pratt can even be a featured soloist on the USC Symphony Orchestra’s live performance on the Cougars Arts Middle, the place he’ll play Jesse Montgomery’s “Rounds,” which he premiered with the Hilton Head Symphony Orchestra final yr. This present is at 7:30 p.m. and tickets are $28 (reductions out there for college students, seniors, and army personnel).
Pratt is keen to proceed taking part in these new works, however he objects to the concept that these items and the recording of the upcoming album outline the legacy.
“We keep in mind the pianists,” he stated, “however we keep in mind the composers extra.” “It is all in regards to the age of the pianist. There’s a recorded legacy, however the legacy of composers has a much wider scope in time and thru time.”
However he nonetheless hopes that the venture will have an effect by way of the trajectory of recent music and might encourage different works.
“Its breadth and a sure high quality of innovation,” he stated. “It actually provides significance to a brand new mixture (piano, strings and vocal ensemble) that’s actually expressive and may open doorways and be a supply of inspiration for different composers.”
Audin Pratt within the collection Southern Publicity to New Music
February 3 at 1:10 p.m. without spending a dime. Stay broadcast. February 4 at 7:30 p.m. at Darla Moore College of Enterprise 101 – Johnson Efficiency Corridor. free. February 7 at 7:30 p.m. on the Cougars Arts Middle. $28.
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