journal.nonesuch.com

Wilco Rocks the Streets of Lawrence, Kansas

Wilco fans took to the streets last night for the first outdoor concert held on the corner of Ninth and New Hampshire Streets in Lawrence, Kansas, which locals hope will be the first of many such events, according to the Lawrence Journal-World & News. A portion of the proceeds from the concert concessions will go to support the Lawrence Arts Center, which sits just next to the site.

Visit www2.ljworld.com for the report from the event; pore through a photo gallery, with more pictures like the above of Glenn Kotche by photographer John Henry; and watch the area TV news coverage on local channel 6.

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Steve Reich, Glenn Kotche to Perform at Alice Tully Hall's 2009 Re-Opening

Steve Reich and Glenn Kotche will be among the artists celebrating the unveiling of the re-imagined Alice Tully Hall at Lincoln Center in New York during the two-week Opening Nights Festival, February 22 through March 8, 2009. On March 3, each will take part in New York, New Music, New Hall, a marathon event of new and seminal works.

Glenn will join Bang on a Can All-Stars for the New York premiere of one of his compositions, and Steve Reich & Musicians and Synergy Vocals come together for the composer's groundbreaking 1976 work Music for 18 Musicians, the 1998 recording of which earned a Grammy for Best Small Ensemble Performance. Also on the bill is Alarm Will Sound, premiering works by Derek Bermel, Oscar Bianchi, and Caleb Burhans.

Tickets go on sale May 28. For more information, visit lincolncenter.org.

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Glenn Kotche Unveils New Works at UNC with Bang on a Can

Glenn Kotche and Sonic Youth guitarist Lee Ranaldo joined the Bang on a Can All-Stars this past Saturday at the University of North Carolina's Memorial Hall in Chapel Hill for a marathon performance that featured new works by Glenn.

Bang on a Can's Evan Ziporyn told the University's Daily Tar Heel prior to the event that Glenn had written "some very ambitious music that reflects his diverse interests." Tar Heel staffer Nash Roberts reports that Glenn found inspiration for the new pieces at the University's Southern Folklife Collection, which he toured in between Wilco performances at the school in 2006.

"On that tour I witnessed a vast collection of media documenting Southern and American culture and music," Glenn tells the paper. "I thought it would be especially fitting for a new work based on this music to be premiered at the home of such an important collection."

To read the article, visti dailytarheel.com.

Glenn Kotche Guest DJs on WOXY

Tune in now to WOXY.com to listen to a live, guest-DJ set from Glenn Kotche. He's in Cincinnati, Ohio, to perform tonight at the MusicNOW festival, organized by Bryce Dessner of The National. He'll perform with Dessner and Bang on a Can for a concert with Dirty Projectors at Memorial Hall beginning 8 PM.

Bill Frisell, Glenn Kotche Perform at MusicNOW Festival This Week

Bill Frisell and Glenn Kotche will be on hand in Cincinnati, Ohio, this week as the third annual MusicNOW festival, organized by native son Bryce Dessner of The National, gets under way at Memorial Hall tonight. The four-day festival, which, in its first two years, featured artists like Sufjan Stevens, My Brightest Diamond, and Clogs, welcomes for this year's concerts a broad array of performers, including composer Nico Muhly, avante-garde ensemble Bang on a Can, Brooklyn-based band Grizzly Bear, and The Dirty Projectors.

Glenn performed in the inaugural MusicNOW in 2006, with Bang on a Can All-Star percussionist David Cossin, and returns this Friday to perform with Dessner and Bang on a Can on a double bill with Dirty Projectors. Bill makes his MusicNOW debut tomorrow night in a performance with his 858 Quartet (Eyvind Kang, Hank Roberts, and Jenny Scheinman) and classical guitarist Benjamin Verdery.

For more information, visit musicnowfestival.org. To read an interview on the festival with Dessner in the Cincinnati Enquirer, visit news.enquirer.com.

Kronos Quartet, Glenn Kotche, Punch Bros., Gipsy Kings to Perform at Ravinia 2008

The schedule for the 2008 Ravinia Festival has been announced, and among the 150 events to be held during its run this summer will be performances by Punch Brothers (July 21), The Gipsy Kings (August 2), and Kronos Quartet featuring Glenn Kotche (September 3).

Kronos Quartet perform John Adams's Fellow Traveler, which they recently premiered at Carnegie Hall's Zankel Hall, and will give the Ravinia premiere of Glenn Kotche's Anomaly, with Glenn joining the Quartet for the event. You can read his thoughts on the piece in an essay he wrote for the Nonesuch Journal last year.

For a complete schedule of events for the Ravinia Festival, which runs May 31 through September 14, just outside of Chicago, visit ravinia.org. Tickets go on sale April 17.

While Glenn is performing in New York this week, Kronos is in Nashville for a performance of Terry Riley's Sun Rings with the Vanderbilt University Concert Choir, led by Pamela Schneller, tomorrow night at Vanderbilt's Ingram Hall. The concert will be preceded by a lecture-demonstration tonight, fittingly, at the University's Dyer Observatory; the Quartet will be joined by the Observatory's director, Rick Chappell, whose research centers around the Sun-Earth environment, and former Hubble Space Telescope Chief Scientist Dr. Bob O'Dell. For more information, visit vanderbilt.edu.

From there, Kronos will travel to Germantown, Tennessee, for a performance of works by Sigur Rós, Clint Mansell, and Franghiz Ali-Zadeh, among others, before heading to Springfield, Illinois, where the group will give an encore presentation of Sun Rings, this time with the Springfield Choral Society, led by Marion van der Loo, on Tuesday, March 18. The Springfield Journal-Register gives a preview of the event in an article by arts editor Nick Rogers. In the article, Rogers explores the astronomic roots of Riley's piece, and the Quartet's involvement in its inception. Violinist David Harrington tells Rogers:

As a listener, and a performer, I feel there's this opportunity to think about the world we're all a part of, and I come away from it feeling energized and almost recommitted, really, to the power of what a musical experience can be.

Adds violist Hank Dutt: "I think [Terry] wanted to look at man from the universe's perspective, and that's actually a very humbling experience. And it's more peaceful than anything."

To read the article, visit sj-r.com.

Glenn Kotche Plays Works from "Mobile" at NYC's The Kitchen

Glenn Kotche is in New York City for two sets, tonight and tomorrow night, with The National's Bryce Dessner at the famed downtown performance venue The Kitchen, before heading to Australia next week to join Wilco for a number of tour dates there and in New Zealand.

At The Kitchen, Glenn will perform works from his Nonesuch solo album, Mobile, and adaptations from Anomaly, a piece he wrote for and premiered with Kronos Quartet at the San Francisco Jazz Festival last October. He'll also play new arrangements of works by João Gilberto, Buddy Holly, and label mate Steve Reich. Each set begins at 8 PM. For more information, visit thekitchen.org.

John Adams, Glenn Kotche Attend "Doctor Atomic" Lyric Opera Closer

John Adams's opera, Doctor Atomic, made its Chicago debut last month at the Lyric Opera, under the direction of Adams's longtime collaborator, Peter Sellars, who also created the work's libretto. The production, starring Gerald Finley as Robert Oppenheimer, often called "the father of the atomic bomb," had its final performance last Saturday, on January 19.

Among those in the audience for closing night were the composer, drummer Glenn Kotche with his wife Miiri, and Nonesuch president Bob Hurwitz, pictured here inside the hall:

Doctor Atomic will make its Metropolitan Opera debut in New York City this October. The Doctor Atomic Symphony, based on orchestral music from the opera, will be given its New York premiere on February 16 at Carnegie Hall with the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra, David Robertson conducting. The composer and conductor will also participate in a pre-concert talk with Carnegie's director of artistic planning, Jeremy Geffen, free to the concert's ticketholders. For more information, visit carnegiehall.org.

Bill Frisell, Glenn Kotche to Perform at 2008 MusicNOW Festival

The line-up for Cincinnati's 2008 MusicNOW festival has been announced. The four-day multimedia event, running April 2-5, will include a concert on April 3 celebrating American guitar with Bill Frisell's 828 Quartet (Eyvind Kang, Hank Roberts, and Jenny Scheinman) as well as an April 4 program for which Glenn Kotche joins Dirty Projectors, Bang on a Can, and festival curator Bryce Dessner of The National.

For more information on the festival and tickets to these events, visit musicnowfestival.org.

Kronos Quartet's David Harrington Creates a 2007 "MyTunes" Playlist

Yes, 'tis the season for year-end "Best of" lists from music critics, and the Nonesuch Journal is sure to let you know about the occasional one or two over the next few weeks. But SF Weekly has decided against the usual critics' list and offers instead "MyTunes"—lists of the year's best according to Bay Area luminaries. Among those weighing in: Kronos Quartet's David Harrington.

In the introductory note to David's list, SF Weekly's Jennifer Maerz points out its international scope and that of the music that Kronos tends to play. Harrington says that his search for music beyond America's borders is, in part, a reaction against the current administration's bellicose international relations. "We are trying to be a witness to some of the things that are happening," he tells Maerz. "Every concert we play is an attempt to find balance in a world that's very unbalanced."

The article points to the broad range of collaborations Kronos has participated in this year alone, including projects with Sigur Rós, Tom Waits, Asha Bhosle, Glenn Kotche, and Henryk Górecki, as well as to the forthcoming Nonesuch release of Terry Riley's The Cusp of Magic with Wu Man in 2008, as examples of the Quartet's interest in playing beyond any preconceived boundaries.

"If somebody really loves something, I have to find out about it," David tells Maerz. "If somebody really hates something, I have to find out about it ... I don't believe in categories. They have no meaning for me."

Among the albums, artists, and musical experiences he enjoyed in 2007: Monkey: Journey to the West, a theater piece by Damon Albarn, who's now writing a piece for Kronos; Valgeir Sigurðsson and Múm, both of whom performed at New York's Wordless Music series this season; M.I.A.; Bettye LaVette; and an album of ethnic minority music from Southern Laos.

For the complete list, visit sfweekly.com.

Wordless Music Series Successfully Joins Classical and Contemporary

Last Wednesday, Nonesuch Records' production coordinator, Ronen Givony, was listening to an eclectic set of music—piano pieces by Haydn and Messiaen, some electronic tunes, new music for laptop and strings. Not an unlikely mix off the iPod shuffle here at the office. But for this particular listening, Ronen was at a concert at the Good-Shepherd Faith Church on Manhattan's Upper West Side for the much rarer thrill of attending a concert he had produced himself. It was the latest event in the successful series he created last year called Wordless Music.

As with Wednesday's program—featuring electronic minimalist composer Max Richter, filmmaker Matt Hulse, electronica creator Cepia, and classical pianist Assaff Weisman—concerts in the Wordless Music series pairs indie rockers and electronica artists with classical music performers. Ronen created the series to open fans of the former to what, for many, may be the unfamiliar sounds of the latter, or, as he recently told Gramophone magazine, "to begin converting my fellow rock 'n' roll fans to chamber music."

The first concert in the series took place just over a year ago and brought together avant-garde icon Elliot Sharp, Wilco's drummer Glenn Kotche (pictured at left) and guitarist Nels Cline (at right), and pianist Jenny Lin. Concerts this season have matched the band Beirut with a performance of Osvaldo Golijov's The Dreams and Prayers of Issac the Blind; composer/performers Sigur Rós, Valgeir Sigurðsson, and Nico Muhly; Grizzly Bear with pianist Michael Harrison; and the band Múm with cello and piano works by Bach and Ligeti, among others.

The non-classical performers tend to be the draw for the vast majority of the sold-out crowds, but as Ronen told Gramophone, that audience is made up of intellectually curious music fans, "ripe for being turned on to the sound world of someone who would meet them halfway about classical music." He continues:

Most young people who consider themselves voracious music listeners as a matter of course expect their friends to be familiar with not only rock, but hip-hop and international music, so this [series] is part of moving towards musical landscapes where these sound worlds are neighbors, instead of having this strict firewall between them.

Up next in the series are the much-anticipated January 16 and 17 concerts at The Church of St. Paul the Apostle featuring John Adams's Christian Zeal and Activity and the US premiere of Jonny Greenwood's Popcorn Superhet Receiver for string orchestra, led by conductor Brad Lubman.

For more information on Wordless Music, pick up the November issue of Gramophone magazine and visit wordlessmusic.org.

Glenn Kotche Tells the Nonesuch Journal About Writing for Kronos

On October 25 and 26, Glenn Kotche and Kronos Quartet premiered Glenn's new piece for quartet and percussion, Anomaly, at the San Francisco Jazz Festival. Last month, we brought you the notes Glenn wrote for the program, in which he describes the very personal inspiration for the new work. Here, in a note he's written exclusively for the Nonesuch Journal, Glenn shares some insights into the process of composing, rehearsing, and performing a brand new piece during what was already a year of non-stop touring for Wilco, and for Kronos as well:

I first got the idea to write a string quartet after seeing Kronos perform The Cusp of Magic by Terry Riley at Zankel Hall in early 2006. As I sat in the audience watching the performance, I was struck at how the four parts of the ensemble interacted and played off of each other. It made me think of the relationships of my limbs when playing drum set. I thought it would be really interesting to explore that kind of interaction in a composition-treating the quartet as a kind of drum set. After the show, Melissa Cusick, the Nonesuch publicist, introduced me to David Harrington, Hank Dutt, and Kronos’s longtime manager, Janet Cowperthwaite.

In the next few weeks, I started to come up with ideas of how to approach a piece like this. I ultimately decided it might be cool to also write a fifth optional part for drum set. A few months later, while I was on tour in Canada with Wilco, David called me. He was a fan of my solo percussion record, Mobile, which had Nonesuch released earlier in the year. He asked me if I would write a piece for them with an optional fifth percussion part. Obviously I was excited to see that he had the exact same idea and thought it was a good enough sign for me to go through with it—even though I had never previously written outside of the realm of percussion. The piece would be commissioned by Priscilla Stoyanof, a Kronos board member, in honor of her late husband—the longtime Kronos board member and supporter Angel Stoyanof.

Read more ...

Kronos Quartet Beyond the Bounds of the String Quartet

Reporting for InisdeBayArea.com, staff writer Jim Harrington examines the many ways in which Kronos Quartet has gone well beyond the confines of the traditional string quartet. "We haven't called ourselves a string quartet, I think, in the last 34 years," Kronos violinist David Harrington says. "I remember as a kid looking at the map—and at that point I had only played Haydn, Mozart, and Beethoven—and thinking, 'God, what does the rest of the world sound like? I'm going to find out.'"

And find out he has. In the article, writer Harrington lauds Kronos as "a relentless champion of new works ... [that] has further separated itself from the pack by engaging in adventurous collaborations with forward-thinking musicians and composers."

One such recent collaborator is Glenn Kotche, Wilco's drummer and an accomplished composer. Glenn's solo CD Mobile so impressed David Harrington that he asked the drummer to write a piece for the Quartet. The resulting work, Anomaly, for strings plus percussion, received its world premiere last week at the San Francisco Jazz Festival. (You can see pictures of Glenn and Kronos rehearsing here and read Glenn's notes on the piece here.)

And Kronos continues to explore new musical opportunities in any number of unexpected places. As David Harrington tells InsideBayArea,

For me, the world of music is a huge place and ... there are really no boundaries ... There is just so much fascinating music to learn about and be a part of. It's such a great time to be a listener, to be a performer, to just be included in the world of music.

To read the complete article, visit InsideBayArea.com.

Glenn Kotche to Open for Andrew Bird in NYC

Just announced: Glenn Kotche will be opening for Andrew Bird, left, at New York's Beacon Theatre on Friday, November 30. Tickets are now available through Ticketmaster.

Glenn will be performing the world premiere of his Anomaly with Kronos Quartet at the San Francisco Jazz Festival this Thursday, October 25. Read what Glenn has to say about the new piece in a post from last week.

Glenn Kotche, Kronos Quartet Prep for SF Jazz Festival

Glenn Kotche and Kronos Quartet sent in some photos from a recent rehearsal for their October 25 and 26 performances at the San Francisco Jazz Festival, where they'll premiere Glenn's piece Anomaly:

The rehearsal space awaits

 

Glenn on percussion

 

David Harrington, John Sherba, and Glenn

 

Glenn looks on as Hank Dutt gets acquainted with the handbell part

 

Jeffrey Zeigler with bow and handbells

Read what Glenn has to say about the inspiration behind Anomaly in a post from earlier today.

Glenn Kotche's Composing "Anomaly" for Kronos Quartet

Glenn Kotche will join Kronos Quartet on October 25 and 26 at the 25th Anniversary San Francisco Jazz Festival for the world premiere of his piece Anomaly. In the concerts' program note, excerpted here, Glenn discusses the story behind the collaboration (commissioned for Kronos by the Angel Stoyanof Commission Fund); the unique challenges of writing, as a percussionist, for string quartet; and the very personal inspiration for the piece:

After seeing a Kronos Quartet performance in early 2006, I got the idea to compose a string quartet. I wanted to do it from my perspective as a percussionist, treating the four members of the quartet like the varying relationships and roles of my limbs when I play the drum set. I also thought it would be interesting to arrange it with the addition of an optional drum set part. I was happily surprised when David Harrington, upon hearing my record Mobile, called me to request the exact same thing. He suggested that I write a piece for string quartet with an optional fifth percussion part that was “rhythmic with percussive colors” and—much more dauntingly—“something vital, beautiful, and wonderful.”

My closest uncle, Eddie Kotche, died just around the time of that Kronos performance. The night that he passed, I went home and improvised a short melody on the vibraphone. This would become the dominant, recurring theme in what would eventually be titled Anomaly. This melody is present in some form in all seven movements. In the fifth movement, the theme is played in its entirety on the handbells, emulating the tonal color of the vibraphone.

My uncle was an anomaly. He had an incredible zest for life and an uproarious sense of humor despite being severely challenged throughout his life by cerebral palsy, a condition that left him with very little control over his limbs. He was dependent on family for every daily function. After losing him, I began to think about my reliance on physical motion and coordination for my self-expression and livelihood, and about the dichotomy between our physical circumstances. This led to ruminations on the mobility and interdependence of the parts of our bodies, and also on how people rely on each other. I thought about the physical as well as emotional discomfort and pain that he must have felt on a daily basis. At the same time, I remembered the love that he gave and received from his family and friends throughout his long, full life ...

Although the origins of Anomaly are deeply personal … I wrote the piece to be broad in its emotional range and appeal. I wanted it to be a collaboration of disparate musical themes that sometimes work in concert and at other times conflict and rub against one another. I wanted the individual instruments to experience both freedom and restriction. I wanted Kronos to be dependent on each other for the execution of certain melodies and musical passages. The main motif that appears in each movement is, for me, symbolic of the love and experience that those dear to us leave behind. Just because they die, doesn’t mean their love dies. That spirit is woven into our lives and is part of the range of our experiences. I wanted to fulfill David Harrington’s request and compose a vibrant and exciting piece with moments of humility and naked beauty with plenty of rhythmic vitality. As the first piece that I’ve composed outside the realm of percussion, it is for me—also an anomaly. Thanks to all who had a hand in making it a reality.