ELEMENTS QUARTET PREMIERES SNAPSHOTS
ON TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 18, 8PM AT MERKIN HALL
SIXTEEN COMPOSERS FROM CLASSICAL TO JAZZ CREATE MUSICAL MINATURES BASED ON PERSONAL PHOTOGRAPHS
It's rare that an audience gets a glimpse of the the actual inspiration for a composer's work. Still rarer is when classical, jazz, R&B and other composers are commissioned by a string quartet to write musical miniatures to be premiered one evening. Snapshots is such a concert; sixteen composers have written short works based on their personal photographs, which will be viewed in a visual presentation together with the music.
Elements Quartet, a New York-based ensemble dedicated to communicating the excitement of chamber music to contemporary audiences of all ages, has commissioned 16 musical miniatures collectively called Snapshots and premieres the multimedia presentation on Tuesday, November 18, at 8 PM at Merkin Concert Hall. Composers including Angelo Badalamenti, Regina Carter, John Corigliano, David Del Tredici, Sebastian Currier, Lenny Pickett, Paul Schoenfield, Jonathan Sheffer, and many others from diverse musical genres, selected photographs from their own collections as the basis of their composition. The evening will be presented by The Kaufman Center in conjunction with The Premiere Commission, Inc.
The photographs will be projected during performance of Snapshots in a video display created by award-winning projection artist Wendall K. Harrington (Drama Desk, Outer Critics Circle and American Theatre Wing Award winner for her design of The Who's Tommy).
Photos taken from the personal lives of each composer are viewed simultaneously with the music, creating an integrated theatrical experience. Just as modern singer-songwriters explore complex and meaningful ideas in three- to six-minute songs, Snapshots merges that world with the world of contemporary string quartet writing.
The list of composers participating in Snapshots span genres of classical, film, jazz, country, and R & B. They include:
· David Del Tredici - "Innocence"
· John Corigliano - "Circa 1909"
· Paul Moravec - "Vince and Jan"
· Paul Schoenfield - "Cowbird"
· HollisTaylor - "Corfu '72"
· Sebastian Currier - "REM"
· Zhou Long - "Gazers"
· Chen Yi - "Burning"
· Lenny Pickett - "String"
· Carlos Sanchez-Gutierrez - "Waves"
· Regina Carter - "Praia Dos Carnieiros"
· Daron Hagen - "Snapshot: Gwen and Earl's Wedding Day, December 20th, 1951"
· John Patitucci - "Joan Patitucci"
· Angelo Badalamenti - "Snapshot: Prague, 1986"
· Justine Chen - "Ancient Airs and Dances"
· Jonathan Sheffer - "25.VI.95"
Snapshots is the first in Elements Quartet's new repertoire of dramatic, emotionally etched shorter works for string quartet. Tickets to Snapshots are $25. For tickets and information call Merkin Hall Box Office at 212-501-3330. Merkin Hall is located at 129 West 67th Street, between Broadway and Amsterdam Avenues. For more information on Elements Quartet, visit the web site www.elementsquartet.com.
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