Victoria Bond's
CUTTING EDGE CONCERTS New Music Festival 20th Season
The music world commemorates 20 seasons of Cutting Edge Concerts with an article in NewMusicBox and radio features on WWFM and WKCR
"The Cygnus Ensemble has long distinguished itself as one of New York's finest new-music ensembles." - Fanfare Magazine
On Monday, May 1 at 7:30 PM, New York's own Cygnus Ensemble performs a program of "Offbeat Operas" by composers William Anderson, Frank Brickle, and the world premiere of Victoria Bond's Sirens in the final concert of the 2017 Cutting Edge Concerts New Music Festival.
The concert is at Leonard Nimoy Thalia at Peter Norton Symphony Space.
Tickets are $20 in advance, $30 day of show, available at symphonyspace.org or by calling (212) 864-5400.
Cygnus founder, guitarist and composer William Anderson's Eight Rhythms, Settings is based on a set of poems by Djuna Barnes from 1915. Anderson's work utilizes many kinds of contemporary idioms-- indie rock, Simon & Garfunkel, and a bit of minimalism as well. Le Testament de Villon by Frank Brickle is based on an incomplete work by George Antheil (with libretto by Ezra Pound), which in turn is based on text by the medieval French poet Francois Villon. Brickle reimagines and reinterprets the work of Pound and Antheil, condensing both the text and the orchestration, creating a new, pocket-size version of the drama. The performance is a New York City premiere. Victoria Bond's Sirens is inspired by Episode 11 of James Joyce's Ulysses. This episode, along with the overall theme of Joyce's Ulysses, is about an outsider who is scorned and reviled. He is also an "everyman" who feels apart and alone in the midst of a world that has no use for him.
Cygnus Ensemble is joined by a cast of singers including sopranos Jessica Fishenfeld and Elizabeth Farnum, mezzo-soprano Marisan Corsino, tenor Scott Joiner, and baritone Jonathan Hare.
Over the course of its 20 seasons, Cutting Edge Concerts has presented 294 new works by 183 composers on 62 concerts. Each program highlights the music of living composers, all of whom attend the concert. Along with performances by world-class ensembles and soloists, each program features on-stage discussions between host Victoria Bond and the composers
Cutting Edge Concerts New Music Festival's twentieth season takes place at Leonard Nimoy Thalia at Peter Norton Symphony Space (2537 Broadway at 95th Street on the upper west side of Manhattan). Tickets are $20 in advance, $30 day of show, available at the Symphony Space box office or at (212) 864-5400.
PROGRAM:
William Anderson/Djuna Barnes - Eight Rhythms, Settings
Frank Brickle/Ezra Pound - Le Testamente de Villon
Victoria Bond/James Joyce - Sirens
All of the composers will be in attendance and will briefly discuss their work.
Victoria Bond
Artistic Director
Composer and conductor Victoria Bond is a prominent figure in classical music. Her compositions have been praised by the New York Times as "powerful, stylistically varied and technically demanding," and her conducting has been called "impassioned" by the Wall Street Journal and "full of energy and fervor" by the New York Times. Bond's music has been performed by the New York City Opera, Dallas Symphony, Shanghai Symphony, St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, and members of the Chicago Symphony, among many others. She has been conducting Chamber Opera Chicago since 2004, and is the Founder and Artistic Director of Cutting Edge Concerts New Music Festival, now in its 20th season. In addition to her talents as a composer and conductor, Ms. Bond is a sought-after lecturer. She regularly gives pre-concert talks for the Metropolitan Opera at Lincoln Center, and was a frequent lecturer before New York Philharmonic concerts.
Location
Thalia Theater at Symphony Space
2537 Broadway at 95th Street
New York, NY 10025-6990
