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Music is Music

Wednesday, December 1, 2010 | 7:30 pm
Chapel of the Holy Innocents | Bard College
Free and open to the public

For one night only: genre is simply not an issue. In fact, by blending such diverse forms as classical, opera, folk, world, rock, post-rock, rap, sun metal, funk and the blues into one musical experience, Contemporaneous destroys the idea of distinct genres.

Back by popular demand, Contemporaneous founding co-artistic director Dylan Mattingly's Lighthouse opens the concert with fresh memories of the West Coast. Famed composer, singer, director, choreographer, filmmaker Meredith Monk explores the possibilities of the human voice by using it as an instrument, especially in her moving opera Atlas, which is all about moving and the transience of the human condition. By building a piece for classical/rock chamber band around samples from a rap song by Chuck D, hip NYC composer Judd Greenstein sends home Public Enemy's message in a short, wild romp.

Fifth Veil is a bright, new band of five fearless multi-instrumentalists forging unique and innovative sound worlds. Formed in 2009 by Contemporaneous performers/composers John Boggs and Conor Brown, the music they play finds its roots in elements of their diverse musical experiences: the brass balls of rock, the elaborate polyrhythms of Balkan folk, the soulful strains of Klezmer, the powerful forms of contemporary classical music, and a mesmerizing luminescence that is their own. Their set on this concert marks the Fifth Veil debut performance.

Program:

Part I: Folk Gone Wrong

Dylan Mattingly (b. 1991): Lighthouse (2010) [contemporaneous commission]
Meredith Monk (b. 1942): selections from Atlas (1991)
Adam LaMotte (b. 1989): Buildings and Highways
Larry Polansky (b. 1954): II–V–I (1997)

Part II: Rock Your Socks Off

Judd Greenstein (b. 1979): What They Don’t Like (for Chuck D) (2007)
Maxwell McKee (b. 1991): Flower Blossoms (2010) †
Mahlon Berv (b. 1991): Obsession (2010) *
Contemporaneous: Improvised song set

Part III: Fifth Veil

Fifth Veil: Song set – Debut performance (2009/2010) †

Prairies to Canyons
Sun Flood
Subside
Across the Mesa
Spanish Dagger

* East Coast premiere
† World premiere