Tune-In Music Festival: powerLESS
"eighth blackbird is so good it's dangerous." –Boston Globe
Tune-In Music Festival is now closed. Please return to Arts at the Armory for upcoming programs.
Georg Friedrich Haas: in vain* (2000)
Performed by: Argento Chamber Ensemble
Kurt Schwitters: UrSonate (1922-32)
Vocals performed by: Steven Schick
Electronics composed and performed by: Shahrokh Yadegari
Video by: Ross Karre
Johann Sebastian Bach: Chaconne from Partita in D Minor (1717-23)
(arr. Matt Albert )
Performed by: eighth blackbird, red fish blue fish, Lisa Moore, Josh Rubin, Blair McMillen, Mellissa Hughes, Kamala Sankaram, Nina Faia, Abby Fischer
Steve Reich: Music for 18 Musicians (1974-76)
*Please be advised that strobe lights will be used during the performance of in vain.
(3 hours, two intermissions)
Download the Tune-In Festival Program
powerLESS delights in the teeming, multifaceted world of Stravinsky's beloved "absolute music": music with no external, explicit "meaning." Two compelling musical edifices bookend a marathon program that traces a hypnotic path from darkness into light.
The Armory's vast drill hall descends into darkness for Georg Friedrich Haas's otherworldly, hour-long in vain. Circling, spiraling wisps grope their way through the cavernous dark, searching "in vain" for safe musical home. Steve Reich lets the light shine in, as his Music for 18 Musicians, a pulsating, joyous ode to musical abstraction, leads listeners on a mesmerizing musical road trip. An inventive arrangement of J.S. Bach's elaborate miracle of musical construction, the D minor Chaconne, introduces and leads directly into Reich's work.
Speaking with a still small voice between the twin monuments of Haas and Bach/Reich is UrSonate, Kurt Schwitters's uncategorizable work for solo speaker, which makes compelling musical drama out of an invented, nonsensical language. Steven Schick's virtuoso performance is the stuff of legend.
Pre-Concert Artist Talk: Matt Albert (eighth blackbird), Steve Schick, and Michel Galante (Argento Chamber Ensemble)
Moderated by Kristy Edmunds, Armory Consulting Artistic Director
Friday, February 18 at 6:00pm
Talk is FREE for concert ticket-holders. All others $10 (cash only). Pre-registration required (a registration link will be sent to ticket buyers).
Join Matt Albert of eighth blackbird, Steve Schick, and Michel Galante of Argento Chamber Ensemble, for a roundtable discussion about the program and the composers whose materials will be performed.
This program is supported by the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council, The Reed Foundation, and the Amphion Foundation, Inc.
Photo: Stacy Schwartz
Buy tickets by clicking on the corresponding button below or by calling the Park Avenue Armory Ticket Hotline (212) 933-5812 (9am–6pm M-F)
Wednesday, February 16 at 7:30pm
Tickets:$25 Buy Tickets
Thursday, February 17 at 7:30pm
Tickets: $30 Buy Tickets
INUKSUIT
Sunday, February 20 at 4:00pm
$95 Festival Pass: The Festival Pass includes tickets to all four concerts.
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$20 Rush Tickets: Available at the door on the day of the performance, subject to availability.
Programs and artists are subject to change.