CONTEMPORARY MUSIC

SEE PAGE 34 FOR DETAILS.

This project is supported in part by an award from the National Endowment for the Arts, which believes that a great nation deserves great art.

Co-commissioned by the Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center.

November 20 . 8PM

BANG ON A CAN ALL-STARS WITH TRIO MEDIAEVAL

Steel Hammer

by Julia Wolfe Inspired by composer Julia Wolfe’s love for the stories and music of Appalachia, Steel Hammer revisits the legend of John Henry and his race against “the machine. ” Trio Mediaeval, with their pure and direct vocal sound, will weave the timeless tale and the Bang on a Can All-Stars will employ a chorus of instruments — including mountain dulcimers, wooden bones, banjo, steel hammers and more — to express the rich instrumental colors of the Appalachian region.

DEKELBOUM CONCERT HALL $37 ($30 WHEN YOU BUY 5 OR MORE PERFORMANCES)

February 12 . 8PM

KRONOS QUARTET AND WU MAN, PIPA

Yin Yu Tang: A Chinese Home

With long-time collaborator Wu Man and director Chen Shi-Zheng (Peony Pavilion), Kronos creates a new staged work inspired by Yin Yu Tang, the 300-year-old Chinese house that was moved, piece by piece, from the Huang Village in China to the Peabody Essex Museum in Massachusetts. By concentrating on one very specific, magical place, Yin Yu Tang: A Chinese Home hopes to take the audience inside China’s musical spirit. KAY THEATRE $42 ($34 WHEN YOU BUY 5 OR MORE PERFORMANCES)

April 9 – April 10 . 8PM

RINDE ECKERT

Slide

Conceived, written and including performances by Steve Mackey, composer/guitarist Rinde Eckert, librettist/actor/singer featuring eighth blackbird, flutes, clarinets, violin/viola, cello, piano, percussion A concert-length music theater work, Slide is a multidisciplinary exploration of the seduction and manipulation of the American psyche. The central metaphor is a slide from an experiment, which defines every element in this (complex) drama set with music, movement, and theater. Collaborators Eckert, Mackey and eighth blackbird blur the lines between composer and performer, actor and musician, musician and set, set and instrument, with projected images playing a central role. Slide is a rich tapestry of love, human frailty, the desire for control and the tragic consequences once we have attained it.

GILDENHORN RECITAL HALL $37 ($30 WHEN YOU BUY 5 OR MORE PERFORMANCES)

As the world transforms us, how do we transform the world?

TRIO MEDIAEVAL PHOTO BY ASA M. MIKKELSEN