Sō Percussion with Caroline Shaw Program

SUPPORT FOR THE 2022–2023 CONCERT SERIES PROVIDED IN PART BY:

Christine Beatty

Bill and Char Johnson Classical Music Series Fund

Sam Coe

Charles Cohen

Dr. Linda I. Garrity Living Legends Endowment Fund Michael Hoon

Penny Hubbard Charles Leadholm

Terry Moen

Stephen Morton

David and Kato Perlman Chamber Music Fund

Fan Taylor Fund

Douglas and Elisabeth B. Weaver Fund for Performing Arts

Mead Witter School of Music Wisconsin Union Theater Endowment

PROGRAMMED BY THE PERFORMING ARTS COMMITTEE

The Wisconsin Union Directorate Performing Arts Committee (WUD PAC) is a student-run organization that brings world-class artists to campus by programming the Wisconsin Union Theater’s annual season of events. WUD PAC focuses on pushing range and diversity in its programming while connecting to students and the broader Madison community.

In addition to planning the Wisconsin Union Theater’s season, WUD PAC programs and produces student-centered events that take place in the Wisconsin Union Theater’s Play Circle. WUD PAC makes it a priority to connect students to performing artists through educational engagement activities and more.

WUD PAC is part of the Wisconsin Union Directorate’s Leadership and Engagement Program and is central to the Wisconsin Union’s purpose of developing the leaders of tomorrow and creating community in a place where all belong.

WITH

SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 5, 2022

SHAW

Sō Percussion / Caroline Shaw (b. 1982) Jason Treuting (b. 1977)

Let the Soil Play Its Simple Part (2020)

“To The Sky”

“Other Song”

“Let the Soil Play Its Simple Part”

“The Flood Is Following Me”

“Lay All Your Love On Me”

“Cast the Bells in Sand”

“Long Ago We Counted”

“A Gradual Dazzle”

“A Veil Awave Upon the Waves”

“Some Bright Morning”

INTERMISSION

Amid the Noise (2006)

Let the Soil Play Its Simple Part (2020)

Sō Percussion and Caroline Shaw (b. 1982)

About the Composers and Work

Caroline Shaw and Sō Percussion combine forces for a powerful new original set of songs composed together. Shaw’s faultless ear for melody and harmony combined with Sō’s rhythmic invention and compositional experimentation make for a world of sonic richness that feels fresh and unique. It is a journey across the landscape of the soul, told through distinctly contemporary songs that mark Shaw’s debut as a solo vocal artist.

The composers’ shared musical and literary experiences touch upon the spiritual realms of Sacred Harp and the Book of Ruth; the oceanic ruminations of James Joyce; the American roots song “I’ll Fly Away” filtered through medieval plainchant; and even the pop group ABBA. Sonically, there is no other collaboration that compares. Shaw’s voice cycles through the gently intimate to penetrating rapture, through layers of constructed counterpoint, while Sō Percussion’s nearly endless menagerie of instruments and techniques provides varying accompaniments of piano, marimba, steel drums, electronics, tuned flower pots, toys, synthesizers, and much more.

The thrill in this collaboration lies partly in the sense that each entity adds dimensions to the other’s music that revitalize both. Shaw gives voice and melody to the years of experimentation in rhythm, color, and complexity that defines Sō’s work over two decades and more than 20 albums. Sō opens a world of sonic possibilities and rhythmic virtuosity that dramatically expands Shaw’s palette beyond the vocal and string writing for which she is best known

This collection of 10 songs alternates between tightly crafted orchestrations and spontaneous duets between Shaw and each of the four members of Sō Percussion. The title song of the set features Shaw’s unadorned voice setting her own words, accompanied by Josh Quillen’s lyrical strumming on the steel drums. In “Lay All Your Love On Me,” Shaw and Adam Sliwinski concoct a stately motet for voice and marimba out of the chorus from ABBA’s hit song. In “Long Ago We Counted,” Jason Treuting unleashes cascades of his signature drumming underneath otherworldly loops of Shaw’s voice. With “Some Bright Morning,” layers of Eric Cha-Beach’s ambient drones simmer under Shaw’s gradually unfolding synthesis of “I’ll Fly Away” and the 13th-century plainchant “Salve Regina.”

Other songs build layers of instrumentation as blocks of rhythm and sound underneath Shaw’s voice. “Other Song” announces itself with a progression of flower-pot harmony, which builds surprisingly into an uplifting, anthemic celebration of life and devotion. Two songs take their titles from lines in James Joyce’s Ulysses: “The Flood Is Following Me,” and “A Veil Awave Upon the Waves.” Both are thick with layers of ambivalence and reflection. “To the Sky” builds interlocking rhythms reminiscent of Steve Reich, which Shaw elevates with a yawp of spiritual ecstasy from the Sacred Harp tradition.

Performance Time: approximately 40 minutes

Amid the Noise (2006)

Jason Treuting (b. 1977)

About the Composers and Work

“Go placidly amid the noise and haste, and remember what peace there may be in silence.” —Max Ehrmann, “Desiderata”

Jason Treuting’s Amid the Noise began as a soundtrack, which morphed into Sō Percussion’s third album and then into a flexible set of live music. Now, it is a communal music-making project that can occur with a flexible number of musicians in almost any combination.

The musical ideas in Amid the Noise are abstract: drones, melodies, rhythms, textures, patterns. Originally, Sō orchestrated them on the instruments they had their studio, but they’ve since discovered that accordion, organ, or tuba might play a satisfying drone as well as bowed vibraphone. Like Terry Riley’s In C, this work maintains its identity and integrity even through wildly different realizations.

This modular concept allows Sō to conduct residencies that reach beyond percussion departments. Many kinds of students at a music school or conservatory can participate in Amid the Noise: vocalists, string quartets, wind and brass players, guitarists, and of course percussionists. Tonight’s performance includes UW–Madison students.

Performance Time: approximately 40 minutes

PERCUSSION

For 20 years and counting, Sō Percussion has redefined chamber music for the 21st century through an “exhilarating blend of precision and anarchy, rigor and bedlam” (The New Yorker). They are celebrated by audiences and presenters for a dazzling range of work: live performances in which “telepathic powers of communication” (The New York Times) bring to life the vibrant percussion repertoire; an extravagant array of collaborations in classical music, pop, indie rock, contemporary dance, and theater; and their work in education and community, creating opportunities and platforms for music and artists that explore the immense possibility of art in our time.

Recent highlights have included performances at the Elbphilharmonie; Big Ears Festival 2022, where they performed Amid the Noise, premiered a new work by Angélica Negrón with Kronos Quartet, and performed Let the Soil Play Its Simple Part with Caroline Shaw; and a return to Carnegie Hall, where they performed new collaborations with Nathalie Joachim and Dominic Shodekeh Talifero. Their recording Narrow Sea (Nonesuch) with Caroline Shaw, Dawn Upshaw, and Gilbert Kalish won the 2022 Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Classical Composition. Other albums include A Record Of (Brassland) with Buke and Gase, and an acclaimed version of Julius Eastman’s Stay On It on new imprint Sō Percussion Editions. This adds to a catalog of more than 25 albums that feature landmark recordings of works by David Lang, Steve Reich, Steve Mackey, and many more.

In the summer of 2022, Sō performed at the Music Academy of the West Festival, Newport Classical, TIME:SPANS, and four concerts at Our Festival in Helsinki, including a performance of Let the Soil with Caroline Shaw. Other 2022–2023 dates include concerts at Cal Performances, Palau de la Música Catalana in Barcelona, Barbican Centre, Kennedy Center, and University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.

In the fall of 2022, Sō Percussion begins its ninth year as Edward T. Cone Performers-inResidence at Princeton University. Rooted in the belief that music is an elemental form of human communication, and galvanized by forces for social change in recent years, Sō enthusiastically pursues a range of social and community outreach through their nonprofit organization, which engages in partnerships with local ensembles such as Pan in Motion and Castle of Our Skins; the Brooklyn Bound concert series; a studio residency program in Brooklyn; and the Sō Percussion Summer Institute, an intensive two-week chamber music seminar for percussionists and composers.

Sō Percussion is Eric Cha-Beach, Josh Quillen, Adam Sliwinski, and Jason Treuting. For more information, visit sopercussion.com.

Sō Percussion appears by arrangement with Alliance Artist Management.

CAROLINE SHAW

Caroline Shaw is a New York–based musician—vocalist, violinist, composer, and producer—who performs in solo and collaborative projects. She was the youngest recipient of the Pulitzer Prize for Music in 2013 for Partita for 8 Voices, written for the Grammy-winning Roomful of Teeth, of which she is a member.

Recent commissions include new works for Renée Fleming with Inon Barnatan, Dawn Upshaw with Sō Percussion and Gilbert Kalish, Seattle Symphony, Anne Sofie von Otter with Philharmonia Baroque, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Juilliard415, Orchestra of St. Luke’s with John Lithgow, Dover Quartet, TENET, The Crossing, Mendelssohn Club of Philadelphia, Calidore Quartet, Brooklyn Rider, Baltimore Symphony, and Roomful of Teeth with A Far Cry. Shaw’s film scores include Erica Fae’s To Keep the Light and Josephine Decker’s Madeline’s Madeline, as well as the upcoming short The 8th Year of the Emergency by Maureen Towey. She has produced for Kanye West (The Life of Pablo; Ye) and Nas (NASIR), and has contributed to records by The National and Arcade Fire’s Richard Reed Parry. Once she got to sing in three part harmony with Sara Bareilles and Ben Folds at the Kennedy Center, and that was pretty much the bees’ knees and elbows.

Shaw has studied at Rice, Yale, and Princeton, currently teaches at NYU, and is a Creative Associate at The Juilliard School. She has held residencies at Dumbarton Oaks, the Banff Centre, Music on Main, and Vail Dance Festival. She loves the color yellow, otters, Beethoven’s Op. 74, Mozart opera, Kinhaven, the smell of rosemary, and the sound of a janky mandolin.

THANK YOU TO OUR GENEROUS DONORS FOR SUPPORTING THE WISCONSIN UNION THEATER

Association of Performing Arts Professionals

Mohamed F. Bacchus

Christine Beatty

Steven L. Behar & Donnette Behar

Robert M. Bell & Jeanne L. Bell

Tracy L. Benton

James H. Bigwood & Jay Cha

Miriam S. Boegel & Brian M. Boegel

Christine W. Bohlman & Philip V. Bohlman

Brittingham Wisconsin Trust

Michael T. Brody & Elizabeth K. Ester

Courtney A. Byelich & David M. Cober

Patrick J. Callan

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Charles L. Cohen & Christine A. Schindler

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David R. Cross

Eric W. Curtis

Dane Arts

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Evjue Foundation Inc.

Jon E. Fadness

Carol H. Falk & Alan F. Johnson

Hildy B. Feen

Isabel K. Finn

Leonard H. Gicas

Green Bay Packers Foundation

Geraldine K. Gurman

Mark C. Guthier & Amy Guthier

Robert J. Hanson & Kayla Hanson

Robert T. Harty & Mona-Lee Harty

Justin D. Hein & Paige A. Hein

Brent T. Helt

Michael Hoon

Penny M. Hubbard Wesley Hyatt

Wichnart A. Imsangjan

Arnold R. Isaacs & Kathleen T. Isaacs

Prashanth Jayachandran & Neena M. Patil Hannah Y. Jurowicz

Kristen E. Kadner & Brian J. Roddy

Edward F. Kakas III & Andrea J. Lund-Kakas

Daniel J. Koehn & Mark R. Koehn

Diane M. Kostecke & Nancy A. Ciezki Mary G. Kramer

Christian J. Krautkramer & Alli Grady

Carolyn J. Kruse & Ellen M. Pryor

Charles R. Leadholm, MD & Jeanne M. Parus

Shana R. Lewis & Robert D. Magasano Nicole R. Lucas

Jeanne A. Marshall Jeffrey Mattox & Helen Mattox

Anita L. Mauro & Daniel Mauro

Carol J. May

Terry Moen

Stephen Morton

Shibani C. Munshi, MD

Christopher Murphy & Gloria Mojarro

Eric E. Nathan

National Endowment for the Arts

Christian E. Neuhaus

Ann K. Pehle

Kato L. Perlman

Elizabeth L. Preston & Burton R. Preston Mark J. Reischel, MD & Angela Reischel Faye K. Robinson Emily A. Ronning

Sharon S. Rouse Ralph F. Russo & Lauren G. Cnare Vinod K. Sahney & J. Gail Meyst Sahney

Emil R. Sanchez & Eloisa R. Sanchez

Elizabeth B. Schaffer & Steven C. Schaffer

John W. Schaffer & Sarah L. Schaffer

Lucas L. Schneider

Carol L. Schroeder & Dean H. Schroeder

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Small Business Administration

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Polly Snodgrass

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James D. Steinberg

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Tiffany A. Thom Kenney & Vincent J. Kenney

Michele Traband & Thomas O. Traband Joshua H. Wallach

Ronald M. Wanek & Janet E. Wanek Kathleen A. Williams

Lisa D. Winkler & Dirk A. Korth

Wisconsin Arts Board

Janell M. Wise

Betsy A. Wood & Thomas Coyne Sarah Wood & David Anderson

McKenzie E. Zdrale & Zachary Zdrale Katelyn R. Zutter

PERCUSSION WISHES TO THANK ALL OF ITS DONORS.

Sō Percussion’s 2022–2023 season is supported in part by awards from: National Endowment for the Arts*

New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Kathy Hochul and the New York State Legislature

New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with City Council

Aaron Copland Fund for Music

Alice M. Ditson Fund of Columbia University

Amphion Foundation

Brookby Foundation

Gladys Krieble Delmas Foundation

Fan Fox and Leslie R. Samuels Foundation

Howard Gilman Foundation

Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation

*To find out more about how the National Endowment for the Arts grants impact individuals and communities, visit arts.gov.

Sō Percussion uses Vic Firth sticks, Zildjian cymbals, Remo drumheads, Estey Organs, and Pearl/Adams instruments. Sō Percussion would like to thank these companies for their generous support and donations.

COMING UP AT THE THEATER

AMERICAN PATCHWORK QUARTET

Thursday, Nov 17, 2022 7:30 PM Play Circle at Memorial Union

GENEVA LEWIS, VIOLIN, WITH EVREN OZEL, PIANO

Friday, Jan 27, 2023 7:30 PM Shannon Hall at Memorial Union

PILOBOLUS BIG-FIVE-OH!

Wednesday, Feb 1, 2023 7:30 PM Shannon Hall at Memorial Union

WISCONSIN UNION THEATER

Elizabeth Snodgrass, Director

Isabel Celata, Administrative Assistant

Epiphany Holmstock, Financial Assistant

Kendra Ramthun, General Manager

Kate Schwartz, Artist Services Manager

Jeff Macheel, Technical Director

Heather Macheel, Technical Director

Christina Majchrzak, Director of Ticketing

Sean Danner, Box Office Manager

Allie Boekmann, Box Office Supervisor

Jos Comiskey, Box Office Supervisor

WISCONSIN UNION DIRECTORATE PERFORMING ARTS COMMITTEE

Dawry Ruiz, Director

Abbey Perkins, General Programming Associate Director

Azura Mizani Tyabji, General Programming Associate Director

Henry Ptacek, General Programming Associate Director

Diya Abbas, Committee Management Associate Director

Lindsey Mathews, Marketing Associate Director

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