New Thread Quartet presents // Explorations Vol. 4: Attacca
New Thread Quartet performs works by James Ilgenfritz, Len Tetta, Jude Thomas, and the world premiere of Chamber Music America commission by Amy Beth Kirsten.
Thursday, Sep 12, 2019 @8:30pm
Tenri Cultural Institute
43 W 13th St,
New York, NY 10011
Tickets: $10 online/at the door
New York’s most adventurous saxophone quartet returns for its 4th annual concert exploring new music for saxophones, pushing the ensemble beyond its traditional boundaries. Explorations Vol. 4: ATTACCA features four exciting new works by American composers exploring the theme of miniatures – presenting singular works across multiple movements. The program is entirely acoustic, highlighting elements of just intonation, metric modulation and a blending of traditional and extended techniques.
The concert launches with Boston composer Len Tetta’s “Five Miniatures and Fantasy,” a metric juggling act that keeps the quartet on their toes, followed by the world premiere of Amy Beth Kirsten’s “avalanche lily,” a 5-movement work inspired the natural scenes from Wyoming: characters, state flowers, rebirth and recurrences. Based in New Haven, Connecticut, Kirsten’s work is a Chamber Music America commission. The second half features New York City composers Jude Thomas and James Ilgenfritz. Thomas blurs color and key in his multi-movement work “Look at the Sky,” built entirely on just-intonation, while Ilgenfritz’s “Trust Fall” explores instrumental subsets and team-building through a unique combination of notation and structured improvisation.
About the ensemble:
New Thread Quartet was formed with the mission to develop and perform impactful new music for the saxophone, and to provide high-level ensemble playing to highlight today’s innovative compositional voices. In 6 seasons, the quartet has commissioned and premiered over 30 new works by composers such as Richard Carrick, Ben Hjertmann, Rachel Devorah, Taylor Brook, Scott Wollschleger, Erin Rogers, James Ilgenfritz, and Kathryn Salfelder. Based in New York City, New Thread has performed at Carnegie Hall, Dance Theatre of Harlem, Roulette, The Stone, Bang-on-a-Can Summer Festival Benefit, and Monadnock Music, while bringing new works to audiences in Arizona, Virginia, Massachusetts, Ohio, and Scotland, and working with students in residencies across the country including Peabody Conservatory, NYU, Montclair State University, and the University of Virginia. New Thread recorded Elliott Sharp’s seminal work Approaching the Arches of Corti, available on New World Records and released its debut album, Plastic Facts, in January 2019 on New Focus Recordings.
Ensemble members are Geoffrey Landman (soprano saxophone), Kristen McKeon (alto saxophone), Erin Rogers (tenor saxophone) and Zach Herchen (baritone saxophone).