Dream House Quartet Comes to The Town Hall, With Guests Arooj Aftab and Ash Fure

Dream House Quartet will make their North American debut on April 23 at Town Hall, in a concert presented in collaboration with The Kitchen, and produced by ArKtype. In Dream House Quartet, Katia and Marielle Labèque-who have "transformed the piano duo...playing, and enlarging, the two-piano repertory for over 50 years" (The New York Times)-join Grammy Award-winning guitarist, classical composer, and The National founding member Bryce Dessner and composer, musician, and producer David Chalmin to perform radical new commissions from visionary composers and pivotal contemporary works from the last half-century.

The one-night-only performance features Dream House Quartet alongside an intergenerational lineup of other groundbreaking musicians (to be announced at a later date), and includes the North American premiere of Thom Yorke's first classical composition, Don't Fear the Light. The concert also features world premieres by Bryce Dessner and David Chalmin along with works by Philip Glass, Meredith Monk, Steve Reich, and more to the Quartet's unique electric guitar and piano arrangement. Special guests include Grammy Award-winning Pakistani singer, composer, and producer Arooj Aftab and composer and sonic artist Ashe Fure.

Proceeds from the event will help fund The Kitchen's future, in a moment of reimagining for the influential interdisciplinary organization as its storied Chelsea home on 19th Street undergoes renovations, on the heels of its 50th anniversary. This momentous transformation provides an opportunity for the organization to continue to expand its understanding and vision of experimentation and what it means to foster the next generation of the avant-garde. In their contribution to the ongoing capital campaign enabling The Kitchen's renovation, The Quartet likewise takes this moment to support future generations of artistic innovators.

The Kitchen's capital campaign also paves the way to increased access for artists and audiences alike through a major website relaunch; a more robust education program; improved accessibility of its archive; and more. As construction continues on the organization's building, The Kitchen has found a temporary home at Westbeth Artists Housing-a generative meeting with another epicenter of the New York and international avant-garde. This moment has also provided The Kitchen an opportunity to explore the meaning of an arts institution operating beyond walls-having recently also presented work throughout the city and within the digital realm. This concert at Town Hall further expands The Kitchen's embrace of a multiform existence that reflects the disciplinary fluidity of the work it supports.

In joining forces to present Dream House Quartet, The Kitchen and The Town Hall continue a history of collaborations between the two storied institutions. In 1992, Celebrate The Kitchen, a 20th anniversary benefit event with performances by Laurie Anderson, Eric Bogosian, Tom Rubnitz, and Blue Dot Chorus, took place at The Town Hall, followed by a dance party at The Kitchen. The Kitchen returned to The Town Hall in 2004 for a gala honoring Thomas Buckner and Robert Hurwitz, with performers including Laurie Anderson, Robert Ashley, Philip Glass, Meredith Monk, Pauline Oliveros, and Steve Reich.

Formed in 2018, Dream House Quartet fuses decades of musical mastery of classical and contemporary forms, featuring luminaries the Katia and Marielle Labèque on dueling pianos along with acclaimed composer-guitarists Bryce Dessner (The National) and David Chalmin (innocence, la terre invisible). They presented their first project in 2019 at Paris Philharmonie with guest Thom Yorke followed by a tour in Lyon, London and Hamburg Elb Philharmonie. The second half of this project was dedicated to the world premiere of Thom Yorke 's composition « "don't fear the light" and a new song "gawpers." Those pieces were Yorke's first composition for Katia & Marielle and classical concert halls.

The performance will take place at The Town Hall (123 W 43rd St) on April 23 at 6pm. Tickets go on sale on Tuesday, February 21. Please visit thetownhall.org for more ticketing information. Tickets range from $55 to $125. The top-tier ticket includes limited-issue merchandise. A select number of VIP tickets are available for a post-show event with the artists, with proceeds directly benefiting The Kitchen's capital campaign. For more information, please contact Rayna Holmes, Institutional Advancement and Special Projects Manager, rayna@thekitchen.org.