Gabriel Kahane Makes Carnegie Hall Recital Debut, 10/25

GabrielKahane will return to Carnegie Hall on April 27, 2013, this time in Stern Auditorium. It will be another world premiere: a concerto for himself and the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, with which he has served as composer-in-residence for two seasons. 

In addition to his concertizing, Kahane will release the original cast recording of his acclaimed musical February House on October 16, 2012.  Based on the book of the same name by Sherill Tippins, February House tells the true story of Harper's Bazaar editor George Davis's attempts to found an artist commune in Brooklyn Heights during World War II. Among the many boarders he collected were modernist poet W. H. Auden, burlesque dancer (and best-selling crime novelist) Gypsy Rose Lee, composer Benjamin Britten, tenor Peter Pears, political activist Erika Mann, and novelist Carson McCullers.  The musical had successful runs at both New York's Public and New Haven's Long Wharf Theaters this spring.

Gabriel Kahane has established himself as a leading voice among a generation of young composers redefining music for the 21st century. Hailed by the Los Angeles Times for "an all around dazzling performance" in his orchestral debut of the premiere of his song cycle Orinoco Sketches, with John Adams and the Los Angeles Philharmonic last season, Kahane's work defies classification. This season sees appearances at the University Musical Society of Ann Arbor, the Carolina Performing Arts Center, the Library of Congress, and dates with the Alabama Symphony, Waterloo-Cedar Falls Symphony, and Orpheus Chamber Orchestra. His rich and focused sophomore album, Where are the Arms, featured collaborations with Rob Moose (Bon Iver, Antony and The Johnsons, The National), Casey Foubert (Sufjan Stevens, Richard Swift, Pedro The Lion), and Matt Johnson (Jeff Buckley, Rufus Wainwright, St. Vincent), in eleven intricate and literate songs. Launched by his 2006 song cycle Craigslistlieder, Kahane has been commissioned by, among others, Carnegie Hall, Kronos Quartet, American Composers Orchestra, the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, and the Caramoor Festival. As a theater composer, he has received commissions from the Signature Theater in Arlington, VA and the Williamstown Theater Festival in Massachusetts. An avid chamber musician, Kahane has performed with such artists as Alisa Weilerstein, Jeremy Denk, Jonathan Biss, and the Calder Quartet. A recipient of multiple fellowships from the MacDowell Colony and the Corporation of Yaddo, Kahane makes his home in Brooklyn, New York, in close company with a century-old piano and many books.

Shara Worden's voice and arresting live performances have left audiences thunderstruck from the Sydney Opera House to Lincoln Center to the House of Blues. She's performed under the experimental-pop moniker My Brightest Diamond for the last seven years and frequently collaborates with Bryce Dessner (The National), Justin Vernon (Bon Iver), Laurie Anderson and The Decemberists. She received a degree in Opera at the University of North Texas, and released three albums before joining the rank of Sufjan Stevens' Illinoisemakers. Her most recent album, All Things Will Unwind, draws inspiration from her new home Detroit. 

The adventurous, genre-defying string quartet Brooklyn Rider combines a wildly eclectic repertoire with a gripping performance style that is attracting fans and drawing critical acclaim from classical, world, and rock critics. NPRcredits Brooklyn Rider with "recreating the 300-year-old form of string quartet as a vital and creative 21st-century ensemble." Born out of a desire to use the rich medium of the string quartet as a vehicle for communication across a large cross section of history and geography, Brooklyn Rider is equally devoted to the interpretation of existing quartet literature and to the creation of new works. The musicians have worked with such compeers as Derek Bermel, Lisa Bielwa, Ljova, Philip Glass, Osvaldo Golijov, Jenny Scheinman, and Dmitri Yanov-Yanovsky, and they also regularly perform pieces written or arranged by members of the group. Their first two albums, Passport andDominant Curve, made NPR's year end round-ups. The member of the group have also participated extensively in Yo-Yo Ma's Silk Road Ensemble.