JACK Quartet's SOUNDSCAPE AMERICA Set for Miller Theatre

Miller Theatre at Columbia University School of the Arts presents JACK Quartet: Soundscape America, a thrilling two-night survey of the American string quartet
ranging from 1931 Ruth Crawford Seeger and 1951 Morton Feldman to contemporary composers Applebaum and Zorn.

Performances are Thursday, October 19, 2017, 8:00 p.m. and Saturday, October 21, 2017, 8:00 p.m. at the Miller Theatre (2960 Broadway at 116th Street). Tickets: $20-$30 • All-Access Pass: $50 • Students with valid ID: $7-$18.

The string quartet is an iconic configuration in classical music. This fall, one of the most important and exciting string quartets of our time, the JACK Quartet, takes on an extremely diverse survey of American string quartets of the 20th and 21st centuries.

JACK, dubbed "superheroes of the new music world" by The Boston Globe, will perform eleven string quartets over two nights by a range of composers including jazz legends and masters of complexity Anthony Braxton and John Zorn, visionaries Ruth Crawford Seeger and Morton Feldman, thorny modernist hero Elliott Carter, maverick Gloria Coates-plus many written in the last five years by Natacha Diels, Erin Gee, Cenk Ergün, Mark Applebaum, and Marcos Balter.

From Miller Theatre Executive Director Melissa Smey: "The JACK Quartet is one of the finest string quartets performing today, and I'm proud to showcase their talent in this important series, Soundscape America. The composers on this series showcase a full spectrum of what it means to be an American, including an ex-pat working in Germany and a transplant who calls Brooklyn home. Likewise, the featured repertoire will challenge and confound expectations of what a string quartet is."

All-Access Pass holders are invited to a special event on the day in between the two concerts, featuring a conversation with the JACK Quartet, composers Marcos Balter and Erin Gee, and moderated by Melissa Smey. JACK will perform excerpts from the two composers' works, and the exclusive evening concludes with a reception.

CONCERT ONE
October 19, 2017, 8:00 p.m.
Miller Theatre (2960 Broadway at 116th Street

PROGRAM:
Cenk Ergün: Sonare (2016)
Erin Gee: Mouthpiece XXII (2015)
Mark Applebaum: Darmstadt Kindergarten (2015)
Anthony Braxton: Selections from compositions
Elliott Carter: String Quartet No. 2 (1959)
Morton Feldman: Structures (1951)

CONCERT TWO
October 21, 2017, 8:00 p.m.
Miller Theatre (2960 Broadway at 116th Street)

PROGRAM:
Natacha Diels: Nightmare for JACK (a ballet) (2013)
Marcos Balter: Chambers (2011/2012)
John Zorn: Necronomicon (2003)
Gloria Coates: String Quartet No. 8 (2001/2002)
Ruth Crawford Seeger: String Quartet (1931)

About JACK Quartet (jackquartet.com): JACK Quartet is "the go-to quartet for contemporary music, tying impeccable musicianship to intellectual ferocity and a take-no-prisoners sense of commitment" (The Washington Post). The recipient of Lincoln Center's Martin E. Segal Award, New Music USA's Trailblazer Award, and the CMA/ASCAP Award for Adventurous Programming, JACK has performed to critical acclaim at Carnegie Hall (USA), Lincoln Center (USA), Miller Theatre (USA), Wigmore Hall (United Kingdom), Muziekgebouw aan 't IJ (Netherlands), IRCAM (France), Kölner Philharmonie (Germany), the Lucerne Festival (Switzerland), La Biennale di Venezia (Italy), Suntory Hall (Japan), Bali Arts Festival (Indonesia), Festival Internacional Cervatino (Mexico), and Teatro Colón (Argentina).

Comprising violinists Christopher Otto and Austin Wulliman, violist John Pickford Richards, and cellist Jay Campbell, JACK is focused on new work, leading them to collaborate with composers John Luther Adams, Chaya Czernowin, Simon Steen-Andersen, Caroline Shaw, Helmut Lachenmann, Steve Reich, Matthias Pintscher, and John Zorn. Upcoming and recent premieres include works by Derek Bermel, Cenk Ergün, Roger Reynolds, Toby Twining, and Georg Friedrich Haas.

Columbia University's Miller Theatre is located north of the Main Campus Gate
at 116th St. & Broadway on the ground floor of Dodge Hall. Directions and information are available online at www.millertheatre.com or via the Miller Theatre Box Office, at 212.854.7799.