LOOK + LISTEN Festival Has Announced 2020 Programming

The Look + Listen Festival-dedicated to sparking dialogue between music and visual art through its annual free programming of contemporary music by today's musical trailblazers in galleries and cultural centers through New York City-has announced its 2020 season of three performances. Reservations for all events, which are highly recommended, open on March 23. Please visit lookandlisten.org to RSVP.

All Festival performances are tied together with three newly-commissioned iterations of an audio-visual Ambient Experience, Turntable Drawings, by composer Danny Clay and San Francisco-based visual artist Jon Fischer. Commissioned Ambient experiences are a hallmark of the Look + Listen Festival, enhancing the concert experience by commissioning artists to create an atmosphere inviting dialogue between audience members, performers, and composers for each performance. Turntable Drawings will feature a pre-show experience invoking the Jewish concept of haMakom (the place) using live musicians, physical imprints, video, and loops to explore the connections between replication, music, and beauty.

The Festival kicks off with Piano Pioneers on Thursday, April 23, 2020 at 7:30 p.m. at Pioneer Works in Red Hook, featuring three trailblazing pianists offering their unique perspectives on the possibilities offered by this often overlooked-as-standard instrument. Vicky Chow, pianist for Bang on a Can All-Stars, plays Mammal by Fjola Evans and this machines breathes to the rhythms of its own heartbeat by Adam Basanta; 2019 recipient of the Lincoln Center Award for Emerging Artists Adam Tendler performs the rarely-heard solo piano version of Rzewskii's Coming Together, in addition to Kagel's Metronome, and Womanrite by Beth Anderson; and Kathleen Supové, known for her multimedia solo recital series The Exploding Piano, is featured in the world premiere of Look + Listen Festival commission Tarantino Etudes by Nicole Lizée, Suspensions by Athau Tanala, and Monad by Rahilia Hasanova. All three pianists additionally will jointly improvise with the Turntable Drawings installation. Piano Pioneers is hosted by noted pianist and composer Phyllis Chen.

Studies in Contrast on Saturday, April 25, 2020 at 4:00 p.m. at Revelation Gallery in Greenwich Village explores the balance between youth and experience. Mantra Youth Percussion - high-school-age performers under the guidance of noted new music ensemble Mantra Percussion - brings the next generation's perspective to a set of new works commissioned specifically for them by composers such as 2019 Festival Artist Angélica Negrón, Jenny Beck, Deerhoof drummer Greg Saunier, and Allison Loggins-Hull. Ensemble Échappé, a versatile group of soloists dedicated to presenting an eclectic spectrum of 20th and 21st century music, is featured in an eclectic spectrum of 20th and 21st century music including a world premiere by Nina C. Young and works by Nina Shekhar, Lembit Beecher, Philippe Leroux, Tania Leon, and Marcos Balter. Studies in Contrast is hosted by Executive Director of the Kaufman Music Center, Kate Sheeran.

The Festival concludes with Heard to be Seen-melding the visual and the audible through a set featuring dance, movement, and sound-inspired prints-on Saturday, May 2, 2020 at 7:30 p.m. at The Invisible Dog Art Center, housed in a three-story former factory building in Brooklyn's Boerum Hill. Pianist Tristan McKay performs Tristan Perrich's Dual Synthesis for harpsichord and electronics, and alongside, McKay debuts 21 prints derived from the play-by-color system from Schoenhut toy pianos, which visualize Perrich's meditative, colorful work. Reprising their dynamic 2019 Look + Listen collaboration, rhythm-driven, New York-based dance company The Bang Group returns with a new set of experimental tap performances inspired by musical scores including a reimagining of Dean Rosenthal's Perfect For.... The company will present a world premiere reinterpretation of bulbble by composer Viola Yip, winner of the 2020 Look + Listen Call for Collaboration. Composer, vocalist, and multi-instrumentalist Paul Pinto closes the Festival with a solo set 15 Photos fusing voice, video, and movement.

"This season invites three distinct opportunities for observation, conversation, and empathy in a myriad of visual and sonic environments crafted by remarkable, curious, and brilliant artists," said Artistic Director John Glover. "We invite you to join us!"

Festival Information

Piano Pioneers
Thursday, April 23, 2020 at 7:30 p.m.

Pioneer Works
159 Pioneer Street
Brooklyn, NY 11231

Fjola Evans

Mammal for prepared piano

Adam Basantathis machines breathes to the rhythms of its own heartbeat for piano, transducers, and electronics

Vicky Chow, piano

Mauricio KagelMM51

Frederick RzewskiiComing Together (solo piano version)

Beth AndersonWomanrite

Adam Tendler, piano

Atau TanakaSuspensions

Rahilia HasanovaMonad

Nicole LizéeTarantino Etudes (World Premiere, Look + Listen Commission)

Kathleen Supove, piano

Studies in Contrast
Saturday, April 25, 2020 at 4:00 p.m.

Revelation Gallery
224 Waverly Place
New York, NY 10014

Allison Loggins-HullHammers

Angelica NegronCount to Five

Greg SaunierWhere's My Free Will, If You Please?

Jenny BeckBy The Time We Look For It

Mantra Youth Percussion

A set that is highly virtuosic and weaves between improvisation and highly notated

Nina ShekharGlitch for clarinet, violin, cello and piano (New York Premiere)

Lembit BeecherSong in Mistranslation for flute, clarinet and cello

Nina YoungNew Work for soprano, clarinet, cello and piano (World Premiere)

Philippe LerouxPostlude A L'Épais for flute, clarinet, violin, cello and piano (US Premiere)

Tania LeonOne Mo' Time for flute, clarinet, violin, cello and piano

Marcos BalterEar Skin and Bone Riddles for soprano, violin, cello, electronics

Ensemble Échappé

Heard to be Seen
Saturday, May 2, 2020 at 7:30 p.m.

Invisible Dog Arts Center
51 Bergen Street
Brooklyn, New York 11021

Tristan PerrichDual Synthesis

Tristan McKay, harpsichord

Set to be announced, including a reinterpretation of:

Viola Yipbulbble

The Bang Group

Paul Pinto15 Photos for voice, video and electronics

Paul Pinto, composer and performer

All Look + Listen Festival programming is free and open to the public. Reservations, which are highly recommended, open on March 23. Please visit lookandlisten.org to RSVP.