Miller Theatre at Columbia Introduces Pop-Up Concerts 2/7-5/1

Miller Theater at Columbia University introduces Pop-Up Concerts: The series that puts the audience onstage, right in the middle of the action in an informal early-evening setting, featuring chamber music and beer by the Harlem Brewing Company-all for free.

JACK Quartet and cellist Lauren Radnofsky launch the series with works by Scelsi, Sciarinno, Xenakis

Concerts start Tuesday, February 7, 2012 (details below)

Doors at 5:30 p.m. • Music starts at 6 p.m.

FREE – no tickets required

From Miller Theatre Director Melissa Smey:
"I'm thrilled to renew Miller's commitment to presenting free concerts on an intimate scale-
building on the tradition that began with our much-loved Lunchtime Concerts in Philosophy Hall.
Pop-Up Concerts offer an exciting new possibility: a chance to test out ideas and hear from new
artists and composers before they hit the mainstage, all in a uniquely casual, social setting, with our audience sitting just inches from the performers."

Miller Theatre encourages everyone to "bring a friend, grab a drink, and join some of today's most interesting performers onstage on select Tuesday evenings this spring for a unique take on the concert experience. Pop-Up Concerts provide a home for music that's small in scale but big on ideas, presented in an intimate, living room-type setting. Less formal than the former Lunchtime Concerts series in Philosophy Hall, Pop-Up Concerts will have a greater degree of spontaneity, allowing Miller to schedule events even while the season is in progress. Beer will be provided by Harlem Brewing Company."

Tuesday, February 7
MUSICAL EXPERIMENTS featuring JACK quartet and cellist Lauren Radnofsky
Listeners will discover how these renegade composers push the boundaries of classical technique, coaxing new and incredible sounds from familiar instruments. The program includes Scelsi's String Quartet No. 4; Sciarinno's Six Caprices; Xenakis's Ittidra; and other works.

Tuesday, March 6
PLAYING GAMES WITH KURTÁG featuring pianist Jacob Greenberg
The International Contemporary Ensemble's daring pianist, Jacob Greenberg, takes on György Kurtág's playful Játékok ("Games"), a series of experiments premised on the idea that "Playing is just playing."

Tuesday, April 10
THE BIRTH OF ELECTRONIC MUSIC featuring composer Jean-Baptiste Barrière
Born in Paris, Barrière spent more than a decade as a director of the Pompidou Center's electronic-music mecca, IRCAM. This wide-ranging program of electronic works serves as a crash course in computer music.

Tuesday, May 1
NEXT GENERATION featuring the Curtis Institute of Music's Ensemble 39
Curtis returns to Miller. Selections include the ensemble's namesake-Prokofiev's Quintet, Op. 39-and a new work by their incredible 20-year-old classmate GabriElla Smith, a student of Jennifer Higdon.

Columbia University's Miller Theatre is located north of the Main Campus Gate
at 116th St. & Broadway on the ground floor of Dodge Hall.