NY Phil Performs Zosha Di Castri's Lineage and Nadia Sirota Hosts Di Castri's Kravis Nightcap Series Concert at David Geffen Hall

From Thursday, April 27 to Saturday, April 29, 2023, the New York Philharmonic will present its first-ever performance of a full orchestral work by New York-based, Canadian composer Zosha Di Castri at the Wu Tsai Theater in David Geffen Hall. The program includes Di Castri's Lineage, Brahms' Violin Concerto, and Lutosławski's Concerto for Orchestra, conducted by Jonathon Heyward and featuring violinist Christian Tetzlaff. Di Castri will curate an evening of the Kravis Nightcap Series on Saturday, April 29, 2023 at 10:30pm, hosted by Nadia Sirota, at the Kenneth C. Griffin Sidewalk Studio.

Hailed by the San Francisco Chronicle as a composer who "balances her forces impeccably, keeping a listener both surprised and engaged at every turn," Di Castri wrote Lineage as a reflection upon the meaning of "return." Describing her work as "a reimagining of places and traditions I've only known second-hand," Di Castri said about her inspiration, "I was interested in exploring the idea of what is passed down. As a kid, I loved listening to my grandparents tell stories about 'the-old-country' or of life in the village or on the farm. These tales were at once so real through their repetition, and yet at the same time were so foreign and removed from my own personal experience."

Co-commissioned by the San Francisco Symphony, New World Symphony, and Boosey & Hawkes as part of their New Voices collaborative composer project, Lineage is a piece that has been programmed many times by orchestras worldwide. At the heart of the composition, Di Castri "hoped to create a piece in which certain elements are kept constant while others are continually altered, adopted, or are added on, creating an ever-evolving narrative." She further added, "I was interested in the idea of a landmark or point of origin, which remains steadfast, yet also evolves subtly over time. The constant nature of this rootedness is what allows us to orient ourselves; it serves as a bearing when navigating the many branches of uncharted possibility. It is also the measuring stick by which we gauge how far we've come and how far we've yet to travel."

In addition to the NY Philharmonic performances, Di Castri will curate an evening of the Kravis Nightcap Series on Saturday, April 29, 2023 at 10:30pm at the Kenneth C. Griffin Sidewalk Studio in David Geffen Hall. The program will involve conversations about musical inspiration and collaboration and will showcase composer/performers working at the intersection of multiple musical practices. Hosted by Nadia Sirota, Di Castri's evening will include her work, alongside compositions by Alicia Hall Moran, Hugo Morales Murguía, Anna Webber, Tom Waits, and Diego Espinosa Cruz González.

Vocalist Alicia Hall Moran and percussionist Diego Espinosa Cruz González perform the New York premiere of "This is the moment you long for" for voice and clock chimes on timpani, a movement from Zosha Di Castri's song cycle In the Half-light (2022), premiered last year by the Toronto Symphony Orchestra and Barbara Hannigan, with text by Tash Aw. Anna Webber contributes her hypnotic, micro-looping Idiom VII for solo tenor saxophone, and Espinosa explores the radical use of percussive air via an invented instrument created by Netherlands-based Mexican composer Hugo Morales Murguía in Modes of Assisted Ventilation, for intubated flute and electronics. Webber and Espinosa join Moran for her flowing Ginza Samba for saxophone, voice, and improvised percussion, based loosely on the Vince Guaraldi tune, but with words by poet Robert Pinsky.

Miniatures from composer Sam Yulsman's Encyclopedia of Longing then receive their world premieres, performed by Sam joined by the rest of the band. Yulsman studied composition with Zosha Di Castri at Columbia University. The entire ensemble joins for collaborative covers of songs by Tom Waits, including "Clap Hands" and "Temptation." The evening closes with Espinosa and Di Castri's collaboration, how many bodies have we to pass through, from her 2019 JUNO-nominated album, Tachitipo (New Focus Recordings). Watch the music video for how many bodies have we to pass through.

Thursday, April 27, 2023 at 7:30pm
Wu Tsai Theater, David Geffen Hall, NY
Link: https://nyphil.org/concerts-tickets/Tickets/SelectSection?Perf=5655&seat_curve=true
Tickets: $63.50 - $198.50

Friday, April 28, 2023 at 8:00pm
Wu Tsai Theater, David Geffen Hall, NY
Link: https://nyphil.org/concerts-tickets/Tickets/SelectSection?Perf=5656&seat_curve=true
Tickets: $48.50 - $148.50

Saturday, April 29, 2023 at 8:00pm
Wu Tsai Theater, David Geffen Hall, NY
Link: https://nyphil.org/concerts-tickets/Tickets/SelectSection?Perf=5657&seat_curve=true
Tickets: $69.50 - $219.50

Program:
Brahms - Violin Concerto
Zosha Di Castri - Lineage
Lutosławski - Concerto for Orchestra

Jonathon Heyward, conductor
Christian Tetzlaff, violin

Saturday, April 29, 2023 at 10:30pm
Kravis Nightcap: Zosha Di Castri
Kenneth C. Griffin Sidewalk Studio, David Geffen Hall, NY
Link: https://nyphil.org/concerts-tickets/Tickets/SelectSection?Perf=5774
Tickets: $35 (General Admission)

Zosha Di Castri - "this is the moment you long for" from In the Half-light (2022) [New York Premiere]
Alicia Hall Moran, voice; Diego Espinosa Cruz González, percussion

Alicia Hall Moran - Ginza Samba (2011)
Alicia Hall Moran, voice; Anna Webber, saxophone; Diego Espinosa Cruz González, percussion

Anna Webber - Idiom VII (2022)
Anna Webber, tenor saxophone

Hugo Morales Murguía - Modes of Assisted Ventilation (2014)
Diego Espinosa Cruz González, for intubated flute and electronics

Sam Yulsman - Excerpts from Encyclopedia of Longing (2023) [World Premiere]
Sam Yulsman, piano; Alicia Hall Moran, voice; Anna Webber, saxophone; Diego Espinosa Cruz González, percussion

Improvisations on Tom Waits
"Clap Hands"
"Temptation"
Alicia Hall Moran, voice; Anna Webber, saxophone; Diego Espinosa Cruz González, percussion; Sam Yulsman, piano

Zosha Di Castri & Diego Espinosa Cruz González - how many bodies have we to pass through (2019)
Diego Espinosa Cruz González, percussion