OSL and BAC Present WHIRLWIND, 9/20 & 21

Orchestra of St. Luke's (OSL) and Baryshnikov Arts Center (BAC) will showcase the range and beauty of the woodwind sound in a program titled Whirlwind featuring St. Luke's Chamber Ensemble. Two virtuosic wind compositions-written by György Ligeti and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart-will be performed with their movements interspersed, highlighting the variety of moods contained within each piece.

Composed when Ligeti was still living in Hungary, Six Bagatelles for Wind Quintet presents a series of miniatures, mostly between one and two minutes in length, each with its own distinct personality. Evoking the world of Hungarian folk music, the Bagatelles reveal the composer's developing musical vocabulary while he was in his early-30s, composing in secret in the Soviet Union.

A favorite of St. Luke's Chamber Ensemble, Mozart's cheerful "Gran Partita" was composed for the clarinetist Anton Stadler, and contains exquisite writing for a large chamber ensemble of 13 instrumentalists. From soulful lyricism to a rustic country dance, this unusual piece in Mozart's output concludes with a cheerful rondo that leaves listeners in high, good humor.

"We know from historical evidence that inserting other music between the movements of larger works was a common practice in Mozart's time," said BAC Artistic Administrator Pedja Muzijevic. "More importantly for us today, our audiences can bring whatever impressions they may have about the music they are about to hear and, in most cases, their feelings about Mozart and Ligeti are different. If the movements are interspersed, there will be a millisecond at the beginning of each movement where we, the audience, will hear the music without any preconceived notions of what we are supposed to think about either composer. Even though it is a millisecond, it will make us hear the music as just music and not something old, new, standard or non-standard."

The program will feature set design by renowned visual artist Anne Patterson and lighting design by Matt Frey. Patterson and Frey will create an environment that blends seamlessly with the performance while heightening the sensory experience of the music.