The Mannes School of Music at The New School College of Performing Arts To Present A Weekend of Philip Glass

The Mannes School of Music at The New School College of Performing Arts has announced A Weekend of Glass, performances on October 25 and 26 featuring the music of iconic American composer Philip Glass, as part of its 2024-2025 season. This special weekend includes the U.S. premiere of Glass's Elergy for the Present performed by the Namekawa-Davies Duo – Maki Namekawa and Dennis Russell Davies – and the Philip Glass score to Tod Browning's 1931 classic film Dracula, performed live to film by the Orange Road Quartet, conducted from the piano by Michael Riesman. Both concerts are open to the public and free with registration.

 

On Friday, October 25 at 7:30pm, perfectly timed for Halloween, the (Un)Silent Film series presents Dracula, featuring the Orange Road Quartet (Cuker and Stern Graduate String Quartet in Residence at Mannes) and two pianists, in Glass's acclaimed score performed live with Tod Browning's 1931 classic film starring Bela Lugosi, at the John L. Tishman Auditorium (63 Fifth Ave.). The performance will be conducted from the piano by Michael Riesman, music arranger and music director of the Philip Glass Ensemble and a Mannes School of Music alumnus. Glass was commissioned by Universal Studios Home Entertainment to write the score for Dracula for the re-release of the film in 1998, and it was premiered by the Kronos Quartet and Michael Riesman. “I felt the score needed to evoke the feeling of the world of the 19th century – for that reason I decided a string quartet would be the most evocative and effective,” Glass wrote. “I wanted to stay away from the obvious effects associated with horror films. With Kronos we were able to add depth to the emotional layers of the film.” Orange Road Quartet cellist Jordan Bartow says, "We view new music as the future, the ‘orange road' on the horizon, and we are thrilled to continue on that road and share our vision here at The New School and beyond.”

 

On Saturday, October 26 at 7:30, the Mannes School of Music presents the Namekawa-Davies Duo (Maki Namekawa and Dennis Russell Davies) in Pianographique featuring music by Philip Glass (U.S. Premiere), Laurie Anderson, and Steve Reich, with real-time visualizations by Cori O'Lan, at The Auditorium on 12th Street (66 West 12th St.). The concert features Steve Reich's iconic Piano Phase (1967), two pieces by Laurie Anderson including Song for Bob, and a second half comprised of works by Philip Glass, including the U.S. premiere of Elergy for the Present (2020), music from The Truman Show, and Four Pieces for Two Pianos which Glass composed for the Namekawa-Davies Duo. All of Cori O'Lan's graphic elements will be derived directly from the acoustic material – the sound of the music – created live in response to frequency, pitch, dynamics, and other elements of the performance.

 

“The influence of Philip Glass on music cannot be overstated. As such, it is an honor for us to present a Weekend of Glass, featuring the U.S. premiere of Elergy for the Present alongside Philip's bringing Dracula to life through his brilliant score to the 1931 classic horror film. Michael Riesman, Mannes alumnus and Philip's longtime bandmate in the Philip Glass Ensemble will conduct Dracula. The students, faculty, and staff all hope you will join us for this very special weekend devoted to the great Philip Glass,” said Richard Kessler, Executive Dean of the College of Performing Arts and Dean of Mannes School of Music.

 

Performances by students and faculty at the College of Performing Arts break new ground, pushing the boundaries of convention and reinventing traditional forms. Additional highlights this season include performances by celebrated Mannes/School of Jazz Ensembles-in-Residence The Westerlies, Sandbox Percussion, and JACK Quartet throughout the season, including Sandbox Percussion's world premiere of Michael Torke's BLOOM in Concert on December 11; Mannes Opera's double bill featuring one-act operas by David T. Little and Kamala Sankaram on November 8 and 9; the New School Studio Orchestra performing Duke Ellington's The Nutcracker Suite on December 5; and multiple performances of the Mannes Orchestra at Lincoln Center's Alice Tully Hall, including Richard Einhorn's Voices of Light to the silent film The Passion of Joan of Arc with The New York Choral Society on November 1, the U.S. premiere of Augustus Hailstork's Ndemera on December 9, and Sandbox Percussion in Viet Cuong's percussion concerto Re(new)al paired with John Zorn's violin concerto Contes de Fées performed by Stefan Jackiw on April 11. The New School Studio Orchestra presents the U.S. premiere of jazz great Carla Bley's rarely heard landmark album Escalator Over the Hill on May 2.

 

Presenting approximately 900 performances each year by students, faculty and guest artists, nearly all of which are free and open to the public, the Mannes, Jazz, Drama season provides an incredible performing arts resource for the greater New York community and beyond. Performances at The New School's College of Performing Arts are free and open to the public, unless otherwise noted. Some events require advance registration. View the full calendar of performances at the College of Performing Arts – including Mannes School of Music, School of Jazz and Contemporary Music, and School of Drama – for details on how to attend.

 

Founded in 1916 by America's first great violin recitalist and noted educator, David Mannes, and pianist and educator Clara Damrosch Mannes, the Mannes School of Music is a standard-bearer for radically progressive music education, anchored in foundational excellence and dedicated to supporting the development of creative and socially engaged artists. Through its undergraduate, graduate, and professional studies programs, Mannes offers a curriculum as imaginative as it is rigorous, taught by a world-class faculty and visiting artists. As part of The New School's College of Performing Arts, together with the School of Jazz and Contemporary Music and the School of Drama, Mannes makes its home on The New School's Greenwich Village campus in a state-of-the-art facility at the newly renovated Arnhold Hall.

 

Dedicated to the performance of new works and modern classics, the Orange Road Quartet creates unique listener-centered musical experiences for curious audiences. The programs they develop in collaboration with composers connect art and audiences beyond the traditional elite-dominated concert hall, and leave people from all backgrounds with a transformative experience. In recent years, Orange Road has been featured twice as an ensemble in residence at The Cortona Sessions for New Music, bringing cutting edge programs of premieres and modern masterpieces from Xenakis to John Luther Adams to audiences in Italy and the Netherlands. Orange Road is currently in the midst of their 2024-2025 concert season, which has included performances in New York City and Europe, with more on the horizon at The Southern Exposure Series at the University of South Carolina and residencies at the University of Florida and University of California, Davis, with more than 15 premieres to take place over the next few months. Orange Road began as The New Sounds Quartet in residence at the University of South Carolina in 2021, where they have enjoyed the mentorship of Ari Streisfeld, co-founding member of the JACK quartet. The current members are Miguel Calleja and Holly Workman, violins, Nicky Moore on viola, and Jordan Bartow on cello. Orange Road's members enjoy robust and varied careers as International soloists, interdisciplinary artists, and hold multiple chairs in regional orchestras. Orange Road is especially honored to join The New School as the Cuker and Stern Quartet in Residence, where they will be mentored by the current members of the JACK quartet, carrying on the seed of inspiration that began with their cherished mentor, Ari. As the Cuker and Stern Graduate String Quartet, Orange Road will have unique performance opportunities, including appearances at the Mannes Sounds Festival; workshops and readings of new works by Composition faculty and students; masterclasses at Mannes Prep; collaborations with The Mannes Orchestra, Mannes American Composers Ensemble, and Mannes Opera; as well as performances at special events.

 

The (Un)Silent Film series has been critical in advancing the resurgence of film screenings with live music and has been hosted by Matthew Broderick, Bill Irwin, Rob Bartlett, Ed Rothstein, and Michael Bacon. (Un)Silent Film nights have presented the world premieres of works composed for The Birds and The Immigrant (by Nathan Kamal and Alexis Cuadrado respectively), a New York premiere of a score by Hollywood composer Craig Marks for the film Sherlock, Jr., and Charlie Chaplin's original scores for Gold Rush and other Chaplin classics. The most recent (Un)Silent presented the world premiere of a new score to the iconic film, METROPOLIS, composed by Mannes student, Amir Sanjari.