The Miller Theatre Continues 2014-15 'Bach, Revisited' Series with HELMUT LACHENMANN + BACH Tonight

Miller Theatre at Columbia University School of the Arts continues the 2014-15 Bach, Revisited series with HELMUT LACHENMANN + BACH tonight, April 9, 2015, 8:00 p.m. featuring Ensemble Signal
Rachel Calloway, mezzo-soprano, Ari Streisfeld, violin, Kelli Kathman, flute, and Lauren Radnofsky, cello.

Miller Theatre (2960 Broadway at 116th Street)
Tickets: $30-45 • Students with valid ID: $18-27

From Miller Theatre Executive Director Melissa Smey:
"Both Bach and Lachenmann truly transformed the way we think about string instruments, and the possibilities they hold. Hearing their works back to back is a rare and wonderful opportunity. The virtuosity required on the part of these soloists is nothing short of remarkable, and I am thrilled that we are able to work with such talented collaborators."

BACH, REVISITED

Past and present collide in the current iteration of Miller's long-running Bach series. Each living composer in the 2014-15 series has a different affinity for Bach: Michael Gordon admires his structural innovation; Helmut Lachenmann continues his quest to re-define performers' technical boundaries; Sofia Gubaidulina mirrors Bach's spirituality in her transcendent compositions. A variety of soloists join Signal, this year's ensemble-in-residence, for these performances, including the celebrated harpsichordist Kristian Bezuidenhout.

Bach, Revisited

Thursday, April 9, 2015, 8:00 p.m.
Helmut Lachenmann + Bach

Miller Theatre (2960 Broadway at 116th Street)
It would be difficult to overstate the influence of Bach's works for solo strings, which raised the bar on what could be achieved with a single instrument, both musically and technically. More recently, Helmut Lachenmann has embarked on a similar quest to expand performers' sonic palettes, exploring nontraditional techniques and sounds. This program creates an eye-opening dialogue between the two, featuring Bach and Lachenmann works for solo violin and cello, an early Lachenmann trio, plus a unique collaboration across the centuries: a contemporary third part written as a companion to Bach's Two-Part Invention.

PROGRAM:
Lachenmann: TemA (1968)
Lachenmann: Pression (1969-70)
Lachenmann: Toccatina (1986)
Lachenmann: Third Part for J.S. Bach's two-part Invention in D minor, BWV 775 (1985)
Bach: Chaconne from Partita No. 2 in D minor for solo violin, BWV 1004
Bach: Prelude and Sarabande from Suite No. 5 in C minor for solo cello, BWV 1011

ARTISTS:
Ensemble Signal
Rachel Calloway, mezzo-soprano
Ari Streisfeld, violin
Kelli Kathman, flute
Lauren Radnofsky, cello

Helmut Lachenmann

Helmut Lachenmann (born on November 27, 1935 in Stuttgart, Germany) studied piano, theory, and counterpoint at the Music Conservatory in Stuttgart from 1955 to 1958, and from 1958 to 1960 he studied composition with Luigi Nono in Venice. The first public performances of Lachenmann's works took place at the Biennale in Venice in 1962 and at the International Summer Courses for New Music in Darmstadt. After teaching at the University in Ludwigsburg, Lachenmann taught as professor for composition at the Music Conservatory in Hannover (1976-81) and in Stuttgart (1981-99). In 2008, Lachenmann was the Fromm Visiting Professor at the Harvard University, and in 2010 he became fellow of the Royal College of Music, London. Lachenmann has received numerous awards for his compositional work, including the Siemens Musikpreis in 1997, the Royal Philharmonic Society Award London in 2004, and the Berliner Kunstpreis and the Leone d'oro of the Biennale di Venezia in 2008. Lachenmann is a honorary doctor at the Music Conservatory Hannover and a member of the Academies of the Arts in Berlin, Brussels, Hamburg, Leipzig, Mannheim, and Munich. His works are performed at many festivals and concert series in Germany and abroad.

Ensemble Signal

signalensemble.org

Ensemble Signal, described by The New York Times as "one of the most vital groups of its kind," is a New York-based ensemble offering the broadest possible audience access to a diverse range of contemporary works through performance, commissioning, recording, and education. Since its debut in 2008, the Ensemble has performed over 90 concerts, has given the New York, world, or U.S. premieres of over 20 works, and co-produced five recordings.

Signal was founded by Co-Artistic/Executive Director Lauren Radnofsky and Co-Artistic Director/Conductor Brad Lubman. A "new music dream team," (Time Out New York), Signal regularly performs with Lubman and features a super-group of independent artists from the modern music scene. Signal is flexible in size and instrumentation-everything from solo to large contemporary ensemble in any possible combination-enabling it to meet the ever-changing demands on the 21st century performing ensemble.

At home in concert halls, clubs, and international festivals alike, Signal has performed at Lincoln Center Festival, Ojai Music Festival, Carnegie Hall's Zankel Hall, Miller Theatre, (le)Poisson Rouge, The Tanglewood Music Festival of Contemporary Music, Cleveland Museum of Art, The Wordless Music Series, and the Bang on a Can Marathon.

Signal's fearless programming ranges from minimalism or pop-influenced to the iconoclastic European avant-garde. Signal has worked with artists and composers including Steve Reich, Helmut Lachenmann, Irvine Arditti, Michael Gordon, David Lang, Julia Wolfe, Oliver Knussen, Hilda Paredes, and Charles Wuorinen. Their educational activities have included workshops with emerging composers at the June in Buffalo Festival, where they are a resident ensemble. Signal's recordings are available on Philip Glass's Orange Mountain, New Amsterdam Records, Mode, and Cantaloupe. Recent highlights include performing in the 2013 Lincoln Center Festival's production of Monkey: Journey to The West. Upcoming highlights include the co-commission of a new work for large ensemble by Steve Reich.

Rachel Calloway

Mezzo-soprano Rachel Calloway has established herself as one of the most versatile singers of her generation. Praised by The New York Times for her "penetrating clarity" and "considerable depth of expression" and by Opera News for her "adept musicianship and dramatic flair," her recent appearances include performances with Ensemble Signal, Gotham Chamber Opera, the contemporary vocal chamber ensemble Ekmeles, the 2013 Next Wave Festival at BAM, Chameleon Arts Ensemble in Boston, the Amernet String Quartet at Bowdoin University, the Copland House, and American Opera Projects.

A proponent of contemporary and lesser-known music, Ms. Calloway gave the world premiere of New Andean Songs by Gabriela Lena Frank on the Los Angeles Philharmonic's Green Umbrella series at Walt Disney Concert Hall. She has sung works by many of today's leading composers, including Georg Friederich Haas, Unsuk Chin, Oliver Knussen, Harrison Birtwhistle, Beat Furrer, and Nico Muhly, among others. She has performedPierrot Lunaire at Alice Tully Hall, Columbia University, and the Juilliard School, and has appeared in the FOCUS! Festival of New Music in addition to giving the world premiere of Steven Stucky's orchestration of Wolf's Spanisches Liederbuch as a guest artist at Manhattan School of Music. Ms. Calloway is a founding member of Shir Ami, an ensemble dedicated to the preservation and performance of Jewish art music suppressed by the Nazis and Soviets.

A native of Philadelphia, Ms.Calloway holds degrees from both the Juilliard School (BM) and Manhattan School of Music (MM) and maintains an active teaching studio. She lives in New York City with her husband, violinist Ari Streisfeld, and their dog Wesley. Learn more at www.rachelcalloway.com.

Kelli Kathman

Flutist Kelli Kathman is an active soloist and chamber musician in the New York scene. Best known for her thoughtful interpretation and energetic performance of music from the 20th and 21st centuries, Kathman enjoys commissioning and premiering new works by young and established composers from diverse musical backgrounds and styles. She performs regularly as part of Ensemble Signal under the direction of Brad Lubman. She is a founding member of the award-winning Sospiro Winds.

Kathman has performed across the United States and Europe with eighth blackbird, the Bang on a Can All-Stars, Alarm Will Sound, the Chamber Music Society at Lincoln Center, and the American Contemporary Music Ensemble. Additionally, Kathman has performed with the Zankel Band, the Steve Reich Ensemble, and the Martha Graham Dance Company. Her festival appearances include Tanglewood, Chamber Music Northwest, Bang on a Can Marathon, Wordless Music Series, and June in Buffalo. Her love of new music has brought her into close contact with composers including Steve Reich, John Adams, Helmut Lachenmann, Julia Wolf, David Lang, Michael Gordon, and Terry Riley, and her work can be heard on the labels Nonesuch, Mode Records, Naxos, Warp Records, and New Amsterdam Records.

Lauren Radnofsky

Lauren Radnofsky is founding Co-Artistic/Executive Director and cellist of Ensemble Signal. In Radnofsky's triple role, she is responsible for program curation, general management, development, and also serves as the main producer, in addition to being a regular performer in the ensemble. Under her leadership - within the span of just 5 years - Radnofsky has overseen Signal distinguish itself as an ensemble of exceptional versatility, its ambitious range of activities including over 90 performances, five recordings, and the New York, world, or U.S. premieres of over 20 works to date.

As a cellist with Signal, Lauren has worked with composers and artists including Helmut Lachenmann, Steve Reich, Irvine Arditti, Oliver Knussen, Kristian Bezuidenhout, Michael Gordon, David Lang, and Julia Wolfe. She has appeared at venues and festivals including the The Lincoln Center Festival, Tanglewood Festival of Contemporary Music, Ojai Music Festival, Zankel Hall at Carnegie Hall, The Guggenheim Museum (NY), Miller Theatre, The June in Buffalo Festival, and The Bang on a Can Marathon. As a soloist, she has appeared with the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra performing Kaija Saariaho's Amers and the Wordless Music Orchestra in Jonny Greenwood's Doghouse for string trio and orchestra. Radnofsky's recordings with Signal include Philip Glass's Glassworks and Music in Similar Motion (Glass's Orange Mountain label); Sarah Kirkland Snider's Penelope (New Amsterdam); a CD & DVD of music by Lachenmann, with the composer as soloist in Zwei Gefühle, including Radnofsky performing Pression for solo cello (Mode); Michael Gordon, David Lang, and Julia Wolfe's Shelter (Cantaloupe); and Reich's Music for 18 Musiciansand Double Sextet.

Ari Streisfeld

Praised for his "dazzling performance" by The New York Times, violinist Ari Streisfeldhas quickly established himself as a leader in contemporary classical music. In addition to his work with JACK, he frequently performs with today's leading contemporary music ensembles, including Ensemble Signal and Worldless Music Orchestra. Streisfeld is also a member of Shir Ami, an ensemble dedicated to the performance and preservation of Jewish art music. Hailed as "imaginative" by the Los Angeles Times, Streisfeld's arrangements of madrigals and motets for string quartet by Machaut and Gesualdo have been performed to acclaim both at home and abroad. A recipient of the Morton Gould Young Composer Award, Streisfeld most recently premiered his arrangements for voice and violin at The Stone (New York) and the Cortona Sessions for New Music (Italy) alongside critically acclaimed mezzo-soprano Rachel Calloway. A passionate and committed music educator, Streisfeld serves on the faculty of New York's Special Music School, Face the Music, and the Cortona Sessions for New Music (Italy). As a soloist, he has performed with the Kennett Symphony Orchestra and the Northwestern Philharmonia. Streisfeld performed the Berg Violin Concerto with the Boston University Symphony Orchestra as winner of the 2006 Boston University Concerto Competition. Streisfeld attended the Eastman School of Music (Bachelor of Music), Northwestern University (Master of Music), and Boston University (Doctor of Musical Arts). He has recorded for Mode, Albany, Carrier, Innova, Canteloupe, and New World Records.

Photo Credit: Betty Freeman