yMusic Performs World Premieres at Carnegie Hall This Winter

The six-member New York City-based ensemble yMusic, which has shown incredible virtuosity and versatility through genre-bending collaborations with both classical and mainstream artists, plays in Zankel Hall on Friday, December 2 at 7:30 p.m. Alongside works by alternative style pop musicians like Son Lux and Sufjan Stevens, and indie classical composers like Andrew Norman, Judd Greenstein, and Timo Andres, yMusic gives the world premiere performance of two works by MacArthur Fellow Chris Thile and Pulitzer Prize winner Caroline Shaw, commissioned by Carnegie Hall as part of its 125 Commissions Project. The group's program also includes the US premiere of Missy Mazzoli's new work, Ecstatic Science.

A pre-concert talk starts at 6:30 p.m. in Zankel Hall with composer Caroline Shaw and yMusic members CJ Camerieri, Rob Moose, and Nadia Sirota in conversation with Jeremy Geffen, Director of Artistic Planning at Carnegie Hall.

Carnegie Hall's commitment to the music of tomorrow continues with the second year of its five-year 125 Commissions Project during which at least 125 new works will be commissioned from today's leading composers. Launched during the Hall's 125th anniversary season in 2015-2016, the project features new solo, chamber, and orchestral music from both established and emerging composers including Yves Chauris, Donnacha Dennehy, Bryce Dessner, Sofia Gubaidulina, James MacMillan, Nico Muhly, Steve Reich, Frederic Rzewski, Caroline Shaw, Chris Thile, and Jörg Widmann.

About the Artist
Hailed by NPR's Fred Child as "one of the groups that has really helped to shape the future of classical music," yMusic is a group of six New York City instrumentalists flourishing in the overlap between the pop and classical music worlds. Their virtuosic execution and unique configuration (string trio, flute, clarinet, and trumpet) has attracted the attention of high profile collaborators - from Ben Folds to Dirty Projectors to José González - and inspired an expanding repertoire of original works by some of today's foremost composers, including Nico Muhly and Andrew Norman.

Their 2016-2017 season will be their most high-profile to date, featuring yMusic's first public performance at Carnegie Hall, a groundbreaking new collaborative album with composer Son Lux and producer Thomas (Doveman) Bartlett, and premieres of a half-dozen newly-commissioned works, including a major new piece by Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Caroline Shaw, and MacArthur grantee Chris Thile's first instrumental work written without his own performative element.

Other season highlights include European concert dates in collaboration with Anohni (formerly Antony & The Johnsons), the gut-wrenching, transgendered chanteuse, and the development of a film project in collaboration with choreographer Bill T. Jones and composer Marcos Balter; part documentary and part concert DVD, the film will trace the events which saw Bill T. Jones coming out of retirement to dance for the first time in public in 9 years.

Finally, capping off a little more than a season of touring with famed songwriter Ben Folds, yMusic and Folds will release a 10-inch live concert record, featuring collaboratively-written songs, favorite live improvisations, and chamber music. To date, yMusic has released two full-length solo albums, 2014's Balance Problems and 2011's Beautiful Mechanical, Time Out New York's #1 Classical Record of that Year.

In addition to performing their own repertoire, yMusic serves as a ready-made collaborative unit for bands and songwriters, and have lent their distinctive sound to dozens of albums, most recently, Ben Folds' 2015 release So There. Other recent collaborations have included recording and tours with José González, The Tallest Man on Earth, Dirty Projectors, The Staves, Bon Iver, and Blake Mills.

Program Information
Friday, December 2 at 7:30 p.m.
Zankel Hall
yMUSIC
·· Rob Moose, Violin and Guitar
·· Nadia Sirota, Viola
·· Gabriel Cabezas, Cello
·· Hideaki Aomori, Clarinets
·· Alex Sopp, Flutes
·· CJ Camerieri, Trumpet and Horn

SON LUX Eleven
Timo Andres Safe Travels
Andrew Norman Music in Circles
SON LUX Suite: Paris, Memory Wounds, First
CAROLINE SHAW New Work (World Premiere, co-commissioned by Carnegie Hall)
SUFJAN STEVENS Year of the Dragon (arr. Nico Muhly)
SUFJAN STEVENS Year of the Dog (arr. Rob Moose)
CHRIS THILE New Work (World Premiere, co-commissioned by Carnegie Hall)
MISSY MAZZOLI Ecstatic Science (US Premiere)
Judd GreenSTEIN Clearing, Dawn, Dance

Pre-concert talk starts at 6:30 PM in Zankel Hall with composer Caroline Shaw and yMusic members CJ Camerieri, Rob Moose, and Nadia Sirota in conversation with Jeremy Geffen, Director of Artistic Planning, Carnegie Hall.

Lead support for the 125 Commissions Project is provided by The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.

Public support for the 125 Commissions Project is provided by the National Endowment for the Arts.

Additional funding is provided by members of Carnegie Hall's Composer Club.

Bank of America is the Proud Season Sponsor of Carnegie Hall.

Ticket Information
Tickets, priced at $35 and $41, are available at the Carnegie Hall Box Office, 154 West 57th Street, or can be charged to major credit cards by calling CarnegieCharge at 212-247-7800, or online by visiting carnegiehall.org.

For more information on discount ticket programs, including those for students, Notables members, and Bank of America customers, visit carnegiehall.org/discounts. Artists, programs, and prices are subject to change.