Shriver Hall Concert Series Presents Violinist Jennifer Koh in Bach and Selections from her Alone Together Project

Shriver Hall Concert Series will present acclaimed violinist Jennifer Koh in a world premiere virtual recital on Sunday, April 11, 2021 at 5:30pm ET. Koh juxtaposes two of Bach's landmark works for solo violin - Bach's Partita No. 3 E Major, BWV 1006 and Sonata No. 3 in C Major, BWV 1005 - with 12 micro-works that she commissioned in 2020 as part of her Alone Together project, a response to the pandemic and the financial hardship it has placed on many in the arts community. Composers who contributed to Alone Together include Katherine Balch, Vijay Iyer, Patrick Castillo, Hanna Benn, Ellen Reid, Andrew Norman, Kati Agócs, Angelica Negrón, Darian Donovan Thomas with electronics by Ian Chang, George Lewis, Cassie Wieland, and Layale Chaker. The recital was pre-recorded at Okataven Audio in New York.

Koh says "I am honored to be a part of Shriver Hall's Concert Series this April. For this program, I include works that directly engage with this time of COVID while also including works that help us imagine a new world that awaits us after these difficult days. I chose Bach's Partita No. 3 to open the program. While it is a work that I have long loved, it is also the first solo Bach work that I learned when I was a child, and I chose this piece as a musical signal of a re-birth in a post-COVID world. This concert also contains new works from Alone Together. I was able to fund this project through ARCO Collaborative, a non-profit I started 6 years ago to advocate for inclusivity in classical music, as well as creating a space for artist-led projects. I approached 20 composers with salaried positions or institutional support and asked them to recommend a freelance composer that they musically felt connected to. They generously donated their own compositions to help launch this project and support their mentees."

She continues, "Composed within the first weeks of the shelter-in-place order in New York City, these pieces directly engage with the emotional and aural experiences of that time. Now, months later, I have realized that these works are a musical archive of that painful time. The musical works presented on this program include the sounds of ambulance sirens; works written in memoriam to musical mentors who died from COVID; to newfound relationships to the fragility of our physical bodies, as well as the life force of blood running through our veins; and finally, there are works that grapple with the restrictions of this time and the creative actions we take to expand our lives during this time of contraction."

"This program concludes with Bach's Sonata No. 3 in C Major. The fugue is the most complex of all the fugues in Bach's Sonatas and Partitas, metamorphosizing from a simple theme into a complex musical testament of human potential. Bach closes this sonata with two movements that offer us hope and joy, bringing us light at the end of this dark time. I hope you will find comfort and solace in this program while we look towards better days ahead of us."

Ticket holders can watch the concert on demand for a week after the premiere and also have access to a post-concert chat with Koh, moderated by Shriver Hall Concert Series Executive Director Catherine Cochran.

Concert Information
Jennifer Koh, violin
Sunday, April 11, 2021 at 5:30pm ET
Tickets: $15. Tickets include concert access and on-demand streaming of the concert for one week following, plus access to a post-concert artist conversation.
Link: www.shriverconcerts.org/concert/koh

Program:

Selections from Alone Together
HANNA BENN: Exhalation
PATRICK CASTILLO: Mina Cecilia's Constitutional
KATI AGÓCS: Thirst and Quenching
LAYALE CHAKER: Bond of the Beloved (Bastanikār)

BACH: Partita No. 3 in E Major, BWV 1006

Selections from Alone Together
KATHERINE BALCH: Cleaning
VIJAY IYER: For Violin Alone
Andrew Norman: Turns of Phrase
CASSIE WIELAND: Shiner

BACH: Sonata No. 3 in C Major, BWV 1005

Selections from Alone Together
ELLEN REID: Brick Red Mood
George Lewis: Un petit brouillard cérébral
ANGELICA NEGRÓN: Cooper and Emma
DARIAN DONOVAN THOMAS with electronics by IAN CHANG: Art/Nat

Performance to be followed by Artist Conversation with Shriver Hall Concert Series Executive Director Catherine Cochran

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