Alarm Will Sound Presents All-Ligeti Multimedia Performance

Alarm Will Sound, the contemporary music ensemble known for testing the boundaries of musical performance, presents a program resembling a live podcast, featuring the music of György Ligeti and titled This Music Should Not Exist on Friday, March 16 at 7:30 p.m. in Zankel Hall.

Beginning in 2014, Alarm Will Sound-in collaboration with Nadia Sirota, the group's violist and host of the Meet The Composerpodcast-began to develop a new concert format designed to tell stories about select composers and their work alongside performances of the work itself, creating a unique listening experience. Their initial project, Splitting Adams, focused on composer John Adams and was broadcast on Meet The Composer and recorded for Cantaloupe Records in 2017.

Resembling a podcast itself, Alarm Will Sound's March 16 concert at Carnegie Hall blends music and pre-recorded sounds to create a soundscape of György Ligeti's life-from his escape from a Nazi labor camp to his seeking refuge in Vienna during Soviet occupation of his native Hungary. Works featured in this performance include Ligeti's Continuum, Piano Concerto, and Chamber Concerto with the music's dense melodic webs and cascading rhythms-along with a host of other experimental sounds, shapes, and forms-embodying the composer's tumultuous life. A pre-concert talk starts at6:30 p.m. in Zankel Hall with Alan Pierson, Artistic Director and Conductor of Alarm Will Sound, and violist and host of WQXR's Meet The Composer Nadia Sirota, in conversation with Jeremy Geffen, Senior Director and Artistic Adviser at Carnegie Hall.

About the Artist
Alarm Will Sound is a 20-member band committed to innovative performances and recordings of today's music. They have established a reputation for performing demanding music with energetic skill. Their performances have been described as "equal parts exuberance, nonchalance, and virtuosity" by the Financial Times of London and as "a triumph of ensemble playing" by the San Francisco Chronicle. The New York Times hailed Alarm Will Sound as "one of the most vital and original ensembles on the American music scene."

The versatility of Alarm Will Sound allows it to take on music from a wide variety of styles. Its repertoire ranges from European to American works, from the arch-modernist to the pop-influenced. Alarm Will Sound has been associated since its inception with composers at the forefront of contemporary music, premiering pieces by John Adams, Steve Reich, David Lang, Michael Gordon, Aaron Jay Kernis, Augusta Read Thomas, Derek Bermel, Benedict Mason, and Wolfgang Rihm, among others. The group itself includes many composer-performers, which allows for an unusual degree of insight into the creation and performance of new work.

Alarm Will Sound may be heard on nine recordings, including their most recent, Splitting Adams, a collaboration with Meet The Composer, the Peabody Award-winning podcast, as well as the premiere recording of Steve Reich's Radio Rewrite. The band's genre-bending, critically acclaimed Acousticafeatures live-performance arrangements of music by electronica guru Aphex Twin. This unique project taps the diverse talents within the group, from the many composers who made arrangements of the original tracks, to the experimental approaches developed by the performers.

Alarm Will Sound has been presented by Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, (le) Poisson Rouge, Miller Theatre, the Kitchen, the Bang on a Can Marathon, Disney Hall, Kimmel Center, Library of Congress, the Walker Arts Center, Cal Performances, Stanford Lively Arts, Duke Performances, and the Warhol Museum. International tours include the Holland Festival, Sacrum Profanum, Moscow's Art November, St. Petersburg's Pro Arte Festival, and the Barbican.

Program Information
Friday, March 16, 2018 at 7:30 p.m.
Zankel Hall
Alarm Will Sound
Alan Pierson, Artistic Director, Conductor, and Co-Host
Nadia Sirota, Viola and Co-Host
John Orfe, Piano
Steven Beck, Harpsichord

THIS MUSIC SHOULD NOT EXIST

Program to include:
GYÖRGY LIGETI Continuum
GYÖRGY LIGETI Piano Concerto
GYÖRGY LIGETI Chamber Concerto

Pre-concert talk starts at 6:30 p.m. in Zankel Hall with Alan Pierson, Artistic Director and Conductor of Alarm Will Sound, and violist and Host of Meet The Composer Nadia Sirota, in conversation with Jeremy Geffen, Senior Director and Artistic Adviser, Carnegie Hall.

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

Ticket Information
Tickets, priced $35 and $45, 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 by visiting the Carnegie Hall website, carnegiehall.org.

Photo by Julien Jourdes.

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