VIDEO: Preview FILAMENT at the NY Philharmonic

Ashley Fure composed Filament as a site-specific work for the opening of the Philharmonic's 2018-19 season, placing the musicians among the audience at David Geffen Hall. Listen to Fure talk about the composition below!

The performances will feature guest artists from New York's new-music scene, all in their Philharmonic debuts: Rebekah Heller on amplified bassoon, trumpet player Nate Wooley, Brandon Lopez on a five-string double bass, and 15 singers from the Constellation Chor, directed by Marisa Michelson. The work will open with the singers whispering into bespoke megaphones; as Ms. Fure writes in the score: "A wave of white noise starts at the periphery of the space and quickly crests onstage, like the voices are thrusting life breath into the open mouths of the orchestra." She also writes that the piece requires teamwork "by design"; the musicians are directed to react to each other's cues. The work takes a democratic approach to music-making, and symbolizes the Philharmonic's reaching out to its New York community, beyond its home at Lincoln Center.

"Because I was situated at this unique spot, the beginning of the beginning of the beginning, I had a bit more leeway. Because of the placement and the context, I felt even more supported and free to push boundaries," said Ashley Fure. "I hope the piece does feel like an opening to the audience, a spreading of intimacy, and a transfer of power away from a singular conductor and spreading that energy out through the hall. I hope that this is a start of a new era of more openness on many fronts - stylistically, experientially."

Ashley Fure's Filament is the first of three commissions that the Philharmonic will premiere in Jaap van Zweden's first three weeks. The other premieres are Conrad Tao's Everything Must Go, September 27-28, 2018, and Louis Andriessen's Agamemnon, October 4-6, 2018, as part of The Art of Andriessen. Later in the 2018-19 season, Maestro van Zweden and the Philharmonic will premiere two more commissions: Julia Wolfe's Fire in my mouth as part of New York Stories: Threads of Our City, and David Lang's prisoner of the state as part of Music of Conscience.

Single tickets to the Opening Gala Concert start at $79. Single tickets to the September 21-22 and 25 program start at $59. Tickets to Open Rehearsals are $22. (Ticket prices subject to change.)

Tickets may be purchased online at nyphil.org or by calling (212) 875-5656, 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. Monday through Friday; 1:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. Saturday; and noon to 5:00 p.m. Sunday. Tickets may also be purchased at the David Geffen Hall Box Office. The Box Office opens at 10:00 a.m. Monday through Saturday, and at noon on Sunday. On performance evenings, the Box Office closes one-half hour after performance time; other evenings it closes at 6:00 p.m.

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