Miller Theatre Presents Zorn at 60, 9/25

This fall, Miller joins with venues across the city and around the world - from the Met Museum to the Barbican Centre - in celebrating the 60th birthday of one of New York's most important artists: John Zorn. Miller's marathon roams widely, exploring notated and improvised music alike, and features an all-star lineup of musicians.

Zorn's relationship with Miller Theatre began more than a dozen years ago, and his first performances in the space (which, prior to 1988, was known as McMillin Academic Theater) stretch back to the 1970's. Miller presented its first Composer Portrait of Zorn on November 29, 2001. His music has been featured at Miller many times since: in a series of concerts devoted to his string quartets in 2003; in subsequent Composer Portraits in 2005 and 2006; as the recipient of the William Schuman Award from Columbia University School of the Arts in 2007; as a curator and performer at the Benefit Concert for Japan in March 2011; and in a Pop-Up Concert in 2012 featuring his works for strings.

John Zorn says: "Miller Theatre and I have a relationship that goes back further than any other institution. In a way, this is my house, this is home in New York. In my earliest days as a composer in the 1970s, Columbia treated me with respect and made me feel like what I was doing had worth. Here it is 35 years later and I still feel the same."

Click here to read Ben Sisario's recent front page New York Times "Arts & Leisure" profile of John Zorn.

John Zorn's dream team orchestra-80 players, at last count-performs some of the composer's great symphonic works, including his masterpiece violin concerto. Featuring violin soloist Christopher Otto and conductor David Fulmer heading up an entire orchestra of soloists.

Without dictating any of the notes to be played, these pieces use visual cues and graphic scores to structure the interactions of improvisers, resulting in remarkable (and one-of-a-kind) performances. This program brings together works rarely heard in a single evening and features many of Zorn's longtime collaborators: Cyro Baptista, Uri Caine, Erik Friedlander, George Lewis, Marc Ribot, and many, many others.

Zorn says: "The first real major Game Piece happened in this theatre, back in 1978, when Miller was the McMillin. In September we'll do three sets of Game Pieces written between 1976 and 1989, including Cobra, Rugby, Lacrosse. I think we're going to have some of the best performances of these pieces that have ever happened."