Miller Theatre Announces 2010-2011 Season

Miller Theatre's 2010 - 2011 season is the first fully programmed by its exuberant new director Melissa Smey. The season is a richly drawn exploration of diverse musical genres and styles, confirming what The New York Times declared: "For sheer adventurousness, Miller Theatre remains the place to go."

"In my first season of programming as Miller's director," says Smey, "it was important to me to keep alive our signature series while expanding their scope. I'm excited to introduce the fresh, young singers of Stile Antico and New York Polyphony to our early music audiences and to push the boundaries of our jazz programming with composer-performers such as Vijay Iyer and Craig Taborn. This year's Composer Portraits have been a particularly close collaboration; every composer profiled will be in attendance, and photographer Thomas Roma's beautiful portraits of them will be on view in our lobby all season. We kick off the season with Kaija Saariaho's Maa, a piece I've had on my wish list for a while, and which has never been done in the U.S."

"Melissa Smey, the new Director of Miller Theatre, displays an infectious and exciting commitment to modern and contemporary classical music and a refreshing sense of optimism that the music will be attractive to a broad range of listeners."

- The Big City Blog

"An ambitious, determined self-starter...Ms. Smey is all wide-eyed, flashing ebullience. As she retraced her path to her new position and laid out her future plans, two words kept surfacing: ‘cool' and ‘awesome.' Both figure in her improbably sunny regard for the music of Helmut Lachenmann, a severe German avant-gardist represented in a Composer Portrait concert."

- The New York Times

T H E 10 / 11 SEASON

Opening Night

One of the most original compositional voices of our time, Kaija Saariaho is a prominent member of a group of Finnish composers now making a worldwide impact. Her music is at once opulent and mysterious, with dense ever-changing textures, often created by a combination of music and electronics. Evocative and dreamlike, Saariaho's Maa-the composer's only ballet, written in 1991-has been staged just once before. The American premiere at Miller pairs this brilliant but little-known score with beautiful new choreography by Luca Veggetti. ICE returns as the house band, following their "sizzling account" (The New York Times) of Saariaho's music in last year's Composer Portrait.

Maa: A ballet by Kaija Saariaho
September 22, 8:00PM
September 24, 8:00PM
September 25, 8:00PM

Co-produced with Works & Process at the Guggenheim
Mary Sharp Cronson, producer

International Contemporary Ensemble
Choreographer: Luca Veggetti
Dancers: Craig Black, Frances Chiaverini, Spencer Dickhaus, Min Young Lee, Viktor Usov, Casia Vengoechea, Chen Zielinsk

"For 10 years now, the Composer Portraits have enticed young people who are curious about all kinds of extreme contemporary music to take chances on living classical composers."

- The New York Times

Composer Portraits

All concerts begin at 8:00PM • Every composer will be in attendance

The Composer Portraits series-now in its 11th season-remains the heart of Miller Theatre's programming. Each concert investigates the work of a single composer by offering a prismatic view of their oeuvre. This year features a fascinatingly diverse group of composers from around the world, including three who are closely associated with Columbia University.

MATTHIAS PINTSCHER (b. 1971)
October 21
Still only in his thirties, the German-born, New York-based composer Matthias Pintscher has been hailed by leading conductors and critics for his fresh compositional voice and dynamic conducting. The chamber works showcased in this program spring from diverse influences: e e cummings's minimalist poetry, Cy Twombly's abstract paintings, and the natural wonder of a total eclipse. International Contemporary Ensemble (ICE), "one of the most adventurous and accomplished groups in new music" (The New York Times) performs.

FRED LERDAHL (b. 1943)
November 19
Miller Theatre shines a much-deserved spotlight on composer Fred Lerdahl. Lerdahl's music is all about variation: building colorful, complex soundscapes from small melodic ideas. A Guggenheim fellow and Pulitzer finalist, he is also a composition professor at Columbia University. Finnish cellist Anssi Karttunen, "the most impressive cellist on the scene today" (Los Angeles Times), makes his Miller debut with a new concerto written especially for him. This concert also features the Argento Ensemble and the Daedalus Quartet.

Pierre Boulez (b. 1925): 85TH BIRTHDAY CELEBRATION
December 6
Over half a century as a composer and conductor, Pierre Boulez has gone from enfant terrible (he once proclaimed "All art of the past must be destroyed") to respected elder statesman, leaving an indelible mark on contemporary music. Known for mentoring younger generations, Boulez will work closely with the Talea Ensemble to prepare for this concert and will be on hand for this tribute which features works from throughout his career, from early miniatures for piano to the breathtaking masterwork Dérive, culminating in a U.S. premiere. This marks the first Composer Portrait of Boulez.

Julia Wolfe (b. 1958)
February 3
Provocative and intense, Bang on a Can co-founder Julia Wolfe's music combines minimalist techniques-repetitive rhythms, sustained harmonies-with a rock sensibility. Her Cruel Sister is a grisly tale of sibling rivalry, inspired by a haunting English ballad. A collaboration with filmmaker Bill Morrison, Fuel examines the impact of globalization. SIGNAL performs under conductor Brad Lubman.

MARIO DAVIDOVSKY (b. 1934)
March 4
A former Columbia faculty member and a founding father of electro-acoustic music-his Synchronisms were among the first works to pair electronics and live performance-Mario Davidovsky is an undisputed innovator. This program, which takes place on Davidovsky's 77th birthday, explores a variety of his chamber works, revealing the composer's delight in exploring novel timbres, textures, and rhythms, whatever the instrumentation. The International Contemporary Ensemble (ICE) performs.

CHAYA CZERNOWIN (b. 1957)
April 15
Delicate, beautiful, and wonderfully strange, the music of Israeli composer Chaya Czernowin is rapidly gaining international notice. She was recently appointed to the faculty at Harvard and has been commissioned by such powerhouse groups as Ensemble Modern and Ensemble Intercontemporain. Either/Or, "a new and first-rate new-music ensemble" (The New York Times), makes their Miller debut.

JOAN TOWER (b. 1938)
May 5
Joan Tower is one of the most popular composers in America. Her music's driving rhythms, colorful orchestration, and melodic interest have instant appeal. Perhaps better known for her orchestral works, this Portrait spotlights her chamber music. Curtis 20/21, comprised of performers from the esteemEd Curtis Institute, bring an incredibly wide-ranging program-including works for percussion, brass, piano, string quartet, and flute-to Miller's stage.

THOMAS ROMA'S COMPOSER PORTRAITS
In a slight departure from the composer caricatures of past Miller Theatre season brochures, this year's brochure features stunning black and white portraits of the seven composers, each shot by Thomas Roma, the director of photography at Columbia University School of the Arts. Roma visited each of the composers at their homes and studios to create these intimate portraits, which will be exhibited in the Miller Theatre lobby throughout the season. Roma, who builds his own cameras and still uses film rather than digital photography, has published numerous books and has been honored with solo exhibitions at the Museum of Modern Art and International Center of Photography.

Bach and the Baroque

All concerts begin at 8:00PM

The popular Bach series is back with an ensemble debut and returning favorites, in concerts that investigate Bach's music in depth and historical context.

SEEING DOUBLE: CONCERTO BY BACH AND VIVALDI
March 26
One of the most respected period instrument ensembles in the world, REBEL has been praised by The Boston Globe as "vital...dashing...with performances that lacked nothing in inwardness, charm, or brilliance." Antonio Vivaldi's concerti for two solo instruments inspired some of Bach's most brilliant music. Rebel explores the fascinating connection between the two composers in a program of double concerti for strings and harpsichords.

RECLAIMING BACH FOR THE RECORDER
April 28
The American Academy of Arts & Letters (156th Street between Broadway and Riverside Drive)
The delightful and entertaining Flanders Recorder Quartet has set out to right what they consider Bach's sole shortcoming: his small output for recorder. The ensemble, whose delicate sound has been likened to Baroque organ, arranges works for keyboard and other instruments in this program, featuring Bach's lively Italianate concerti, inventive preludes and fugues, beautifully expressive chorales, and monumental passacaglie.

BACH AND HIS PREDECESSORS
May 14
Church of St. Mary the Virgin (145 W. 46th St.)
Bach revolutionized German music, but like all great composers, he had his forbearers, such as Heinrich Schütz and Dieterich Buxtehude. The "sensational" new ensemble TENET joins forces with Spiritus Collective to perform festive German Baroque works for voice, strings, and brass, culminating in Bach's brilliant early motet Jesu, meine Freude.

"If education was one goal of Miller Theatre's Early Music series, they scored a baccalaureate last night."

- Concertonet

"It truly was an event: this congregation of performers was having a spiritual moment onstage, an experience in which we counted ourselves lucky to take part."

- Time Out New York

Early Music

All concerts begin at 8:00PM and take place at Church of St. Mary the Virgin (145 W. 46th St.)

This season features five Early Music concerts at one of New York's best music venues, the Church of St. Mary the Virgin (affectionately known to insiders as Smoky Mary's). The debuts of two critically acclaimed vocal ensembles are featured in these concerts: Britain's Stile Antico has skyrocketed to the upper echelon of the early music world, and New York Polyphony has swiftly emerged as one of the preeminent men's vocal ensembles. Miller also welcomes a host of renowned early music luminaries: Sequentia and their founder, Benjamin Bagby; France's Le Poème Harmonique, led by director Vincent Dumestre; and The Tallis Scholars with founder-director Peter Phillips.

IN PARADISUM
October 16
An ensemble of a dozen unaccompanied singers, most still in their twenties and three who are sisters, Stile Antico is revitalizing Renaissance choral music. The group performs without a conductor, approaching choral works with the dynamic cohesion of a string quartet. This program focuses on the musical responses of composers faced with their own mortality, featuring swansongs and memorials by such masters as Lassus, Dufay, des Prez, and Byrd.

GIANTS OF THE FLEMISH RENAISSANCE
November 20
New York Polyphony, rising stars on the early music scene, has been likened to Anonymous 4 for their impeccable ensemble and wide-ranging programming. They perform Flemish and Tudor music for men's voices, bringing a unique richness to selections by Ockeghem, Brumel, Dunstable, and Taverner, including excerpts from their new album, Tudor City.

SONGS FROM THE ISLAND SANCTUARY
January 22
In the 12th century, the Cathedral of Notre Dame in Paris was far more than a tourist mecca. It was an entire city unto itself, with a private port on the Seine and its own schools, laws, and social life. In this passionately performed, meticulously researched program, Benjamin Bagby and his acclaimed medieval ensemble Sequentia bring that bygone era to life, suffusing centuries-old music with striking immediacy.

ESPERAR, SENTIR, MORIR
February 19
Court composers in 17th century Spain and Italy often borrowed amply from street dances and folk songs, inspired by the rhythms, melodies, and improvisatory freedom of popular music. The ever-enticing Le Poème Harmonique returns to take us on a tour of this spirited music-complete with guitar and castanets. The program will feature the group's soprano Claire Lefilliâtre, who garnered special mention after their performance last season: "Le Poème Harmonique's five singers produced beautifully balanced sound, but the clear standout was Claire Lefilliâtre, who brought a virtuosic flair to the soaring, ambitiously ornamented soprano line." (The New York Times)

CELEBRATING THE GENIUS OF VICTORIA
April 2
The intensely spiritual, passionate music of Spanish composer Tomás Luis de Victoria has moved generations of listeners. The Tallis Scholars return to the series with a program celebrating the 400th anniversary of Victoria's death, focusing on his grandest choral works, including the composer's crowning achievement: the monumental Requiem.

"This is an inspiring venue."

- JazzTimes

Jazz

All concerts begin at 8:00PM

New York's jazz heart wasn't always located downtown. Once upon a time it was found on 52nd Street and before that on 125th, and for many decades its most powerful radio voice has been WKCR-FM on the campus of Columbia University. Just a few yards away, Columbia's Miller Theatre continues its focus on great jazz artists, collaborating closely with them on concerts the same way it does with Steve Reich or George Crumb. This season, Melissa Smey has pushed the boundaries of Miller's jazz programming with composer-performers such as Vijay Iyer and Craig Taborn, plus the cutting-edge chamber-jazz ensemble FFEAR. She is also spotlighting two quintets led by drummers, one young, one veteran: the NeAl Smith Quintet and the Lewis Nash Quintet.

VIJAY IYER & CRAIG TABORN
October 9
Two of today's most creative young jazz pianists make their New York duo debut, playing side-by-side Steinways on Miller's stage-something not possible in a jazz club. Winner of multiple categories in the Downbeat Magazine International Critics' Poll, Vijay Iyer blends influences from East and West, jazz and classical. A versatile player, Craig Taborn has collaborated with James Carter, Rudresh Mahanthappa, and Tim Berne, among many others.

FFEAR
October 23
Acclaimed soloists and frequent collaborators, the musicians of FFEAR have been called a "pointedly cosmopolitan post-bop collective" (The New York Times). The quartet will give the world premiere of Mirage, an adventurous new work by Ole Mathisen that plays with meter, tempo, and tonality.

NEAl Smith QUINTET
February 5
"As a musician continuing the jazz tradition, I feel it is not only my responsibility to pick up where my fathers left off, but to continually modernize the jazz sound," says NeAl Smith. A longtime drummer for pianist Cyrus Chestnut, Smith brings together several of New York's best in his quintet, which plays traditional tunes and original compositions with equal freshness and panache.

LEWIS NASH QUINTET
February 26
A veteran of the international scene, drummer Lewis Nash has played with many jazz greats, from Betty Carter and Dizzy Gillespie to Diana Krall and Branford Marsalis. He rose to particular prominence during his decade in Tommy Flanagan's trio. Noted for his subtle, melodic playing, Nash is also an accomplished bandleader and educator.

 

"It is hard to imagine a more inviting place to hear a string quartet than Philosophy Hall at Columbia University, especially at noontime with your lunch on your lap...The hall is like a comfortable reading room in an old library. This series puts the chamber back into chamber music. And what a splendid way to spend your lunch hour."

-The New York Times

Lunchtime Concerts

The chamber music of four 20th-century American masters
over 12 lunchtime concerts: September 13, 2010-March 9, 2011
12:30PM
FREE-No tickets required
Philosophy Hall on the Columbia University campus

Miller Theatre presents the fourth year of its exceptional Lunchtime Concerts series: 12 informal, one-hour concerts featuring performances by world-class musicians throughout the season-in an unusually intimate setting, and for free.

This season the concerts spotlight four of the founding fathers of modern American music, with works for voice, strings, and piano. Highlights include Copland's Twelve Poems of Emily Dickinson and Ives's String Quartet No. 2 (both of which premiered at Miller Theatre back when it was McMillin Theatre), plus Ives's Concord Sonata, Thomson's string quartets, and Barber's heartrending Adagio for Strings, heard in its original setting for string quartet. The brilliant players are the new Voxare String Quartet, plus soprano Sarah Wolfson and pianist Stephen Gosling. Concertonet has this to say about Voxare: "The Voxare Quartet is half-Russian, half-Chicagoan, 100 percent Juilliardian and 400 percent young, enthusiastic, blessed with individual great instrumental skills."

Music by Samuel Barber (2010 marks the centennial of his birth)
The Voxare String Quartet; Sarah Wolfson, soprano; Adrian Daurov, cello
September 13-15

Music by Aaron Copland
The Voxare String Quartet; Sarah Wolfson, soprano
October 18-20

Music by Charles Ives
The Voxare String Quartet; Stephen Gosling, piano; Sarah Wolfson, soprano
February 7-9

Music by Charles Ives and Virgil Thomson
The Voxare String Quartet
March 7-9

Miller Theatre 2010-2011 Season at a Glance

Opening Night

Wednesday, September 22, 8:00PM

Friday, September 24, 8:00PM

Satuday, September 25, 8:00PM

Maa: A ballet by Kaija Saariaho

International Contemporary Ensemble

Luca Veggetti, choreographer

Jazz

Saturday, October 9, 8:00PM

Vijay Iyer & Craig Taborn

Early Music

Saturday, October 16, 8:00PM

Church of St. Mary the Virgin

(145 W. 46th St.)

In Paradisum

Stile Antico

Composer Portraits

Thursday, October 21, 8:00PM

Matthias Pintscher

International Contemporary Ensemble

 

Jazz

Saturday, October 23, 8:00PM

FFEAR

Ole Mathisen, saxophone

Chris Washburne, trombones

Tony Moreno, drums

Per Mathisen, bass

Composer Portraits

Friday, November 19, 8:00PM

Fred Lerdahl

Anssi Karttunen, cello

Daedalus Quartet

Argento Ensemble

Michel Galante, conductor

Early Music

Saturday, November 20, 8:00PM

Church of St. Mary the Virgin

(145 W. 46th St.)

Giants of the Flemish Renaissance

New York Polyphony

Composer Portraits

Monday, December 6, 8:00PM

Pierre Boulez: 85th Birthday Celebration

Talea Ensemble

James Baker, conductor

Early Music

Saturday, January 22, 8:00PM

Church of St. Mary the Virgin

(145 W. 46th St.)

Songs from the Island Sanctuary

Sequentia

Banjamin Bagby, director

Composer Portraits

Thursday, February 3, 8:00PM

Julia Wolfe

Signal

Brad Lubman, conductor

Jazz

Saturday, February 5, 8:00PM

NeAl Smith Quintet

Early Music

Saturday, February 19, 8:00PM

Church of St. Mary the Virgin

(145 West 46th St.)

Esperar, Sentir, Morir

Le Poème Harmonique

Vincente Dumestre, conductor

Jazz

Saturday, February 26, 8:00PM

Lewis Nash Quintet

Composer Portraits

Friday, March 4, 8:00PM

Mario Davidovsky

International Contemporary Ensemble

Tony Arnold, soprano

Bach and the Baroque

Saturday, March 26, 8:00PM

Seeing Double:

Concertos by Bach and Vivaldi

REBEL with Peter Sykes, harpsichord

Early Music

Saturday, April 2, 8:00PM

Church of St. Mary the Virgin

(145 West 46th St.)

Celebrating the Genius of Victoria

The Tallis Scholars

Peter Phillips, director

Composer Portraits

Friday, April 15, 8:00PM

Chaya Czernowin

Either/Or

Richard Carrick, conductor

Bach and the Baroque

Thursday, April 28, 8:00PM

The American Academy of Arts & Letters

(156th St. b/w Broadway and

Riverside)

Reclaiming Bach for the Recorder

Flanders Recorder Quartet

Composer Portraits

Thursday, May 5, 8:00PM

Joan Tower

Curtis 20/21

David Ludwig, conductor

Bach and the Baroque

Saturday, May 14, 8:00PM

Church of St. Mary the Virgin

(145 West 46th St.)

Bach and his Predecessors

TENET with Spiritus Collective

Jolle Greenleaf, artistic director

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