The inaugural Tully Scope Festival presents the Lincoln Center debut of Tyondai Braxton with the Wordless Music Orchestra performing selections from his recent album, Central Market, which was described by The New York Times as "kaleidoscopic...rating on the scales of human achievement and imagination [by] subverting rock's usual ingredients." Best known as the guitarist and singer of the post-rock band Battles, Braxton will also be performing a new piece, "Jackpot 2.0."
Using the Tully Scope Festival as a vehicle for presenting more popular music, the concert seamlessly bridges the gap between classical and rock by pairing Louis Andriessen's expansive Workers Union with several new compositions by Tyondai Braxton and conductor Caleb Burhans. Also on the program is Road Movies, the 1995 work for piano and violin by contemporary American master
John Adams, one of Braxton's foremost acknowledged influences.
Tickets, priced at $25/40/50, are available online at LincolnCenter.org, by calling CenterCharge at 212-721-6500, or at the Avery Fisher or Alice Tully Hall box offices, Broadway and 65th Street. Those who purchase one full-price ticket to any Tully Scope event, will receive a code to buy tickets to all other Tully Scope events for just $20.
Called "a series of moody, challenging compositions that could be described as equal parts Glenn Gould and Brian Eno, with a dousing of
Phil Spector" by Wired, Central Market perfectly blends Braxton's prog rock background with the classical realm. Among the pieces showcased in this performance are "Opening Bell," "Uffe's Woodshop," "The Duck and the Butcher," "Unfurling," "Dead Strings," and the centerpiece of the album, "Platinum Rows."
For more than a decade, Tyondai Braxton has worked by himself and with the avant-rock band Battles on stage and in the studio--employing guitar, voice, looping, and delay pedals with various found objects to create work that simulates the sound of a large ensemble. On Central Market, however--his 2009 Warp Records debut and second full-length solo album--Braxton takes a radically different course from the "orchestrated loops" that had become his trademark, and composed for a real orchestra. The result is an exhilarating mix of acoustic and electronic instrumentation; surprisingly pastoral moments give way to more clangorous passages that will immediately appeal to fans of the Warp Records catalog and that label's illustrious artist roster. There are plenty of ominous, unsettling sounds, particularly in its later tracks, but the sheer ambition of Central Market gives the album an uplifting, almost joyful quality in its appropriation of influences such as
Igor Stravinsky,
John Adams,
Carl Stalling,
Edgard Varèse, T?ru Takemitsu, and
Béla Bartók. The spirit of the playing and the inventiveness of the arrangements make the entire experience exciting and fun, a word Braxton often employs when describing the process of bringing Central Market to fruition.
Essential to this project was Braxton's choice of players: the Wordless Music Orchestra, the young New York City ensemble organized by Ronen Givony and Caleb Burhans, perhaps best known to date for performing the U.S. premiere of Jonny Greenwood's Popcorn Superhet Receiver, a symphonic work from the Radiohead guitarist's BBC Artist Residency, and the New York premiere of Arvo Pärt's Symphony No. 4 ("Los Angeles"). The orchestra's combination of knowledge, virtuosity, and eagerness to experiment mirrors the conservatory-trained Braxton's own sensibility. The WordlessMusic Orchestra is the house band of New York City's WordlessMusic series and has presented dozens of concerts in churches, museums, nightclubs, and out of doors, pairing artists from the sound worlds of classical, electronic, and rock music. Comprised of New York's most omnivorous young musicians and members of groups such as Alarm Will Sound, Signal, SoPercussion, ACME, and Bang on a Can, the orchestra will team up with the Signal Ensemble and conductor Brad Lubman later this year to perform the U.S. premiere of Jonny Greenwood's newest work for orchestra, Doghouse, on a program with the New York City premiere of
Philip Glass/
David Bowie/Brian Eno's Symphony No. 4 ("Heroes") and György Ligeti's Chamber Concerto.
In its debut season, the Tully Scope Festival offers a dynamic spectrum of distinctive musical presentations spanning centuries, cultures, and genres through unique and multi-faceted performances demonstrating Alice Tully Hall's new adaptability as a venue. Other noted artists and ensembles who will participate in the Festival are: the International Contemporary Ensemble (ICE) in the world premiere of
Nathan Davis's Bells on February 22; a composer focus on Morton Feldman featuring ICE and Axiom on February 22 and 24; Brooklyn Rider in the world premiere of
Philip Glass's new work, Suite for String Quartet from Bent, in a program with Persian music master Kayhan Kalhor on March 9; Jordi Savall in the NY premiere of The Route of the New World: From Spain to Mexico on March 14; and the NY premiere of Heiner Goebbels's Songs of Wars I Have Seen on March 18. In addition to the performances in the concert hall itself, the at65 café and public spaces will be the scene of a number of events, including a free opening event, pre- and post-concert lectures and discussions (featuring noted musical scholars and many of the Festival's participating artists), as well as receptions and gatherings for the artists and audience members after each performance.
Support for Great Performers and the Tully Scope Festival is provided by Rita E. and Gustave M. Hauser, The
Florence Gould Foundation, The Fan Fox and Leslie R. Samuels Foundation, Inc., The Shubert Foundation, Logicworks, Bank of China, U.S.A., Ann and Gordon Getty Foundation, Great Performers Circle, Chairman's Council, and Friends of Lincoln Center.
Public support is provided by the New York State Council on the Arts.
Corporate support is provided by BNY Mellon.
Endowment support for Symphonic Masters is provided by the
Leon Levy Foundation.
Endowment support is provided by UBS.
Movado is an Official Sponsor of Lincoln Center, Inc.
United Airlines is the Official Airline of Lincoln Center, Inc.
First Republic Bank is the Official Sponsor of the Fashion Lincoln Center Online Experience.
MetLife is the National Sponsor of Lincoln Center, Inc.
The Tully Scope Festival is a presentation of Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, Inc. (LCPA), which serves three primary roles: presenter of superb artistic programming, national leader in arts and education, and manager of the Lincoln Center campus. As a presenter of more than 400 events annually, LCPA's programs include American Songbook, Great Performers,
Lincoln Center Festival, Lincoln Center Out of Doors, Midsummer Night Swing, the Mostly Mozart Festival, and Live From Lincoln Center. In addition, LCPA is leading a series of major capital projects on behalf of the resident organizations across the campus.
Lincoln Center is committed to providing and improving accessibility for people with disabilities. For information, call the Department of Programs and Services for People with Disabilities at (212) 875-5375.
Tully Scope Festival 2011 presents
Monday, March 7 at 7:30 pm
Tyondai Braxton
with the Wordless Music Orchestra
Caleb Burhans, conductor
John Adams: Road Movies
Caleb Burhans: In a Distant Place
Louis Andriessen: Workers Union
Tyondai Braxton: Selections from Central Market and new compositions
Opening Bell
Uffe's Woodshop
The Duck and The Butcher
Platinum Rows
Unfurling
Jackpot 2.0
Dead Strings
Post-performance discussion with Tyondai Braxton, Ronen Givony, and
John Schaefer Co-presented by Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts and Wordless Music
Tickets, priced at $25/40/50, are available online at LincolnCenter.org, by calling CenterCharge at 212-721-6500, or at the Avery Fisher or Alice Tully Hall box offices, Broadway and 65th Street. Those who purchase one full-price ticket to any Tully Scope event, will receive a code to buy tickets to all other Tully Scope events for just $20.
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