92NY Presents DIFFICULT GRACE This Month

The 92nd Street Y, New York Harkness Dance Center, in collaboration with 92NY Tisch Music announces the world premiere of cellist Seth Parker Woods' evening-length Difficult Grace in a new version with choreographer and dancer Roderick George, on November 19 at 7:30 pm in Kaufmann Concert Hall as part of the 2022/23 Mainstage Series. The performance is also available online for 72 hours from the time of broadcast.

Difficult Grace is Woods' semi-autobiographical exploration of identity; past/present histories and personal growth that draws inspiration from the Great Migration; the historic newspaper The Chicago Defender; immigration; and the poetry of Kemi Alabi and Dudley Randall. An evocative, theatrical, and genre-bending collaboration with choreographer/dancer George, Difficult Grace features Woods in the triple role of cellist, narrator/guide, and movement artist, performing music written for and with him by Freida Abtan, Monty Adkins, Fredrick Gifford, Ted Hearne, Devonté Hynes, Nathalie Joachim and Pierre Alexandre Tremblay with visual artwork by Jacob Lawrence, Barbara Earl Thomas, Zoë McLean, and Freida Abtan. The production features sound design by Christopher Botta and lighting and visual design by Thomas Dunn.

About the Artists

Hailed by The Guardian as "a cellist of power and grace" who possesses "mature artistry and willingness to go to the brink," cellist Seth Parker Woods has established his reputation as a versatile artist and innovator.

This season, Woods premieres a new version of his Difficult Grace at 92NY, UCLA, and Chicago's Harris Theater; curates and performs a program honoring George Walker at the Phillips Collection; premieres Freida Abtan's My Heart is a River with the Seattle Symphony; and performs a premiere by Anna Thorvaldsdottir at Carnegie Hall, part of Claire Chase's Density Series. The Great Northern Festival in Minneapolis presents Woods' performance installation, Iced Bodies, and he also joins national tours with pianist Andrew Rosenblum and the Chad Lawson Trio. Woods releases a new solo album on Cedille Records and contributed to the soundtrack of the 2022 Ken Burns PBS documentary, The U.S. and the Holocaust.

Seth Parker Woods is on the faculty of the Thornton School of Music at USC. He is a Pirastro Artist. Learn more at www.sethparkerwoods.com.

Roderick George , born in Houston, Texas, studied dance at Ben Stevenson's Houston Ballet Academy. Roderick continued to develop his skill by exploring other techniques at The Alvin Ailey School, Miami City Ballet, LINES Professional Program and the High School for the Performing and Visual Arts in Houston, TX. Before starting his professional career, he was a bronze winner of the Youth American Grand Prix in New York City in 2005 and was elected as a Presidential Scholar under the YoungArts Foundation in 2003, where he performed for the US President. George has danced with Sidra Bell Dance NY and his career has embraced the collaborations of his work and other great choreographers such as Peeping Tom, Jorma Elo, Jerome Bel, Jacopo Godani, William Forsythe, Johan Inger, Jiří Kylian, Sharon Eyal, Ohan Naharin, Benoit Swan-Pouffer, Richard Wherlock, Tino Seghal and many others.

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