Third Coast Percussion: Currents featuring world premiere by Amanda Feery, supported by Culture Ireland

30 June 2019 20:30

Constellation

Featuring world premieres of works by the latest participants of Emerging Composers Partnership winners: Amanda Feery (2018-19), and Tim Page (2017-18).

Programme:

Taylor Rankin Half Light
Tim Page Nature, Industry, Ritual
Amanda Feery Give Us The Night (world premiere)
Hyekyung Lee Cache-cache
Robert Dillon New work TBA
Annika Socolofksy The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows: ambedo
Ryan Lott Quartered

For more details click here.

Third Coast Percussion is a Grammy-winning, artist-run quartet of classically-trained percussionists hailing from the great city of Chicago. For over ten years, the ensemble has forged a unique path in the musical landscape with virtuosic, energetic performances that celebrate the extraordinary depth and breadth of musical possibilities in the world of percussion. The ensemble has been praised for “commandingly elegant” (New York Times) performances, the “rare power” (Washington Post) of their recordings, and “an inspirational sense of fun and curiosity” (Minnesota Star-Tribune).

A commission for a new work from composer Augusta Read Thomas in 2012 led to the realization that commissioning new musical works can be – and should be – as collaborative as any other artistic partnership. Through extensive workshopping and close contact with composers, Third Coast Percussion has commissioned and premiered new works from Philip Glass, Devonté Hynes, Donnacha Dennehy, Glenn Kotche, Lei Liang, Gavin Bryars, Christopher Cerrone, Marcos Balter, and today’s leading up-and-coming composers through their Emerging Composers Partnership Program. These works have become part of the ensemble’s core repertoire and seen hundreds of performances across North America and throughout Europe.

Amanda Feery on Give Us The Night:

I imagined Give Us The Night as a short film. We come upon the exterior of an abandoned space where faint remnants of disco patterns begin to filter through. Muddy kicks, and corroded cow-bells covered in webs eventually come into focus and it is revealed that this supposedly abandoned space is teeming with revellers. The inspiration for the piece comes from exploring abandoned nightclub spaces on a U.S road-trip. I was fascinated by the atmosphere of these spaces. They go beyond existing as a physical space; their walls have stories to tell.

The piece particularly explores patterns, timbres, and harmonies from early house music, a style that has its origins in Chicago and Detroit. What interests me most about these now defunct spaces, is that they were some of the most inclusive, non-segregated, LGBTQ+-friendly spaces in the U.S. We are losing this in our current underground night-spaces - losing ways of listening and moving, losing a feeling of community in order for these spaces to be replaced by coffee chains, unaffordable apartments, and luxury hotels.

Thanks to the generous support of Culture Ireland.

Venue

Constellation

3111 N Western Ave
Chicago
USA