Event Detail

Callithumpian Consort

Stephen Drury, Artistic Director

Roger Reynolds: A Mind of Winter (Seasons 1d)

John Cage: Ryoanji

John Zorn: Hockey

Earle Brown: Tracking Pierrot

Lei Liang: Aural Hypothesis

 

UC San Diego composers Roger Reynolds and Lei Liang share the program with Cage, Zorn and Earle Brown, evidence of the strong artistic connection between the Consort and UC San Diego.

 

Drury explains:

 

The Callithumpian Consort, and myself in particular, have had a long and very fruitful relationship with a number of composers at UCSD, including Lei Liang, Rand Steiger, Roger Reynolds, and former UC San Diego composition professor Chaya Czernowin (now at Harvard). I knew Lei during his studies at New England Conservatory, where the Consort is based. We commissioned, premiered and recorded Brush Stroke, one of his first larger pieces for chamber orchestra. A few years ago we commissioned and performed new works from both Lei and Chaya as part of our concert series at the Gardner Museum in Boston. Both Rand and Roger have been guest composers at our Summer Institute for Contemporary Performance Practice (SICPP) at NEC, where we premiered Rand's Template 2 this past summer. 

 

We're thrilled to come to UCSD (for the first time) to present works by Lei and Roger as well as a number of current student composers - the UCSD music department is completely and exclusively devoted to new music; I personally have sent a number of my piano students to UCSD for DMA studies where they were able to pursue their interest in experimental, innovative music and work personally with and alongside some of the finest and most progressive composers and performers in the country.
 

The Callithumpian Consort was founded by pianist and conductor Drury in the 1980s in the belief that new music should be an exciting adventure shared by performers and listeners alike, and that new masterpieces of today are "beautiful, sensuous, challenging, delightful, provocative, and a unique joy." In part, the ensemble's mission is to attract a broader audience for new music including those who have had experiences in rock stadiums, jazz clubs, concert halls, and internet electronica.