ACME is also featured in two new additions to the Bernstein Artists roster: On In Love, a new work by Jefferson Friedman with Shudder To Think vocalist Craig Wedren, and Psalm Book, by composer Ingram Marshall which also features Lionheart vocal ensemble.
Bernstein Artists is on a mission. Dedicated to the development and advancement of artists seeking to extend the boundaries of their given genres, our roster embraces a broad spectrum of arts, from new music to contemporary music theater, early music, theater and jazz.
An unprecedented collaboration between three cultural visionaries: DAVID KRAKAUER, champion of klezmer music and world-class clarinetist; legendary funk trombonist and arranger FRED WESLEY, celebrated for his work with James Brown and George Clinton; and hip-hop renegade and beat architect SOCALLED - Abraham Inc. heralds a time when boundaries are eroding, mutual respect is presumed, and musical traditions can hit with full force without concession or appropriation. Backed by a three-piece horn section led by Wesley plus musicians who collaborate frequently with Krakauer and Socalled - and the result is an all-out klezmer-funk dance party! -- More info >>
David Krakauer, one of the most important and influential musicians in new Jewish music today and of the vital new wave of klezmer, is known mostly for his amplified sound pushing the boundaries of klezmer to include elements of jazz, rock, funk and hip-hop. For chamber music series and smaller venues, we offer this program in which he plays acoustic versions of his music with his quartet. -- More info >>
In this program, the Pablo Ziegler Quintet is joined by Chilean vocalist . Ms. Acuña seamlessly fuses Latin rhythms with her instinctive jazz sensibility, performing songs composed by Pablo Ziegler and Astor Piazzolla, as well as some works of her own. "Emotional, exacting, and soulful, Acuña breathes great life and drama into each song." (Musiciansnews.com) -- More info >>
In a world troubled by religious strife and division, the period between the eighth and fifteenth centuries in the Iberian Peninsula offers a hopeful historical reminder: Muslims, Christians, and Jews once lived together in Spain, creating a centuries-long flowering of commerce, culture, art, and architecture. Provenance offers a contemporary interpretation of this shared harmonious source.
Provenance peaked at #6 in overall music sales and #1 in Classical music on Amazon. It also hit #1 in World Music on iTunes and #3 in Classical on Billboard. -- More info >>
Beyond Tango was conceived by Ziegler for the Miami International Piano Festival and we are pleased to now offer this popular program for touring. While Pablo Ziegler is known to the jazz world through his touring to venues such as the Bimhuis in Amsterdam and his annual performances at the Jazz Standard in New York City, this program focuses on his classical music and involves different instrumentation. The evening progresses from piano duo, through trio, quartet, quintet and finally large chamber ensemble playing mostly the compositions of Pablo Ziegler, but including some of his own arrangements of the Piazzolla 2-piano pieces which Pablo had recorded with Emanuel Ax for Sony Classical, produced by Ettore Strata. -- More info >>
A Blue Hat Washed Up On Shore is an exciting new work co-written by two visionary contemporary music ensembles: 2 Foot Yard, known for their impeccable craft and unique synthesis of chamber music sensibilities with popular vernacular, and Brooklyn Rider, a vital and adventurous string quartet praised for their innovative repertoire as well as their immense technical virtuosity. Drawing inspiration from Alan Lightman's best-selling novel, Einstein's Dreams, A Blue Hat Washed Up On Shore is a seamless collection of instrumental works, song, narration and improvisational sequences which draws on the wide sound palette of the two groups. -- More info >>
Canyengue brings together Latin Grammy-winning pianist and composer Pablo Ziegler, considered to be “the outstanding representative of the nuevo tango in his generation” (Stereo Review) and Maya Beiser, described by the The New Yorker as a “cello goddess” and by the San Francisco Chronicle as “the queen of post-minimalist cello.” Ziegler was pianist for Astor Piazzolla for ten years and instrumental in creating the sound that elevated tango music from dance clubs to the concert hall. Beiser grew up on an Argentinean kibbutz in Israel and is a celebrated cellist known for taking the cello beyond its classical boundaries. In their collaboration they explore the nature of “canyengue” – provocative, raw, earthy and sensual – the true soul of Buenos Aires tango. -- More info >>
Checkpoint brings together the unique talents of master musicians Iva Bittová, David Krakauer and Merima Ključo. Influences from the cultural heritage of each of these performers (Rom, Jewish and Bosnian) come into play with improvisation and original compositions to create a provocative statement about a shared central European identity. -- More info >>
The elegant and fresh sounding poetry and music of Guillaume de Machaut (c.1300-1377) continues to astonish and engage contemporary audiences. Integrating an unusual combination of musical colors, forms and sensual poetic narrative, Machaut heavily influenced younger contemporaries such as Chaucer, Boccaccio, and Petrarch. Machaut's bittersweet epic poem Remede de Fortune (the Remedy of Fortune) vividly sets to music the tale of a young man's first love and his passionate struggle to become worthy of his lady. As the centerpiece of Lionheart's concert, the dramatic presentation of this melancholic story evokes a spirit of serenity. -- More info >>
Internationally acclaimed clarinetist David Krakauer is available as a guest soloist with orchestras. His current repertoire includes two concertos written specifically for Krakauer: an exciting new work by rising young Polish composer Wlad Marhulets and a work by the esteemed Ofer Ben Amots. In addition, Krakauer will offer Osvaldo Golijov's Dreams and Prayer's of Isaac the Blind arranged for string orchestra, as well as orchestral arrangements of Krakauer's trademark compositions and traditional Klezmer tunes.
A quartet of musicians from the Paul Dresher Ensemble will bring a program of works by Dresher that combine the Dresher/Davel invented instrument duo with the virtuoso violin and piano duo of Karen Bentley and Lisa Moore. The concert program will include two major works performed by Dresher and Davel - In The Nameless and Glimpsed From Afar - as well as classic duo, trio and quartet works by Dresher including Double Ikat, Elapsed Time and Chorale Times Two. -- More info >>
Paul Dresher is a composer who is internationally noted for his ability to integrate diverse musical influences into his own coherent and unique personal style. He pursues many forms of musical expression including experimental opera and music theater, chamber and orchestral composition, live instrumental electro-acoustic music performances, musical instrument invention, and scores for theater, dance, and film. -- More info >>
Cellist Maya Beiser and Theater Director Robert Woodruff are collaborating on a new, evening-length multimedia work in two acts. Elsewhere is a bridge across the end of a world. It depicts the experience of two women who are caught up in a terrible catastrophe, which they do not understand, have no part of and are unable to prevent. Separated by time and distance, they call out to each other, sharing a sense of puzzlement about the brutality of their existence.
Inspired by recent sojourns to the top of Mount Kilimanjaro, the rain forests of Costa Rica, the glaciers of Alaska, and the length of the Hudson River, storyteller/poet David Gonzalez’s new multi-media production brings together images from our world near and far, poetry and monologues inspired from interviews with activists and experts in the environmental movement, and the music of composer and pianist Daniel Kelly. -- More info >>
Commissioned by WNYC, Public Radio, John The Revelator is a recent work by downtown music virtuoso Phil Kline. Based on concepts from the Bible's apocalyptic Book of Revelation and named after a song by blues legend Blind Willie Johnson, this work is a mass for the 21st century, written specifically for the early music vocal sextet Lionheart and string quartet. The world premiere concert, with ETHEL, took place in November 2006 at the World Financial Center’s Winter Garden and followed with a broadcast on WNYC Radio. Lionheart can perform John the Revelator with ETHEL or a resident string quartet. March 2009 saw the release of the CD of this work on the Cantaloupe label for which it has garnered rave reviews from the press. -- More info >>
As one of the foremost musicians of the vital new wave of klezmer, David Krakauer tours the globe with his celebrated Klezmer Madness! ensemble. While firmly rooted in traditional klezmer folk tunes, the band “hurls the tradition of klezmer music into the rock era” (Jon Pareles, The New York Times). With Klezmer Madness!, Krakauer has forged alliances among his genre of world music and jazz, rock, funk and hip-hop. It simultaneously shouts out to those who remember “yesterday’s” klezmer and to the hard dance clubbers and world music enthusiasts of today. -- More info >>
Phil Kline has emerged as one of the 21st Century’s most intriguing song composers. Mining texts found in speeches, interviews and graffiti for the unique poetry of the American vernacular, Kline’s quasi-theatrical songs are by turns intense, dark, dizzying, confrontational and funny, but always with an ear for musical beauty. He places his voices in the multi-level sound world of an electro-acoustic chamber ensemble, mixing classical and rock instruments with electronics played by an elite group of New York’s new music specialists. -- More info >>
Internationally acclaimed clarinetist David Krakauer occupies the unique position of being one of the world’s leading exponents of Eastern European Jewish klezmer music, and at the same time is a major voice in classical music. Known for his mastery of myriad styles Krakauer lies way beyond “cross-over”. His best-selling classical and klezmer recordings further define his brilliant tone, virtuosity and imagination. -- More info >>
For the 2011-12 Season, David Krakauer is available as special guest at Kronos Quartet concerts. Repertoire includes the world premiere touring season of a new quintet by Aleksandra Vrebalov. -- More info >>
Lionheart is one of America’s leading ensembles in vocal chamber music. Acclaimed for its "smoothly blended and impeccably balanced sound" (Allan Kozinn, The New York Times), Lionheart (Jeffrey Johnson, Lawrence Lipnik, John Olund, Richard Porterfield, Kurt-Owen Richards, and Michael Wenger) is best known for its interpretation of medieval and Renaissance a cappella music, with Gregorian chant as the keystone of its repertoire. The ensemble also collaborates with instrumental ensembles, dance companies, and contemporary composers. -- More info >>
Raised in the stockyard and slaughterhouse district of Mataderos in Buenos Aires, Sandra Luna hails, like tango, from the margins. She brings a passionate, sometimes pained, voice to both classic and new tango songs. Like all serious contemporary tango artists, Sandra balances the weight of the tango past with the need to redefine and renovate. In this dynamic new program, Luna joins the Pablo Ziegler Ensemble, playing acoustic chamber arrangements of their captivating repertoire. Paraphrasing tango lyricist Horacio Ferrer, she describes tango as "cinders that burn again and again... tango is like life, and has to evolve. I think contemporary tango needs a sure voice, which sings out with strength while the pueblo cries." -- More info >>
On In Love melds the energy and immediacy of post-punk rock with the complexity and refinement of classical chamber music. Composed by Jefferson Friedman with lyrics and vocals by Craig Wedren of avant-rock band Shudder To Think, and featuring ACME, known for their work with the Wordless Music Series and indie music icons such as Grizzly Bear, the song cycle represents a contemporary redefinition of archetypal songs through a unique collaboration. Friedman’s original blend of “classical music training with rock sensibilities […] is both sophisticated and appealing” (Allan Kozinn, New York Times). -- More info >>
For over thirty years, Ingram Marshall has been heralded for his prolific compositions ranging from Indonesian Gamelan-inspired melodies to his use of live recording tape collages that incorporate extended vocal techniques. Marshall is now composing a new work for Lionheart and ACME string quartet based on early American psalmody. The piece will include a re-working of the 23rd Psalm from the Bay Psalm Book of 1692, the earliest printed music in North America, whose austere but curiously poignant melodies will supply the source materials for this new work. -- More info >>
Paul Dresher has created an evening-length solo music theater work for percussionist Steven Schick using large-scale invented musical instruments. The work was first presented at Stanford Lively Arts and the premiere of its fully realized production took place at the Mondavi Center in November 2009. Virtuoso percussionist Steven Schick has long been bringing considerable theatrical skills into his performances, and here performs on a stage whose every object and surface is sonically active. The instruments combine both traditional percussion and new large-scale instruments that have been invented and built specifically for this composition. -- More info >>
Argentine pianist and composer Pablo Ziegler has created beautiful arrangements of the music of Astor Piazzolla and J.C.Cobian, along with his own works, for large orchestra and chamber orchestra. Because of his unique understanding of tango rhythms and performance, Mr. Ziegler comes to work with the orchestra, in addition to providing all scores and parts of his arrangements. As a composer and arranger, Mr. Ziegler is able to adapt the specific program to a presenter's or orchestra's needs, and as a masterful pianist, Mr. Ziegler would also play as a guest soloist with the orchestra and, if desired, can conduct from the piano. -- More info >>
GRAMMY award winning pianist and composer Pablo Ziegler infuses his performances and arrangements with a deep knowledge of tango, having served as the music director for Astor Piazzolla's ensemble for over 10 years. In 1990, Pablo Ziegler formed his own Ensemble for New Tango, which blended classic tango rhythms with jazz improvisations, bringing a new voice to the tango lexicon. Ziegler imprints his own unique stamp on the work, using the piano percussively, coaxing atmospheric jazz harmonies out of the music, and drawing upon the rhythms of early 20th century classical music. As the Chicago Tribune notes, "There's no question that Ziegler takes the tango to levels of sophistication and refinement probably undreamed of by Piazzolla."
Composer-Writer Phil Kline and Writer-Director Jim Jarmusch are collaborating on the creation of an evening length music theater piece, Tesla. Tesla will be a "more or less" true series of fantasies based on the incredible life of Nikola Tesla, and focusing on the years he lived in downtown Manhattan. One of the most remarkable and enigmatic men of the twentieth century, Tesla invented the modern method of electrical distribution that powered the second industrial revolution, and was acknowledged to be the true inventor of radio. And yet, despite all that, he died impoverished and alone in his room at the Hotel New Yorker. This project is currently being developed and will be available for touring in 2013.
Johannesburg 1974: A teacher asks two rival schoolboys to tell each other a story. Decades later, they meet by chance in New York as Oscar®-nominated filmmaker and psychiatrist and set out to transform the world through their real life storytelling.
Two Men Talking is a live unscripted performance in which two men weave their life stories into a production that captivates audiences. Their story takes place between South Africa and New York City touching on issues of personal identity, HIV/AIDS, being Jewish in South Africa, and the creation of a lifetime friendship. -- More info >>
Evocative, theatrical and spiritual, World To Come is Maya Beiser's multimedia solo concert, featuring premieres by Steve Reich, Osvaldo Golijov and David Lang. This evening challenges the notion of a solo cello concert and encompasses text, vocals, dramatic lighting and interactive videos. World To Come had its world premiere at the Krannert Center on October 18th, 2003, and its New York premiere as part of the inaugural season of Zankel Hall at Carnegie Hall on October 30th, 2003, followed by a major national and international tour. -- More info >>
Born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Latin GRAMMY winning pianist Pablo Ziegler artfully blends classic tango rhythms with jazz improvisations, adding a new voice to the tango lexicon. Howard Reich of The Chicago Times writes, “There’s no question that Ziegler takes the tango to levels of sophistication and refinement probably undreamed of by Piazzolla”, and Eric Salzman of Stereo Review, writing of Ziegler’s CD, Tango Romance, affirmed that the CD “solidifies his (Ziegler’s) claim to be the outstanding representative of the nuevo tango in his generation.” -- More info >>
Phil Kline's Zippo Songs sets texts that American GIs engraved on their Zippo lighters in Vietnam. The songs follow like a harrowing series of haiku, expressing the gamut of emotions young men feel under the threat of imminent oblivion. Alex Ross of The New Yorker calls it “One of the most brutally frank song cycles ever penned.” Recent seasons have included performances at the Detroit Institute of Art, the Kimmel Center, Connecticut College and the Flynn Theatre. -- More info >>
David Krakauer has been closely associated with John Zorn's Radical Jewish Culture movement since its beginning in the early 1990s. He initially came to John's attention through his pioneering work with the Klezmatics in the late 80s at the old Knitting Factory in New York City. In 1992 he was invited to be part of the premiere of Zorn's epic composition "Kristallnacht" at "Art Projekt '92" in Munich. This event plus the subsequent release of a commercial recording of the piece launched the concept of "Radical Jewish Culture". Soon after Krakauer was given the singular honor of releasing the first record in the Radical Jewish Culture series on Zorn's then budding Tzadik label; this being the first record under Krakauer's own name : "Klezmer Madness!". -- More info >>
