Featuring:
Tiffany Wee, Violin
Chi-Yuan Chen, Viola
Jeffrey Ho, Cello
Jeremy Kurtz-Harris, Double Bass
Program:
Mean Time - By Tommy Dougherty
Waltzes - By Fred Lerdahl
Glissade - by James Tenney
Friday, September 25
7:30 p.m.
Take a string quartet. Remove the second violin. Add a double bass.
That single swap is the idea behind this season-opening program. Fred Lerdahl's Waltzes sets the terms with a "low" string quartet, his own term for a group where the viola and cello are pushed into unfamiliar high registers while the bass holds down a floor no quartet usually has. James Tenney's Glissade narrows the group further, to viola, cello, and bass, running their glissandi through a live delay system until pitch stops feeling like steps and starts feeling like a slide. Tommy Dougherty's Mean Time strips it down to its two outer edges: a duo for violin and double bass alone, highest and lowest voice facing each other with nothing in between.
Violin, viola, cello, double bass: Tiffany Wee, Chi-Yuan Chen, Jeffrey Ho, and Jeremy Kurtz-Harris.
A glissade is a gliding step in ballet and a controlled slide down a snowfield in mountaineering — momentum without falling. This program moves the same way: one instrument added, removed, or isolated at a time, until an entire register of the string quartet opens up beneath it.
About San Diego New Music:
San Diego New Music is a nonprofit organization dedicated to the public performance of notated music of the highest integrity and artistic caliber from the 20th and 21st centuries. We seek to advance the art form by promoting music composed with conceptual rigor, passionate energy and singular artistic vision. SDNM enriches the artistic culture of San Diego through the presentation of an annual concert series and the soundON Festival of Modern Music, and through fostering its resident performing ensemble, NOISE.
In 1994, the only place in San Diego where you could hear an entire concert of 20th-century music was on a college campus. San Diego New Music pitched the idea of a concert series devoted to modern music and 20th-century classics at the Athenaeum. The concerts of modern music perfectly complement the exhibitions of modern art held in the Athenaeum’s galleries. In 1996, San Diego New Music presented its first season. The series was called "Noise at the Library," and the ensemble would later adopt the name, as well. San Diego New Music and the Athenaeum have been happily co-presenting concerts of new music ever since.
For more information on the organization go to www.sandiegonewmusic.com.
The concerts will be in person at the Athenaeum Music & Arts Library. There are no physical tickets for these events. Your name will be on an attendee list at the front door. Doors open at 7 p.m. Seating is first-come; first-served. Priority seating will be given to Donor level members and above.
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Ticket Cancellation & Refund Policy:
All ticket sales for Athenaeum Music & Arts Library events are final. Cancellations made within 48 hours of the scheduled event start time are not eligible for a refund, regardless of the reason for cancellation.
Guests who are unable to attend may:
Transfer their ticket to another individual, or
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For cancellations made more than 48 hours prior to an event, please contact Anira Abreu, Program and Administrative Associate, to discuss options: aabreu@ljathenaeum.org
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