From Darkness to Luminosity
$20 ($10 student/senior)
Julia Wolfe — Singing in the dead of night
Morton Feldman — The Viola in My Life I
Orlando Jacinto García — From Darkness to Luminosity
Melia Watras, viola
Cristina Valdés, piano
Seattle Modern Orchestra
Edgard Varèse – Octandre (1923)
Julia Wolfe – Singing in the dead of night (2008)
Morton Feldman – The Viola in My Life I for viola and 5 instruments (1970)
Orlando Jacinto Garcia – From Darkness to Luminosity for piano solo and ensemble (2015) – World premiere
Seattle Modern Orchestra opens its 2015-16 season with a commissioned work by Cuban-American composer Orlando Jacinto Garcia for UW faculty and pianist Cristina Valdés, titled From Darkness to Luminosity. In this new work, Garcia’s piano writing explores moments of traditional virtuosity as well as extended techniques that amplify the timbral possibilities of the instrument, contrasting against the quiet canvas held by the ensemble.
Also on this program are works from three celebrated composers: Edgard Varèse, Morton Feldman and 2015 Pulitzer Prize winner Julia Wolfe. Varèse and Feldman’s non-developmental approach, Wolfe’s repeated pattern and static harmonies, and Garcia’s slow evolution of musical material with a counterpoint of register, density and timbre all explore darkness and light with their unique voices.
We are also very excited to have UW faculty violist Melia Watras perform Morton Feldman’s The Viola of my Life I.
Pre-concert presentation at 7:30 PM.
About Seattle Modern Orchestra
Founded in 2010, Seattle Modern Orchestra (SMO) is the only large ensemble in the Pacific Northwest solely dedicated to the music of the 20th and 21st Centuries. Led by co-artistic directors Julia Tai and Jérémy Jolley, SMO commissions and premieres new works from an international lineup of composers, in addition to presenting important pieces from the contemporary repertoire that are rarely if ever heard by Seattle audiences. The ensemble "operates at that exciting cusp between old and new, between tradition and innovation" (Vanguard Seattle) curating new sounds and experiences for concert goers in the region.
SMO provides audiences with performances of the best in contemporary chamber and orchestral music, and develops radio talks, lectures, and other forms of outreach in an accessible and inviting format all designed to expand the listener’s appreciation and awareness of the music of today.
http://www.seattlemodernorchestra.org/