Emerald City Music: Inspired by Gamelan

• Kristin Lee, violin
• Michael Stephen Brown, piano
• Svet Stoyanov, percussion

The Balinese gamelan stands as one of the world's most fascinating, hypnotic, and transporting experiences of music. In this concert-length evening, experience gamelan alongside the works of three 20th-century composers who found ready influence in this music: Steve Reich, Claude Debussy, and Lou Harrison. The night ends with an experience of the Balinese Gamelan.

In detail: Composers over the centuries found inspiration in folk music from around the world, and in the late 20th Century, many composers found their influence in gamelan music from Indonesia. We're proud to bring you an experience of the Balinese gamelan, alongside three chamber music works that transform the indelible instrument into each composer's own style and setting. Debussy paints with its harmonic color palette and common melodic shapes. Steve Reich lives within its rhythmic systems and poignant expression through repeated figures, while Lou Harrison captures its overall textures and tells an evocative story through the sense of gamelan’s coordinated interlocking parts. Come be transported by the gamelan in both its urtext and re-textualization.

This program will receive 2 performances: Friday, December 15, 8pm at 415 Westlake in Seattle; and Saturday, December 16, 7:30pm at the Capital High School Performing Arts Center in Olympia.

About Emerald City Music

http://www.emeraldcitymusic.org

About University of British Columbia School of Music

https://music.ubc.ca/

About Kristin Lee, violin

http://www.violinistkristinlee.com/

About Michael Stephen Brown, piano

Praised for his "fearless performances," by The New York Times and "exceptionally beautiful" compositions by The Washington Post, pianist and composer Michael Stephen Brown is a frequent performer of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center series. Mr. Brown, whose artistry is shaped by his creative voice as a pianist and composer, will be featured in the Society 2023-24 season with a solo recital at Alice Tully Hall. A native New Yorker, he lives there with his two 19th-century Steinway Ds, Octavia and Daria.

About Svet Stoyanov, percussion

Praised by The New York Times for his "understated but unmistakable virtuosity" along with a "winning combination of gentleness and fluidity," Svet Stoyanov is a driving force in modern percussion. Winner of the prestigious Concert Artists Guild International Competition, Svet was also presented with the Johns Hopkins University Alumni Award. He has been a featured concerto soloist with the Chicago, Seattle, and the American Symphony Orchestras, as well as solo performances in Lincoln Center, Carnegie Hall, Kennedy Center, and Taiwan National Concert Hall.