BlackBox Ensemble: Negrón, Giang, Murail, Lewis (Wednesday Matinee Prelude Performance)

The New York City–based BlackBox Ensemble presents a series of performances exploring how objects reflect and shape our relationships to time, culture, and historical memory. In this companion program to Thursday's centerpiece performance, the ensemble performs an eclectic selection of contemporary works by Angélica Negrón, Baldwin Giang, Tristan Murail, and George Lewis, curated to reflect the themes of the radio play as well as those of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Asian Art.

The centerpiece of the series, which the ensemble will perform the following evening, is a performance of Borrowed Landscape, a play by the German playwright duo tauchgold with original music by prominent composer Dai Fujikura. More information: https://www.livemusicproject.org/events/79400/blackbox-ensemble-new-works-by-dai-fujikura-and-tauchgold-thursday-evening-centerpiece-performance

The Wednesday afternoon program was created as a prelude concert in which the themes in each work complement the Fujikara pieces. The collection also connects with themes in exhibitions on view in the museum, mainly "Journey of Color," "Anyang: China's Ancient City of Kings," and "The Art of Knowing in South Asia, Southeast Asia, and the Himalayas." The ensemble was struck by the resonances with "Journey of Color," particularly the idea of playing with perception and "tricking the viewer's eye," and with "The Art of Knowing," specifically "how artists and objects shape wisdom traditions." Make sure you join us for both programs to enjoy the full experience.

About BlackBox Ensemble

The BlackBox Ensemble is a New York City-based, flexible-instrumentation contemporary music collective. We produce projects that aim to resonate with our cultural and political present, advocate for social justice causes, and push the experimental boundaries of the music of our time. In doing so, we are committed to championing some of today’s most powerful emerging composers through close collaboration.

About Smithsonian Music

https://music.si.edu/