Live! at the Library: PUBLIQuartet with Vijay Iyer, piano
Free (RSVP required)
- Vijay Iyer, piano
- Curtis Stewart, violin
- Jannina Norpoth, violin
- Nick Revel, viola
- Hamilton Berry, cello
Fodé Lassana Diabaté — Sunjata's Time ("I. Sumaworo"; arr. Jacob Garchik)
Henry Threadgill — Sixfivetwo
Fodé Lassana Diabaté — Sunjata's Time ("II. Sogolon"; arr. Jacob Garchik)
Roscoe Mitchell — Cards 11-11-2020
Vijay Iyer — Selected works (new work for violin & piano TBA)
Fodé Lassana Diabaté — Sunjata's Time ("III. Nana Triban: arr. Jacob Garchik)
Hamilton Berry / Jannina Norpoth / Nick Revel / Curtis Stewart — MIND | THE | GAP: Wild Women Don't Get the Blues (Improvisations on Ida Cox, Tina Turner, Betty Davis, and Alice Coltrane)
Vijay Iyer — City of Sand ("Part 3: Cave 17," "Part 4: Gathering," & "Part 5: Entrustment"; arr. for piano quintet)
Embark on a sonic adventure as groundbreaking PUBLIQuartet and Vijay Iyer converge in a concert experience that defies convention. Two-time Grammy nominee PUBLIQuartet, known for its fearless exploration of diverse musical landscapes, brings a fresh and reflective perspective to the string quartet. Sharing the stage with PUBLIQuartet is the pianist and composer Vijay Iyer. A luminary in the world of jazz and beyond, Iyer's avant-garde approach to the piano and composition has earned him acclaim and recognition worldwide. For this electrifying performance, Iyer will perform the premiere of his McKim Fund Commission for the Library of Congress.
Pre-concert Conversation with the Artists: 6:30pm, Whittall Pavilion.
About PUBLIQuartet
Applauded by The Washington Post as "a perfect encapsulation of today’s trends in chamber music," and by The New Yorker as "independent-minded," the Grammy-nominated PUBLIQuartet's modern interpretation of chamber music makes them one of the most dynamic artists of their generation. Dedicated to presenting new works for string quartet, PUBLIQuartet rose on the music scene as winner of the 2013 Concert Artists Guild's New Music/New Places award, and in 2019 garnered Chamber Music America’s prestigious Visionary Award for outstanding and innovative approaches to contemporary classical, jazz, and world chamber music. PQ's genre-bending programs range from 20th-century masterworks to newly commissioned pieces, alongside re-imaginations of classical works featuring open-form improvisations that expand the techniques and aesthetic of the traditional string quartet.
PUBLIQuartet has served as artist-in-residence at top institutions including the Metropolitan Museum of Art and National Sawdust and has appeared at a wide variety of venues and festivals, from Carnegie Hall and the Newport Jazz Festival to The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. Their latest album, the GRAMMY-nominated Freedom and Faith, debuted atop the Billboard Classical Charts in May 2019. The 2019-2020 season brings a diverse array of programs to venues across the United States and abroad, including an appearance at the String Quartet Biennale in Amsterdam.PUBLIQuartet's commitment to supporting emerging composers inspired their innovative program, PUBLIQ Access, which promotes emerging composers and presents a wide variety of under-represented music for string quartet–from classical, jazz and electronic, to non-notated, world and improvised music. Other unique projects include MIND|THE|GAP, a series of group-composed works developed by PQ to generate interest in new music while also engaging traditional classical music audiences. These unique creations range from Bird in Paris (Claude Debussy meets Charlie Parker) to more recent extended works including What Is American? (an exploration of Dvorak's beloved "American" String Quartet) and Sancta Femina (based on themes by three medieval and baroque female composers).
Founded in 2010, PUBLIQuartet is currently based in New York City.
https://www.publiquartet.com/About Vijay Iyer, piano
Described by The New York Times as a "social conscience, multimedia collaborator, system builder, rhapsodist, historical thinker and multicultural gateway," composer-pianist Vijay Iyer is one of the leading music-makers of his generation. His honors include a MacArthur Fellowship, a Doris Duke Performing Artist Award, a United States Artist Fellowship, a Grammy nomination, and the Alpert Award in the Arts. His most recent album, a trio session with drummer Tyshawn Sorey and bassist Linda May Han Oh titled Uneasy (ECM Records, 2021), was named Best New Music in Pitchfork and was hailed by The New Yorker as "a triumph of small-group interplay and fertile invention."
https://vijay-iyer.com/About Curtis Stewart, violin
Curtis Stewart is a multi Grammy-nominated violinist/composer who enjoys bouncing between MTV specials with Wyclef Jean and sold out shows at Madison Square Garden with Stevie Wonder to stints at the Kennedy Center with the Jimmy Heath Big Band and runs at the Guggenheim, MoMA, and Whitney Museums in NYC. Curtis has performed as a classical soloist at Lincoln Center, with the New York Philharmonic Bandwagon, as well as held chamber music residencies at Carnegie Hall, the MET Museum, and National Sawdust. His work realizes a vision to find personal and powerful connections between styles, cultures, and music.
Curtis is Artistic Director of the American Composers Orchestra, faculty at The Juilliard School, director of Contemporary Music at the Perlman Music Program, has been commissioned to write works for the Royal Conservatory of music, The Virginia Symphony, WQXR in New York, Newport Classical Festival La Jolla Festival,The Eastman Cello Institute, The Knights, New York Festival of Song, PUBLIQuartet, and Carnegie Hall: Play/USA.
https://curtisjstewart.com/About Jannina Norpoth, violin
About Nick Revel, viola
About Hamilton Berry, cello
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