May is new opera month! This weekend and next, I’m playing with Rhymes With Opera in Rumpelstiltskin, a new opera by Ruby Fulton and George Lam. Also this weekend, I’ll play Brooklyn Bowl for the first time with the World/Inferno Friendship Society. Next Tuesday, I join countertenor Juecheng Chen on violin and electronics for his program of improvised opera. At the end of May, thingNY presents the world premiere of Passover, our commission from composer/writer Rick Burkhardt, in Philadelphia, Washington D.C., Boston, and Brooklyn. Read on for more!
Improvising at XFest Massachusetts, photo by Sam Gunnell
Last year, I performed in Rhymes With Opera’s production of Bonnie Lander’s Coping Mechanisms, an improvised opera. This year, they’ve invited me back for a very different piece, composed in honor of their 10th season. The musical style of Rumpelstiltskin, based on the classic fable, is more traditionally operatic, but the story adaptation and staging are full of campy, postmodern twists. Unusually, this opera was jointly composed by RWO co-artistic directors Ruby Fulton and George Lam. It’s fun and kooky, plus the orchestra gets a dance number. Please come let us entertain you!
I’m looking forward to playing at Brooklyn Bowl for the first time with World/Inferno this Sunday. It’s a very cool venue, and the band continues to evolve – we’ll have a new drummer at this show. Come cheer him on, and bowl some strikes while you’re at it!
Sometimes these sites are not your typical drug dealer looking for effective ways to use technology, but instead are set up by ex-pharmacists or doctors online viagra store working under the radar for some extra cash. Females generally suffer with depression and they start feeling that they are not good enough as males. buy tadalafil cipla We from time to time due to the daily routine orden viagra viagra life of any person. If you go through the statistics, then you will get confronted with the fact that there are no restrictions placed by the government on the rates best online viagra at which medications can be sold unlike other developed countries. On Tuesday the 22nd, I’m trying out a new collaboration with “conceptual countertenor” Juecheng Chen, who I first saw perform last year in an amazing set at Home Audio in my Brooklyn apartment. I’ll be joining him on violin and Ableton Live, in a semi-improvised operatic performance that Juecheng has dubbed Sudden aggression. We’d love to have you there, and to get your feedback afterwards!
Finally this month, thingNY hits the road with the world premiere of Rick Burkhardt’s Passover, a performance-ritual for six singing/speaking performers at a dinner table on which lies a double bass. In our over ten years together, this is the first time we’ve commissioned a composer outside the group to create a concert-length piece for us, which reflects the fact that Rick’s style is well suited to what we do. In the piece, we take turns telling stories while playing our instruments and being accompanied by the other group members. The ultimate effect can be quite moving, and we really hope you’ll come to a show: in Philly, in the beautiful new Philadelphia Folk Society space, in D.C., at homey Rhizome presented by Sonic Circuits, in Boston, at a free concert with snacks provided courtesy of Fort Point Theatre Channel, or in Brooklyn at venerable new music institution Roulette, where thingNY will join Varispeed to perform Kenneth Gaburo’s Maledetto for virtuoso speakers. Thanks to Chamber Music America for generously funding the commission!
Further ahead, I’m happy to say that booking of mine and Paul Pinto’s …Patriots… album release tour this July is going well! We’ve confirmed the majority of dates on our tour, but we’re still looking for shows in Columbus (OH), Cincinnati (or Louisville), Lawrence (KS), Kansas City, and Cleveland (or Toledo). Let us know if you know someone who could help us out!
Enjoy the radiooooooooooooooo,
Jeff