Terry Riley Weekend
The Complete String Quartets of JOHN ZORN featuring JACK and Tony Arnold (4/30/15). There has rarely been a musician as versatile and prolific as John Zorn, whose genre bending creativity has excited audiences and confounded critics and academics for 40 years. One of his greatest achievements are his compositions for string quartet, which are among the most important contributions to the genre since Carter and Bartok. Spanning almost three decades, these six quartets are each a world of their own, and run the gamut from cartoon madness, hardcore intensity, hebrew spirituality, hermetic romanticism, Crowlean Magick and Alchemical Mysticism. This unprecedented concert presents all six of Zorn's remarkably varied quartets along with the US premiere of Pandora's Box, his striking new composition for string quartet and soprano written for the Arditti Quartet. Featuring the virtuosic young quartet JACK and Tony Arnold on voice, this marathon concert of Zorn's complete quartets is not to be missed.
Drawing upon his experience in classical, jazz, rock, hardcore punk, klezmer, film, cartoon, popular, world and improvised music, John Zorn has created a controversial and influential body of work that often defies academic categories. He has earned great respect within his own community and beyond by going his own way without compromise, developing a large network of supporters world wide, often in unexpected places. Born in 1953 and raised in New York City, Zorn has been a central figure in the Downtown Scene since 1975, incorporating a wide variety of creative musicians into various compositional formats. He is an indefatigable worker and highly prolific: he has composed 6 string quartets, vocal music, chamber music, operas, symphonic and dance works, has released over 100 cds under his own name, has led and written music for dozens of bands (Naked City, The Dreamers, Moonchild, Painkiller), scored over 50 films, and written over 600 tunes for his popular Masada project. His work is diverse and remarkably eclectic and draws inspiration from Art, Literature, Film, Theatre, Philosophy, Alchemy and Mysticism as well as Music.
The JACK Quartet electrifies audiences worldwide with "explosive virtuosity" (Boston Globe) and "viscerally exciting performances" (New York Times). David Patrick Stearns (Philadelphia Inquirer) proclaimed their performance as being "among the most stimulating new-music concerts of my experience." The Washington Postcommented, "The string quartet may be a 250-year-old contraption, but young, brilliant groups like the JACK Quartet are keeping it thrillingly vital." Alex Ross (New Yorker) hailed their performance of Iannis Xenakis' complete string quartets as being "exceptional" and "beautifully harsh," and Mark Swed (Los Angeles Times) called their sold-out performances of Georg Friedrich Haas' String Quartet No. 3 In iij. Noct. "mind-blowingly good."
The Chicago Tribune writes, "anything sung by soprano Tony Arnold is worth hearing." Hailed by the New York Times as "a bold, powerful interpreter," she is recognized internationally as a leading proponent of new music in concert and recording, praised for her sparkling and insightful performances of the most daunting contemporary scores. Since becoming the first- prize laureate of the both the 2001 Gaudeamus International Competition (NL) and the 2001 Louise D. McMahon Competition (USA), Ms. Arnold has collaborated with the most cutting-‐edge composers and instrumentalists on the world stage, receiving consistent critical accolades for a voice of beauty and warmth, an uncanny technical facility, sterling musicianship, and riveting stage presence. "Simply put, she is a rock-‐star in this genre" (Sequenza 21).