Spektral Quartet
KALAMAZOO, Mich.—The Spektral Quartet will return to Western Michigan University for a workshop-performance of a gripping new work by WMU faculty composer Lisa Renée Coons at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, April 11, in the Dalton Center Recital Hall.
The performance will be preceded by a 7 p.m. discussion hosted by Dr. Robert White. Tickets are $12 general admission, $10 for seniors and $5 for students, and are available from Miller Auditorium online or by calling (269) 387-2300 or (800) 228-9858.
Staging the first section of this multidisciplinary collaboration for the first time, the quartet's program is rounded out with the texturally charismatic "Alchemy" for violin and electronics by WMU composer Carolyn Borcherding, as well as sonic postcard of sorts from Spektral's home city of Chicago: Ruth Crawford Seeger's serialist masterpiece, "String Quartet 1931," and George Lewis' kaleidoscopic "String Quartet 1.5 'Experiments in Living'" commissioned by the Spektral Quartet.
Mark DeChiazza, whose practice as a director is informed by his background in movement, media and design, seeks to open new meanings in musical performance—physically, visually and theatrically. This new collaboration, with Coons and Spektral Quartet, offers an opportunity for him to explore modes of interrelating the conceptual and physical development of the work in tandem with Coons' process of shaping and solidifying as a musical composition, and with the emergent relationship of the performers to the work as they rehearse.
Bullock Music Performance Institute
Established in the fall of 1985 and renamed in 1988 in honor of its founder, the institute's mission is to add to the already rich cultural life of Kalamazoo by creating opportunities to develop closer personal and artistic ties between audience and performer. The institute has presented events ranging from formal evening concerts to daytime educational outreach events for students and local audiences of all ages.
For more information about the Wednesday evening concert series, call (269) 387-4704 or (269) 387-4678, or visit wmich.edu/music.
For more news, arts and events, visit wmich.edu/news.