Details
Hear transformation in action as four composers reshape literature, centuries-old musical forms, South Indian traditions, and instrumental virtuosity into something distinctly new, including the West Coast premiere of a new chamber concerto for guitarist David Tanenbaum.
PROGRAM
CARLOS SANCHEZ-GUTIERREZ Five Memos (2010)
JURI SEO Contrapuntal Forms (2019)
AARON JAY KERNIS New work (2026) * - featuring David Tanenbaum, guitar
ASHA SRINIVASAN Svara-Lila (2012) *
*This piece is a West Coast Premiere.
INSIDE THE MUSIC
Carlos Sánchez-Gutiérrez — Five Memos
Inspired by Italo Calvino’s Six Memos for the Next Millennium, Five Memos translates literary ideas such as lightness, speed, exactness, and multiplicity into vivid musical form. Praised for music that is “vigorously organized and highly visceral,” Sánchez-Gutiérrez balances rhythmic vitality, kaleidoscopic color, and sudden shifts between drama and play.
Juri Seo — Contrapuntal Forms
Centuries-old musical forms converge with contemporary music, as Seo reimagines canon, cantus firmus, and fugue through shifting harmonies, rhythms, microtones, and even jazz influences. Seo describes her music as “unified and fluid, yet complex.” Here, independent musical voices interact and collide, revealing how an ancient compositional technique can sound remarkably fresh, expressive, and alive.
Aaron Jay Kernis — New Work
The West Coast premiere of a new chamber concerto by Pulitzer Prize and Grammy Award-winning composer Aaron Jay Kernis offers a rare chance to hear music at the moment it enters the world. Created for guitarist David Tanenbaum, Kernis’s longtime collaborator, the work brings soloist and ensemble into dynamic conversation, making the creative process itself part of the performance. Kernis has been praised by The New York Times for his “fearless originality [and] powerful voice.”
Asha Srinivasan — Svara-Lila
Drawing on both her Western musical training and Indian heritage, Srinivasan brings South Indian musical traditions into the contemporary concert hall. Inspired by the Sanskrit words svara (pitch) and lila (play), Svara-Lila builds drama from expressive ragas, vibrant rhythms, and shifting harmonies. Listen as a recurring theme emerges, evolves, and returns with an unexpected sense of tension.
Hear transformation in action as composers reshape literature, musical traditions, cultural influences, and performance into something entirely their own.
"Alchemy" is generously sponsored by an Anonymous donor
