31 January 2023
Initially blush, famed pianist Awadagin Pratt might seem like an unusual fit for the Southern Direct exposure New Music Series, where your dog is set to perform alongside users of the USC Symphony Band and violinist Ari Streisfeld on Feb. 4 plus solo on Feb. seven. Pratt won the Naumburg International Piano Competition within 1992 and famously gained three degrees from the Peabody Conservatory in Baltimore (piano, violin and conducting) and it has spent the last few decades among the country’s preeminent pianists. He or she is primarily known for his powerful performances of the Western traditional music canon — functions from Beethoven, Bach, Brahms and the like. But he comes in Columbia eager to perform works from his newest project, the T. S i9000. Eliot-inspired Stillpoint series. Utilizing a few key lines through the Modernist great’s “Four Quartets” as the starting point, Pratt entrusted seven composers, from most up-to-date luminaries Tyshawn Sorey plus Paola Prestini to pathbreaking composers like Alvin Singleton and P? teris Vasks, to write new pieces regarding piano, string orchestra plus, quite unusually, a expressive group named Roomful associated with Teeth. The group is a innovative experimental vocal band. “We wanted to have piano plus string orchestra because, whilst there is some music composed for piano and thread orchestra, it’s not such a serious part of the repertoire, ” Pratt said. “Then there was the concept to add a vocal aspect of it, which is also quite uncommon. I wanted to leave this open for the composers to choose. “As for its Modernist inspirations, Pratt had long been keen on “Four Quartets” and believed it could be a concept to unify the various commissions. After getting permission from the publishing corporation Faber & Faber to make use of an excerpt from the composition, Pratt selected a few crucial lines (“Neither from neither towards; at the still stage, there the dance will be, /But neither arrest neither movement”) as the seed concept. “I love the idea of the particular ‘still point’ and… which the dance happens at the nevertheless point, ” he mused. “There’s a kind of duality associated with opposites in a way. It’s attractive. The lines are lovely. I thought it would be really good motivation for the composers. “The Sunday night Southern Exposure collection concert will feature the particular concertos for piano plus strings written by Singleton plus Prestini, along with a few non-Stillpoint and more intimate solo parts by Philip Glass, Vasks and Francois Couperin. The particular free performance will be within the Johnson Performance Hall within the basement of the Darla Moore School of Music in 7: 30 p. mirielle. Later in the week, upon Feb. 7, Pratt may also be a featured soloist within the USC Symphony Orchestra live concert at the Koger Center for that Arts, where he’ll perform Jessie Montgomery’s “Rounds, inch which he premiered using the Hilton Head Symphony Band last year. That performance reaches 7: 30 p. meters. and tickets are $28 (discounts available for students, senior citizens and military). Pratt is definitely eager to continue playing these types of new works, but this individual demurs at the idea that these types of pieces and the coming lp recording are legacy-defining. “We remember pianists, but we all remember composers more, inch he said. “It’s about the lifetime of the pianist. There’s the recorded heritage, but that the legacy associated with composers just has a significantly broader reach its wider in time and across period. “But he still expectations that the project does have an effect in terms of the trajectory of new songs and can inspire other function. “The breadth to it, plus a certain quality of creativity, ” he said. “It’s really giving prominence to some new combination (piano, guitar strings and vocal group) which really expressive and may open doors and be a good inspiration for other composers. “Feb. 3 at one: 10 p. m. Free of charge. Live streamed. Feb. four at 7: 30 l. m. in the Darla Moore School of Business info – Johnson Performance Corridor. Free. Feb. 7 in 7: 30 p. meters. at Koger Center for your Arts. $28.