Theater in Disguise

Featuring music by; George Tsontakis, Piano Quartet No. 3; Shawn Okpebholo, Black Music (New York Premiere); John Musto Cello Sonata

These vivid, formidable works by outstanding American masters are a kind of disguised theater, with virtuoso instrumentalists engaged in dramatic yet wordless narratives – elusive, abstract, representational. Only in Black Music does composer Shawn Okpebholo explicitly convey “the physical manifestation of the color black as well as artistic elements associated with African American experience and musical culture.” These musical actors converse cooperatively or contentiously, swerving from ethereal to intense, reflective to impulsive, serene to volatile. Their sonic journeys are breathtaking!

Siwoo Kim and Yebin Yoo, violins; Tanner Menees, viola; Alexis Pia Gerlach, cello;
Kebra-Seyoun Charles, bass; Michael Boriskin, piano