Empyrean Ensemble: “Rzewski’s ‘Coming Together'”

Program

Philip Acimovic (Ph.D. composition ‘18): Echo Flute WORLD PREMIERE

Annea Lockwood: Immersion

Composed by New Zealand-born American composer Annea Lockwood, Immersion (1998) for marimba and two tam-tams was written for Dominic Donato and Frank Cassara and arranged for the Talujon Percussion Quartet in 2001. It grew out of a fascination with the rich beating frequencies generated by long cluster rolls in the low register of the marimba and the interaction between the marimba and a quartz bowl gong tuned to F.

Pablo Ortiz: Flying Objects WORLD PREMIERE
with video by Daniel Godsil (Ph.D. composition ‘21)

Frederic Rzewski: Coming Together (Part I)
with Omari Tau, voice

Composed for a flexible number of collaborative performers, Frederic Rzewski’s Coming Together was written in response to the 1971 uprising at the Attica Correctional Facility. Our performance of Coming Together will feature both undergraduate and graduate student instrumentalists, playing alongside the professional musicians of the Empyrean Ensemble. The performance will feature Omari Tau, voice, reciting a text written by Sam Melville that reflects the conditions at Attica during his incarceration there.

**“Preconcert Discussion from 6:15–6:45 pm with Empyrean director Sam Nichols.”