Talea Ensemble: Strange Tales (Figgis-Vizueta) // DiMenna Center

Strange Tales
Works by Wang Lu, inti figgis-vizueta, and Alvin Lucier
December 11, 2021 at 7:30pm

FREE Admission

Join Talea for a free, immersive program featuring inti figgis-vizueta's Primavera crown, Alvin Lucier's Music for Cello & One or More Amplified Vases, and the world premiere of Wang Lu's November Airs.

Inspired loosely by the ancient Chinese mythological anthology, Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio, Wang Lu's November Airs explores the process of passing on historical memory through musical, spatial, and visual forms while delving into themes of humanity, compassion, and healing in mythology and storytelling. November Airs features live video projections created especially for this performance by contemporary visual artist Polly Apfelbaum. Talea performs the world premiere of November Airs.

inti figgis-vizueta's Primavera crown is a vibrant ensemble work that, in the composer's words, explores the encounter of "the role of individual imagination and expressive possibility against the large canvas of chamber orchestra." Finally, Alvin Lucier's Music for Cello with One or More Amplified Vases presents a meditative and interactive duo between a single cello and its resonances via a series of amplified glass vases.

Wang Lu's November Airs was commissioned by the Fromm Music Foundation for the Talea Ensemble. This world premiere production of November Airs is supported in part by a generous grant from the Cafe Royal Foundation. This performance is also made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature.

PROGRAM:

Alvin Lucier: Music for Cello with One or More Amplified Vases (1993) Christopher Gross, cello

inti figgis-vizueta: Primavera crown (2020)

Wang Lu: November Airs (2021) *World Premiere

Polly Apfelbaum, video projection

Talea Ensemble

James Baker, conductor