Contemporary Music Ensemble
Friday, May 17, 2024 at 7:30pm CDT
Galvin Recital Hall
Alan Pierson and Ben Bolter, conductors; Steven Kazuo Takasugi, guest composer
The Contemporary Music Ensemble's May performance features a new work by student composer Casey Weisman, James Tenney's microtonal 'Scend for Scelsi, and Steven Kazuo Takasugi's Sideshow for amplified ensemble and electronic playback. Takasugi's theatrical work, inspired by Coney Island's early-20th-century sideshow entertainment, examines the intersection of spectacle and sacrifice in the name of showbusiness. The composer explains, "The performers think of themselves as characters in a sideshow. The saxophonist is the Sideshow Giant...the violist is a sword swallower...the pianist is the Human Spider...the percussionist is the Sideshow Proprietor/Announcer. Each character...has his or her uncanny double, twin, imposter, accomplice, copycat, deformed clone."
A new work by Casey Weisman
James Tenney, ‘Scend for Scelsi
Steven Kazuo Takasugi, Sideshow
Tickets are $8 for the general public and $5 for students with valid ID.
Buy TicketsMary B. Galvin Recital Hall
Address
70 Arts Circle Drive
Evanston, IL 60208
United States
About
Located in the Ryan Center for the Musical Arts, this 400-seat hall features a 40-foot glass wall offering views of Lake Michigan and the Chicago skyline. Undulating walls of Forest Stewardship Council–certified wood, covered with a thin layer of African moabi wood, provide optimal acoustics, and the hall is equipped with state-of-the-art sound and video equipment for recording.