Event Details
Saturday March 13 • The Music Gallery presents
FLUX QUARTET
Part of the Post-Classical series
Tom Chiu — violin
Conrad Harris — violin
Max Mandel — viola
Felix Fan — cello
Programme:
Anton Webern — Six Bagatelles (1911-13)
Morton Feldman — Structures (1951)
John Cage — Variations II (1961)
John Zorn — Cat O' Nine Tails (1988)
David First — Elegies For The Afterland (2009)
Annie Gosfield — Lightheaded and Heavyhearted (2002)
Doors 7pm, concert 8pm
Tickets $20 regular, $15 member + senior, $10 student
Or $20 advance at TicketWeb — BUY NOW!
New York's acclaimed new music ensemble FLUX Quartet brings a fascinating overview of avant-garde composers from the past and present of New York City. Taking the meeting of 20th century musical giants Morton Feldman and John Cage at a concert of the music of Anton Webern as a starting point, this concert traces the influence of their groundbreaking work from the 1950s and ‘60s onto some of the most exciting and radical composer/performers who are remaking our cultural landscape. This Toronto concert — a homecoming of sorts, as violist Max Mandel is a native Torontonian — will feature the Canadian premiere of two works, Lightheaded and Heavyhearted (2002) by Annie Gosfield (hailed as "a star of the downtown scene" by the New Yorker magazine) and Elegies For The Afterland (2009) by eclectic composer and punk-era innovator David First.
The spirit to explore and expand stylistic boundaries is a trademark of the FLUX Quartet. Partly as an homage to the 60’s Fluxus art movement, violinist Tom Chiu founded the FLUX Quartet in the 90’s with a quest similar to that of some of the original Fluxus artists: a search for a living art for all people with an embracing "anything-goes" spirit. To that end, FLUX has always been committed to projects of unique vision that defy aesthetic categorization.
“One of the most fearless and important new-music ensembles around,” (Joshua Kosman, San Francisco Chronicle) “who has a brought a new renaissance to quartet music,” (Kyle Gann, The Village Voice) the FLUX Quartet has performed to rave reviews at many music centres around the world. They have appeared at Da Camera of Houston, Miller Theater, the Walker Art Center, the Library of Congress, and Carnegie Hall’s When Morty Met John Festival. The quartet have also recently made two rave debuts, in Ireland at the Samuel Beckett Centenary Festival, and in San Francisco with the Morrison Series, which invited them back as special guests for its 50th anniversary gala concert. FLUX’s numerous radio credits include NPR’s All Things Considered, WNYC’s New Sounds and Soundcheck, and WFMU’s Stochastic Hit Parade. Their growing discography includes recordings by composers Michael Byron, Annie Gosfield, and bagpipe virtuoso Matthew Welch. Highlights of recent seasons include debut appearances at The Kennedy Center and Walt Disney Hall in Los Angeles, residencies at Wesleyan College and Princeton University, and the Interpretations Series, a leading series, based in New York City, for innovative music of living performers and composers.
