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Translating 'Trane: Turtle Island String Quartet
Kaufman Center’s Musically Speaking series continued with Translating ‘Trane: A Love Supreme featuring the Grammy Award-winning Turtle Island String Quartet: David Balakrishnan, violin, baritone violin; Mark Summer, cello; Mads Tolling, violin and Jeremy Kittel, viola. In 1964, when John Coltrane released his groundbreaking album A Love Supreme, he took jazz to a whole new plane. With its recent Grammy Award-winning version of the work translating it into the sonorities of the string quartet, Turtle Island String Quartet created its own page of musical history. Bridging the gap between concert halls and jazz clubs, this iconoclastic quartet has redefined the boundaries of chamber music.
Broadway Close Up: Maltby and Shire
Merkin Concert Hall’s Broadway Close Up series continued with Richard Maltby, Jr. and David Shire. Together Maltby (Tony Award for Ain’t Misbehaving, lyricist of Miss Saigon and The Pirate Queen) and Shire (Academy Award-winning composer of “It Goes Like It Goes” from Norma Rae) have created numerous on- and off-Broadway shows, including Baby, Big, Closer Than Ever, Starting Here, Starting Now and the upcoming Take Flight.
Tuesday Matinees: Jasper String Quartet
Kaufman Center longest-running series, Tuesday Matinees, welcomed the Jasper String Quartet. Fresh from winning four of chamber music’s most prestigious prizes — the Grand Prize and the Audience Prize at the 2008 Plowman Chamber Music Competition, the Silver Medal at the 2008 Fischoff Chamber Music Competition, the First Prize at Chamber Music Yellow Springs 2008, and the Grand Prize at the 2008 Coleman competition — the Jasper String Quartet is currently the graduate quartet-in-residence at the Yale School of Music, where they study with the Tokyo String Quartet.
Prologue & Epilogues: Israel Moves On
Merkin Concert Hall continued the celebration of Israel’s 60th birthday with a performance of Olivier Messiaen’s beloved Quartet for the End of Time performed by an international group of Israeli, French and American musicians. Written in the German POW camp Stalag VIII-A, Messiaen’s work flew in the face of Nazi oppression and solidly established him as one of the most important composers of his time. This concert brings together the virtuoso clarinetist Charles Neidich and a group of top performers representing the younger generation including clarinetist Moran Katz, cellist Gal Nyska, violinist Arnaud Sussmann and pianist Vincent Balse. The concert honored the composer’s centenary while also highlighting the multi-cultural music of Israeli composers.
Lisa Moore: Wires, Words and Hammers
The downtown new music stanchion Lisa Moore delivered as promised with a challenging set that expanded her normal repertoire. The evening’s music spanned genres from mainstream pop with Randy Newman’s I Think it's Gonna Rain Today to Dadaist Kurt Schwitters’ phonetically-composed Ursonate to Frederic Rzewski’s De Profundis.
She also played the New York premiere of Willie’s Way, a piece written for her by Martin Bresnick. If you missed the show you can listen to excerpts on her pre-concert interview with John Schaeffer on WNYC’s Soundcheck. Check it out here.
Dialects: Thoughts on Crossover Jazz
Omer Klein gave us a new piece on September 18 that really went beyond my expectations of what a young composer might come up with for jazz combo plus string quartet. It was a wonderful mixture of instruments but not a huge glut of styles as many “crossover” pieces often become. Nor was it an extension of either his keyboard or the rhythm section. Rather, it was an engaging, very tightly composed work of about ten minutes that featured a lively dance-like theme with some nice improvised solo passages for piano and bass most prominently. Read more...
Broadway Close Up: Jones & Schmidt
Kaufman Center’s Broadway Close Up series began on October 6 with Karen Ziemba, Estelle Parsons and other Broadway giants performing works by Tom Jones and Harvey Schmidt, who launched their New York careers with the now-legendary musical The Fantasticks.
The 2008–09 Season: Musically Speaking
This season our Musically Speaking series features musicians who are redefining the boundaries of jazz, pop and classical music. We will also throw musical birthday parties for composers who have created their own unique musical languages. Joan Tower will be on hand to celebrate her 70th, and Elliott Carter will join us for his 100th, marked by a performance of his complete wind music. In honor of the centenary of the late Olivier Messiaen, we'll be presenting performances of his visionary music and that of his disciples. We've got one other birthday bash planned as well-a celebration of the 60th anniversary of the founding of the state of Israel. You'll encounter Israeli and Jewish music of all kinds-cantorial, contemporary classical, jazz. Explore our In the Spotlight section for more highlights from this season.
Ongoing Programs
We will also be welcoming old friends back to our marvelous hall. Our Tuesday Matinees series will showcase the best of today's up-and-coming classical music performers. The New York Festival of Song returns to Merkin for its 21st season of brilliantly eclectic vocal concerts. And we celebrate American musical theater old and new with the Broadway Close Up evening series, which offers backstage insights from the theater's top professionals.
Come enjoy our two family matinee series: Broadway Playhouse, which introduces a new generation to the rich legacy of the Broadway musical, and Musical Adventures with the Poppy Seed Players—original musicals based on Jewish themes. Our Family Matinees section explores these in more depth.
Our New Membership Program
Our brand-new membership program makes it easier and more affordable than ever to pick and choose among our extraordinarily diverse offerings. $80 buys you tickets to any four of our Musically Speaking events. As a member, you get premium seating and the flexibility to choose your events now or later. Find out more about membership at Merkin Hall.
All told, it's a dazzling range of attractions absolutely suited to our beautiful hall.
