Department of Music Chair, Bob Kendrick, shares the following recent rave reviews and notices:
-for Amy Briggs‘ premiere of the David Rakowski 2nd piano concerto:
Boston Classical Review: http://bostonclassicalreview.com/2014/01/with-two-superb-soloists-bmop-delivers-a-fizzing-night-of-premieres/
(Amy Briggs performs Ligeti’s Three Pieces for Two Pianos and a selection of Gyorgy Kurtag’s with duo-piano partner Daniel Schlosberg on Feb 15, New Music Ensemble)
-and for Augusta Read Thomas‘ *Resounding Earth* (don’t forget Third Coast Percussions’ performances and symposium Feb 20-21):
Steve Smith, New York Times, Arts Beat blog
THOMAS: Resounding Earth
(New Focus Records)
“In Resounding Earth, composed by Augusta Read Thomas for the Chicago quartet Third Coast Percussion, a constellation of singing, ringing and chiming bells, gongs and other metallic implements, representing cultures and traditions from around the world, serves to honor nine venerated 20th-century composers. Bliss out to Ms. Thomas’s transfixing shimmer on the immaculately recorded CD, and marvel at the ensemble performing the intricate work on the accompanying DVD.”
Doyle Armbrust, Time Out Chicago
Best of 2013: The top 10 classical and new-music albums of the year
Third Coast Percussion Resounding Earth (New Focus Recordings)
The decay of a bell ring can be mapped linearly, but the resonance of struck metal contains in it an element of eternity, floating away rather than being extinguished. Augusta Read Thomas’s new four-movement commission for Third Coast Percussion, Resounding Earth, embraces the spiritual connotations of these instruments with titles “Invocation,” “Prayer,” “Mantra” and “Reverie Carillon.” The exuberant trades and dueting of the opening “Invocation” lift skyward as though each bell were tethered to a helium balloon. The dynamic range on display throughout the album further magnifies the elysian quality of Thomas’s writing, and Third Coast’s performance is as synchronous as it is dramatically fertile. Toss out those Deepak Chopra guided meditations cassettes and find a true state of bliss (with 100% less synthesizer) in Resounding Earth.