Classical Sundays
About this series
Classical Sundays is a National Sawdust series that presents the cutting-edge of contemporary classical music. Hear renowned artists from the classical tradition perform music both storied and vitally new, combining tradition with modernity in a way that is quintessential Williamsburg. Unplug and unwind as we curate the industry’s most compelling performances.
Classical Sundays
Philip Glass @ 80 – The Complete Etudes with Maki Namekawa
February 24, 2017 - 7:00pm Following studies at the Kunitachi Music University in Tokyo, Maki Namekawa pursued advanced work under Pierre-Laurent Aimard at the Musikhochschule in Cologne as well as studies with Werner Genuit and Kaya Han at the Musikhochschule Karlsruhe and Stefan Litwin in Saarbrücken.
Attacca Quartet: Recently Added
February 19, 2017 - 7:00pm First Prize winners of the 7th Osaka International Chamber Music Competition in 2011, top prizewinners and Listeners’ Choice Award recipients in the 2011 Melbourne International Chamber Music Competition, and winners of the Alice Coleman Grand Prize at the 60th annual Coleman Chamber Ensemble Competition in 2006, the internationally acclaimed Attacca Quartet has become one of America’s premier young performing ensembles.
James Rhodes
February 8, 2017 - 7:00pm Immortal piano music by history's finest composers performed in an intimate setting with the lights down low and an opportunity to disappear and escape from the world for an hour and a half. Along with a few jokes. And a bit of historical context.
Eva Leon: The Soul of the Spanish Violin with Olga Vinokur
May 17, 2017 - 7:00pm The soul of Spanish music resonates in the playing of violinist Eva León. In this concert, Eva teams up with pianist Olga Vinokur to take us on a musical journey across her native land, exploring its many traditions, cultures, and colors. In her most recent album (Naxos), Eva once again gives voice to the Spanish idiom through the timeless compositions of Joaquín Rodrigo supported by Olga Vinokur, who has been described by the New York Times as “exquisite” and by the BBC magazine as “superlative.”
Written for Talea: New Works by Diaz de Leon, Fineberg, Eckardt
February 17, 2017 - 7:00pm As a part of the Talea Ensemble’s ongoing series, Written for Talea, the ensemble presents an evening of world premieres composed by some of the world’s most exciting living composers. 2017’s edition will include Joshua Fineberg, a Berlin-based American spectralist, whose new work features performers spatialized throughout the venue; Jason Eckardt’s gnarly guitar concerto featuring rising star Nico Couck, and heavy metal hero; Mario Diaz de Leon, combining his Scelsi-inspired harmonies with blood curdling electronics.
Spektral Quartet
April 21, 2017 - 7:00pm Playing Out is a showcase of liberated creativity, defying definition and building new musical lexicons through the intersection of experimental jazz, improvisation, and electroacoustic music. The program features the New York premiere of an ecstatic new quartet by George Lewis (Fromm Foundation commission), as well as mesmeric numbers by Katherine Young and Chicago Symphony Orchestra’s Mead Composer-in-Residence Samuel Adams. For its National Sawdust debut, Spektral Quartet is joined by flute maven Claire Chase for Anthony Cheung’s jazz-infiltrated “Real Book of Fake Tunes” (also commissioned by Fromm).
The Mentoring Series at National Sawdust: Garrick Ohlsson and Eric Lu
February 15, 2017 - 7:00pm This concert features Garrick Ohlsson and Chopin Competition Finalist Eric Lu.
Eric Owens Chamber Recital
February 26, 2017 - 4:00pm On his day off from singing in the Metropolitan Opera's new production of Rusalka, opera star Eric Owens will travel to Brooklyn to perform an intimate chamber music and vocal recital with special guests. This unique presentation will feature Bach cantatas BWV 82 "Ich habe genug" and BWV 56 "Ich will den Kreuzstab gerne tragen," as well as featuring Eric playing oboe.
Ritz Chamber Series Vol. 2
May 14, 2017 - 4:00pm THE RITZ CHAMBER PLAYERS are hailed by the Baltimore Sun as “one of the most interesting and dynamic ensembles to emerge in recent years.” Boasting some of the world's most renowned musicians that have African and African-American origins, Ritz brings a fresh energy to the classical music genre by telling the story of African American composers with special nuance and vivid interpretations.
Terry and Gyan Riley
May 18, 2017 - 7:00pm Terry and Gyan Riley share the stage for a special concert sharing their talents.
Siwoo Kim & Bridget Kibbey: Dawn to Dusk With Bach
October 1, 2018 - 4:00pm Harpist Bridget Kibbey and violinist Siwoo Kim join forces to explore the contrapuntal, coloristic, and virtuosic potential of their instruments by showcasing the genius of Johann Sebastian Bach and his influence.
Guerilla Science Presents: Fire Organ Soundscapes
Oct 15, 2017 - 7:00pm Experience music in a new way. Join us for a spectacular showcase of sound and fire where multisensory artists perform new works designed to reveal the interconnectedness between music and the physical nature of sound.
Experiments in Opera: And Here We Are
May 6, 2018 - 7:00pm And Here We Are is a 90-minute work scored for 4 vocal soloists, choir and mixed ensemble. The premiere production will be staged using an updated take on traditional Southeast Asian shadow puppetry.
Spring Revolution: REFUGEES ORCHESTRA PROJECT
March 4, 2018 - 4:00pm Incorporating themes from their recent video project with Papel&Caneta, Refugee Orchestra Project UNITES by bringing together refugee and non-refugee musicians in a multimedia performance.
ICE Presents: Sabrina Schroeder and Monte Weber
Oct 22, 2017 - 4:00pm ICE makes their debut as National Sawdust Artists-in-Residence
ICE Presents: The Music of Anna Thorvaldsdottir with Cory Smythe and the International Contemporary Ensemble
May 27, 2018 - 4:00pm The International Contemporary Ensemble (ICE) present an evening of the keyboard works of Anna Thorvaldsdottir in an intimate and immersive, multimedia setting at National Sawdust.
Cantori New York CHIMES
April 8, 2018 - 2:30pm CHIMES is an evening-length Russian-language work for chorus, soloists, and instruments. The inexorable musical and dramatic momentum of the piece will sweep listeners along and inspire a timely reflection on the seductive yet treacherous appeal of an artfully invoked nationalism and populism.
Classical Sundays: Ian Rosenbaum Presents Liberty Rose Weeping
Feb. 18th, 2018 — 4pm This edition of Classical Sundays features the unique trio of percussionist Ian Rosenbaum, violinist Emily Daggett Smith and cellist/composer Andrea Casarrubios.
Nora Fischer, Ragazze Quartet, and Remco Menting: The Secret Diary of Nora Plain
April 29th, 2018 — 4pm The Secret Diary of Nora Plain is a song cycle that tells the intimate story of a girl who tries to lead her own life in a world that relentlessly encroaches on her innermost thoughts and feelings.
Contemporaneous: And Flowers Showered
February 25th - 4pm & 7pm Contemporaneous, the 21-piece ensemble lauded as “ferocious” by the New York Times, performs And Flowers Showered, an immersive evening-length exploration of the self through music, movement, and visual art.
Peter Salett + Michael Arthur: Suite for the Summer Rain / Dance of the Yellow Leaf
March 18, 2018 - 4:00pm Film composer/singer-songwriter Peter Salett, a “downtown folk legend” (Time Out NY) who has opened for the likes of The Swell Season and They Might Be Giants, performs this wistful song cycle backed by strings and percussion and accompanied by artist Michael Arthur’s evocative, improvised ink illustrations, which unfurl live, projected on a big screen, alongside the music.
The Wolfgang
June 17th, 2018 — 2pm doors • 3pm show Step into an afternoon with one of the world’s premier rising piano trios. Composed of three incisive and expressive women, The Wolfgang is a collective of three acclaimed soloists who have performed together for the past three years. Their breadth of experience as well as their deep familiarity with one another result in unique performances from the classical repertoire. Piazzola, Rachmaninoff and Fanny Mendelssohn are the composers in tonight’s program.
Contemporaneous with Face the Music
June 24th, 3:30 doors • 4pm show Contemporaneous, the 21-piece ensemble lauded as “ferocious” by the New York Times, performs And Flowers Showered, an immersive evening-length exploration of the self through music, movement, and visual art.
