Winterreise Festival
December 2015
#sawdustsecrets
In Situ: Pictures in the Making with Alessio Bax and Doug Fitch
Winterreise Festival: David Adam Moore
This multimedia version of "Winterreise" draws the audience into the emotional journey of the poet.
The projection-mapped environment acts as a metaphor for consciousness, a self-contained landscape that transforms completely from song to song - sometimes guiding the narrative by suggesting time, and place, and at other times immersing the audience in the more abstract, symbolic world of the poet's imagination.
The projection content consists entirely of moving images that have been created for the show by GLMMR."
In Situ: Leo Genovese’s Legal Aliens
Pianist and keyboardist Leo Genovese will present Legal Aliens, a new set of compositions for a large ensemble comprised of musicians from around the world, modeled after the rich melodic and rhythmic traditions that Genovese has studied in his world travels, including the Balkans, Brazil, Morocco, and his native Argentina.
In Situ: Tanya Tagaq in Nanook of the North
The award-winning Inuit throat singer Tanya Tagaq, named one of Rolling Stone’s “Artists You Need to Know in 2015,” performs a live score, created with composer Derek Charke, to the 1922 silent film Nanook of the North.
Terry Riley Festival: Vol 1
For the National Sawdust opening weekend, in celebration of National Sawdust advisory board member Terry Riley’s 80th birthday, Matmos, John Zorn, and Roomful of Teeth, along with Riley’s son, the virtuoso guitarist Gyan Riley, will perform a range of the iconic composer’s music.
Terry Riley, on vocals, piano, and synthesizer, performs with Gyan Riley on classical and electric guitars.
Community Day
The day begins with the exquisite puppet show for families, Birdheart (ages 6 years and up), by Julian Crouch and Saskia Lane. This is followed by experimental Australian violinist Jon Rose "Sonic Ball"--where he engages the public with a ten-foot-tall, interactive electronic musical instrument. Via sensors and radio transmission, the movements and speed of the ball determine the sonic results. The National Sawdust Inaugural Parade will feature Julian Crouch’s large scale processional puppets with the Asphalt Orchestra for a neighborhood walk and celebration. National Sawdust group-in-residence Found Sound Nation, a collective of musicians and artists who leverage the unique power of creative sound-making to help build strong, just, healthy communities, will hold mobile studios throughout the parade for the public.
In Situ: Brooklyn Youth Chorus & Friends
Birdheart with Friends
BIRDHEART was part of the 2013-14 New Victory Labworks Artist Residency and Watermill Artists Residency, with additional support from the St Anne’s Warehouse Puppet Lab, the Henson Foundation and in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the city council. Special thanks to the Dillon Gallery.
In Situ: Punch Brothers
In Situ: Strings & Borders
The D.R.E.A.M. Project: Reggie “Regg Roc” Gray featuring Helga Davis
About the festival
National Sawdust’s inaugural season is centered on the principle of discovery. Our inaugural festival- Winterreise, is inspired by the concept of rediscovery. This iconic song cycle, created by the young Schubert, uses the universal theme of heartbreak to transcend a musical form into new ground. Not only is the voice and text important, but the piano plays an integral part. In our festival, we share four points of view that celebrate two points of discovery: the acoustics of our space help present the works in an intimate setting as these works were meant to be heard; and re-imagination: new points of view on this seminal work.
The first two concerts can both heard on Wednesday, December 9th, use Winterreise’s poet, Wilhelm Müller, as their muse. In the first concert, NS welcomes celebrated pianist and NS Curator Anne-Marie McDermott and flutist Ransom Wilson. Together, they will play “Themes and Variations” for flute and piano based on Muller’s and Schubert’s other popular cycle, Die schöne Müllerin (“Trockne Blumen”). The second part of the evening comes from a young group, the FOUNDERS, that features a member of our group in residence, American Contemporary Music Ensemble. The FOUNDERS will use a poem from Winterreise in a world premiere song by the FOUNDERS for this evening’s performance. The next concert, on December 16th, makes its NYC debut in a new production by GLMMR, the company founded by David Adam Moore and designer Vita Tzykun. GLMMR uses the traditional pairing of baritone and piano featuring baritone David Adam Moore in its original German text and places it in a stunning visual world by GLMMR. The final concert, on December 17th, is brought to us by NS Curator Theo Bleckmann, who uses the traditional form and translations of the original score while adding his twist of reimagined sounds.
Finally, the festival culminates in a post-concert discussion on Thursday, December 17th. NS Curators Theo Bleckmann and Brandon Stosuy, (Director of Editorial Operations at Pitchfork and a Music Curator for MoMA/PS1) will discuss the current state of the ‘album’ with Director of Artistic Planning, Courtenay Casey. Using the most popular ‘album’ of its day, Winterreise, as a jumping off point, this trio will discuss where we are today in its form. This post-concert discussion is free.
