Music lovers will not want to miss "A New Music Concert" at the Barnsdall Gallery Theatre Sunday afternoon presented by the Idyllwild Arts Academy (IAA) Orchestra featuring Richard Thompson's Interview with Ghosts, Chen Yi's Tone Poem, Peter Askim's Elsewhere, the World Premiere of the Orchestra Version of John Cage's Credo in US, the West Coast Premiere of So Percussion member Jason Treuting's Oblique Music, and Steve Reich's Music for Pieces of Wood.
I had the good fortune of meeting Peter Askim last year. He is the Music Director for the Idyllwild Arts Academy Orchestra - has been for the past five years - and under his leadership, the orchestra has been successful on many fronts. The students have performed with seven Grammy nominees, performed with the Concertmaster and Principal Violist of the LA Philharmonic and the Principal Oboe of the NY Philharmonic, and performed World Premieres including a new version of Peter and the Wolf with Harry Shearer that was broadcast internationally.
It was during the Peter and the Wolf rehearsals that I met Peter, and Harry, and discovered the ambitious and innovative work of the orchestra under Peter's direction. Soon after Peter and the Wolf wrapped, Askim began work on a new project - Guitarist Richard Thompson's Cabaret of Souls, a darkly humorous piece about a reception and talent parade for the recently deceased, sort of an American Idol of the Underworld. Thompson calls it a "folk oratorio."
Thompson's work with the students resulted in a studio recording of Cabaret of Souls soon be released.
The success of that first collaboration has brought about another.Thompson's new work with the students, which they'll be performing Sunday afternoon, is another showcase for Thompson's scathing wit and dark humor. Called Interview with Ghosts, the songs are based on alleged interview transcripts of people who have spoken to ghosts.
Askim says each artist and each piece in Sunday's program is "amazing in totally different ways. So Percussion is a force of nature, Richard Thompson is one of the greatest guitarists and songwriters in history, and Chen Yi's music is beautiful, personal and totally her own."
It's the combining of the ingredients of this "musical stew" into one place and time that he is most excited about. Askim writes in the program notes that he hopes the concert will present the audience with "music and perspectives you haven’t heard, opening your ears to new possibilities. Each piece on the program has its own unique way of thinking about music, sound and what it means to be human in our time."
The concert is Sunday at 4pm, Barnsdall Gallery Theater, Hollywood.
A free preview concert is 7:30 tonight at the Bowman Auditorium on the IAA campus in Idyllwild.
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