The nationally acclaimed music ensemble Present Music will feature two world premieres at its upcoming Cello Cello concert.
Set for 7:30 p.m. on Jan. 31 and Feb. 1 at Jan Serr Studio (2155 N. Prospect Ave.), the concert will also feature three guest artists and the unusual combination of four talented cellists.
“For years, we have earmarked the winter months as a good time for chamber concerts and so we would take it down a bit and do house concerts,” said Eric Segnitz, violinist, composer/arranger and co-artistic director of Present Music. “We’re doing a big version of that with this concert. There will be ten performers and we’ll introduce two new works. There’s also a couple of cello quartets on the program, which is something that audiences don’t get to hear very often.”
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Pamela Z, a performer and composer known for her work with solo voice and electronic processing, will be premiering a multi-media work entitled “Raise” for this concert. Written specifically for multi-Grammy Award-winning cellist Nick Photinos and three additional cellists, it’s a stirring tribute to parents, mentors and friends.
“Her compositions are very well known and she’s writing a new piece for Photinos, who’s from Chicago and very well-known as a founding member of the group Eighth Blackbird,” Segnitz said.
Pamela Z will also perform a solo set of her works that will include: “Quatre Couche;” “Badagada,” one of her early digital delay pieces; “Syrinx,” named for the avian vocal organ; and “Other Rooms,” constructed from samples of the speaking voice of Paul David Young taken from an interview she recorded as part of the process of making her performance work, “Memory Trace.”
Paul Wiancko, who was recently appointed cellist of the internationally celebrated Kronos Quartet, will be premiering his latest composition, a sextet commissioned by Present Music titled “Distant Manuevers for Present Music.” Wiancko will join in, playing some of his dazzling and delicate chamber pieces, including “American Haiku,” “Closed Universe,” and “When the Night.”
“Paul is sort of exploding as a composer. He’s a very exciting guest,” Segnitz said.
Wiancko and Pamela Z will be making their Milwaukee debuts.
“It’s kind of a coup that they are both coming here for the same program,” Segnitz said.
The concert will finish with the performers asking the audience to participate in the classic performance art piece, “Hooting and Drinking Machine,” which Segnitz described as similar to pieces that that were part of the Fluxus art movement of the 1960s pioneered by avant-garde composer John Cage.
“This piece will involve glass bottles and you can only imagine where that’s going to go,” Segnitz said. “People love those pieces and I do, too, and it just kind of lightens the mood in the dark winter months.”
The piece will segue into a post-concert casual meet and greet with audience and artists.
“There will be about an hourlong reception with a cash bar and some food and a chance to mingle with some of the artists on both nights,” Segnitz said.
Launched in 1982, Present Music remains in a “regenerative period” following the retirement of founding director Kevin Stalheim nearly five years ago, he said.
“We’re doing very well,” Segnitz said. “We came out of the pandemic in very good shape and have been aggressive recording and producing shows online. For everything we’ve been used to doing, we’ve just stepped it up a bit. We’re in good shape. We have a full staff and things are going quite well.”
For Cello Cello tickets visit: www.presentmusic.org/events
