Presented in partnership with Liquid Music
Sunday, January 12, 2019
6:00 pm Doors // 7:00 pm Show
$19 Advance // $24 At the door
All Ages
“A violinist whose rare gift is to become rather than perform the music he plays.” —The Guardian
“Nico Muhly is a buzz, a controversy, a zeitgeist.” — Kate Molleson, Gramophone
Finnish violin star Pekka Kuusisto returns to Liquid Music with prolific composer/pianist Nico Muhly for a rare duo evening of wide-ranging contemporary, classical, original and traditional music.
**Looking for tickets to The SPCO’s premiere of Muhly’s Violin Concerto? Go to TheSPCO.org
Pekka Kuusisto
Described as “one-of-a-kind” by Toronto’s The Globe and Mail, Pekka Kuusisto is renowned for his fresh approach to repertoire. Widely recognized for his flair in directing ensembles from the violin, Kuusisto is Artistic Partner with The Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra and Artistic Director of ACO Collective — a string ensemble of Australia’s most talented young professional musicians delivering innovative projects across the country. In 2017 he became Artistic Best Friend of Die Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen and in 2018 became an Artistic Partner of the Mahler Chamber Orchestra. Other directing engagements include the Tapiola Sinfonietta, and the Scottish and Swedish chamber orchestras.
Highlights of the 2019/20 season include concerto appearances with the NDR Elbphilharmonie, Chicago, NHK, Gothenburg, MDR, Swedish Radio and Finnish Radio symphony orchestras, and the Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich where he is an artist “In Focus”. Kuusisto returns as violinist-director-conductor to the Tapiola Sinfonietta, and the Norwegian, Swedish and Scottish chamber orchestras. He is also the main guest artist for Amsterdam’s annual Prinsengrachtconcert, where he joins the Camerata RCO for the largest classical open-air concert in the Netherlands.
Nico Muhly
Nico Muhly (b.1981) is an American composer and sought-after collaborator whose influences range from American minimalism to the Anglican choral tradition. The recipient of commissions from The Metropolitan Opera, Carnegie Hall, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Tallis Scholars and St. John’s College, Cambridge and others, he has written more than 100 works for the concert stage, including the opera Marnie (2017), which premiered at the English National Opera and was staged by the Metropolitan Opera in the fall of 2018.
Muhly is a frequent collaborator with choreographer Benjamin Millepied and, as an arranger, has paired with Sufjan Stevens, Antony and the Johnsons and others. His work for stage and screen include music for the Broadway revival of The Glass Menagerie and scores for films including the Academy Award-winning The Reader. Born in Vermont, Muhly studied composition at the Juilliard School before working as an editor and conductor for Philip Glass. He is part of the artist-run record label Bedroom Community, which released his first two albums, Speaks Volumes (2006) and Mothertongue (2008). He lives in New York City.
Liquid Music
Founded in 2012 with The Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, now an independent LLC, Liquid Music develops innovative new projects with iconoclastic artists in unique presentation formats. Collaborations are a central focus of the series and risk-taking is a hallmark. Liquid Music performances invite adventurous audiences to discover the new and the fascinating within the flourishing landscape of contemporary chamber music.
“The Liquid Music series has evolved into something extraordinary.” – Star Tribune
“Best of Classical.” – The New York Times