Kronos Quartet Residency

The Kronos Quartet present a two concerts that highlight the incredible diversity of their performances and recordings.  The first evening will include two new pieces commissioned for the festival one from  Tyondai Braxton, of Battles and one from Richard Reed Parry, of Arcade Fire and Bell Orchestre in addition to work by J.G.  Thirlwell (Foetus), Glenn Branca, and Michael Gordon. The second evening the Kronos Quartet will explore music from around the world, including  Africa, Mexico, India, Greece and the Middle East.

Toumani Diabate March 12, 2009

Toumani Diabate, a master kora player from Mali, will bring a very special performance to the festival. Diabate released the widely acclaimed The Mandè Variations in 2008. The kora is a 21-string traditional African Harp. His latest recognitions include a nomination from the NAACP Image Award for Outstanding World Music album and inclusion on recently inaugurated Barack Obama’s shortlist for Borders, for his 1999 collaboration with Taj Mahal, Kulanjan.

The Books Return March 11, 2009

The Books (appeared in 2006) will return on March 11th to share material from a soon to be released album. The duo, Paul de Jong and Nick Zammuto have recorded a number of records that feature their unique combination of found sounds and live performance. CMJ describes the Books:  ”sensitive folkies with machine hearts … that make inscrutable music for scrutable people.”

MusicNOW 2009 March 11th & 12th

 MusicNOW 2009 features a two evening residency with the Kronos Quartet and the return of the Karl Jensen installation from 2008.  The first evening will open with a set from the festival alums The Books.  Kronos Quartet will present an evening of music that includes  a new work written for the festival by Richard Reed Parry (Arcade Fire, Bell Orchestre.  The second evening features an appearance by African kora player, Toumani Diabatè and the Kronos Quartet.   The two will collaborate for the first time as well. Both concerts will be held at Memorial Hall, doors will open at 7pm.Tickets are on-sale now.  Buy online or call 1-800-838-3006 to order.$20 per evening or $35 for a 2 day pass

Another year …

Thank you to everyone who joined us for another magical festival. There are photos and many kind words. Each Note Secure offers a review of the festival complete with photos of his own.  City Beat’s Spill It music blog offers a night by night review: Introductions, Heartbeats and Sufjan! and  An Evening of American GuitarFest Gets More “Traditional” (Relatively) We are especially thankful to everyone at Memorial Hall and the many volunteers who helped make it happen.  WOXY has been a partner from the start and a great archive too.

You can still stream Bryce’s chat about 2008 here or read an interview from 2007 here.

2008 Opening Night

Richard Reed Parry (Arcade Fire and Bell Orchestre), an experimental multi-instrumentalist composer returns to the festival to participate in the first evening. Contemporary composer, Nico Muhly will make a rare appearance between engagements in New York and Europe to perform.

Inspired by his participation (with Clogs) in the Filmmaker’s Coop Benefit, in April 2007, Dessner has chosen to open the festival with a selection of films to be accompanied by Parry, Muhly, Thomas Bartlett, Aaron Dessner, Bryce Dessner, Padma Newsome, Rachel Elliott (and more added daily) at Memorial Hall.

Dessner will perform three pieces that made their debut at the Kitchen in New York on March 13th, including one that accompanies a new film by Matthew Ritichie. More on the new work can be found here.