The Tri-Centric Festival, presented in partnership by the Tri-Centric Foundation and Roulette, is by far the most comprehensive portrait of composer Anthony Braxton yet presented in the United States. While Braxton has had several long engagements in NYC throughout his five-decade career, they have usually been focused on a single ensemble. Outside of Europe, the composer has never had the opportunity to present the full spectrum of his music, from solo piano music to small ensembles to orchestras to full operas, on a single stage over a single week. The festival will also coincide with the commercial release of the four-act opera Trillium E, the first studio recording of any of Braxton’s operas, on the Tri-Centric Foundation’s New Braxton House label.
Saturday Oct 8
Trillium J (Acts I and III) – Amy Crawford, Kyoko Kitamura, Kamala Sankaram, Elizabeth Saunders, Anne Rhodes, Fay Victor, Wesley Chinn, Chris DiMeglio, Nick Hallett, Michael Douglas Jones, Jeremiah Lockwood, Vince Vincent (voices)
Erica Dicker, Jason Hwang, Sarah Bernstein, Olivia DePrato, Renee Baker, Scott Tixier (violins), Jessica Pavone, Amy Cimini, Lilian Belknap (violas), Tomas Ulrich, Nathan Bontrager, Daniel Levin (cellos), Ken Filiano, Carl Testa (bass), Cory Smythe (piano), Chris Dingman (percussion), Michel Gentile, Yukari (flutes), Christa Robinson (oboe), Katie Scheele (english horn), Sara Schoenbeck, Brad Balliett (bassoons), Mike McGinnis, Oscar Noriega, Jason Mears, Josh Sinton (clarinets), Nate Wooley, Gareth Flowers (trumpets) Mark Taylor (French horn), Reut Regev, Sam Kulick (trombones), Jay Rozen (tuba), Anthony Braxton (conductor)
The first evening’s performance will present the world premiere of Pine Top Arial Music, a new interdisciplinary system combining dance and music; a set of Braxton’s through-composed solo piano music; and his Falling River Music Quartet, which interprets evocative graphic scores. The second night will feature the US debut of his Diamond Curtain Wall Trio, with interactive electronics, and the Tri-Centric Orchestra performing ensemble pieces with three simultaneous conductors and language music improvisations. The third night will feature two NYC premieres: a 12-member vocal choir performing Braxton’s syntactical Ghost Trance Music, and the composer’s 12+1tet performing Echo Echo Mirror House Music, where the musicians wield iPods in addition to their instruments, combining live performance and sampled sound from Braxton’s extensive discography. The final evening will present a world premiere concert reading of two acts of Braxton’s opera Trillium J, with a cast of twelve singers and 35-piece orchestra. Braxton will be performing or conducting every night, accompanied by a cast of over 60 of NYC’s leading creative musicians.
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