On December 15, 2020, at 7 pm, the Cleveland Chamber Collective will present a free, live-streamed concert from the Bop Stop in Cleveland. This show will feature music by Lou Harrison and local composer Ty Alan Emerson. Joining band members Nicholas Underhill, Dylan Moffitt, and Kim Gomez, are special guests Randall Fusco, Bruce Golden, and Gabriel Pique, on a program of adventurous, genre-crossing music.

Harrison’s Varied Trio is well-known for its “varied” collection of instruments and influence, from rice bowls and baking sheets, to Indian Raga and Balinese Gamelan. This work, along with many from Harrison’s catalogue, displays his love and respect for diversity in music, and, in typical American-Maverick fashion, breaks apart the expectations of Western Art Music. Harrison’s work also helped elevate the use of percussion from a background color to a featured, and oftentimes, lead voice.

Eclecticism in music is the tenor of the Chamber Collective’s concert. Following Varied Trio, the band will present movements from Emerson’s Homage to Lou, composed in honor of Harrison’s centennial. The second half of the program will feature the world premiere’s of Emerson’s Cast Thy Nighted Colour Off and Love and Other Missed-Spellings.

Regarding Cast Thy Nighted Colour Off, the composer writes: “Cast…, for me, is deeply personal. It was composed during a volatile period in my life, filled with rage and despair. I channeled what I could into this piece, like shouting into a hole. I literally used the rhythms of powerful words like Love, Rage, Pain, etc, as translated from Morse code.”

The six-movement collection, Love and Other Missed-Spellings, reaches back across Emerson’s catologue, and reimagines selected movements for something akin to a Jazz quartet. Emerson quips, “Folks like Sal Martirano and Chris Rouse showed me it was OK to embrace my inner Rock star.” Movements like, Overtures and Mary-Go-Round race with a Heavy Metal voracity, while Beautiful Stranger and Waiting to Exhale, exude sensuality.

This concert is made possible with generous support from Cuyahoga Arts and Culture, Ohio Arts Council, the Bascom Little Fund, and out partner The Music School Settlement and the Bop Stop.

https://www.themusicsettlement.org/calendar/2020/12/15/cleveland-chamber-collective-livestream-bop-stop

https://www.chambercollective.org/posters-programs