School of Music Recital Hall (Room 206), University of South Carolina
813 Assembly Street, Columbia
Pre-concert conversation at 6:00 ; educational concert at Dreher High School on Aug 27 ; masterclasses at USC on Aug 27

The concert program features ABRAXAS by rising star Jesse Jones and the world premiere of Symphony No. 10 in Two Movements, Michel Galante's chamber ensemble version of Gustav Mahler's heart-wrenching last symphony.

Michel Galante writes on Jesse Jones's ABRAXAS –– “A lot of what he explores instrumental timbre. What you’ll hear is a lot of dramatic gestures, but you’ll also hear a lot of timbres that are combinations that make a rich harmonic language.” On the Mahler — “Mahler's Tenth Symphony contains Mahler’s most advanced and modern musical innovations, but more importantly to the modern ear, musically communicates complex emotions such as guilt, regret, ambivalence and jealousy. This arrangement for chamber ensemble explores the more intimate aspects of these fragments. For the newcomer to Mahler’s music, it will communicate directly to their emotions. For those familiar with Mahler’s orchestral idiom, the chamber arrangement will give the learned ear a chance to listen to its intimate orchestration and compare it to the Mahlerian sound orchestra in their heads, giving them a chance to speculate for themselves about how Mahler might have orchestrated the piece himself.”

Program Highlights

Jesse Jones – ABRAXAS (2013)

Gustav Mahler – Symphony No. 10 (1910) 
arranged in two movements for chamber ensemble by Michel Galante (2015)

world premiere

Tristan Murail – Feuilles à travers les cloches (1998)

Argento New Music Project – Michel Galante, conductor

Bohemian National Hall, 321 East 73 Street, New York
Subway: 6 to 77 St
Admission free, reservation required (click here)

In this 7th year of artistic collaboration with the Austrian Cultural Forum, Argento takes part in curating a festival celebration at the crossroads of classical and electronic sounds. From September 11 to 18, Moving Sounds 2015 delves into creativity, experimentation and critical thought in performances, interactive sound installations, film and video, and panel discussions. 

Argento performs in the culminating concert of the festival on September 18 with violinist Hanna Hurwitz illuminating Giacinto Scelsi's Anahit coupled with spatialized responses by Tristan Murail and the U.S. premiere of Georg Friedrich Haas's Introduktion und Transsonation.

PROGRAM

Tristan Murail – C'est un jardin secret, ma sœur, ma fiancée, une source scellée, une fontaine close... (1976)

for viola
Stephanie Griffin, viola 

Tristan Murail – Les Ruines circulaires (1998)

for clarinet and violin
Doori Na, violin, Carol McGonnell, clarinet

Tristan Murail – Feuilles à travers les cloches (1998)

for flute, violin, cello and piano

Giacinto Scelsi – Tre pezzi (1965)

for E-flat clarinet
Carol McGonnell, clarinet

Georg Friedrich Haas – Introduktion und Transsonation (2012)

for 17 instruments and tape
U.S. premiere

Giacinto Scelsi – Anahit (1965)

for violin and chamber orchestra
Hanna Hurwitz, violin

Argento New Music Project — Michel Galante, conductor

Dweck Center, 10 Grand Army Plaza, Brooklyn [map]
Subway: 2/3 to Grand Army Plaza ; Q to 7 Av
Admission free (ticket required)

​

At the peak of his artistic creativity from 1997 to 2010, Tristan Murail lived and worked in the center of American musical culture, New York City. As one of the most prominent living French composers, his legacy resulted in a cross pollination with young emerging American artists yielding a unique hybrid of new music subculture. (Argento was formed as a result of close collaboration between Murail and a group of ambitious young virtuosi.) 

Since his departure, Murail’s New York following has been eager to hear spectral music performed in a chamber ensemble setting, and, in particular, for Argento to perform this repertoire. The most common request Argento receives is, “When will we hear you play Murail again?” 

In conjunction with the French American Cultural Exchange and the Brooklyn Public Library, this first concert of a two-part series features the music of Tristan Murail alongside works of three of his American students who have built on and extended his work in powerful new directions. 

PROGRAM

Tristan Murail – The Bronze Age (2012)

for flute, clarinet, trombone, violin, cello and piano
New York premiere ; world premiere performed by Argento in 2012

Huck Hodge – Phantasie (2006)

for amplified cello

Oliver Schneller – Alice Blue (2013)

for flute, oboe, clarinet, saxophone, cello, piano and vibraphone

World premiere

Bert Van Herck – Inflections (2009)

for solo viola

Bert Van Herck – Reconnected (2009)

for alto flute and clarinet

Bert Van Herck – Just a note (2009)

for solo piano

Oliver Schneller – Refractions 

for alto flute, clarinet, violin, viola and cello
World premiere

Argento New Music Project — Andrea Vitello, conductor

Saturday, April 16, 2016, 8:00 PM
Fine Arts Center Concert Hall at Boston University
855 Commonwealth Avenue, Boston

Monday, April 25, 2016, 7:00 PM
Zankel Hall, 881 7th Avenue, New York -- Purchase Tickets Online --
Subway: N/R/Q to 57 St, F to 57 St
 

In the announcement for the winner of the 2014 Great Austrian State Prize (Großer Österreichischer Staatspreis), the Austrian Arts Senate describes Beat Furrer's music possesses a “distinctive style, characterized by the human voice and the interrelation of sound, language and visual effects, using sophisticated texts. His original musical language, characterized by a wealth of sensitive and subtle differentiation matching his sensitivity, but in no way compromising on the original power of the message and its expression, has aroused interest in the music world from right the outset.” Argento, his long-term artistic collaborator in America, brings together three of his most celebrated works in this evening's program.

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PROGRAM - April 16 in Boston

Beat Furrer – linea dell’orizzonte (2012)

for 10 musicians

Beat Furrer – Voicelessness: The Snow Has No Voice (1986)

for piano
Joanna Chao, piano

Beat Furrer – Lied (1993)

for violin and piano

Beat Furrer – Aer (1991)

for clarinet, cello and piano

Morton Feldman – Bass Clarinet and Percussion (1981)

Argento New Music Project — Michel Galante, conductor 

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PROGRAM - April 25 in New York

Beat Furrer – Xenos III (2010)

for strings and percussion
U.S. premiere; with narration by the composer

Beat Furrer – Still (1998)

for ensemble

Beat Furrer – Spazio immergente (2015)

for soprano and trombone
World premiere

Tony Arnold, soprano, Tim Albright, trombone

Beat Furrer – linea dell’orizzonte (2012)

for 10 musicians
New York premiere

Argento New Music Project — Michel Galante, conductor 

Hosted by French Institute: Alliance Française
Thursday, May 19, 2016, 7:30 PM
Florence Gould Hall, 55 East 59 Street [map]
Subway: 4/5/6/N/R/Q to 59th St - Lexington Av ; N/R to 5 Av

​

At the peak of his artistic creativity from 1997 to 2010, Tristan Murail lived and worked in the center of American musical culture, New York City. As one of the most prominent living French composers, his legacy resulted in a cross pollination with young emerging American artists yielding a unique hybrid of new music subculture. (Argento was formed as a result of close collaboration between Murail and a group of ambitious young virtuosi.)

Since his departure, Murail’s New York following has been eager to hear spectral music performed in a chamber ensemble setting, and, in particular, for Argento to perform this repertoire. The most common request Argento receives is, “When will we hear you play Murail again?” 

In conjunction with the French American Cultural Exchange and FIAF, this second concert of a two-part series features the music of Tristan Murail alongside works of three of his American students who have built on and extended his work in powerful new directions. 

PROGRAM

Tristan Murail – La Mandragore (1993)

for piano
Melody Fader, piano
Featuring a world premiere choreography by Miro Magloire performed by New Chamber Ballet

Michel Galante – Watercolors (2003)

for flute, clarinet, violin, cello, piano and percussion

Huck Hodge – Phantasie (2006)

for amplified cello
Alex Wasserman, cello

Michel Galante – Leaves of Absence (2005)

for flute, clarinet, trombone, violin, viola, cello and bass

Joshua Fineberg – Objets trouvés (2009)

for flute, clarinet, violin, cello, piano, and percussion
U.S. premiere performed by Argento in 2011

Tristan Murail – Ethers (1978)

for flute with clarinet, trombone, violin, cello and piano
Erin Lesser, flute
U.S. premiere performed by Argento in 2004
Recorded by Argento on award-winning album Winter Fragments

Argento New Music Project — Michel Galante, conductor