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After a long holiday break we are kicking off  2016 with a not-to-be-missed opening concert!  Please join NMC on Friday, January 22nd at Joe’s Cafe for our 2016 opening concert, featuring Baltimore pedal steel guitarist/composer, Susan Alcorn, and Chicago percussionist, Frank Rosaly.  Both artists will partake in workshops and other special events, so please stay tune for updates.

New Music Circle audiences may recall hearing percussionist Frank Rosaly at a performance in 2013 with Joshua Abrams’s Natural Information Society at Joe’s Cafe. As we heard, unusual percussive devices such as found objects and electronic sounds are often included in his arsenal, and he is capable of transitioning from the most subtle sounds to intense outbursts, all in the same breath. Rosaly now devotes much of his time to performing, composing and teaching, as well as organizing musical events. His collaborations include work with Matana Roberts, Ken Vandermark, and Roscoe Mitchell.

Baltimore pedal steel guitarist, Susan Alcorn, will make her first time visit to St. Louis! Alcorn is a Baltimore based composer and instrumentalist who has received international recognition as an innovator of the pedal steel guitar. Alcorn elicits an expansive range of sounds from her instrument, from accessible country glissandos to Theremin like science fiction “noir” effects. Though mostly a solo performer, she has collaborated with numerous artists including Pauline Oliveros, Joe McPhee, Ellen Fullman, Evan Parker, and Thurston Moore. Her most recent album, Soledad, was released in 2015 on Relative Pitch.

Dear Friends of The New Music Circle,

New Music Circle has made its mark in presenting musicians at the forefront in creating and playing contemporary music. We have seen artists who range from seminal masters in jazz to emerging classical music innovators, to exciting electronic music artists to those who present new and fresh multi-media presentations.

For quite a number of years now, we have experienced one great concert after another.  This year, we are off to a terrific start with Evan Parker and Peter Evans, Charlemagne Palestine, and the Feldman-Courvoisier duo (I invite you to review our recent history of top-notch artists, international to local, on our Past Events page).

To keep this impressive string of high quality programs going, does require your support. Although we’ve made it to our 57th season, we need individual donations more than ever before. As I am sure you know, support from grantors is greatly appreciated but comprises only a portion of what we need to fund the groundbreaking music we champion.  Our cost of bringing musicians here from around the world to play, collaborate, and teach is substantial, yet we strive to offer tickets at prices that all can afford.

Please join us in presenting an exciting variety of the finest music from Saint Louis and around the world!  Your generous tax free donation of $100 or more, or whatever your means allow, will help us to keep the excitement going. I look forward to shared musical experiences to come.

To donate online, click the “Donate” button on the right. Or send your check to:

New Music Circle

PO Box 9337

St. Louis, MO 63117

Thank you!

Dave Day

President

Our December presentation at KDHX will feature NYC jazz/modern classical musicians,  Swiss pianist Sylvie Courvoisier and violinist Mark Feldman.  Collaborators for 15 years they are regarded as two of the most boundary-pushing composer/performers working today. Virtuosos on their respective instruments, and telepathic improvisers, their quest for an “organic integration of classical and modern jazz” results in a new form of music that seamlessly blends classical composition with the spontaneity of improvisation. Together they have released albums on John Zorn’s Tzadik label and ECM, and have collaborated with artists such as Zorn, Yusef Lateef, Fred Frith, and Evan Parker. Courvoisier and Feldman will also be in town a day early to participate in a free workshop at Jackson Pianos (please see our events page for more information).

Watch a recent live clip of Sylvie Courvoisier and Mark Feldman here…

New Music Circle’s second presentation of our 57th season will take place next Saturday (11/7) and Sunday (11/8), and feature Charlemagne Palestine (Brussels/NYC). Palestine will perform two nights of concerts, each night utilizing different instrumentation. Night one (11/7) will involve piano, voice, electronics, and stuffed animals at The Pulitzer Arts Foundation. On Night two (11/8) he will make use of the Historic Trinity Lutheran’s wonderful church organ, where he will be joined with a live video accompaniment by STL video artists, Chad Eivins and Kevin Harris.

Here is a short clip of Charlemagne Palestine discussing his thoughts on playing cathedral organs and their microtonal capabilities, ” Everywhere you go in the church the sound changes. You turn your head and the sound changes…because it’s a three dimensional, fluid sonority in in constant transformation”….