Arie Antiche: John Taylor Ward Spotlight
Tenri Cultural Institute
43A W 13th St, New York, NY 10011, USA
New York
40.7363801
-73.99608769999999
Cantata Profana presents its second show of the season! This concert will take place in the intimate Tenri Cultural Institute space on West 13th St and will honor the tradition of our dynamic, miniature-yet-epic Joe's Pub spotlight shows. This will be our last venture into the salon spotlight format, so make sure not to miss this one!
It will feature our beloved Taylor Ward, starring in Iannis Xenakis' "Kassandra". Originally a part of a large staged vocal/instrumental incidental work Oresteïa, "Kassandra" was extracted and adapted for the concert hall as a chamber work in the 80s. It is based around the character of prophet Cassandra in Aeschylus' tragedy Agamemnon. Xenakis employs stark contrasts in ranges of the voice, language fragments, and the juxtaposition of ensemble's rigidity and improvisation to explore Cassandra's feelings of alienation, quite possibly in connection to Xenakis' own guilt for fleeing Greece during the Civil War to escape further persecution.
The piece will be complemented by some morcels from Italian art songs, baroque sounds of Sigismondo d'India, and the unique, wondrous expressivity of Celeste Oram. The supporting cast will include your favorite CP veterans Jacob Ashworth, Dan Schlosberg, and Suliman Tekalli, as well as a new face - the magnificent percussionist Jess Tsang.
