Chatter will perform the New Mexico premiere of music by multiple Grammy nominee and Pulitzer Prize finalist Christopher Cerrone on April 7 and 9.
A clarinet quintet, “Nervous Systems” was co-commissioned by four chamber ensembles in the U.S. and Australia, including Chatter.
Both concerts are at Chatter’s new warehouse concert space in Downtown Albuquerque at 912 Third St. NW.
Cerrone’s music is inspired by the Italian modernist architect Pier Luigi Nervi, aka “the poet of concrete,” exploring the connections between architectural organizational systems and the organic versions of our bodies, the earth and the ocean. The premiere will be performed by James Shields, Chatter’s associate artistic director and Oregon Symphony principal clarinetist.
Cerrone is internationally acclaimed for compositions characterized by a subtle handling of timbre and resonance, a deep literary fluency and a flair for multimedia collaborations.
Cerrone’s recent opera, “In a Grove” (libretto by Stephanie Fleischmann), jointly produced by LA Opera and Pittsburgh Opera, was called “stunning” by the Opera News and “outstanding” by the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette in its sold-out premiere run in March 2022. Other recent projects include “A Body, Moving,” a brass concerto for the Cincinnati Symphony; “Breaks and Breaks,” a violin concerto for Jennifer Koh and the Detroit Symphony; and “The Insects Became Magnetic,” an orchestral work with electronics for the Los Angeles Philharmonic.
The Friday, April 7, concert is part of Chatter’s “Late Works” series, which presents adventurous sounds for sonic explorers on the first Friday night of each month. This concert will also feature György Ligeti’s “Poème Symphonique for 100 metronomes” as part of a celebration of that composer’s centennial year.
The Sunday, April 9, event will be at 10:30 a.m. as part of Chatter’s weekly Sunday series. The musicians also will play Mozart’s Clarinet Quintet in A Major, K. 581.
