“The pitches that fall between standard chromatic pitches are called microtones,” writes Jeremy Reynolds in Thursday’s (1/4) Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. “Clarinetist David Krakauer [will be] one of the headliners for Pittsburgh’s second Beyond: Microtonal Music Festival and Symposium, Jan. 11-13…. This year’s festival kicks off with a concert featuring Mr. Krakauer along with fellow featured soloists the New York-based contemporary ensemble Loadbang, oud (an ancient string instrument) player Rahim Alhaj, and percussionist Issa Malluf. The Beyond Festival Orchestra, which comprises members of local new-music ensembles, will also perform. Mathew Rosenblum … is the co-director of the University of Pittsburgh’s Music on the Edge program as well as the [festival’s] organizer…. Gil Rose, founder of the Boston Modern Orchestra Project, will conduct the Beyond Festival Orchestra, which features members of contemporary groups such as Nat 28, Kamaraton, Alia Musica, [and] Wolf Trap…. The first microtonal festival took place in 2015…. ‘The orchestra is new to this year,’ Mr. Rosenblum said…. Through post-concert surveys, Music on the Edge has reported that between 20 and 30 percent of average audiences are entirely new faces…. ‘Somebody that knows nothing about music should be able to walk in and have a moving experience,’ [Krakauer] said.”
Posted January 5, 2018
