“In a career of over five decades, the avant-jazz artist Anthony Braxton has traversed a range of forms and styles,” writes Gabrielle Debinski in Thursday’s (5/2) NewYork Times. “Now concertgoers will get to hear the breadth of his work, which will open the 20th anniversary of the flagship Composer Portraits series at Miller Theater at Columbia University.” Braxton and other composers featured in Miller’s upcoming season have composed for orchestra. The 2019-20 Portraits series offers “evening-length immersive concerts that explore the work of a single composer…. Other Portraits will be devoted to the jazz pianist and 2013 MacArthur ‘genius’ grant winner Vijay Iyer, including the premiere of ‘Song for Flint,’ part of Columbia’s Year of Water; Annea Lockwood, whose focus on sonic details from nature will be reflected in her new work ‘Into the Vanishing Point’; and Dai Fujikura, including ‘Minina,’ inspired by the birth of his child. Bright Sheng, Caroline Shaw and Oscar Bettison will also have evenings devoted to their works. The Miller season, the 10th overseen by executive director Melissa Smey, will also include a new operatic commission: ‘Desire,’ a chamber opera by Hannah Lash, which features the JACK Quartet.”
Posted May 3, 2019
