Presented in association with Contemporaneous
Features two world premiere works by Elliot Cole and Ian Gottlieb
Contemporaneous is an ensemble of 22 musicians whose mission is to bring to life the music of the present. In this groundbreaking collaboration with berimbau sextet Projeto Arcomusical, disparate traditions of string instruments collide in an explosion of radical new music that draws from diverse traditions of ancient string instruments. The program builds a musical atlas of the ubiquitous and eclectic history of music for strings, from the kora to the harp to the cello to the berimbau.
In two world premiere works by Elliot Cole and Ian Gottlieb written for Contemporaneous and Arcomusical, the visionary composers reimagine the sound of the berimbau (the one-string Afro-Brazilian percussion instrument known for its use in capoeira) to stretch its expressive possibilities in a new context.
About the composer:
Projeto Arcomusical joins the ranks of the many outstanding chamber music ensembles in the United States that have worked closely with Chamber Music America to develop excellent new works of music via CMA’s Classical Commissioning Program. At our 2014 performance at the Percussive Arts Society International Convention, we were fortunate to befriend Elliot Cole, who expressed a strong emotional response to our work. We will work with him over the coming season to create, “Roda,” a fifteen-minute work for berimbau sextet. Roda refers to Capoeira Angola, the Afro-Brazilian martial game that prominently features the berimbau. “Roda” means wheel and as such provides ample poetry and inspiration through not just the musical canon of capoeira but also its deliberate use of the term as a metaphor for the “wheel of life.” The decision to name the work is a nod of respect to this noble tradition. Indeed, Capoeira’s inclusion of the berimbau in its practice is, in fact, largely responsible for the instrument’s thriving culture today.
Contemporaneous: RODA | Trailer | End-of-year Campaign from Contemporaneous on Vimeo.
