SEATTLE, WA – Seattle Modern Orchestra returns for its twelfth season with live performances and five world premieres, featuring SMO commissions from local composers Kaley Lane Eaton, Huck Hodge, Jérémy Jolley, and Yiğit Kolat. This bold season also includes a world premiere and performance collaboration with NY-based composer and saxophonist, Darius Jones, two US premieres by Mexican composer, Marisol Jiménez, a commemoration of Canadian composer, R. Murray Schafer, and works by Ash Fure, Fausto Romitelli, Tania León, and Kate Soper. All concerts will be available for audiences both in-person and through live broadcast via Crowdcast Digital Stage.
SMO’s video podcast, Open Score, will return this season bringing in-depth conversations with our featured composers to audiences. The discussions will be live-broadcast through our Digital Stage on Crowdcast, where audiences are welcome to ask questions and join in the conversation as we explore the music and creative paths of this season’s composers. Schedule to be released.
“We’re so excited to be back performing live for our Seattle audiences again,” says co-artistic director, Julia Tai. “Last season we were able to experiment with online software to rehearse and perform remotely, and we were proud to present five virtual concerts. It has expanded our reach to audiences not just in Seattle, but around the country. This season we’re glad to continue our live broadcast for all of our concerts, while welcoming back our beloved Seattle audiences. We’re thrilled to be bringing new music to listeners wherever they are, whether or not they live in Seattle.”
Concert #1 – Dissociation
Friday, Nov. 19, 2021 @ 8:00pm
Town Hall Forum
Program:
Kaley Lane Eaton Dissociation, or Self-Portrait (2020) – World Premiere
Marisol Jiménez Bestiario Onírico III – Ciudadela – (2009) – US Premiere
Marisol Jiménez Yiríya aiteiya (2017) – US Premiere
Wang Lu Ryan and Dan (2017)
Fausto Romitelli Professor Bad Trip, Lesson I (1998)
Our season opening concert will present a world premiere from Seattle composer and Cornish faculty member, Kaley Lane Eaton. Eaton’s music has been described as “disconcertingly lovely” (Seattle Magazine), and her new work, Dissociation, or Self-Portrait, “puts pop and experimental idioms at war with one another as a metaphor for […] authentic self-expression.” Alongside Eaton’s premiere, SMO will give two US premieres by Mexican composer, Marisol Jiménez, and Seattle premieres by Wang Lu and celebrated Italian composer, Fausto Romitelli.
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Concert #2 – therefore i was
Saturday, Feb. 5, 2022 @ 8:00pm
Chapel Performance Space
Program:
Murray Schafer The Crown of Ariadne
Jérémy Jolley (contro-)clessidra III & IV
Ash Fure therefore i was
SMO will return to the Chapel Performance Space for our second concert, featuring exclusively small chamber and solo works. The program includes Ash Fure’s piano trio therefore i was, world premieres by Jérémy Jolley for piano and electronics, and cello and percussion from his (contro-)clessidra series, and a remembrance of Canadian composer, R. Murray Schafer, with the performance of his virtuosic work for solo harp, The Crown of Ariadne. Performances will be given by pianist Cristina Valdés, percussionist Bonnie Whiting, cellist Ha-Yang Kim, and harpist Sophie Baird-Daniel.
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Concert #3 – Darius Jones in Seattle
Friday, April 15, 2022 @ 8:00pm
Town Hall Seattle Forum
Program:
Darius Jones NEW WORK
Yiğit Kolat NEW WORK
After the enthusiastic reception of our collaboration with New York-based composer and saxophonist, Darius Jones, in 2019, SMO is commissioning a new work from the celebrated composer. This experimental concert will feature Jones on the saxophone and will explore the intersection between written and improvised music. The second SMO commission of the concert will be by Seattle-based composer, Yiğit Kolat, composed specially for Mr. Jones and SMO.
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Concert #4 – The shape of the wind, the shadow of time
Friday, June 24 @ 8:00pm
Town Hall Great Hall
Program:
Tania León Indígena
Kate Soper Now is Forever for soprano and chamber orchestra
Huck Hodge The shape of the wind, the shadow of time for percussion soloist and ensemble
The season will conclude with a world premiere percussion concerto by celebrated Seattle composer, Huck Hodge, entitled The shape of the wind, the shadow of time (commissioned by the Koussevitzky Music Foundation) and will feature the ensemble’s tour-de-force percussionist, Bonnie Whiting. The program will also include Now is Forever by Kate Soper, specially arranged for SMO, and Pulitzer Prize-winning Cuban composer Tania León‘s Indígena.
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SMO Season Subscription: $100 (including access to all concert broadcasts)
SMO Single tickets: $25 General, $15 Seniors, $10 Students
SMO Digital Stage Season Pass: $50
SMO Digital Stage Single Tickets: $15
For more information, please visit: www.seattlemodernorchestra.org.
Safety Protocols
The safety of our musicians and audience is of top priority to us. We will continue to follow guidelines and recommendations from the CDC, King County, and the City of Seattle as we move forward this season. All of our performances this season will require masking and proof of vaccination. Details about Town Hall Seattle’s Covid-19 policy can be found here.