The SPCO's Liquid Music Series Presents Third Coast Percussion

Recent Grammy Award-winners Third Coast Percussion return to Liquid Music with new works by two incredible musical minds: the iconic American composer Philip Glass and the pop polymath Devonté Hynes, a.k.a. Blood Orange. Glass's new work, written for Third Coast Percussion and co-commissioned by Liquid Music, is his first ever for percussion ensemble. Hynes, who has also become a Glass collaborator in recent years, brings his "dense modern pop with roots in hip-hop, R&B and NYC culture" (The Guardian) to an entirely new sound world in his piece for Third Coast Percussion. More concert details to be announced in October.

Third Coast Percussion says "we are thrilled to be returning to the SPCO Liquid Music Series with a project that has been many years in the making. We will be performing a new work for our ensemble by iconic composer Philip Glass and another by the exceptionally creative and versatile artist Devonté Hynes. These are two musicians who know each other well, and who have found an artistic kinship that has deeply inspired us. To have new works written for our ensemble by the both of them premiere in the same season is mind-blowing."

CONCERT DATE AND LOCATION

Sunday, Dec 9, 2018

Ordway Concert Hall, Saint Paul

Music at 7:00pm

TICKETS

$30 ($25 for SPCO/Liquid Music subscribers); FREE for children ages 6-17 and students

liquidmusicseries.org | 651.291.1144

ABOUT THIRD COAST PERCUSSION

Third Coast Percussion is a Grammy-winning, artist-run quartet of classically-trained percussionists hailing from the great city of Chicago. For over 10 years, the ensemble has forged a unique path in the musical landscape with virtuosic, energetic performances that celebrate the extraordinary depth and breadth of musical possibilities in the world of percussion. The ensemble has been praised for "commandingly elegant" (The New York Times) performances, the "rare power" (Washington Post) of their recordings and "an inspirational sense of fun and curiosity" (Minnesota Star-Tribune). The ensemble has commissioned dozens of new works by composers including Glenn Kotche, Chris Cerrone, Donnacha Dennehy, Timo Andres, David T. Little, Ted Hearne and Augusta Read Thomas. The four members of Third Coast are also accomplished teachers, and since 2013, have served as ensemble-in-residence at the University of Notre Dame's DeBartolo Performing Arts Center.

ABOUT Philip Glass, composer

Through his operas, symphonies, compositions for his own ensemble and wide-ranging collaborations with artists ranging from Twyla Tharp to Allen Ginsberg, Woody Allen to David Bowie, Philip Glass has had an extraordinary and unprecedented impact upon the musical and intellectual life of his times. Glass is the first composer to win a wide, multi-generational audience in the opera house, the concert hall, the dance world, in film and in popular music - simultaneously.

He was born in 1937 and grew up in Baltimore. He studied at the University of Chicago, the Juilliard School and in Aspen with Darius Milhaud. Finding himself dissatisfied with much of what then passed for modern music, he moved to Europe, where he studied with the legendary pedagogue Nadia Boulanger (who also taught Aaron Copland , Virgil Thomson and Quincy Jones) and worked closely with the sitar virtuoso and composer Ravi Shankar. He returned to New York in 1967 and formed the Philip Glass Ensemble - seven musicians playing keyboards and a variety of woodwinds, amplified and fed through a mixer. The new musical style that Glass was evolving was eventually dubbed "minimalism." Glass himself never liked the term and preferred to speak of himself as a composer of "music with repetitive structures."

ABOUT DEVONTÉ HYNES, composer

Producer, multi-instrumentalist, composer, songwriter and vocalist Devonté Hynes is one of the most influential voices in music today. Raised in England, Hynes started out as a teenage punk in the UK band Test Icicles before releasing two orchestral acoustic pop records as Lightspeed Champion. In 2011, he released Coastal Grooves, the first of four solo albums under the moniker Blood Orange. His 2016 album, Freetown Sound, was released to critical acclaim, and saw Hynes defined as one of the foremost musical voices of his time, receiving comparisons to the likes of Kendrick Lamar and D'Angelo for his own searing and soothing personal document of life as a black man in America. His 2018 album, Negro Swan, was released to equally rapturous response, exploring elements of black depression and identity. He has collaborated with Solange Knowles, fka twigs, ASAP Rocky, Puff Daddy, Janet Mock and many more, and was recently one of four artists invited to the Kennedy Center to perform alongside Philip Glass. In addition to his production work, he scored the film Palo Alto, directed by Gia Coppola.

ABOUT LIQUID MUSIC
The Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra's Liquid Music Series, named "Best of Classical" by The New York Times, develops innovative new projects with iconoclastic artists in unique presentation formats. Liquid Music performances invite adventurous audiences to discover the new and the fascinating within the flourishing landscape of contemporary chamber music. Visit liquidmusicseries.org to learn more.

ABOUT THE SAINT PAUL CHAMBER ORCHESTRA
Renowned for its artistic excellence, remarkable versatility of musical styles and adventurous programming, The Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra is widely regarded as one of the finest chamber orchestras in the world. Now in its 60th season, the SPCO has recently undergone transformational change with the opening of its new home, the Ordway Concert Hall, the addition of a new generation of players, and significant changes in its artistic vision. The SPCO is primarily an unconducted ensemble that performs a broad range of repertoire from Baroque to new music and works in close collaboration with a diverse series of artistic partners. The virtuoso musicians of the SPCO present more than 130 concerts and educational programs each year, and are regularly heard on public radio programs that reach more than 2 million listeners each week on over 300 stations. The orchestra also reaches more than 250,000 listeners annually through its free online Concert Library, and has recently begun offering both live and on-demand videos of concerts that can be viewed anytime, anywhere, on any device, completely free of charge.. Additionally, the SPCO has released 67 recordings, including the 2017 Grammy Award-winning recording of Schubert's Death and the Maiden with violinist and Artistic Partner Patricia Kopatchinskaja. The SPCO is nationally recognized for its commitment to broad community accessibility, its innovative audience outreach efforts, its pioneering Liquid Music Series and its educational and family programming. The SPCO offers the most affordable tickets of any major orchestra in the United States, with over 50 percent of tickets available for $15 or less, and has expanded accessibility even further by offering free tickets for children and students starting in the 2016.17 season as a part of the New Generation Initiative. For more information, visit thespco.org.