Network at PAFA: American Creations

Sunday, April 8, 2018
3:00 PM
Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts

Network reunited with PAFA to present a blockbuster concert of new chamber music commissions by 3 generations of composers: Luke Carlson, Paul Lansky, and Oliver Schneller; also, a Philadelphia premiere by Carolyn Chen. The performance took place in PAFA’s spectacular Historic Landmark Building, surrounded by the art and architecture that inspired the music. 

Luke Carlson: Woodcuts, for chamber ensemble, composed in direct response to three powerful woodcuts by Rockwell Kent: Dynamos, Foundry, and Two Locomotives.

Paul Lansky: Harmonic Gallery, for chamber ensemble, was not created in conjunction with a specific work of art at PAFA, but is “a musical analog of a museum exhibition in which paintings, sometimes created hundreds of years apart, are shown in close proximity.” (Paul Lansky)

Oliver Schneller: If You Build It, for flutes, double bass, percussion and electronics, is composed in response to a dynamic group of four paintings in the rotunda of PAFA, including a work by contemporary artist William Villalongo, after which the new composition is named.

Carolyn Chen: Great Birnam Wood, an open-form piece for marbles and drum set that continues Network’s art/music theme, requiring the performer to respond to a series of whimsical graphic figures on paper. 

There will also be a special performance of new art-inspired works by 7th Graders from Friends Select School beginning at 2:30PM. Pieces composed by the "Students of Dan Capecchi" at Friends Select will be performed by Network ensemble members Hirono Oka, John Koen and guest flutist, Heather Fortune.

Jan Krzywicki - conductor
Eric Derr - percussion
Christopher Deviney - percussion
Mary Javian - double bass
John Koen - cello
Hirono Oka - violin
Erica Peel - flute
Burchard Tang - viola