2016-17

Kaynak Pipers Band

Kaynak Pipers Band Concert
September 28, 2016 / 8:00 pm
MIT Killian Hall, 14W-111
160 Memorial Drive, Cambridge, MA

CAST Blog: The Kaynak Pipers Band Brings A Centuries-Old Bagpipe Tradition Down From The Mountains To The Rest Of The World

Learn more about Kaynak Pipers Band.

Photo: Kaynak Pipers Band. Courtesy of the artists.

Joe Lovano

Streams of Expression and Love—Joe Lovano Celebrates Gunther Schuller at MIT
Tuesday, October 4, 2016 / 8:00pm
MIT Killian Hall, 14W-111
160 Memorial Drive, Cambridge, MA

Donations will be accepted for efforts to preserve the legacy of Gunther Schuller.

In addition to performing music from Rush Hour as a quartet (with vocal-jazz great Judi Silvano, Boston-bassist and MIT Affiliated Artist Keala Kaumeheiwa and MIT Director of Wind and Jazz Ensembles, Fred Harris, drums) Lovano also perform MIT composer and Professor of Music Peter Child’s Moonsculptures, an attractive Third Stream influenced composition for tenor saxophone, violin and piano. Violinist and Schuller devotee Young-Nam Kim (Artistic Director of the Chamber Music Society of Minnesota), Affiliated Artist and Collaborative Pianist at MIT Eileen Huang, and cellist Katherine McShane join Lovano. Other chamber works by Child and Harris round out the program performed by Kim and his son Daniel Kim, new violist of the Boston Symphony Orchestra.

One of Schuller’s closest friends and perhaps greatest advocate, the legendary Third Stream pianist and educator Ran Blake (New England Conservatory) makes a very special solo guest appearance on the program.

CAST Blog: Jazz Legend Joe Lovano Pays Tribute To Gunther Schuller’s Searching Spirit

Learn more about Joe Lovano.

Photo: Joe Lovano. Credit: Jimmy Katz.

Fradreck Mujuru and Erica Azim

Children’s Drum Workshop
October 30, 2016  / 10:00am-12:00pm
World Music Room, N52-199
265 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge

Fradreck Mujuru and Erica Azim Concert
October 30, 2016
3:00pm pre-concert talk
4:00pm concert
MIT Killian Hall, 14W-111
160 Memorial Drive, Cambridge

Zimbabwean master musician Fradreck Mujuru is joined by Erica Azim in playing the healing music of the mbira, used by the Shona to connect the living with the ancestors for more than 1,000 years. Born to the largest extended family of mbira players in Zimbabwe, Mujuru has played mbira since the age of 8, and is now known internationally as an outstanding performer, teacher, and instrument maker, while continuing to play in ceremonies for the ancestors at home. Azim is America’s leading proponent of the Shona mbira tradition, who has toured with various Shona mbira masters and taught thousands of Americans to play mbira, and to support the tradition in Zimbabwe.

CAST Blog: Fradreck Mujuru and Erica Azim Bring Zimbabwe’s National Instrument, The Mbira, To Cambridge

Learn more about Fradreck Mujuru and Ericka Azim.

Photo: Fradreck Mujuru and Erica Azim. Courtesy of the artists.

Sumie Kaneko

MIT World Music Day
Saturday, December 3, 2016

4:30pm
Gamelan Galak Tika featuring Sumie Kaneko
MIT Kresge Auditorium, W16, 48 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA

6:00pm
International Food Festival
Lobdell Hall, Stratton Student Center, W20, 84 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA

7:30pm
MIT’s Rambax
Lobdell Hall, Stratton Student Center, W20, 84 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA

A showcase of diverse musical cultures, World Music Day brings together traditional and new music from Bali, Senegal, and Japan, featuring MIT ensembles in performance with master musicians Sumie Kaneko, Samuel Solomon, and Lamine Touré.  Highlights include world premieres by Evan Ziporyn and Sam Schmetterer, traditional Balinese and Senegalese dance, a solo set by koto master Sumie Kaneko, and the debut of Cambridge’s new youth gamelan, Anak Tika.

MTA Composer Forum presents Sumie Kaneko
December 1, 2016 / 5:00–6:00pm
14e-109 MIT Lewis Music Library

CAST Blog: Sumie Kaneko and Gamelan Galak Tika Connect Japan, Bali and the Avant-Garde for MIT’s World Music Day

Learn more about Sumie Kaneko.

Photo: Sumie Kaneko. Courtesy of the artist.

Jacob Collier

Public Forum
The Creative Process of Jacob Collier
December  7, 2016 / 5:00pm
MIT Building 6-120
Jacob Collier will discuss and demonstrate facets of his process of composing and arranging music.

Concert
Imagination Off The Charts—Jacob Collier at MIT
Saturday, December 10, 2016 / 8pm
MIT Kresge Auditorium, W16
48 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA

Jacob Collier and the MIT Festival Jazz Ensemble (FJE) with additional musicians present the premiere of a neo soul groove puzzle piece crafted by Collier. A new arrangement by Collier of his piece “Hajanga” for the FJE—his first for a large jazz ensemble—will also be premiered. Also a first for a jazz ensemble, two more Collier compositions from his 2016 recording “In My Room” will premiere, in arrangements by MIT alumnus Jamshied Sharifi. The concert also includes Collier performing some jazz standards with the FJE as well as solo performances.

Press Release: Visiting Artist Jacob Collier Premieres Newly Arranged Works at MIT’s Annual Sounding Series 

CAST Blog: Jazz Prodigy Jacob Collier Infuses Technology With Humanity At MIT

CAST Blog: Behind the Artwork: Ben Bloomberg Creates Live Performance Systems for Virtuoso Multi-instrumentalist Jacob Collier

CAST Blog: Out of his room, in his element: Jacob Collier harmonizes with MIT

Learn more about Jacob Collier.

Photo: Jacob Collier. Courtesy of the artist.

Nik Bärtsch’s MOBILE

Performance
January 5, 2017
MIT Killian Hall, 14W-111
160 Memorial Drive, Cambridge, MA

Swiss composer/pianist Nik Bärtsch’s music seamlessly blends the hypnotic shifting textures of post-minimalism with a precision groove honed in the spirit of James Brown. It has been variously described (by the same respected New York Times music critic) as ‘rigorously conceptual’ and ‘zen-funk.’ Mainly known in the US for his amplified RONIN ensemble, Bärtsch has recently explored a new palette of chamber music-like colors with his acoustic MOBILE ensemble, featured on his critically acclaimed 2016 ECM album Continuum. The group, featuring the equally unique and essential bass clarinet virtuoso Sha, as well as bass and drums, makes its Boston-area public debut with this single Killian Hall appearance.

CAST Blog: Minimalism Meets Funk In Nik Bärtsch’s MOBILE Ensemble

Learn more about Nik Bärtsch and MOBILE

duoJalal

Composer Forum
Thursday, February 23, 2017 / 5:00-6:00 pm
Lewis Music Library, 14E-109

The Rumi Experience
Thursday, February 23, 2017 / 8:00pm
MIT Killian Hall, 14W-111
160 Memorial Drive, Cambridge, MA

A project that centers around the work of 13th century poet and mystic Jalal a‐din Rumi. Coupled with spoken poetry of Rumi, duoJalal performs works by today’s leading composers including works commissioned for the project by Evan Ziporyn and Lev Zhurbin. In the spirit of “sama”, a deep listening to music and poetry, the audience will experience the true spirit of Rumi.

Learn more about duoJalal.

Photo: duoJalal. Courtesy of the artist.

Maya Beiser

and the Ambient Orchestra perform

David Bowie’s Blackstar

A Terry and Rick Stone Concert
March 3, 2017 / 7:30pm
MIT Kresge Auditorium, W16
48 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA

The Terry and Rick Stone Concert features a new arrangement by CAST Faculty Director Evan Ziporyn of Blackstar, David Bowie’s last album that Maya Beiser, CAST’s Mellon Distinguished Visiting Artist, performs with a 60 piece orchestra as part of the MIT Sounding series. The program also includes a new arrangement of Erik Satie’s 80 Gymnopedies and Ziporyn’s Frog’s Eye.

The concert features a new app called NoteStream, developed by MIT students and Eran Egozy, MIT alum and founder of Harmonix. The audience experience will be enhanced with the technology as they will be able to stream engaging images and facts about the performance in real time on their smartphones.

Cellist Maya Beiser is the 2016-18 Mellon Distinguished Visiting Artist at the MIT Center for Art, Science & Technology. Beiser has captivated audiences worldwide with her virtuosity, eclectic repertoire, and relentless quest to redefine her instrument’s boundaries.

Read more on WBUR’s The ARTery: MIT Professor Debuts Cutting-Edge Classical Take On David Bowie’s ‘Blackstar’

Read more on our blog: Evan Ziporyn’s ‘Ambient Orchestra’ Honors Bowie With ‘Blackstar’ Concert

Read more in the Boston Globe: Before the concert begins, please turn on your cellphones

Learn more about Maya Beiser.

Photo: Maya Beiser performs “Uncovered” during the 2015-16 MIT Sounding Series. Credit: Justin Knight.

MIT Symphony Orchestra

Adam Boyles, conductor

Friday, March 17, 2017 / 8:00pm
Kresge Auditorium, W16
48 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA

Program includes:

Hayden: Symphony No. 100 in G major

Harbison: Double Concerto for Oboe and Clarinet
Featuring MIT alums Eran Egozy and Paul Ragaller

Shostakovich: Symphony No. 5

Blog: MIT Orchestra Plays Homage To The Mischief And Wit Of Haydn And Harbison

Photos on Flickr

Photo: John Harbison. Credit: Tom Artin.

Luciana Souza & Guillermo Klein

Works on Hope—Luciana Souza & Guillermo Klein with the MIT Wind Ensemble, MIT Festival Jazz Ensemble, and MIT Vocal Jazz Ensemble

April 28, 2017
8:00pm concert
7:30pm pre-concert ArtWeek talk
Kresge Auditorium, W16
48 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA

Part of ArtWeek 2017

The concert includes a new work for Grammy award winning vocalist Luciana Souza and the MIT Wind Ensemble, composed by Guillermo Klein based on poetry chosen by Klein.

Two of South America’s greatest jazz artists, Luciana Souza and Guillermo Klein, join the MIT Wind Ensemble, MIT Festival Jazz Ensemble and MIT Vocal Jazz Ensemble in creating innovative new compositions and arrangements. The performance represents the culmination of Klein’s and Souza’s MIT residency and a semester-long exploration of their music by the three MIT student ensembles. The evening’s highlight is the world premiere of Works on Hope by Klein for Souza and the MIT Wind Ensemble under the direction of Fred Harris. During the 7:30pm pre-concert talk, VJE director Liz Tobias and select MIT students discuss collaborating with Souza and Klein, the rationale behind the project, and the challenges and rewards of developing new works remotely and onsite with guest artists.

Composer Forum
Guillermo Klein and Luciana Souza
April 26, 2017 / 5:00pm
Lewis Music Library, 14E-109

CAST Blog: With Works on Hope, Latin Jazz Luminaries Guillermo Klein and Luciana Souza Invite MIT Into Their Tribe

Learn about Luciana Souza & Guillermo Klein

Photo: Luciana Souza and Guillermo Klein. Image credit: Souza (left) by Kim Fox and Klein (right) courtesy of the artist.