LIVE MUSIC RETURNS TO THE SCULPTURE GARDEN WITH
SUMMERGARDEN 2016 AND SUMMER THURSDAYS
Summergarden 2016: New Music for New York
The Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Sculpture Garden
Sunday evenings, July 10, 17, 24, 31
Sculpture Garden opens at 7:00 p.m.; concerts begin at 8:00 p.m.
Admission is FREE
Summer Thursdays
The Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Sculpture Garden
Thursdays, July 7, 14, 21, 28, and August 4, 11, 18, 25
Concerts begin at 6:30 p.m.; Museum stays open until 8:30 p.m.
FREE with Museum admission
NEW YORK, JUNE 2, 2016—The Museum of Modern Art announces its lineups of live music
events in The Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Sculpture Garden for summer 2016. The annual
Summergarden: New Music for New York free concert series returns for four Sunday evenings
beginning July 10. A tradition since 1971, Summergarden is part of the Museum’s long history of
presenting contemporary classical music and jazz. We once again welcome the collaboration of our
programming partners, The Juilliard School and Jazz at Lincoln Center. Members of the New
Juilliard Ensemble, under the artistic direction of Joel Sachs, perform on July 10 and 24, offering
two distinctive programs of contemporary compositions that are receiving their New York
premieres. The New Juilliard Ensemble specializes in presenting new music in the most diverse
styles from the United States and all over the world; it has commissioned nearly 100 pieces and
has performed in the U.S., Britain, France, Israel, Japan, Poland, and Russia. Jazz at Lincoln
Center has selected two jazz groups whose concerts on July 17 (Elliot Mason & Creation) and July
31 (Josh Evans Quintet) emphasize original works. Each Jazz at Lincoln Center evening features
one world premiere.
On Thursday evenings in July and August, the Museum presents Summer Thursdays, a
series of musical performances free with admission, organized in collaboration with PopRally, a
cross-departmental committee that programs events at the Museum and MoMA PS1. Beginning
July 7, the Museum will remain open until 8:30 p.m. on Thursdays and present concerts in the
Sculpture Garden, free with admission. This year, Summer Thursdays performances are presented
in conjunction with the exhibition BRUCE CONNER: IT’S ALL TRUE. The 2016 Summer Thursdays
series kicks off with Brooklyn Raga Massive’s performance of longtime Conner collaborator Terry
Riley’s In C (1964)—the score to Conner’s final moving-image work, EASTER MORNING (2008).
The following weeks feature acts that embody the unconventional spirit of the artist and his work,
in musical genres ranging from indie rock to neo-psych to pop punk to experimental electronic
music. Performers as diverse as Torres and Daedelus are presented.
Summergarden
Summergarden is free and seating is on a first-come, first-served basis. Entrance to
Summergarden is through the Sculpture Garden gate on West 54 Street between Fifth and Sixth
avenues. The Sculpture Garden opens at 7:00 p.m., and concerts start at 8:00 p.m. and run
approximately one hour to 90 minutes. The Sculpture Garden closes at 10:00 p.m. In the event of
rain, Summergarden concerts will be held in The Agnes Gund Garden Lobby, and the Museum’s 54
Street entrance will open at 7:30 p.m. The Garden Bar, located at the northeast corner of the
Sculpture Garden, sells a selection of homemade snacks, including hot dogs and soft pretzels, as
well as wine, craft beer, and cocktails. The exhibition galleries are closed during Summergarden.
See moma.org/summergarden for details.
Summer Thursdays
Summer Thursdays performances are free with regular Museum admission, and seating is on a
first-come, first-served basis. Sets begin at 6:30 p.m. and run approximately 45 minutes to one
hour. The exhibition galleries and Terrace 5 café are open during Summer Thursdays. The
Sculpture Garden and the Museum galleries close at 8:30 p.m. In the event of rain, the Sculpture
Garden will close, and Summer Thursdays concerts will be held in The Roy and Niuta Titus
Theater 1. Seasonal snacks, chef’s-choice small plates, and specialty cocktails, draft beer, wine,
and nonalcoholic beverages are also available for purchase from The Garden Bar on Thursday
nights. See moma.org/summerthursdays for details.
Follow #MoMAGarden on social media.
SPONSORSHIP:
Major annual support for Summergarden is provided by The Ethel P. Shein Fund for Music at
MoMA, which is generously funded by Agnes Gund.
No. 23
Press Contact:
Janelle Grace, (212) 708-9752 or [email protected]
***
Summergarden 2016 Schedule
July 10
Juilliard Concert I: New Music for Mixed Ensembles
Members of the New Juilliard Ensemble: Joel Sachs, director and conductor; Melanie Williams,
flute and piccolo; Shen Liu, clarinet and bass clarinet; Allison Nicotera, bassoon; Greg LaRosa,
percussion; Robert Fleitz, piano; Alexandrina Boyanova, violin; Anthony Bracewell, viola; Khari
Joyner, cello
Luca Francesconi (Italy, b. 1956)
Da Capo II (2007)
First performance outside Europe
Luca Francesconi, who studied with Karlheinz Stockhausen and Luciano Berio, is one of
Italy’s leading composers. In coming years he will complete commissions for new operas
from Opera Bastille in Paris; Royal Opera House, Covent Garden; and Zurich Opera. Da
Capo II unfolds as a single large arc. The composer writes that it “starts from energy in a
pure state, indeed, almost physiological: pulse, rhythm. This energy unfolds and evolves
gradually from the indefinite to the definite, then exhausting itself and moving further and
further away, in one big rallentando of space and time.”
James Crowley (United States, b. 1962)
Circle in the Round (2009)
New York premiere
James Crowley, based in Milwaukee, is a professor at the University of Wisconsin-Parkside.
His works have been performed in 35 U.S. states and on five continents. He wrote Circle
in the Round for a “Pierrot-plus-percussion” ensemble of flute, clarinet, violin, cello, piano,
and percussion. (Arnold Schoenberg used the first five instruments plus voice in his
landmark Pierrot Lunaire.) Mr. Crowley writes that this “rhapsodic work consists largely of
counterpoint arising from and swirling around a single melodic line—a germinal line that
itself spirals perpetually throughout the work, even when not audibly perceptible.… The
title is borrowed from Miles Davis, one of my many musical heroes, and a master of his
own particular brand of counterpoint.”
Paul Archbold (United Kingdom, b. 1964)
Traces (2003)
First performance outside Europe
The city of Munich commissioned Paul Archbold’s Traces, and Ensemble TrioLog premiered
it there in 2003. In it, the composer writes, “A single note becomes the launching point for
a proliferation of new musical ideas. The two movements of Traces take complementary
paths: in the first movement a long melodic line proceeds in canon, gradually accelerating
until it transforms into a succession of chords; in the second movement a series of chords
are teased into a proliferation of melodies which expand ever more wildly across the
ensemble.” Mr. Archbold teaches at Kingston University, London. His compositions have
been performed by leading exponents of contemporary music in the UK, including the
Arditti and Kreutzer quartets and the Royal Scottish National Orchesatra.
Hróðmar Ingi Sigurbjörnsson (Iceland, b. 1958)
Septet (1998)
First performance outside Iceland
Hróðmar Ingi Sigurbjörnsson lives and teaches in Reykjavík. He has composed for
symphony orchestra, chamber orchestra, instrumental soloists, chorus, theater, film, and
the operatic stage, but Septet was his first work for instruments after almost seven years
of writing exclusively for voice. The four-movement piece shows traces of neoclassical
idioms. He observes that “in many instances a clear tonality is established, though without
functional harmonic motion in the classical/romantic sense.” The work was commissioned
and premiered by members of Caput, a chamber orchestra based in Reykjavík.
July 17
Jazz Concert I: Elliot Mason & Creation
Elliot Mason, trombone; Brad Mason, trumpet; Sofija Knezevic, voice; Dave Kikoski, piano; Matt
Penman, bass; Ali Jackson, drums
Born and raised in Norwich, England, the trombonist Elliot Mason was already a seasoned
performer by the time he came to the Berklee College of Music in Boston, at age 16. He moved to
New York after graduation, and in 2007 Wynton Marsalis invited him to join the Jazz at Lincoln
Center Orchestra, with which he continues to play. He has also performed with the Count Basie
Orchestra, Mingus Big Band, Maria Schneider Orchestra, Maynard Ferguson Big Bop Nouveau,
Branford Marsalis, Chick Corea, Bobby Hutcherson, and Ahmad Jamal, among others, and he
teaches in the jazz programs of Northwestern University and New York University.
At Summergarden, Mr. Mason will present two works for his ensemble Creation: the
premiere of Before, Now, & After, and the recent Efflorescence. Of the new piece, the composer
writes, “Appreciating those who innovated before us while staying true to one’s own artistic voice
is the inspiration for this piece. When composing Before, Now, & After, I envisioned a sonic
journey, rich with traditional influences while traveling new and unexplored paths. These
influences include jazz, flamenco, Brazilian, and classical genres, as well as artists like Antônio
Carlos Jobim, John Coltrane, and Duke Ellington.”
July 24
Juilliard Concert II: New Music for String Quartet
The Cavatina Quartet: Randall Goosby and Mariella Haubs, violins; Jameel Martin, viola; Jia Kim,
cello
Akira Nishimura (Japan, b. 1953)
String Quartet no. 3, “Avian” (1997)
At the Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music, Akira Nishimura studied
composition, Asian traditional music, religion, aesthetics, cosmology, and the concept of
heterophony—all of which inform his musical language. Of this work, composed for the
Arditti Quartet, he writes, “In the spring of 1997, while visiting the suburbs of Brisbane,
Australia, the idea came to me when I was overwhelmed by bird songs, showering down
on me in a torrent.… A quick glissando of harmonics on the open strings of the cello
begins the piece. To make sure of its effect, I took my cello and tried playing the part
again and again, with the result that the skin of my fingers peeled.”
Justyna Kowalska-Lasoń (Poland, b. 1985)
String Quartet no. 3, “I Find My Song” (2013)
First performance outside Poland
The third string quartet of Justyna Kowalska-Lasoń unfolds in three movements played
without pause. Each movement bears a poetic title relating to song. The composer is a
flautist, pianist, and improviser, and plays electronic music as well. She has written for
highly diverse ensembles, from mixed choir and the symphony orchestra to unusual
combinations such as four tubas and tape, or six harps, three trumpets, and timpani. She
received a doctorate in composition in 2015 at the Fryderyk Chopin Academy in Warsaw.
She currently teaches at the Academy of Music in her native Katowice, Poland.
James Primosch (United States, b. 1956)
String Quartet no. 3 (1999)
New York premiere
James Primosch’s principal teachers were Mario Davidovsky, George Crumb, and Richard
Wernick. He teaches at the University of Pennsylvania. He writes that his String Quartet
no. 3, commissioned by the Philadelphia Chamber Music Society, follows “a somewhat
unusual formal scheme: a theme and variations is first interrupted by an anxious
(ansioso) and expressionistic fantasia, then resumes for a single variation, infiltrated by
gestures from the fantasia. A viola cadenza follows, introducing a rondo-like finale. This
attempt to cap the piece in a playful spirit is surprised by a final reprise of the slow
variation theme, this time in a simple unison statement.”
July 31
Jazz Concert II: Josh Evans Quintet
Josh Evans, trumpet and flute; Keith Loftis, tenor saxophone and flute; David Bryant, piano;
Rahsaan Carter, bass; Kush Abadey, drums
Josh Evans will premiere Mansa Mali, an evening-length suite for quintet. It is inspired both by the
Mali Empire, which sent a flotilla of 400 ships across the Atlantic some 180 years before
Columbus, and by the Dogon people, who described complex astronomical phenomena. He
learned of these cultures from his mentor, the renowned saxophonist Jackie McLean. The
composer writes, “The music I composed for Mansa Mali does not simply imitate West African
rhythms and melodies, but rather presents my jazz interpretation of the stories and history of the
fascinating Mali Empire.”
Mr. Evans was first drawn to jazz by Roy and Diz, the 1954 album by Roy Eldridge and
Dizzy Gillespie. He studied with Mr. McLean throughout high school and performed with him
around the Northeast. Another important mentor was the drummer Rashied Ali, with whose band
he traveled throughout Europe and recorded the album Live in Europe. He has also toured and
recorded with musicians such as Billy Harper, Charles Tolliver, Roy Hargrove, Grachan Moncur III,
Rufus Reid, and Oliver Lake. He currently leads and writes for an 18-piece big band and has
started writing for a 10-piece band that combines a jazz quintet and a string quintet.
ABOUT THE JUILLIARD SCHOOL:
The Juilliard School, founded in 1905, is a world leader in performing arts education. Juilliard’s
mission is to provide the highest caliber of artistic education for gifted musicians, dancers, and
actors from around the world, so that they may achieve their fullest potential as artists, leaders,
and global citizens. Located at Lincoln Center in New York City, Juilliard offers undergraduate and
graduate degrees in dance, drama, and music (classical, jazz, historical performance, and vocal
arts). Currently more than 800 artists from 44 states and 42 foreign countries are enrolled at The
Juilliard School. For further information, please visit juilliard.edu.
ABOUT JAZZ AT LINCOLN CENTER:
The mission of Jazz at Lincoln Center is to entertain, enrich, and expand a global community for
jazz through performance, education, and advocacy. We believe that jazz is a metaphor for
democracy because jazz is improvisational. It celebrates personal freedom and encourages
individual expression; jazz is swinging, it dedicates that freedom to finding and maintaining
common ground with others; and jazz is rooted in the blues, it inspires us to face adversity with
persistent optimism. With the world-renowned Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra and guest artists
spanning genres and generations, Jazz at Lincoln Center produces thousands of performance,
educational, and broadcast events each season in its home in New York City (Frederick P. Rose
Hall, “The House of Swing”) and around the world, for people of all ages. Jazz at Lincoln Center is
led by Chairman Robert J. Appel, Managing and Artistic Director Wynton Marsalis, and Executive
Director Greg Scholl. Please visit us at jazz.org.
***
Summer Thursdays 2016 Schedule
July 7
Brooklyn Raga Massive
Abhik Mukherjee and Neel Murgai, sitar; Camila Celin, sarod; Priya Darshini and Andrew Shantz,
voice; Tali Rubinstein, recorder; Eric Fraser, bansuri; Aaron Shragge, trumpet; Sameer Gupta,
Ehren Hanson, and Roshni Thompson, tabla; Michael Gam, dilruba; Trina Basu,
Arun Ramamurthy, Ken Shoji, and Anjna Swaminathan, violin; Adam Malouf, cello; David
Ellenbogen, guitar; Kane Mathis, oud; Vin Scialla, percussion
Terry Riley’s 1964 composition In C, a seminal work of musical minimalism, was inspired by the
rhythmic patterns, drones, and immersive nature of raga. Under the leadership of the sitarist Neel
Murgai, Brooklyn Raga Massive brings the music full circle, as the first ensemble to perform the
piece with an orchestra of raga musicians. Riley himself, who has studied and performed in
Hindustani vocal traditions for decades, suggested that BRM open the composition to
improvisation, and the ensemble’s performances have gained a new spontaneity, beauty, and
excitement. No two performances of In C are the same; listening to it can be a transcendent and
moving experience. A globally recognized collective of forward-thinking musicians, Brooklyn Raga
Massive brings together artists and audiences of diverse backgrounds. In four years and more
than 200 concerts, the ensemble has been at the forefront of bringing new listeners to the deep
tradition of classical raga and the creation of new musical forms.
July 14
Night Beats
Danny Lee Blackwell, guitar, vocals; Jakob Bowden, bass; James Traeger, drums
The psychedelic R&B of Night Beats arrives in sonic waves of color, with strong undertows of soul
and Texas rockabilly. Acid-test heaviness is the band’s passport, but this is no outright nostalgia
trip. In the band's contemporary take on psychedelia, a heady set of hoodoo-voodoo songs will
feature wailing guitar jams and messianic monologues. The Seattle-based trio’s single “H-Bomb”
was picked up by Trouble in Mind Records in 2010, and soon the band was touring North America,
Europe, Israel, South Africa, and Australia. Early 2016 saw the release of its third LP, Who Sold
My Generation (Heavenly Recordings). As Ben Myers wrote, “Bad vibrations, blues jams, and idshattering explorations are timeless pursuits—why shouldn’t today’s young generation be allowed
to take a ride down the slippery spiral that sits within the center of each of us?”
July 21
Potty Mouth
Abby Weems, guitar and vocals; Ally Einbinder, bass; Victoria Mandanas, drums
Potty Mouth is a postpunk trio based in Western Massachusetts. The group emerged from a
casual, why-not attitude when Ally Einbinder and Victoria Mandanas, who met at Smith College,
set out to form a band of like-minded women with a shared interest in learning and growing as
musicians. Abby Weems soon stepped forward with a knack for melody and writing lyrics, and
what started as a side project turned into a way of life: recording, making T-shirts, and touring.
The refreshingly candid work of singer-guitarist Weems weaves sarcasm and melancholia over a
solid bass-and-drums foundation. In August 2015 Potty Mouth debuted a five-song self-titled EP,
produced by John Goodmanson, that showed new levels of writing and production. A new, crisper
sound, with more vocal harmonies and sophisticated production, recalls influences such as Veruca
Salt and Nirvana.
July 28
Moon Duo
Ripley Johnson, guitar; Sanae Yamada, keyboards; John Jeffrey, drums
Moon Duo delivers its unique brand of 12-cylinder space rock in a set of well-crafted, drone-heavy
psych music. Formed in 2009 by Wooden Shjips guitarist Ripley Johnson and Sanae Yamada, the
duo, based in Portland, Oregon, is now joined by the Canadian drummer John Jeffrey. The group’s
debut album was the critically acclaimed Mazes. The title of a follow-up album, Circles, as well as
the themes for many of its songs, came from Ralph Waldo Emerson’s 1841 essay of the same
name, on the symbol and nature of “the flying Perfect.” A BBC commentator described Circles as
“bright and confident… a gleaming pop sensibility.” Shadow of the Sun, Moon Duo’s latest release,
features off-kilter dance rhythms, repetitive grinding riffs, cosmic-trucker boogies, and even an
ecstatically pretty moment.
August 4
Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith
Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith, vocals, synthesizers
In her formative years, Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith communed with nature on Orcas Island in the San
Juan archipelago of Washington state, which she describes as “one of the most magical and
peaceful places.” Her creative work continues to be infused with the vitality and serenity of Orcas.
At Berklee College of Music, she studied composition and sound engineering, first focusing on
voice as her primary instrument, then incorporating classical guitar and piano. She refined her
sound with the indie-folk band Ever Isles, but in a fateful encounter, a neighbor loaned her a
Buchla 100 synthesizer—to profound effect. She was immediately mesmerized with its potential;
starting with rhythmic patterns and melodic pulses, she began sculpting lush and exciting worlds
of sound. Smith writes that with her April 2016 album Ears (Western Vinyl), “My intention was to
take audiences on a sonic motion ride through a futuristic jungle. I wanted to play with visceral
sounds that pull one between feelings of beauty and dissonance, chaos and order.”
August 11
Torres
Mackenzie Scott, vocals, guitar; with band Erin Manning, bass, synthesizers, harmonies; Cameron
Kapoor, guitar; Dominic Cipolla, drums
Torres is the performing name of the introspective and vocally raw indie rocker Mackenzie Scott;
the name is tribute to her grandfather. She recorded her first album, Torres, in 2013, while
finishing a degree at Belmont University in Nashville. The album has been praised for the maturity
of Scott’s songwriting. NPR’s Bob Boilen says, “Her band is extraordinary, too. Guitarist Cameron
Kapoor provides a perfect level of controlled noise under Scott’s alternately melodic and
aggressive playing, while Erin Manning contributes haunting harmonies and drummer Dominic
Cipolla provides spacious punctuation.” Scott pushed herself to even noisier extremes on the
volatile 2015 Sprinter (Partisan Records), a punishing self-examination created after a move to
Brooklyn. American Songwriter hailed it for “smart, emotionally taut guitar rock we thought had
gone extinct a generation ago… tense narratives and gripping story arcs.”
August 18
Sun Araw
Cameron Stallones, guitar
The musical project of the Los Angeles–based artist Cameron Stallones, Sun Araw has crafted
consistently innovative and well-received albums; the eighth, Gazebo Effect (Sun Ark Records),
was released in 2015. Stallones began his musical career as a founding member of the
experimental psychedelic rock collective Magic Lantern. Demos originally meant for the band
became the first Sun Araw LP, The Phynx. Structural and spiritual inspiration for Sun Araw comes
primarily from investigation of the transformative power of simple observation. The goal has
always been the creation of a psychotropic music—not an aesthetic sensibility, but a method of
discontinuous experience. Supporting every Sun Araw composition is the idea of mantra: how
repetition with attention changes the perception of a melodic object. Recent works attempt to
affect the mental activity of the listener even more physically and directly by removing a fixed
location from which to listen. Sun Araw’s practice recently expanded to include a series of online
film essays, SSVR (Second System Vision Radio).
August 25
Daedelus
Alfred Darlington, Monome
Like his mythological namesake, Daedelus is an inventor, craftsman, and constructor of sonic
labyrinths. Drawing sounds from an eclectic palette, he recombines them in an innovative genre
all his own and has dedicated his musical career to a war against cliché. Otherwise known as the
Los Angeles producer Alfred Darlington, Daedelus has released over two dozen recordings on a
variety of labels and collaborates with musicians in many worlds, including electronic, jazz, and
hip-hop. The music runs the full gamut, alternately intense and mellow, exuberant and
melancholy, danceable and introspective. Daedelus has performed over a thousand shows for
audiences on five continents, from Iceland to Istanbul. Each is unique, as Monome controllers and
open-source software allow for on-the-fly improvisation. Daedelus composed the soundtrack for
the award-winning video game Nidhogg, and last year he gave a talk at an independent TEDx
event about the wonders of sound and the ways we experience it.
***
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