Left Coast Chamber Ensemble (LCCE) continues its 30th anniversary concert series with Wild Music, where music and nature beckon us through the darkness of winter. Igor Stravinsky's own brilliant arrangement of The Rite of Spring for piano four hands will be performed alongside three newly commissioned companion works inspired by Stravinsky’s iconoclastic work. Leoš Janáček's deeply personal connection to nature and memory completes the evening with his tender and mysterious piano cycle, On an Overgrown Path. Wild Music is made possible with the generous support of the Ross McKee foundation.
The three companion pieces were composed for LCCE by Jack Langdon, Trey Makler, and Dean Boursiquot. For his piece, motionless rite, Chicago-based composer Jack Langdon writes, “The work captures a feeling of silent, motionless intensity—an energy that feels fast and intense while remaining still and quiet—something I particularly associate with certain moments of The Rite.” For Trey Makler, a PhD candidate at UC Davis, Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring forms a special part of his compositional journey. get-together is “a toast to the bonds that I have formed through Stravinsky, and a celebration of fond reunion…this work considers the act of reunion that two pianists, sharing one instrument, experience when they come together to play.” Dean Boursiquot, also a UC Davis PhD candidate, approaches his companion piece to Rite of Spring differently: “Stravinsky is one of my favorite composers. Composing a hip-pop inspired remix is my way of paying tribute. Expanding a few motifs found in the first half, Hammered is a work full of force and energy like an espresso shot.”
At the Door: $38 General Admission / $20 Subsidized / $15 Students