SEASON-EXCLUSIVE LIGETI SERIES
OPENS WITH RARE CHICAGO APPEARANCE
OF ARDITTI QUARTET
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UChicago Presents 2017/18 season
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 16, 2017
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PRESS CONTACT
Amy Iwano
Executive Director
University of Chicago Presents
773.702.8068
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UChicago Presents 2017/18 season
CHICAGO — Following on its tradition of celebrating the life and work of significant 20th century composers Olivier Messiaen and Benjamin Britten, The University of Chicago Presentswill present a series highlightingthe music of GyörgyLigeti (1923-2006) in the 2017/18 season. Hungarian-born and from a Jewish family, Ligeti lived through the tumultuous events of the 20th century, including the Hitler/Nazi and Stalin/Soviet regimes. Taking place October 20, 2017 through March 8, 2018, the series will include concerts, lectures, a sound installation, a film screening, and an academic conference.
As a composer caught between – and wanting to escape – the walls of tonality of the past and the avantgarde, GyörgyLigeti found his way through many musical influences to his own original music, which, toward the end of his life, he characterized as “non-atonality.” His music has beenwidely heardin films by Stanley Kubrick (2001: A Space Odyssey)and Martin Scorsese (Shutter Island), among others, and he has been called “the poet of sonorous matter.” He continues to inspirethe interest and passion of countless musicians and listeners.
The series begins and ends with artists who had close and deep associations with Ligeti – the Arditti Quartet and pianist Pierre-Laurent Aimard, bookending performances by younger generations of artists and ensembles who continue to perpetuate his legacy, including Imani Winds, Ensemble Dal Niente, Eighth Blackbird, Amadinda (from Hungary), Third Coast Percussion, and mezzo-soprano Rachel Calloway.
These performances will feature major works of Ligeti, including his Piano Etudes, Chamber Concerto, and Piano Concerto, plus unusual works such as Continuum (for percussion quartet), PoèmeSymphonique (for 100 metronomes), SippalDobbalNadihegeduvel (With Pipes, Drums, Fiddles), a song cycle based on poetry by Sandor Weores for percussion quartet plus mezzo-soprano. His two string quartets, Six Bagatelles for wind quintet, and Horn Trio are other significant works that will be performed. Ligeti’s influences will be included in the form of a new work by György’s son Lukas, music by young Hungarian compatriot AurélHolló, études by Unsuk Chin who was a student of Ligeti, a new work by Christopher Cerrone (for the same instrumentation as SíppalDobbalNádihegedüval), and an arrangement of the piano études for Pierrot ensemble by Eighth Blackbird.
Each concert features a pre-concert lecture by a UChicago scholar. Other related events complementing the concerts include: On Saturday, October 21,Arditti Quartethosts a special open session and discussion of their career at the forefront of contemporary music, including their work with Ligeti. Pianist Pierre-Laurent Aimard offers a lecture-demonstration on Monday, March 5, before his recital on Tuesday, March 6. From March 5-8, the University hosts “Ligeti in Context: the Witch’s Kitchen at the WDR Electronic Studio,” a sound installation that provides a modern reimagining of the WestdeutscherRundfunk Electronic Music Studio in Cologne, where composers such as Karlheinz Stockhausen, Gottfried Michael Koenig, and GyörgyLigeti gathered in the early days of the development of groundbreaking electronic music. A scholarly conference (“Dislocations: Reassessing Ligeti”) hosted by the Department of Music will also take place March 7-8.
LIGETISERIES SCHEDULE
as of 8/16/17
The following information supersedes all other press releases:
Friday / October 20 / 7:30 PM
Arditti Quartet
6:30 PM pre-concert lecture with Anthony Cheung
Bartók:String Quartet No. 3
GyörgyLigeti:String Quartet No. 1 “Métamorphoses nocturnes”
G. Ligeti:String Quartet No. 2
Bartók:String Quartet No. 4
MANDEL HALL
$38 / $10 students
Saturday / October 21 / 10:30 AM
A Special Open Session and Discussion with Arditti Quartet
Members of the Arditti Quartet talk about their career on the forefront of contemporary music, including their work with GyörgyLigeti.
LOGAN CENTER / PERFORMANCE PENTHOUSE
Free admission, reservations recommended
Friday / November 10 / 7:30 pm
Imani Winds, Don Michael Randel Ensemble in Residence, Ensemble Dal Niente, Doyle Armbrust, viola, Winston Choi, piano, and Kuang-Hao Huang, piano
6:30 PM pre-concert lecture with David Clay Mettens
GyörgyLigeti:
Viola Sonata
Three Pieces for Two Pianos
Horn Trio
Six Bagatelles
Unsuk Chin: select piano etudes
LOGAN CENTER / PERFORMANCE HALL
$38 / $10 students
Friday / February 2 / 7:30 PM
Eighth Blackbird and Amadinda
6:30 PM pre-concert lecture with Sam Pluta
GyörgyLigeti:GalambBorong, arr. Eighth Blackbird
AurélHolló:39 - the Dream of the Manichaeian - beFORe JOHN3
Lukas Ligeti: new work (North American premiere)
Steve Reich: Mallet Quartet
G. Ligeti: Touches bloquées; EnSuspens; Fanfares, arr. Eighth Blackbird
S. Reich: Sextet
LOGAN CENTER / PERFORMANCE HALL
$38 / $10 students
Friday / February 16 / 7:30 PM
Third Coast Percussion and Rachel Calloway, mezzo-soprano
6:30 PM pre-concert lecture with Jennifer Iverson
GyörgyLigeti:Continuum
ChristopherCerrone:The Goldbeater’s Skin (Chicago premiere)
G. Ligeti: PoèmeSymphonique(for 100 metronomes)
G. Ligeti: Síppal,dobbal,nádihegedüvel(With Pipes, Drums, Fiddles)
LOGAN CENTER / PERFORMANCE HALL
$38 / $10 students
March 5-8
Ligeti in Context: The Witch’s Kitchen at the WDR Electronic Music Studio in Cologne
A Sound Installation
Die Hexenküche (the Witch’s Kitchen) was the colloquial nickname for the electronic music studio at the WDR radio station in Cologne, called as such by conservative critics and skeptical audiences who questioned its aesthetic relevance. For composers, however, the WDR studio was a utopia for creating truly avant-garde music. Ligeti worked there in 1957, almost immediately upon arriving in the West, and it had a major effect on his mature style. In this sound installation, visitors can experience the reimagined compelling and strange electronic sounds of the studio. Immerse yourself in the soundscape of mid-century modernism.
LOGAN CENTER / NORTH STAIRWELL
Free admission
Monday / March 5 / 4:30 – 6:00 PM
Pierre-Laurent Aimard
Lecture Demonstration
LOGAN CENTER / PERFORMANCE PENTHOUSE
$10 / Free with UCID or to Ligeti Series ticket holders
Tuesday / March 6 / 7:30 PM
Pierre-Laurent Aimard, piano
6:30 PM pre-concert lecture with Seth Brodsky
GyörgyLigeti:Etudes
Beethoven: Sonata No. 29 in B-flat Major, Op. 106 “Hammerklavier”
LOGAN CENTER / PERFORMANCE HALL
$38 / $10 students
TICKETS
A subscription to the Ligetiseries costs $142 for all events. Concert tickets are $38 with reserved seating and include the pre-concert lecture. UChicago Presents extends University and staff discounts, first time subscriber discounts, youth tickets, and the opportunity to create your own series with a Pick 4- or Pick 6-concert flexible series option.New this season are $20 tickets to all concerts for patrons under 35.
Ticket information and subscription order formsare available onlineat chicagopresents.uchicago.edu/tickets/subscription. First time subscribers may order online at
ticketsweb.uchicago.edu/subscriptions.
Single tickets go on sale Monday, August 21.
Patrons may also call 773.702.ARTS (2787) or visit the UChicago Arts Box Office at Logan Center for the Arts, 915 E. 60th Street, Mon-Fri, 12–6pm through September 22, then Tues-Sat, 12-6pm.
CONCERT VENUES
The Ligeti series events will take place in the following University of Chicago venues:
- Mandel Hall: 1131 East 57th Street, Chicago, IL 60637
- Reva and David Logan Center for the Arts: 915 East 60th Street, Chicago, IL 60637
OUR SUPPORTERS AND PARTNERS
The UChicago Presents 2017/18 season is supported by the Reva and David Logan Foundation, the Elizabeth F. Cheney Foundation, and the Illinois Arts Council; plus University of Chicago partners: the Chicago Center for Jewish Studies, the Center for the Study of Race, Politics and Culture, the Department of Music, the France Chicago Center, the Humanities Division, the Julie and Parker Hall Endowment for Jazz and American Popular Music, the Medieval Studies program, UChicago Arts, plus International House, the Reva and David Logan Center for the Arts, and Rockefeller Memorial Chapel. Promotional and program partners include Alliance Française of Chicago, Collaborative Arts Institute of Chicago, Chicago Jazz Magazine, Downbeat Magazine, Early Music Now, French Cultural Services of the French Embassy, Hyde Park Jazz Festival, Consulate General of Israel to the Midwest, Jazz Institute of Chicago, Piccolo Mondo, and WDCB.
ABOUT THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO PRESENTS
Established in 1943, The University of Chicago Presents series brings extraordinary artists from around the world to Chicago. Artists engage with audiences, scholars, and students in dynamic live performances, educational and enrichment experiences, and community engagement activities through a diverse mix of chamber music and recitals, early, contemporary, jazz, and world music, including artist residencies, commissions, and premieres.
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UChicago Presents 2017/18 season