CONTACT:
Joanne Rooney Stout, Executive Administrator
Phone: 913-642-8158
E-Mail: jstout@newear.org
or William Lackey 757-870-0479

newEar contemporary chamber ensemble presents American Currents on Nov. 6

The 2009 Ensemble

newEar contemporary chamber music ensemble continues its award winning programming with American Currents, an evening of challenging and innovative music making, on Friday, November 6, 2009 at 8:00 PM at All Souls Unitarian Universalist Church, 4501 Walnut, Kansas City, MO 64111. A pre-concert talk moderated by David D. McIntire with composer Stephen Hartke will begin at 7:15 p.m.

Stephen Hartke, recognized as one of the leading composers of his generation, was invited by newEar to present his work along with other music that has inspired him. A focal point of this concert is The Horse With the Lavender Eye (1997) for violin, clarinet and piano. In this piece, Hartke references a wide array of inspirational material from Japanese court music, Looney Tunes and 19th century Brazilian novelist Machado de Assis. Also on the program are his dancingly cheerful work Gradus (1999) for mixed ensemble and the elusive Night Rubrics (1990) for solo cello performed by Lawrence Figg.

Donald Crockett’s memories of the emotional arc involved in mountain climbing was used as inspiration in his virtuosic work Scree (1997) performed by newEar’s cellist Lawrence Figg, pianist Robert Pherigo, and percussionist Mark Lowry. In addition, newEar will feature Morton Feldman’s Bass Clarinet and Percussion (1981) performed by clarinetist Thomas Aber and percussionist Mark Lowry and Pat Conway.

Tickets for newEar's American Currents are $20 and $8 for students with ID. For ticket information call the Central Ticket Office at 816-235-6222 or toll-free at 1-888-286-4849.

For more information on the concerts and artists, visit newEar or contact William J. Lackey at 757-870-0479.

Additional information of composers:

• Stephen Hartke website
• Donald Crockett website

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PHOTOGRAPHS: Print-quality downloadable photographs of newEar are also available here.

Financial assistance for newEar has been provided by the Aaron Copland Fund for Music, the Carolyn L. Hart Memorial Trust, DST Inc., the Arts Council of Metropolitan Kansas City and the Missouri Arts Council, a state agency.