ZEITGEIST: GEORGE CRUMB AT 90 – NIGHT 2

Two major works for solo amplified piano, the zodiac-inspired Makrokosmos I and the more recent Metamorphoses, celebrate George Crumb’s unfettered imagination as he requires the pianist to be a virtuoso at the keyboard while playing inside the piano and vocalizing as well.

PROGRAM

Makrokosmos, Book I (1972)
Adam Tendler, piano

George Crumb in conversation with James Primosch

Metamorphoses, Book I (2015 – 2017)
Margaret Leng Tan, piano

ABOUT THE FESTIVAL

Bowerbird, the University of Pennsylvania Department of Music, and the Annenberg Center are pleased to present Zeitgeist: George Crumb at 90, a three concert festival celebrating more than seventy years of music by Grammy and Pulitzer Prize winning composer George Crumb. Crumb’s music often juxtaposes contrasting musical styles, ranging from music of the western art-music tradition, to hymns and folk music, to non-Western musics. Many of Crumb’s works include programmatic, symbolic, mystical and theatrical elements, which are often reflected in his beautiful and meticulously notated scores. A shy, yet warmly eloquent personality, Crumb retired from his teaching position at the University of Pennsylvania after more than thirty years of service. Honored by numerous institutions with honorary Doctorates, and the recipient of dozens of awards and prizes, Crumb makes his home just outside of Philadelphia, in the same house where he and his wife of more than sixty years raised their three children.

This event is part of Zeitgeist: George Crumb at 90

Support for this project has been provided by the Musical Fund Society of Philadelphia and the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, a state agency funded by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the National Endowment for the Arts, a federal agency.