| Date and venue | Title |
|---|---|
| 6-May-2013 Wigmore Hall | Eight extraordinary string players meet: The Arditti and JACK Quartets combine at Wigmore Hall |
 The volume was that of a string quartet on steroids, but the sound was that of eight extraordinary string players each playing slightly different things. James Clarke’s 2012-S, for two string quartets, gave an explosive, subtle start to the Arditti and JACK Quartets’ joint Wigmore Hall recital this Monday. Combining extremes of volume with minute nuances of pitch and expression, 2012-S was a perfect showcase for these two virtuosic quartets, and a whirlwind listen in its own right as well.Read full review... | |
| 23-Feb-2013 Columbia University, Miller Theatre | A stunning portrait of Enno Poppe from Yarn/Wire and JACK Quartet at Miller Theatre |
.jpg) “Wheel: mechanical, circular motion. The brake was invented later.”
Enno Poppe’s words about Rad (“Wheel”), the first piece on his Composer Portraits concert at Miller Theatre on Saturday night, express well the experience of listening to it. With their two keyboards connected to computers that allowed them to play a huge array of scales in multiple tunings, Laura Barger and Ning Yu of Yarn/Wire gave a dizzying, athletic performance of the piece, which Barger related afterwards left her and Yu feeling almost like madwomen.
Read full review... | |
| 4-Mar-2012 Le Poisson Rouge | Musical Modernism with Ursula Oppens and the JACK Quartet |
 Good news for skeptics: modernist music can be beautiful. If what keeps listeners away from the “difficult” music written in the past century is a fear of dissonance, they can rest assured. If such American mavericks as Conlon Nancarrow and Charles Wuorinen can produce so many moments of beauty, stillness, and humor, and if virtuosos like Ursula Oppens and the JACK Quartet can realize those moments as brilliantly as they did last Sunday, surely audiences will come around.
Read full review... | |
