Third Angle

Two years ago, the venerable new-music ensemble brought to town one of America’s finest composers, Bang on a Can co-founder David Lang, for a concert of his pulsating music. Now come the other two members of the New York collective’s founding triumvirate, Michael Gordon and Julia Wolfe, the composer/married couple whose music also embraces rock (check the many ’60s rock-band references in Gordonʼs song titles) and minimalist influences, but in different ways. Written in the wake of the September 11 attacks, Gordon’s poignant Light is Calling for violin and electronics will be accompanied (like his landmark Decasia) by a haunting film by avant-garde filmmaker (and former Reedie) Bill Morrison, who, like Gordon, lived near Ground Zero. Ac dc deploys odd rhythms over a bass grove, The Low Quartet showcases woodwinds, while Industry warps and bludgeons the cello’s sound like the distorted old film images in Morrison’s films. The buzzsaw basses and surging (recorded) bagpipes (!) in Wolfe’s Stronghold and Lad, respectively, display her infatuation with sonic texture. Together, the pair’s music shows how popular-music influences are giving contemporary classical music a much needed infusion of vitality.

Where: Alberta Rose Theatre
Phone: 764-4131
Address: 3000 NE Alberta St.
Website: albertarosetheatre.com/