The incredible talent and sheer musical diversity of Ensemble
ACJW—the performing arm of The Academy—will
be on display in an array of guises and venues throughout the next
month. Comprising fellows and alumni of The
Academy, the ensemble performs three very different Carnegie
Hall-presented concerts, as well as performances in The Julliard School
and Skidmore College.
On January
16, Academy alumni perform a Carnegie
Hall Family Concert in Zankel Hall, with pre-concert activities
beginning at 12 PM, one hour before the beginning of the concert.
Two days later, on January
18, the ensemble performs a program of Wuorinen, Ligeti, Harrison,
and Piazzolla in Paul Hall at The Juilliard School.
Ensemble ACJW performs the same program during a Carnegie
Hall Neighborhood Concert at Music at Our Saviour Atonement,
Washington Heights on January
23.
The musicians then head north to Skidmore College for a concert in
the Arthur Zankel Music Center at Helen Filene Ladd Concert Hall on February
4. This performance includes the world premiere of David Bruce's Steampunk.
A commissioned work by Carnegie Hall, Steampunk evokes an
alternative universe of a technologically-advanced dystopian cityscape,
where electricity never existed and everything is steam-powered. This
five-movement piece features Bruce's trademark colorist textures and
tightly controlled structure.
The whirlwind month concludes three nights later on February
7 when Ensemble ACJW returns to "home base" for a concert in the
intimate Weill Recital Hall, during which Steampunk receives
its New York premiere.
So, with your kids, in your neighborhood, or in your college, and
whether you enjoy Beethoven, Ligeti, Piazzola, or want to witness a
premiere performance, the next few weeks are a great time to hear "the
brightest, most promising postgraduate musicians the city has to offer" (The
New York Times).