Cutting Edge Concerts at Symphony Space

Presented by Cutting Edge Concerts, JACK brings a concert that highlights classics of the modern quartet repertoire to Symphony Space on the Upper West Side. Featuring works by Pierre Boulez, Anton Webern, Philip Glass, John Cage, and Heinz Holliger, this program bridges a wide variety of radical statements on the quartet medium, from the microscopic to the novelistic, from the cleanly minimalistic to the wildly expressionistic.

Program:
Pierre Boulez, Livre 1, 2, 3c
Anton Webern, Six Bagatelles, op 9
Philip Glass, String Quartet no. 5
John Cage, String Quartet in Four Parts
Heinz Holliger, String Quartet No. 2

Album Release Concert: John Zorn

IGNOTIUM PER IGNOTIUS (the unknown by way of the more unknown)

JACK has had a long and fruitful relationship with Zorn that goes back to 2007, and it continues to this day. Passionate and dedicated supporters of his work, they have been involved in close to 100 performances of his compositions in major venues all over the world. Zorn’s last two quartets were composed with JACK in mind.

This exciting evening features two of Zorn’s greatest masterworks—Memento Mori (with Ikue Mori as a guest soloist) and the challenging Necronomicon, Zorn’s triumphant return to the string quartet medium after a 10 year hiatus.

Memento Mori is one of Zorn’s most personal creations—a unique, hermetic work filled with hidden messages, deep lyricism, microtones, noise, and fleeting references to Alban Berg’s Lyric Suite. Composed in 1992 and dedicated to Ikue Mori, the piece takes you on a surreal journey unlike any other. For this special performance, dedicatee Ikue Mori will improvise her signature live electronics along to JACK Quartet’s dynamic interpretation of this vexing and emotional work.

Necronomicon is in five movements, and draws upon hermeticism, alchemy, magick, mysticism, and more.

This evening is a CD release concert—JACK Quartet proudly announces the long awaited release of their 2 CD set of the complete string quartets of John Zorn—available at this concert from Tzadik recordings!

Program:
MEMENTO MORI  (1992) 
with Ikue Mori electronics

NECRONOMICON (2003)
I Conjurations
II The Magus
III Thought-Forms
IV Incunabula
V Asmodeus

JACK Quartet + Shai Wosner

JACK gives a free performance with pianist Shai Wosner at New York City’s Advent Lutheran Church as part of Music Mondays NYC. The program includes JACK violinist Christopher Otto’s Miserere, after Nathaniel Giles, the artist’s contemporary rhythmic elaboration of a 16th century work by the English Renaissance composer. Wosner performs one solo piano piece, George Benjamin’s Relativity Rag, while JACK features or combines with Wosner on Henry Purcell’s Fantasy upon one note (piano quintet), Ruth Crawford Seeger’s String Quartet 1931, Wolfgang Rihm’s Interscriptum (piano quintet), Amy Williams’ Cineshapes #2, and Thomas Ades’ Piano Quintet.

Program:
Henry Purcell, Fantasy upon one note
Ruth Crawford Seeger, String Quartet 1931
Wolfgang Rihm, Interscriptum
Christopher Otto, Miserere, after Nathaniel Giles
Amy WIlliams, Cineshapes #2
George Benjamin, Relativity Rag
Thomas Ades, Piano Quintet

JACK Quartet at The New School

As the Mannes School of Music Ensemble-in-Residence, JACK Quartet will give a recital at The Auditorium at The New School. JACK Quartet's Modern Medieval program explores the connections of musicality and thought between European composers of the past and the voices of music today.

Program:
Taylor Brook, Organum [2017]
Christopher Otto, Angelorum Psalat, after Rodericus [2011 / c. 1390]
Nicola Vicentino, Musica prisca caput // Madonna, il poco dolce [c. 1555]
Vicente Atria, Round-about [2024]
Austin Wulliman, Dave’s Hocket [2024]
Christopher Otto, Miserere, after Nathaniel Giles [2023 / 1594]
Taylor Brook, Phrygea [2017]
Christopher Otto, Fumeux fume par fumee, after Solage [2018 / c. 1390]
Juri Seo, Three Imaginary Chansons [2024]
Taylor Brook, Ars Nova [2017]

This concert is free and open to the general public.

JACK Quartet Celebrates 20th Anniversary

We are thrilled to celebrate our 20th anniversary with a concert at 92NY in New York City, featuring the world premiere of a new work by Anthony Cheung, alongside music by Eduardo Aguilar, Seare Farhat, and Juri Seo, all commissioned by JACK through JACK Studio.

Program:
Eduardo Aguilar, HYPER
Seare Farhat, Aporias
Juri Seo, Three Imaginary Chansons
Anthony Cheung, Twice Removed (World Premiere)

Online streaming also available for 72 hours following the performance.

Anthony Cheung’s Twice Removed was commissioned by JACK Quartet with the support of the Ernst von Siemens Music Foundation, 92nd Street Y, and Wigmore Hall. JACK Quartet gratefully acknowledges support provided by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council; the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature; and the National Endowment for the Arts.

Album Release Concert: Travis Laplante

Composer/saxophonist Travis Laplante celebrates the release of his latest album The Golden Lock featuring Erika Dohi (piano), Charles Overton (harp), Lizzie Burns (bass), Eduardo Leandro (percussion), and Laplante (tenor saxophone). The evening will begin with three premieres of Laplante’s recent work: “String Quartet No. 1” featuring JACK Quartet, “No Distance” (for two vibraphones and four percussionists) featuring Sō Percussion, and “A Room With No Walls” featuring Erika Dohi (piano) and Laplante (saxophone). This evening promises to be a joyful and intimate night of music.

TIME:SPANS Festival

JACK Quartet returns to the annual TIME:SPANS Festival with an evening-length work by Timothy McCormack that has been developed by McCormack and JACK over the course of four years.

Program:
Timothy McCormack, your body is a volume, 2016-19

Summer for the City: Living Music Underground

Lincoln Center displays its devotion to the cultivation of the next generation of experimental canon with this summer's category-defying Living Music Underground series. Set in the uniquely cavernous acoustical space of Jaffe Drive beneath Josie Robertson Plaza, Living Music Underground features virtuosic soloists and trailblazing ensembles performing compelling programs of instrumental music at the fringes of classical, jazz, experimental, ambient, electronic and pop. The series’ curator and host, Nadia Sirota, is an acclaimed violist, conductor and Peabody Award-winning producer.

FREE! General admission: first come, first served.
Reserve tickets via Fast Track - available Monday, August 5 at 12pm.
Entrance to The Underground at Jaffe Drive is located on Columbus Ave at 62nd Street, via a sloped path.

Carnegie Hall Citywide: JACK Quartet

This July, in conjunction with Rose B. Simpson’s exhibition Seed, Carnegie Hall plans a stunning range of free outdoor concerts on the Oval Lawn of Madison Square Park as musicians take the stage. Planned in collaboration with the Cuban-born visionary composer Tania León, the program features music by American composers who redefine string quartet repertoire.

Austin Wulliman, Dave's Hocket (2024)
Caroline Shaw, Entre'acte (2011)
Ruth Crawford Seeger, String Quartet (1931)
Christopher Otto, Miserere, after Nathaniel Giles
Gabriella Smith, Carrot Revolution (2015)

Picnic blankets and lawn chairs are encouraged!

JACK Quartet + Taylor Deupree + Joseph Branciforte & Theo Bleckmann

In this greyfade label showcase, JACK Quartet, Taylor Deupree and Joseph Branciforte & Theo Bleckmann share the bill with music from their new albums.

Austin Wulliman, Dave's Hocket
Christopher Otto, Miserere, after Nathaniel Giles
Fumeux fume par fumée, after Solage
Angelorum Psalat, after Rodericus 
Christopher Otto, Selection from 3x4x5x7

The Kitchen Presents: Density 2036, Part XI
Claire Chase & JACK Quartet

As part of Claire Chase’s ongoing Density 2036 project, Chase and JACK Quartet perform the World Premiere of Terry Riley’s Holy Liftoff. Performances at 6pm and 8pm.

Terry Riley, Holy Liftoff (World Premiere)

Claire Chase: Density 2036, part xi is organized by Matthew Lyons, Curator, The Kitchen.

Ellen Fullman & JACK Quartet

Artists Space is pleased to present two weeks of legendary sound artist and composer Ellen Fullman's Long String Instrument, with performances on Friday evenings April 26 and May 3 and a continuous installation on view.

JACK and Fullman perform a work-in-progress on April 26.

Installation on view: Wednesday, April 24 - Friday, May 3

JACK at Mannes School of Music

As the Mannes Ensemble-in-Residence, JACK Quartet will give a recital at the Ernst C. Stiefel Hall at The New School.

Johnny MacMillan, Songs from the Seventh Floor
Christopher Otto, Miserere, after Nathaniel Giles
Elliott Carter, String Quartet no. 1

This concert is free and open to the general public. Registration required.

Composer Portrait Series: Amy Williams
The music of Amy Williams embodies a vivid soundworld with ever-changing textures that beguile the ear. The astonishing composer, who is equally as accomplished as a pianist, joins JACK Quartet to perform a selection of her works.

Program: All by Amy Williams

Tangled Madrigal for string quartet (2024) World Premiere, Miller Theatre Commission
Bells and Whistles (2022) for piano trio
Richter Textures (2011)
Cineshape 2 (2007) for piano and string quartet

Read: Program Notes by Tim Munro

Read: Q&A with John Pickford Richards about Amy Williams

Album Release: Austin Wulliman: The News From Utopia

The News From Utopia is JACK violinist Austin Wulliman's debut album as composer. The record is a solo project built from many multi-tracked layers of Wulliman, which he composed, recorded and mixed.

The live experience will incorporate electronics built of samples from the album, as well as live performances from JACK Quartet and video by JACK Studio artist Iván Decoud. Additionally, the concert includes the US Premiere of Down Pat for electric guitar and electronics, written for the unique talents of guitarist and composer Alec Goldfarb.

The News is built from a web of musical conspiracy theories that coalesce into imagery and a nonlinear network of narrative. A field of pixels comes into focus, a series of images scroll past your phone screen, a dark veil falls over the noonday sun, a nightscape of the desert melts into the sea roiling with whitecaps and you wake up with your heart racing, eyes wide. Wulliman's latest work, Down Pat, tunes the guitar to the electrical ground, using MIDI interface to control an extended ratio-based tuning system. 50 hz, 60 hz, 440 hz and an increasing concatenation of 11s and 5s and 3s build a network of polyrhythm, harmony, and scalar logics that our plugged-in guitar hero embodies: the king is his castle. The performance also features a video premiere by Argentinian multimedia artist Iván Decoud for the track BLINK.

Program: all by Austin Wulliman

SYSTEM NOTES (2023) – World Premiere for string quartet and electronics
BLINK (2022) – World Premiere for string quartet, electric guitar and electronics
Down Pat (2023) – US Premiere for electric guitar and electronics
-Alec Goldfarb, guitar
The Late Edition (2023) - World Premiere for string quartet
Lost One (2024) — World Premiere for string quartet
The Docks (2022) – World Premiere for string quartet and electronics
The News From Utopia (ii) (2024) – World Premiere for string quartet and electronics

Tyshawn Sorey, For Grachan Moncur III (US premiere)

As part of 92NY’s 150th Season, JACK Quartet and Tyshawn Sorey (percussion) perform the US Premiere of Sorey’s For Grachan Moncur III. Following a world premiere at the Lucerne Festival in summer 2022, the work is in homage to Moncur – the late composer and trombonist who blazed a trail through modern jazz in the 1960s, shares Sorey’s Newark, NJ roots, and had a major influence on Sorey’s musical development.

Online streaming also available for 72 hours following the performance.

JACK Studio Celebration

JACK celebrates four new JACK Studio projects in a free recital on December 15, 2023. This concert is held in partnership with Mannes School of Music at the The New School in New York City, where JACK is the  quartet-in-residence.

The recital will showcase premieres by JACK Studio composers Zara Ali, Seare Farhat, and Rishin Singh. It also features a screening of Lost & Founds, a film by Iván Decoud commissioned and performed by JACK Quartet through the JACK Studio program.

Each of these artists has worked with JACK for a two-year residency, during which they received opportunities to develop new work, hear their music performed by JACK Quartet, and get mentorship from performers in their field.

Click here for the concert program, bios, and program notes.

Barbara Hannigan + John Zorn

Program: All by John Zorn

Star Catcher (2022)

Split the Lark (2021)

Liber Loagaeth (2021)

Ab Eo, Quod (2021)

Pandora’s Box (2013)

Performers: Barbara Hannigan, voice; Stephen Gosling, piano; JACK Quartet; Stephen Gosling, piano; Jorge Roeder, double bass; Sae Hashimoto, vibraphone; Ches Smith, drums; and Ikue Mori, electronics

Tippet Rise and the Adrian Brinkerhoff Poetry Foundation are delighted to participate in a special collaborative concert at Paula Cooper Gallery (534 West 21st St, New York) on Wednesday, October 18 at 6:00 PM EDT, in celebration of Mark di Suvero's exhibition Painting and Sculpture (through October 21).

Our friends the JACK Quartet will perform John Luther Adams’ Lines Made By Walking (String Quartet No. 5), a Tippet Rise commission which premiered at the art center in 2019. In addition, poet Jenny Xie will read several of her works, interwoven among the three movements of the Adams piece.

This event is free and open to the public.

John Zorn at 70: Music for Strings

Program: All by John Zorn

Sigil Magick: A Curious and Detailed Exposition of Sigils, Signs, and Hieroglyphs Peculiar to the Occult Orders, Hermetic Brotherhoods, and Dark Mystery Schools of the Late Middle Ages for string quintet (2020)

The Gas Heart a mini opera for 2 celli and 2 percussionists (2020)

Prolegomena to Any Future Metaphysics That Will Be Able to Present Itself as a Science for string sextet (2020)

Note: David Fulmer will be playing violin on this performance, as a substitute for Austin Wulliman.

Seare Farhat, Ka Spoojmai Shwa Poh Hala Ke (US Premiere)

Clara Iannotta, you crawl over seas of granite (US Premiere)

Cenk Ergün, Yekpare (World Premiere)

JACK Quartet's commission of Cenk Ergün's Yekpare is made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts Individual Artists Composer Commission Grant with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature.

Helmut Lachenmann, String Quartet No. 2 Reigen seliger Geister

Helmut Lachenmann, String Quartet No. 3 Grido

Catherine Lamb: Prisma Interius VII
Christopher Otto: rag'sma
Iannis Xenakis: Tetras

JACK’s performance during Bang on a Can’s Long Play Festival is part of the greyfade label showcase. More info is available here.