CalArts School of Music performers pay tribute to the American composer and educator George Crumb in his 75th birthday year with a selection of his hauntingly beautiful and innovative chamber works, including Eleven Echoes of Autumn(1965, flute, clarinet, violin, piano); Ancient Voices of Children (1970, soprano, boy soprano, piano, mandolin, harp, oboe, percussion); An Idyll for the Misbegotten (1986, flute and percussion); and Vox balaenae (Voice of the Whale) for three masked players (1971, flute, cello, piano)

For complex compositions which fascinate both players and audiences, George Crumb has received a Pulitzer Prize and a Grammy Award, among numerous other honors, and he is one of the most frequently performed composers in today's musical world. George Crumb's music often juxtaposes contrasting musical styles, with references ranging from music of the western art-music tradition, to hymns and folk music, to non-Western musics. Many of Crumb's works include unusual instrumentation, new playing techniques, theatrical presentation, and programmatic, symbolic, mystical and numerological elements, which are often reflected in his beautiful and meticulously notated scores.

At 7:00 p.m., Martin Herman, Director of Composition and Theory at Cal. State University Long Beach, will give a pre-concert lecture with a performance of the rarely performed early work, Eleven Echoes of Autumn.

Read the press release

For student and CalArts alumni, faculty and staff discounts,
please call the REDCAT box office at 213-237-2800.