Institute For Advanced Study Announces 2014–15 Edward T. Cone Concert Series

PRESS CONTACT: Alexandra Altman, (609) 951-4406

Sebastian Currier, Artist-in-Residence at the Institute for Advanced Study, has announced the lineup for the 2014–15 Edward T. Cone Concert Series. In his second season as Artist-in-Residence, Currier will present acclaimed ensembles and soloists performing both contemporary and traditional works.

“One of the most exciting aspects of the 2014-15 Edward T. Cone Concert season is the diversity of performers scheduled to take the stage,” said Currier. “From The Crossing, a twenty-five-person chorus, to Fred Sherry and Peter Serkin, the audience will experience a thrilling range of music that is sure to captivate their imagination.”

The season will open on Friday and Saturday October 10 and 11 featuring the acclaimed chorus The Crossing. The Crossing will perform David Lang’s Pulitzer-Prize winning work, The Little Match Girl Passion, which combines the haunting Hans Christian Anderson story with additional texts to create a rich, enthralling and multi-layered narrative. To complement this work, Kile Smith wrote The Consolation of Apollo, which weaves together dialogue between the astronauts of Apollo 8 and their TV broadcast from the moon’s orbit.

On November 14 and 15, Ralph van Raat will perform Amsterdam/New Amsterdam. For decades, there has been a close association between the preeminent Dutch composer Louis Andreissen and a significant group of American minimalist and post-minimalist composers in the United States. Van Raat, an accomplished and celebrated pianist, will explore this connection, playing works of both American and Dutch composers, including Andreissen, David Lang and John Adams.

A Harp, a Viola, and a Flute will feature harpist Bridget Kibbey, violist Jack Stulz and flutist Julietta Curenton on February 20 and 21. With its unique instrumental combination and seductive sound, Debussy’s Sonata for Flute, Harp, and Viola has led to many subsequent works written for this unusual combination. One such work, Sebastian Currier’s 15 Minutes, consisting of fifteen one minute movements, will be performed along with the Debussy by the renowned performers.

The season will conclude March 20 and 21 with the pianist Peter Serkin and cellist Fred Sherry, who are both known for their brilliant renderings of classical repertoire, as well as for their passionate advocacy and electrifying performances of contemporary music. In Late Beethoven and American Modernism, they will present Beethoven’s last two cellos sonatas, as well as solo works by the American modernist composers Babbitt, Wuorinen and Carter.

All concerts in the series will take place at 8:00 p.m. in Wolfensohn Hall at the Institute. Concert talks, providing discussions of the music in the program and related topics, will be held each Friday following the performance.

The concerts are free and open to the public, but tickets must be reserved online at www.ias.edu/air/music. Seating is limited. For further information about the Institute’s Artist-in-Residence program, visit www.ias.edu/air

About the Artist-in-Residence Program

The Artist-in-Residence program was established at the Institute for Advanced Study in 1994 to create a musical presence within the Institute community and to have in residence a person whose work could be experienced and appreciated by scholars from all disciplines. Pianist Robert Taub was the first Artist-in-Residence from 1994 to 2001, followed by composer Jon Magnussen, who served as Artist-in-Residence from 2000 to 2007. Paul Moravec served as Artist-in-Residence from 2007 to 2008 and Artistic Consultant from 2008 to 2009. Derek Bermel, a composer, clarinetist, conductor and jazz and rock musician, served as Artist-in-Residence from 2009 to June 2013.

Composer Sebastian Currier became Artist-in-Residence in July 2013. His complex and imaginative works have been performed by such eminent artists and ensembles as Anne-Sophie Mutter, Berlin Philharmonic, Kronos Quartet and the New York Philharmonic. A recipient of the prestigious Grawemeyer Award, Currier has received numerous honors including the Berlin Prize, the Rome Prize, a Guggenheim Fellowship and an Academy Award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters.

About the Institute for Advanced Study

The Institute for Advanced Study is one of the world’s leading centers for theoretical research and intellectual inquiry. The Institute exists to encourage and support curiosity-driven research in the sciences and humanities—the original, often speculative thinking that produces advances in knowledge that change the way we understand the world. Work at the Institute takes place in four Schools: Historical Studies, Mathematics, Natural Sciences and Social Science. It provides for the mentoring of scholars by a permanent Faculty of approximately 30, and it ensures the freedom to undertake research that will make significant contributions in any of the broad range of fields in the sciences and humanities studied at the Institute.

The Institute, founded in 1930, is a private, independent academic institution located in Princeton, New Jersey. Its more than 6,000 former Members hold positions of intellectual and scientific leadership throughout the academic world. Thirty-three Nobel Laureates and 40 out of 56 Fields Medalists, as well as many winners of the Wolf and MacArthur prizes, have been affiliated with the Institute.