M.E.C.
  • 2018 / 2019 SEASON
    • SEASON OVERVIEW
    • DIRECTOR'S STATEMENT
    • Oct. 5, 2018: AN ODYSSEY
    • Dec. 17, 2018 : HOW SMALL A THOUGHT IT TAKES
    • Jan. 14, 2019 : GAY GUERRILLA / CONTRALTO
    • Feb. 11 / Feb. 8-14, 2019: MARINO FORMENTI 'MA MORT' / 'ONE TO ONE'
    • Mar. 25, 2019 : A DREAM WHICH HAUNTS YOU STILL
    • May 20, 2019 : BRUTAL ELEGANCE
  • About MEC
    • History
    • Testimonials
    • Artistic Director - Jonathan Hepfer
    • MEC Production Team >
      • Associate Producer - Brandon Lincoln Snyder
      • Grants Manager - Luke Martin
      • Photographer in Residence - Anneliese Varaldiev
    • Board of Directors
    • Venues
    • Videos: Performances, Interviews
    • MEC Archive: Programs 2006-2017 >
      • 2017/18 Season >
        • Director's Statement
        • The Concerts
        • December 4, 2017: Billone / Hildegard
        • January 8, 2018: Yarn / Wire
        • March 26, 2018: Nicolas Hodges
        • April 16, 2018: Sciarrino / Mundry
        • May 21, 2018: Monk / Eastman
        • May 23, 2018: *Radigue Portrait*
      • 2016/17 Season >
        • The Concerts
        • Season Trailer
        • Season Description
        • December 10, 2016 - Morton Feldman: Crippled Symmetry
        • January 23, 2017 - Julius Eastman Portrait
        • March 6, 2017 - Michael Pisaro / Guillaume de Machaut
        • March 27, 2017 - New Voices III: Sorcery, Perhaps
        • April 24, 2017 - Georges Aperghis: Happy End
        • Season Bibliography
      • 2015/16 Season >
        • 2015 / 16 Season at a glance
        • December 7, 2015 - Talea Ensemble
        • January 11, 2016 - Songs for Crossing the Threshold
        • [SUNDAY, February 7, 2016] - FUNDRAISER AT PRIVATE RESIDENCE - Morton Feldman: Piano and String Quartet
        • February 29, 2016 - Alexei Lubimov: Homage à Maria Yudina
        • March 28, 2016 - Séverine Ballon: Solitude
      • Programs 2006-2015
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Picture

DEBUSSY, TAKEMITSU, BOULEZ : 
​BRUTAL ELEGANCE

8pm | Zipper Hall | The Colburn School

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Toshio Hosokawa - "HAIKU" for PIERRE BOULEZ (2000)
Claude Debussy - INCIDENTAL MUSIC to CHANSONS de
     BILITIS 
(completed by Pierre Boulez) (1901/1954)
Toru Takemitsu - RAIN TREE (1981)
Pierre Boulez - SUR INCISES (1998)

ECHOI Ensemble
Jonathan Hepfer, conductor
On a visit to the Marciano foundation last year with my friend Yuval Sharon, he described MEC's programming as "brutal but elegant." I took great pride in this remark, which I felt to be astute. 

The composer I feel epitomizes this particular sentiment is the late Pierre Boulez (1925-2016) who, incidentally, made his American debut on a Monday Evening Concert in 1954, and was an ally and collaborator of the series until his death, even writing his Éclat for the series when it began its run at LACMA in 1976. I personally had some contact with Boulez at the Lucerne Festival in the early 2000's, and even went on an international tour with him performing two of his masterworks: Le marteau sans maître and Sur incises. 
Picture
Gerhard Richter - Abstraktes Bild

​"
You’ve got to know the rules to break them. That’s what I’m here for, to demolish the rules but to keep the tradition.” 

- Alexander McQueen
As a conductor, as a composer, and as a person, Boulez was someone at once iconoclastic, principled, uncompromising, and yet charming and seductive. These are all qualities I look for as curator of MEC. I want our audience to be pushed, to be challenged, and to grow, but I also want them to fall in love in unexpected ways. At least in my estimation, Boulez's Sur incises for three pianos, three harps and three percussionists accomplishes all of this. 

This program, which also serves as an homage to Boulez, presents a work by Claude Debussy which may reveal something important about Boulez's roots vis-à-vis instrumental color, as well as works by two Japanese titans, Toshio Hosokawa and Toru Takemitsu, whose works seem to complement those of Boulez like pieces of a puzzle. 

- Jonathan Hepfer, Artistic Director
© COPYRIGHT 2018. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
  • 2018 / 2019 SEASON
    • SEASON OVERVIEW
    • DIRECTOR'S STATEMENT
    • Oct. 5, 2018: AN ODYSSEY
    • Dec. 17, 2018 : HOW SMALL A THOUGHT IT TAKES
    • Jan. 14, 2019 : GAY GUERRILLA / CONTRALTO
    • Feb. 11 / Feb. 8-14, 2019: MARINO FORMENTI 'MA MORT' / 'ONE TO ONE'
    • Mar. 25, 2019 : A DREAM WHICH HAUNTS YOU STILL
    • May 20, 2019 : BRUTAL ELEGANCE
  • About MEC
    • History
    • Testimonials
    • Artistic Director - Jonathan Hepfer
    • MEC Production Team >
      • Associate Producer - Brandon Lincoln Snyder
      • Grants Manager - Luke Martin
      • Photographer in Residence - Anneliese Varaldiev
    • Board of Directors
    • Venues
    • Videos: Performances, Interviews
    • MEC Archive: Programs 2006-2017 >
      • 2017/18 Season >
        • Director's Statement
        • The Concerts
        • December 4, 2017: Billone / Hildegard
        • January 8, 2018: Yarn / Wire
        • March 26, 2018: Nicolas Hodges
        • April 16, 2018: Sciarrino / Mundry
        • May 21, 2018: Monk / Eastman
        • May 23, 2018: *Radigue Portrait*
      • 2016/17 Season >
        • The Concerts
        • Season Trailer
        • Season Description
        • December 10, 2016 - Morton Feldman: Crippled Symmetry
        • January 23, 2017 - Julius Eastman Portrait
        • March 6, 2017 - Michael Pisaro / Guillaume de Machaut
        • March 27, 2017 - New Voices III: Sorcery, Perhaps
        • April 24, 2017 - Georges Aperghis: Happy End
        • Season Bibliography
      • 2015/16 Season >
        • 2015 / 16 Season at a glance
        • December 7, 2015 - Talea Ensemble
        • January 11, 2016 - Songs for Crossing the Threshold
        • [SUNDAY, February 7, 2016] - FUNDRAISER AT PRIVATE RESIDENCE - Morton Feldman: Piano and String Quartet
        • February 29, 2016 - Alexei Lubimov: Homage à Maria Yudina
        • March 28, 2016 - Séverine Ballon: Solitude
      • Programs 2006-2015
    • Press
    • Partners and Supporters
  • Buy Tickets
  • Support MEC
  • Join Email List
  • Contact