Livewire 12: counter)induction

UMBC’s 12th annual Livewire festival — Livewire: Flow — presents the brilliant new music ensemble counter)induction, which brings to each performance its prismatic aesthetics.

In its twenty years of virtuosic performances and daring programming, the composer/performer collective counter)induction has established itself as a force of excellence in contemporary music. Hailed by The New York Times for its “fiery ensemble virtuosity” and for its “first-rate performances” by The Washington Post, c)i has given critically-acclaimed performances at Miller Theatre, Merkin Concert Hall, the Philadelphia Chamber Music Society, Music at the Anthology, Casa Italiana, and The George Washington University.

The ensemble’s program features:

Bethany Greene: Intersections
Kyle Bartlett: Before
Wang Lu: Rates of Extinction
Douglas Boyce: Intermezzi from Ars Poetica
Trevor Weston: Remembrance
Vineet Shende: Suite in Raag Marva
Ileana Perez Velazquez: Hope is the Thing with Feathers

The program juxtaposes music from diverse aesthetics, from the meditative rituals of the opening in Green’s Intersections, the preternatural intensity of Bartlett’s Before, and the delicate eschatology of Lu’s Rates of Extinction. The darkness of the opening transition over time. Boyce’s Intermezzi bring, in fits and starts, dance-like energy to the proceedings; Weston’s Remembrance suggests a transformation of sorrow to light, and Shende brings a new virtuosity to the guitar in Suite in Raag Marva. The event closes with the energetic optimism of Velzaquez’s Hope is the Thing with Feathers.

counter)induction is Dan Lippel, guitar; Benjamin Fingland, clarinet; and Ning Yu, piano; with Laura Metcalf, cello; and Johnna Wu, violin.