April 7, 8 & 9: Nasher Sculpture Center presents a Special Series of Soundings Concerts: Jörg Widmann at the Nasher
Renowned German composer and clarinetist, Jörg Widmann, to serve as Nasher’s first-ever Composer-in-Residence, culminating in a series of concerts on April 7, 8, and 9
DALLAS, Texas (February 10, 2017) – Nasher Sculpture Center announces its first-ever composer-in-residence, renowned German composer and clarinetist, Jörg Widmann. Widmann will present three unique Soundings: New Music at the Nasher concerts over one weekend, April 7, 8, and 9.
The concert series will present a rare opportunity to hear Widmann’s complete cycle of five string quartets; the North American premiere of his song cycle, Das Heisse Herz; and Widmann’s own solo clarinet recital. Widmann promises to give the Soundings audience an experience that represents a very extraordinary moment in the history of this unique, highly-acclaimed concert series.
Widmann is one of the most important artists of his generation, and has been a soloist with orchestras such as Münchner Philharmoniker, Bamberger Symphoniker, Tonhalle Orchester Zürich, SWR Sinfonieorchester Baden-Baden und Freiburg and Taiwan Symphony Orchestra. He was also recently commissioned to write an oratorio for the opening of the new Elbharmonie in Hamburg, Germany. In 2015, Widmann served as composer-in-residence at YellowBarn in Putney, Vermont where Soundings Artistic Director Seth Knopp directs, and 2017, Widmann will return for another summer season at this esteemed international center for chamber music. Jörg Widmann at the Nasher is perhaps the most exciting of the many occasions in which Knopp has connected YellowBarn with his direction of Soundings: New Music at the Nasher, helping bring his innovative and often groundbreaking programming to Dallas.
“Jörg Widmann is one of the great muses of our time,” says Seth Knopp. “Whether conjuring echoes of Mozart, Mendelssohn, and Schumann; theatrically exploring sounds on the outside of a piano; playfully tearing apart a percussion set-up; or exploring the vast, expressive possibilities of the string quartet, Widmann’s music takes us to places that seem at once irresistibly new and familiar, in ways that profoundly change us.”
An opportunity to hear Jörg Widmann speak with Seth Knopp will take place prior to the Saturday, April 8 concert.
Friday, April 7, 7:30 pm: Jörg Widmann’s Solo Clarinet Recital, featuring works dedicated to and written for the artist, as well as his own compositions.
Saturday, April 8, 7:30 pm: Complete Cycle of Five String Quartets featuring the Minguet Quartett and soprano Claron McFadden. Each work in this cycle can stand on its own as a work of art, but Widmann envisioned all five to be played together, so this is a rare chance to hear the works as a group. An open discussion with Widmann will precede this performance.
Sunday, April 9, 2:00 pm: The North American Premiere of Widmann’s song cycle Das Heisse Herz, based on Schumann’s 1840 masterpiece Dichterliebe, featuring baritone William Sharp and pianist Seth Knopp.
A special series pass is available for these concerts. Individual tickets on sale now. Tickets are $20 for members, $25 for non-members, and $10 for students. For more information and to purchase tickets, please follow this link: http://nashersc.org/JörgWidmann
About Jörg Widmann
Jörg Widmann is one of the most versatile and intriguing artists of his generation. As clarinetist, Widmann studied with Gerd Starke in Munich and Charles Neidich at the Juilliard School in New York. He performs regularly with leading world orchestras, such as Gewandhausorchester Leipzig, Orchestra National de France, National Symphony Orchestra Washington, Orchestre symphonique de Montréal and Toronto Symphony Orchestra. He collaborates with conductors such as Daniel Barenboim, Valery Gergiev, Kent Nagano, Sylvain Cambreling, Christoph Eschenbach and Christoph von Dohnányi. Several clarinet concerti have been dedicated to and written for him, including Wolfgang Rihm’s Musik für Klarinette und Orchester (1999) and Aribert Reimann’s Cantus (2006). Widmann gave the world premiere of Mark Andre’s new Clarinet Concerto at the 2015 Donauerschinger Musiktage. Amongst his regular chamber music partners are renowned soloists and ensembles such as Sir András Schiff, Daniel Barenboim, Elisabeth Leonskaja, Mitsuko Uchida, and the Hagen and Arcanto quartets.
Widmann’s compositions are performed regularly by conductors such as Pierre Boulez, Christian Thielemann, Mariss Jansons, Andris Nelsons and Simon Rattle, and premiered by orchestras such as the Wiener and Berliner Philharmoniker, New York Philharmonic, Orchestre de Paris and many others. Widmann has been Artist in Residence at leading orchestras and festivals such as Lucerne and Heidelberger Frühling, and has been featured in artist portraits at Vienna’s Konzerthaus, Frankfurt’s Alte Oper, Cologne’s Philharmonie and New York’s Carnegie Hall, where his music was featured for an entire season under the motto, “Making Music: Jörg Widmann.”
