On Monday, Musica Nova welcomes George Lewis as guest composer for a program centered on his eclectic and cathartic works. The Eastman School of Music’s contemporary classical chamber ensemble, conducted in this program by Edo Frenkel, is well-suited to Lewis’s ecstatically noisy aesthetic. Don’t be fooled, though: There’s plenty of control to the chaos, with clever lyricism subtly embedded in the phrases. Musica Nova will perform the stormy, orchestral dreamscape that is “The Will to Adorn” and the explosive, spoken-word experiment “Anthem,” among other pieces. The music may be avant-garde, but that doesn’t make it any less engaging.
Musica Nova will play Monday, March 4, 7:30 p.m. at Eastman School of Music’s Kilbourn Hall, 26 Gibbs Street. Free. 274-1000. esm.rochester.edu.
This article appears in Feb 27 – Mar 5, 2019.
