You probably haven’t encountered music composed for harp and percussion. But that’s why you can thank New Music Works for putting the “new” back into the whole idea of exploratory composing. Last month the genius of William Winant joined forces with over-the-edge harpist/composer Zeena Parkins for a program that surfed beyond the barely possible, forcing us to listen with open ears at the same time enjoying with great relish. Live performance doesn’t get any edgier.
Using her huge multi-stringed instrument in ways almost incomprehensible, New York-based composed/performer Parkins reworked our understanding of music. And she had chosen the perfect collaborator in legendary Winant, a man who is fearless in using hands, mallets, exhaled breath, violin bows, you name it to make the sound required by Parkins’ stunning concept. Performing primarily on a unique set of gamelan-adjacent bells, gongs, and tubes built by Lou Harrison, Winant played with, against, and around the provocative string work of Parkins, who often moved to the other side of Winant to help him with sonic distortions of extreme beauty. Here are a few of my descriptive notes to give you some idea of what I, and a small crowd of NMW stalwarts, heard: fairytales from a lost culture in an unknown language; scifi soliloquys, sonic stories without a plot; lost planet gamelan; nameless emotions; cries and whispers. It was an incredible, yes, psychedelic array of musical ideas, concept and variations, absolutely mesmerizing.
Virtuoso house concert
What a treat to gather in the great hall at at Irene Hermann’s Westside digs, along with familiar faces and fellow string quartet aficionados for a house concert of works by Haydn and Beethoven. Santa Cruz is graced with more than one private home venue offering such choice opportunities to sit close to the performers, to watch the stunning technique while savoring some incomparable sounds. Hermann’s multi-instrumental skills are widely known to Bay Area audiences, but it’s still a rare occasion to hear her perform classical music on cello. The repertoire was string quartets, Op,.77,#2 by Haydn, and Op. 18#4 by Beethoven. Such opulent programming was distinguished by the virtuosity of Danny Cher’s lightning violin (that’s a metaphor), and the burnished bronze depths of Irene Hermann’s cello, with excellent work by Erica Buurman on violin and Mark McAuliffe on viola. The Haydn involved, as Cher described it, “a lot of notes” and feisty variations as we listened to the dawn of string quartet composition by a master. The Haydn required every ounce of energy and ability of each performer. Dazzling. The Beethoven was simply, profoundly moving. Everyone in the room was left unable to breathe for long moments after the last string stopped vibrating.
Espressivo wraps up its season on June 6
And the programming for the intense chamber orchestra sounds delicious, especially the original version of Aaron Copland’s orchestral suite Appalachian Spring, scored for 13 instruments. Wildly successful from its 1944 debut in collaboration with Martha Graham’s choreography. The piece won a Pulitzer Prize and continues its reputation as the apex of quintessentially American music. Angular, muscular, yet undeniably tender, the music parallels the growth of modernism in abstract visual art, the gritty black and white photography of Dorothea Lange and minimalist explorations by John Cage and Paul Bowles.
Composer and conductor extraordinaire Michael McGushin will lead this program of music by the elite musicians of Espressivo, in this their final concert of the 2026 season. Also on the program are an important tone poem by Jean Sibelius, a symphony for strings by Felix Mendelssohn (written when the composer was a prodigy of 13), and a chamber symphony by Darius Milhaud, a prolific modernist composer and teacher of Philip Glass, Dave Brubeck and Karlheinz Stockhausen, among others. Not to miss!
Sat June 6 4pm Peace United Church of Christ & Sunday June 7, 4pm, First Presbyterian Church of Monterey. Information and tickets at espressorch.org
PS: Kudos to the Santa Cruz Symphony for what everyone agrees was a spectacular penultimate concert, including the cross-genre work of tech musician Jaron Lanier and finishing with Beethoven’s 9th. Maestro Daniel Stewart held nothing back to sweep listeners up into the very heart of the Western classical repertoire. Time to order next year’s season tickets.
