Tuesday, December 15th 2015—7:30 pm

The Strange Library is a musical setting by Whitney George of the recent novella by Haruki Murakami. Designed and illustrated by famed book jacket designer (and frequent Murakami collaborator) Chip Kidd, the novella is packaged like a graphic novel, whose moody and mysterious depictions of a child’s darkest dream match Murakami’s surreal imagination.

The plot is equally eerie: a little boy enters a quiet library -- “even more hushed than usual,” we’re told in the opening line -- and is sent to Room 107, where he meets a creepy old librarian who leads him deep into a maze of dark catacombs beneath the library. There, we learn of the librarian’s ghoulish designs and the boy encounters a small man wearing the skin of a sheep and a pretty young girl pushing a teacart, their worlds now “all jumbled together.” Not even fresh-made doughnuts can sweeten the boy’s nightmarish predicament as the librarian’s prisoner.

This evening's concert will consist of a complete reading of The Strange Library with projections of Kidd's colorful and disorienting illustrations, accomanied by live music composed by Whitney George and performed by The Curiosity Cabinet.

[ The Curiosity Cabinet: Alice Jones, flute; TBD, violin; David Whitwell, Trombone; 

Joe Tucker, Percussion; Whitney George, conductor; TBD, Narrator ]

The Center for Fiction

17 E. 47th Street

New York, New York

[ Tickets available starting November 1st ]

Wednesday, December 9th 2015—8:00 pm

Howl —Allen Ginsberg, accompaniment by Whitney E. George, read by Jerome Kitzke

Clarinet Trio Op. 114, Allegro—Johannes Brahms

I am Right. You are Wrong—Marc Thorman, on a text by William S. Burroughs, read by Allen Ginsberg

Kerouac Poems —Marc Thorman 

1. from “Old Angel Midnight”

2. Poem

3. Long Dead’s Longevity

4. Sitting under Tree Number 2

5. Poem

6. Poem

7. Poem

8. Poem

9. More from “Old Angel Midnight”

Jerome Kitzke, Narrator & Piano

with The Curiosity Cabinet: Carl Bolleia, Piano; Aleksandr Karjaka, Clarinets; 

David Whitwell, Trombone; Joe Tucker, Percussion

Spectrum 

121 Ludlow St #2

New York, NY 10002

[ private event | by invitation only ]

Monday, December 7th 2015—7:30 pm

An evening of silent films from the 1960s-1970s by experimental artist Frans Zwartjes:

Spare Bedroom

for Horn in F & Fixed Media

Spectator

for Flute/Alto Flute, Bass Clarinet, Horn, Trombone, Violin, and Double Bass

Visual Training

for Flute/Piccolo, Clarinet, Horn in F, Trombone, Violin, 'Cello, Piano, Percussion 

A Fan

for Flute, Percussion, and Piano

Birds

for Flute, Percussion, and Electronics

Sorbet III

for Piano & Percussion

Seats Two

for Piano & Electronics

[ The Curiosity Cabinet: Alice Jones, flute; Aleks Karjaka, clarinet; Melissa Danas, horn in F; David Whitwell, trombone; Maya Bennardo, violin; TBD, 'cello; Emilio Guarino, double bass; Steve Beck, piano; Joe Tucker, percussion; Whitney George, conductor ]

Elebash Recital Hall: The Graduate Center, CUNY

365 Fifth Avenue

New York, NY 10016

[ admission is free ]

Sunday, November 22nd 2015—7:30 pm

Sun Propeller — Nina C. Young

for solo violin & electronics

For the Love of a Wolf— Nicholas R. Nelson

for solo flute and electronics

Birds — Whitney George

for solo flute, solo percussion and electronics + video

Anamnesis — Whitney George

for solo bass clarinet, solo violin, and electronics + video

excision no. 1 — Tina Tallon

for solo percussion and electronics

Cherry Blossom and a Wrapped Thing After Hokusai — Judith Shatin

for solo clarinet and electronics 

[ The Curiostiy Cabinet: Alice Jones, flute; Aleks Karjaka, clarinet;

Maya Bennardo, violin; Joe Tucker, percussion ]

Stony Brook Recital Hall

Stony Brook University

New York

[ admission is free ]

Thursday, November 19th 2015—7:30 pm

Sun Propeller — Nina C. Young

for solo violin & electronics

For the Love of a Wolf— Nicholas R. Nelson

for solo flute and electronics

Birds — Whitney George

for solo flute, solo percussion and electronics + video

Anamnesis — Whitney George

for solo bass clarinet, solo violin, and electronics + video

excision no. 1 — Tina Tallon

for solo percussion and electronics

Cherry Blossom and a Wrapped Thing After Hokusai — Judith Shatin

for solo clarinet and electronics 

Concordance — Anton Rovner

for stereo playback

[ The Curiostiy Cabinet: Alice Jones, flute; Aleks Karjaka, clarinet;

Maya Bennardo, violin; Joe Tucker, percussion ]

Gallery MC

529 West 52nd Street

New York, New York

Tickets: $15 general admission | $7 for students

::doors open at 7:15, show stars at 7:30::

Wednesday, November 4th 2015—5:00 pm

George Brunner, Director of the bi-annual International Electro-Acoustic Music Festival presents Electrified Lady Macbeth. 

This show combines the classical language of Shakespeare with the contemporary music of living composers. The six composers involved are using acoustic and electronic music, sound effects and video animation to explore the depths of this dynamic character. The show will be staged and costumed, and each monodrama will be a complete work, with individual performers for each musical/dramatic interpretation. 

Faculty and Alumni Composers - Nicholas R. Nelson, Devin Chodolenko, Douglas Geers, Whitney George, Dan Henry Boehler, George Brunner.

Performers - Emily Mills-Woodruff, Brittany Cusack, Genevieve Hynes, Julia Amisano, Monica Harte

Studio 312 

Brooklyn College Conservatory of Music

2900 Bedford Avenue

Brooklyn, NY

[ admission is free ]

Tuesday, October 27th 2015—7:30 pm

The GC Composers' Alliance presents a concert of new music by Graduate Center composers:

Nathan Pell
Hyun-Kyung Lee
Vicente Alexim
Gregory Joseph Menillo
Jacob Sachs-Mishalanie

& Whitney George's Chasing Light

Performers: Maria Hadge, Thea Mesirow, Vicente Alexim, Alex Yu, Thomas Weaver, Carl Patrick Bolleia, and The Curiosity Cabinet.

[ The Curiosity Cabinet: Alice Jones, flute; Aleks Karjaka, clarinet; Maya Bennardo, violin; Eric Cooper, 'cello; Paul Kerekes, piano; Joe Tucker, percussion; Whitney George, conductor ]

Elebash Recital Hall

CUNY Graduate Center

New York, New York

[ admission is free ]

Friday, October 30th 2015—7:30 pm

Join The Curiosity Cabinet for an evening of macabre works for chamber ensemble, incorporating theater and choreography 

Seven Sins for String Trio — Whitney George

violin, viola, 'cello with original choreography by Kimani Fowlin 

Quoth the Raven — Whitney George

clarinet, violin, viola, 'cello, percussion, and narrator

The Masochist's Tango— Whitney George

solo violin

[ The Curiosity Cabinet: Aleks Karjaka, clarinet; Charlotte Munn-Wood, violin;

Dan McCarthy, viola; Pat Muchmore, 'cello; Joe Tucker, percussion; Whitney George, conductor ]

Grace Church

39 Erie Street

Jersey City, New Jersey

[Tickets Available at the Door] 

Wednesday, October 21st 2015—7:30 pm

The Tell Tale Heart — Whitney George

flute, oboe/eng. hn., clarinet, two violins, viola, 'cello, double bass, mallet & aux. percussion & piano

Funeral Symphony — Nick Omiccioli

string quartet & projection

2ⁿ-ion 3 or 2^n-ion 3— Pat Muchmore

english horn, violin I, violin II, viola, 'cello, double bass

Madrigals (Book 1) — George Crumb

soprano, double bass, and mallet percussion

The Night Mare — Christopher Cerrone

flute/alto flute, bass clarinet, violin, 'cello, piano, percussion & fixed electronics

[ The Curiosity Cabinet: Lindsey Eckenroth, flute; Kristin Leitterman, oboe/english horn; Daniel Padmos, clarinet; Adam von Housen & Charlotte Munn-Wood, violin; Pedro Vizzarro-Vallejos, viola; Pat Muchmore, 'cello; Emilio Guarino, double bass; Joe Tucker, mallet percussion; Michael Lupo, auxiliary percussion; Whitney George, conductor ]

The Secret Theater (Big Secret)

4402 23rd Street

Long Island City, NY 11101

Tickets: $10 in advance/students | $15 at the door

Wednesday, October 21st 2015—7:30 pm

Poems of a Bright Moon — Maria Grendel

for flute, clarinet, & piano

Between the Dark and Daylight — Adrienne Albert

for flute, violin, viola, 'cello, piano

​Walls of Light — Eric Nathan

for flute, clarinet, violin, 'cello, piano, & percussion

Watching the Dark Slowly Unfold from Night, like Velvet: in Twelve Letters — Whitney George

for clarinet, violin, viola, 'cello, piano, & percussion

Chasing Light — Whitney George

for flute, clarinet, violin, viola, 'cello, piano, & percussion 

[ The Curiosity Cabinet: Alice Jones, flute; Aleks Karjaka, clarinet; Maya Bennardo, violin; Dan McCarthy, viola; Eric Cooper, 'cello; Paul Kerekes, piano; Joe Tucker, percussion; Whitney George, conductor ]

Elebash Recital Hall

The Graduate Center, CUNY

365 Fifth Avenue

New York, NY 10016

[ admission is free ]

Thursday, September 17th & Friday, September 18th 2015—8:00 pm

Meet Ed Leedskalnin: a small unassuming Latvian immigrant who is responsible for singlehandedly constructing the monument Coral Castle in Florida. This was an impossible feat for one man to create, but he claimed that he had discovered the secret of the Egyptians and constructed this monolithic coral city using nothing but a small mysterious box set on a tripod that he claimed could reverse the magnetic forces on Earth and levitate these huge structures. To this day no one can explain how these coral formations could have been moved from the sea miles away to the location where he built this and he did it for a woman he loved who never came to see his creation. Ed's story is retold through live music by Whitney George, performed by The Curiosity Cabinet and staged drama with puppets created by Daniel Patrick Fay. 

[ The Curiosity Cabinet: Alice Jones, flute; Mara Mayer, bass clarinet;

Adam von Housen, violin; Joe Tucker, percussion; Whitney George, conductor ]

The Standard Toykraft

722 Metropolitan Avenue

Brooklyn, New York

Tickets for THURSDAY: $12.50 in advance/students | $15 at the door

(click the text above to purchase tickets online)

Tickets for FRIDAY: $12.50 in advance/students | $15 at the door

(click the text above to purchase tickets online)

Sunday 9/13 at 5pm |Tuesday 9/15 at 9pm | Wednesday 9/16 at 6:30pm | Thursday 9/17 at 6:30pm | Saturday 9/19 at 5pm | Sunday 9/20 at 5pm

Concrete Timbre (www.concretetimbre.com) and The Curiosity Cabinet (www.the-curiosity- cabinet.com) join forces to present a music and theater event. With original music by Ann Warren, Manuela Lechler, and Whitney George.

4 Wars shows a progression of people struggling to create social change in 4 countries in 1968: from Poland, in which a young woman tries to convince her parents to let her take part in the student protests; to Alexander Dubček defending to Brezhnev his social changes in Czechoslovakia; to a young protester  in the midst of the Tlatelolco massacre in Mexico; to a group of Yippies in the East Village on the day after Nixon winning the Presidency determining what their next move should be.

[ The Curiosity Cabinet: Hugh Aush, trumpet; Charlotte Munn-Wood, violin;

Melinda Faylor, piano; Joe Tucker, percussion | David Stevens; percussion ]

The Theater for the New City

155 1st Avenue

New York, Nwe York 10003

Tickets on sale August 31st

Tuesday, September 8th 2015—7:30 pm

The Impossible Will Take a Little While is a song cycle for mezzo-soprano, three ensemble voices (soprano, tenor, baritone), and a chamber orchestra comprised of traditional acoustic and electronic instruments by Eric Lemmon.

The goal of the work is to celebrate the impact that ordinary people can achieve through small political acts. These acts mobilize and give hope to others, which is the ultimate tale of political power through democratic principles. The work does not expound upon a particular political issue or ideology, but aims to match the tenor of the texts it is based on –which describes that recognizing how political change in democratic society occurs is important to sustaining action in the face of systemic inertia.

By melding this discursive idea to the emotional power of music, Eric’s desire is to offer the same inspiration he gained from the essays and poems in Loeb’s book.  

The Impossible Will Take a Little While has been written for Highline Chamber Ensemble, Kate Maroney, Pamela Stein Lynde, Brandon Snook, and Seth Gilman and will be conducted by Whitney George. The work is based on poetry from the collection of essays of the same title compiled and edited by Paul Rogat Loeb.

The DiMenna Center for Classical Music

Mary Flagler Cary Hall

New York, New York

Tickets: $25 | $20 for students, veterans, and seniors 

Friday, September 4th 2015—5:30 pm

Program of string quartet music includes works by Jessica DiMari, Larry Adams, Alex Eisenhauer, and Whitney George's Veiled 

Baruch College

55 Lexington Ave,

New York, NY

10010

[ admission is free ]