Multi-GRAMMY-nominated cellist Matt Haimovitz offers two three-day performance residencies:
New York City (April 21-23, Barge Music)
Marfa, Texas (April 14-16, Chinati Foundation, The Marfa Book Company, & the Crowley Theater)
The programs: an expansive survey of the new commissions of
THE PRIMAVERA PROJECT
including world premieres by Rob Mazurek, Tyshawn Sorey, Nkeriu Okoye, Layale Chaker, Aaron Jay Kernis, Texu Kim, Analia Llugdar, and Gordon Getty
THE PRIMAVERA PROJECT is an ongoing series of 81 commissions for cello, celebrating a rich tapestry of distinct and diverse compositional voices. A collaboration between multi-GRAMMY nominated cellist Matt Haimovitz, contemporary painter Charline von Heyl and director Jeffrianne Young, each composer is asked to respond to two paintings, Sandro Botticelli’s Primavera (c.1480) and Charline von Heyl’s Primavera 2020.
50 out of the 81 composers have thus far been commissioned. Four albums of these new works have been recorded by Haimovitz for the PENTATONE Oxingale Series label. The fourth album, PRIMAVERA IV, the heart is to be released in Fall 2023. All of these new commissions have been recorded at Charline von Heyl’s artist studio in Marfa, Texas.
Two three-day residencies, April 14-16 in Marfa, Texas and April 21-23 in New York City, offer a curated survey of the new repertoire to date. Haimovitz offers a number of world premieres – works by Tyshawn Sorey, Layale Chaker, Aaron Jay Kernis, Texu Kim, Analia Llugdar, Nina C. Young, and Gordon Getty – divided into three thematic programs. Around two dozen Primavera commissions will be heard in NYC and Marfa for the first time.
These two springtime residencies offer an opportunity to encounter the new and wide-ranging repertoire live. Haimovitz remarks, “It has been a fascinating journey to experience the breadth and evolution of the Primavera commissions through the course of the pandemic, emerging out of the darkness and isolation and into a spirit of rebirth. These programs are a celebration of the diversity of our contemporary music landscape and are a testament to the human imagination, limitless and universally intertwined through the ages.”
In New York City, the three-day residency (April 21-23) is hosted at Brooklyn’s beloved Barge Music. Along with the solo works of THE PRIMAVERA PROJECT – by Philip Glass, Tomeka Reid, Nkeiru Okoye, Missy Mazzoli, Nico Muhly, Niloufar Nourbakhsh, Tyshawn Sorey, Layale Chaker, Juri Seo, inti figgis-vizueta, Vijay Iyer, Laura Elise Schwendinger, Analia Llugdar, Luna Pearl Woolf, David T. Little, Nina C. Young, Roberto Sierra, Annabelle Chvostek, Aaron Jay Kernis, Gabriella Smith, David Sanford, Gordon Getty, Lisa Bielawa, Justine F. Chen, and Lewis Spratlan – Haimovitz will be joined by his students from the Mannes Conservatory at The New School for the world premiere of Texu Kim’s four-part Beseeching, as well as Haimovitz’s arrangements for four and six parts of two Josquin des Prez vocal works referenced in the pieces by Lisa Bielawa and Missy Mazzoli. Josquin lived in Florence at the time of Botticelli. J.S. Bach Preludes also provide a grounding through the centuries.
One week before the NYC residency, Haimovitz, known for his embrace and exploration of unconventional performance spaces, takes THE PRIMAVERA PROJECT on a tour through Marfa, Texas. The remote art and ranching mecca in Texas is the heart for THE PRIMAVERA PROJECT. This town with a population of under 2000 in Far West Texas is where a meeting of the minds took place in 2019 between renowned artist Charline von Heyl, cellist Matt Haimovitz, and director Jeffrianne Young.
The first performance in Marfa is hosted at the grand Arsenal by the Chinati Foundation, the museum founded by the late visionary Donald Judd; the second takes place in the intimacy of the Marfa Book Company; and the third performance will be presented at the storied Crowley Theater in downtown Marfa.
The artist’s prophetic response to Botticelli’s Primavera painting, Primavera 2020, has thus far inspired over 50 new musical works. The new body of music of THE PRIMAVERA PROJECT has in turn led to a collection of more Primavera-themed paintings by von Heyl. An installation of von Heyl’s seven Primavera paintings, along with the large-scale triptych, Primavera 2020, and the music of THE PRIMAVERA PROJECT, was featured in the prestigious Giardini in the last edition of the 59th International Venice Biennale Arte 2022.
In a collaboration with publisher Oxingale Music, a series of Primavera sheet music compilations will be launched in April 2023, offering cellists young and old the opportunity to explore this wide-ranging new repertoire for solo cello in a performance edition by Matt Haimovitz.
Key PRIMAVERA and Matt Haimovitz Performance Dates for Spring 2023:
Feb. 28 Tel-Aviv, Israel, The Israel Conservatory of Music – PRIMAVERA: Through the Centuries
March 12 Charlottesville, VA, Charlottesville Chamber Music Festival Presents
March 18 Naples, Italy PRIMAVERA: Through the Centuries
April 14 Marfa, TX, Chinati Foundation – PRIMAVERA: Figures and Shadows
April 15 Marfa, TX, Marfa Book Co. – PRIMAVERA: Rites of Spring
April 16 Marfa, TX, Crowley Theater – PRIMAVERA: Through the Centuries
April 21 7pm Brooklyn, NY, Barge Music – PRIMAVERA: Figures and Shadows
April 22 6pm Brooklyn, NY, Barge Music – PRIMAVERA: Rites of Spring
April 23 4pm Brooklyn, NY, Barge Music – PRIMAVERA: Through the Centuries
May 7 Boston, MA, Carriage House THE PRIMAVERA PROJECT
May 13 Springfield, MA, Thomas de Hartmann Cello Cello Concerto with the Springfield Symphony Orchestra
May 20 Montreal, QC, Franz Schubert “Arpeggione” Sonata (arr. for cello and strings by Luna Pearl Woolf) with Pronto Musica
June 8 Des Moines, IA, Zenith Chamber Music Festival, Des Moines Arts Center, THE PRIMAVERA PROJECT
Marfa Residency Programs:
April 14th at the Chinati Foundation:
PRIMAVERA: Figures & Shadows
J.S. Bach Suite II Prelude
Nico Muhly Spring Figures (Texas Premiere)
Niloufar Nourbakhsh Cyclical Rabbits (Texas Premiere)
Nkeiru Okoye Breaking Bread (Texas Premiere)
David T. Little The Crocus Palimpsest (Texas Premiere)
Lewis Spratlan One for Two (Texas Premiere)
Luna Pearl Woolf Diaphanous Grace (Texas Premiere)
Roberto Sierra Chloris & Zephyrus (Texas Premiere)
Annabelle Chvostek Your Shadow and Inflorescence (Texas Premiere)
April 15th at the Marfa Book Company:
PRIMAVERA: Rites of Spring
J.S. Bach Suite III Prelude
Juri Seo Two Rhapsodies of Spring (Texas Premiere)
David Sanford Suolo (Texas Premiere)
Rob Mazurek Venus in Shadow World (World Premiere)
inti figgis-vizueta motion between three worlds (Texas Premiere)
Gabriella Smith bare (Texas Premiere)
Tomeka Reid Volplaning (Texas Premiere)
April 16th at the Crowley Theater:
PRIMAVERA: Through the Centuries
J.S. Bach Suite V Prelude and Fugue
Lisa Bielawa Missa Primavera (Texas Premiere)
Justine F. Chen Iridescent Gest (Texas Premiere)
Layale Chaker Before Bloom (World Premiere)
Laura Schwendinger Fluorescenza (Texas Premiere)
Missy Mazzoli Beyond the Order of Things (after Josquin) (Texas Premiere)
Analia Llugdar Anima Vento (World Premiere)
Nina C. Young Pentimento (US Premiere)
Vijay Iyer Equal Night (Texas Premiere)
NYC Residency Programs:
April 21, 2023
PRIMAVERA: Figures & Shadows
J.S. Bach Suite II Prelude
Nico Muhly Spring Figures (NY Premiere)
Niloufar Nourbakhsh Cyclical Rabbits (NY Premiere)
Tyshawn Sorey Three Graces (World Premiere)
David T. Little The Crocus Palimpsest (NY Premiere)
Lewis Spratlan One for Two (NY Premiere)
Luna Pearl Woolf Diaphanous Grace (NY Premiere)
Analia Llugdar Anima Vento (NY Premiere)
Roberto Sierra Chloris & Zephyrus (NY Premiere)
Annabelle Chvostek Your Shadow and Inflorescence (NY Premiere)
April 22, 2023
PRIMAVERA: Rites of Spring
J.S. Bach Suite V Prelude and Fugue
Juri Seo Two Rhapsodies of Spring (NY Premiere)
Nkeiru Okoye Breaking Bread (World Premiere)
Philip Glass Philip’s Song (NY Premiere)
Aaron Jay Kernis Grace (World Premiere)
David Sanford Suolo (NY Premiere)
Gabriella Smith bare (NY Premiere)
inti figgis-vizueta motion between three worlds (NY Premiere)
J.S. Bach Suite III Prelude
Vijay Iyer Equal Night (NY Premiere)
April 23, 2023
PRIMAVERA: Through the Centuries
Josquin Missa Hercules Dux Ferrariae (arr. Haimovitz for four celli)
Lisa Bielawa Missa Primavera (NY Premiere)
Texu Kim Beseeching (World Premiere)
Tomeka Reid Volplaning
Layale Chaker Before Bloom (NY Premiere)
Laura Elise Schwendinger Flourescenza (NY Premiere)
Gordon Getty Ninna Nanna (World Premiere)
Missy Mazzoli Beyond the Order of Things (after Josquin)
Josquin Praeter rerum seriem (arr. Haimovitz for six celli)