Avant-garde music, jazz, klezmer, jagged noise or free improvisation; the New York composer and multi-instrumentalist John Zorn has it all at his fingertips. November Music honours this eclectic and prolific writer with a festival day specifically devoted to him.

Asko|Schönberg puts on a show with a selection from Zorn’s recent work for ensemble and the composer will also be in attendance. ‘Perhaps more poem than spell or manifesto’, Zorn recently wrote about his music. He may well have been thinking of pieces such as Orphée and Bateau ivre: quicksilver chamber music, with echoes of the sparkling sound world of Debussy and Boulez. A rebours and The Temptations of St. Anthony are both virtuosic mini-concertos, with starring roles for cellist Jay Campbell and pianist Stephen Gosling respectively. Both of these musicians have collaborated closely with Zorn in recent years and combine forces with him in the kaleidoscopic piano trio The Aristos. With a rich harmonic palette and references to helter-skelter cartoon music, the wind quintet Il n’y a plus de firmament represents Zorn at his best.

Artists

JOHN ZORN
The aristos
Orphee
Bateau ivre
A rebours
The temptations of st Anthony
Il n’y a plus de firmament  

ASKO|SCHÖNBERG
conductor David Fulmer
cello Jay Campbell
piano Steve Gosling
electronics Ikue Mori