Beyond This Point teams up with Toronto’s New Music Concerts for an interdisciplinary performance of sound, theater, and music, spotlighting the work of composer Simon Steen-Andersen and featuring his larger-than-life multimedia work Black Box Music for percussion solo, amplified box, 15 instruments and video.
“The starting point is the classical soloist-conductor, only in this case, the conducting and solo part are one and the same. The setting is a traditional theatre stage with curtains, props and light; only in this case, the stage is also an instrument. Black Box Music could be said to be a deconstruction of conducting and puppet theatre as well as an exploration and exploitation of the audio/visual relations inherent in conducting and staging. The “grand show” is in three movements, starting with ‘Ouverture’ and ‘Slow Middle Movement’ and then finishing off with a festive, pompous, ‘Self-Imploding Finale’.”
Also on the program: a tribute to the masterful Pierre Boulez in honour of his centenary, a luminous multi-cello work by Kaija Saariaho, and the world premiere of new work Break My Hands! by NMC’s Composer-in-Residence, Rashaan Allwood.
Schedule
7:00PM Doors
7:15PM Conversation with Simon Steen-Andersen and Rashaan Allwood (New Music Concerts Composer-in-Residence)
7:45PM Young Artist Overture: Simon Steen Anderson Beside Besides (2003) performed by Musicians from The Glenn Gould School
8:00PM Main Show
-Rashaan Allwood: Break My Hands! (2025 World Premiere) for 1 piano, 6 hands
-Pierre Boulez: Messagesquisse (1976-77) for solo cello and 6 cellos
-Kaija Saariaho: Neiges (1998) for 12 cellos
-Simon Steen-Andersen: Black Box Music (2012) for percussion solo, video, and ensemble