Sunday, February 2, 2020 at National Sawdust:
award winning Danish cellist Jakob Kullberg performs new music by Nordic composers
Works by Per Nørgård, Kaija Saariaho, and Bent Sørensen, among others
On February 2, 2020 at 7:00 PM, Chris Grymes’ Open G Series at National Sawdust presents the award winning Danish cellist Jakob Kullberg. Mr. Kullberg has worked extensively with many of the leading contemporary Scandinavian composers, premiering and recording major works by Per Nørgård, Kaija Saariaho, and Bent Sørensen, among others. A two-time winner of the Danish Grammy and an internationally-renowned performer and advocate of contemporary composers, Kullberg has assembled a program that features his favorite modern works by Nordic composers for cello, clarinet, and piano. He’s joined by Open G regulars Chris Grymes and Jeremy Gill.
One of the four world premieres on the program, Niels Rønsholdt's Country Songs are excerpts from the song cycle and cello concerto ‘Country’ which musically and conceptually paraphrases the rich American country and folk music tradition. Written for Kullberg, Country Songs is about the question of authenticity, about belonging to a certain place and what that belonging means in a globalized modernity.
Also a world premiere, Eivind Buene's A Cellist's Songbook takes music from the classical repertoire for a classically trained voice and 'transposes' it to Kullbergs untrained everyday-voice. Buene has worked with this concept for a long time under the title Schubert Lounge, where he sings songs by Franz Schubert in his own untrained voice, accompanying himself on a Fender Rhodes electric piano. The first two songs in the cello songbook are based on Gustav Mahler: “Blue Eyes” is based on “Die zwei blauen Augen von meinem Schatz”, and the cello makes its mark on this song in the form of melodies from Schubert's 'Arpeggione-sonate'. The other song, “Welt”, is a short composition based on a fragment from “Ich bin der Welt abhanden gekommen”. These versions, with piano, cello and clarinet, are tailor made for this performance at National Sawdust.
Chris Grymes founded Open G Records with a philosophy to produce music that is rooted in the classical tradition, but delivered in a way that will resonate with current and future generations of music fans. Having released a half dozen recordings, Open G has expanded to include a concert series hosted at National Sawdust in Brooklyn.
Chris Grymes’ Open G Series at National Sawdust continues with:
Composer and soprano Nia Franklin (2019 Miss America) performs a showcase of works by women of African descent on May 3
Fidelio Trio, a piano trio from Ireland, pairs music from the British Isles with American works in a program that includes Louis Karchin, Helen Grime and Ann Cleare on June 14
Clarinetist Chris Grymes himself takes the stage on July 10, performing chamber works written for him.
Tickets for cellist Jakob Kullberg's performance on February 2, 2020 are $29 for general admission and are available at nationalsawdust.org or (646) 779-8455. National Sawdust is located at 80 North 6th Street in Brooklyn.
Praised internationally for his performances of contemporary cello repertoire, Jakob Kullberg, is one of the most established and diverse Danish instrumentalists of his generation. A top prize winner at international solo and chamber music competitions, Jakob has been artist in residence with the International Carl Nielsen Competition, the Tivoli Garden Concert Hall and the 29th International Krakow Composers’ Festival. Jakob is halfway through a large-scale recording project with the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra, with whom he will release five cello concertos on two CDs. He is twice winner of the Danish Grammy, most recently for his concerto CD ’Momentum’. This CD was also nominated for the Gramophone Award, was Album of the Week with Q2 Music and praised in The Strad Magazine.
CALENDAR LISTING
February 2, 2020 at 7:00 pm
Chris Grymes' Open G Series at National Sawdust:
Cellist Jakob Kullberg
New music by Nordic Composers
National Sawdust
80 North 6th St in Brooklyn
Tickets are $29 for general admission, and are available at nationalsawdust.org or (646) 779-8455
Program
Niels Rønsholdt – Country Songs *
Jakob Kullberg – Song *
Kaija Saariaho – Im Traume
Bent Sørenson – Schattenlinie arr. for cello, clarinet, and piano *
Eivind Buene – Two Songs for cello, clarinet, and piano *
Per Nørgård – Solo Sonata no.4, 'What is the Word'
Kasper Rofelt – selection from Clarinet Trio
* = world premiere