For Immediate Release

Date: March 24, 2011

Contact: Stephanie Coleman

stephanie@lookandlisten.org

Phone: (718) 622-3005

Look & Listen Proudly Announces 10^th Anniversary Celebration

THE 2011 LOOK & LISTEN FESTIVAL

Four concerts: May 19, 20, 21, and 22

Chelsea Art Museum

556 West 22^nd Street, New York, NY

Tickets: $15, $10 for students/seniors

Thursday, May 19, 2011, 8 PM

WQXR’s Nadia Sirota hosts the Festival’s opening night, when the dynamic JACK Quartet returns to the Festival for the second time and performs Dig Deep by Julia Wolfe and Fifth Quartet by Philip Glass; the striking percussionist Doug Perkins performs Michael Gordon’s XY; and the engaging pianist Tanya Bannister presents Sofia Gubaidulina’s Chaconne and Jan Radzynski’s Mazurka.

Friday, May 20, 2011, 8 PM

WNYC’s John Schaefer hosts night two, which features elegant harpist Bridget Kibbey in performances of Elliott Carter’s Bariolage and excerpts from Murray Schaffer’s Crown of Ariadne; Split Second piano ensemble offering world premieres by Carlos Sanchez-Gutierrez and John Musto; and bold string quartet Brooklyn Rider performing Colin Jacobsen’s Achille’s Heel and John Cage’s In a Landscape.

Saturday, May 21, 2011, 8 PM

WQXR’s Terrance McKnight hosts the third night of Look & Listen’s 10th Anniversary Celebration, as the mesmerizing toy pianist Phyllis Chen returns to the Festival to perform David Lang’s Miracle Ear, a world premiere by Angelica Negron, and Ms. Chen’s own compositions; the critically acclaimed John Hollenbeck and his Claudia Quintet present the world premieres of new works written by Mr. Hollenbeck; and renowned accordionist Guy Klucevsek, trombonist Jonathan Greenberg, and saxophonist Eliot Gattegno perform Driving Force by Zibuokie Martinaityte, the 2011 Look & Listen Composer’s Competition Winner.

Sunday, May 22, 2011, 3 PM (special afternoon event)

NPR contributor Lara Pellegrinelli hosts the Festival finale, as Missy Mazzoli’s all-female quintet Victoire performs three compositions from its recent album, Cathedral City; Bang on a Can All-Star percussionist Dave Cossin performs the world premiere of a new work of his own; and the virtuosic Brasil Guitar Duo plays Debussy, Castelnuovo-Tedesco, and Gismonti.

HIGHLIGHTS OF THE 10^th ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION

This May 19, 20, 21, and 22, Look & Listen presents its 10^th annual festival, for the first time expanding the event to four concerts of new music, featuring twelve different performers and ensembles, with over thirty five musicians, composers, and visual artists participating throughout the extended weekend. Celebratory highlights include:

• a silent auction of an instrument created by Bang On A Can’s Mark Stewart which includes a personalized instructional DVD and limited edition photo retrospective collection of the Festival’s past nine events as captured by Festival photographer Ron Gordon

• a commemorative program book with retrospective essays by music journalist Bruce Hodges and a visual artist/critic

• WQXR’s Q2 stream of the Festival

• Radio personalities John Schaefer (WNYC), Nadia Sirota (WQXR), Terrance McKnight (WQXR), and Lara Pellegrinelli (NPR), who host the concerts and interview the concerts’ artists and composers

• a video tribute and performance from So Percussion

• a Champagne & Chocolate post-concert reception on Saturday night

LOOK & LISTEN

Brief Organization History: While enjoying one of Joan Towers Second Helpings series concerts at the DIA Center, David Gordon was struck by the intimacy between audience and performers and the effect of extended viewing of the visual art in the space. Hoping to find a way to provide audiences with more concerts in such settings, he approached fellow NYU composer and Ph.D. student Sean Carson with the idea. Mr. Carson was immediately committed to the project, and they set out to put together a Festival in 2003. David, Sean, and third original board member, Sarah Snider, contacted all the performers, composers, and galleries they knew, and all fell into place when Ace Gallery owner Douglas Christmas said, “If you guys are supporting new music, I’m willing to support new music.” Fortunately, everyone they spoke to about the idea, from graduate students to professors to performers to friends and family, loved it and volunteered their own ideas and time, making a Festival in the spring of 2002, a year earlier than planned, a reality.

Over the past ten years, Look & Listen has carried out its mission to expand and engage audiences of 20th and 21st century music by providing a unique opportunity to simultaneously experience a stimulating visual environment for new music and a vibrant aural context for contemporary visual art. Programming focuses on music written primarily by living composers, both new and established, along with 20th century masterpieces. In addition to live concerts, Look & Listen has established a tradition of presenting ambient compositions, a composers’ competition, composer interviews, and our recently-launched commissioning initiative, which has generated numerous World Premieres.

The 2010 Festival enjoyed enthusiastic attention from the press: NY1 featured the Festival in its “Your Weekend Starts Now” segment as a “great thing to do this weekend.” In its preview of the week’s cultural “happenings,” the New York Times said, “Both eyes and ears are catered to at the annual Look & Listen Festival,” and Steve Smith described the Festival in his review (a two-page color spread!) as a “lively annual event.” WQXR, who streamed Friday’s concert on Q2, called the Festival “one of New York’s best new music events.” The New Yorker highlighted the Festival in its “Goings On About Town,” saying it “stimulates the eyes as well as the ears.” Time Out New York declared, “This eagerly anticipated celebration of new music, words, and visual art returns for three nights of genre-mashing exploration.” WNYC featured excerpts of the Festival on New Sounds.

Special Thanks: The 2011 Look & Listen Festival is made possible with the generous support of the Aaron Copland Fund For Music, the Alice M. Ditson Fund of Columbia University, the Edward T. Cone Foundation, Meet the Composer Cary New Music Performance Fund, public funds from the NYSCA, the NYCDCA, Look & Listen Board Members, individual donations, and Pinnacle Prep.