Words and music have long influenced each other from Palestrina's sacred motets to Schubert's lieder to Brecht and Weill's epic theater works. In this February 13 performance titled In Translation, composer and singer Lisa Bielawa and cellist Frances-Marie Uitti join forces with poet Christian Hawkey in an improvised response to brand new, never before heard text by Hawkey.

Bielawa introduces the concert with Berio's Sequenza III, a demanding piece for female voice which is largely unpitched and employs an extended musical language including laughing, gasping and sighing.

The feature event of the evening is the collaboration between Uitti, Bielawa and Christian Hawkey. In an intriguing performance format, the two musicians leave the room while Hawkey recites a new work he has written specifically for the show. When the performers return, Hawkey presents them with the poems and a half hour of improvisation begins on words that are now familiar to the audience but are interpreted on a moment's notice by Uitti and Bielawa.

Don't forget to poke around the Q2 Live Concert archive for more exciting live performances at your fingertips. You can access Q2 24/7 through our pop-out audio player or iTunes. (L)PR’s Technical Director is Richie Clarke and this concert was mixed by Noriko Okabe.

Program

Luciano Berio: Sequenza III for voice

Duo improvisations to sonnets by Brooklyn poet Christian Hawkey