Kaufman Center Press Releases
Merkin Concert Hall presents Lisa Moore: Wires, Words and Hammers (Oct. 28, 2008)
September 17, 2008 – Merkin Concert Hall’s Musically Speaking series features the groundbreaking work of pianist Lisa Moore, a musician hailed by the New York Times as “executing nearly every feat known to a new musician.”
A “speaking and singing” pianist? Australian Lisa Moore is practically a genre in herself. This is a program of theatrical and musical virtuosity. Moore will sing, play, hit, whistle and stroke—offering works ideally suited for her unique gifts, including Randy Newman's poignant I Think It's Going To Rain Today and the New York premiere of Martin Bresnick's Willie's Way (based on Willie Dixon's Spoonful and written especially for Moore). Bresnick will make a guest appearance, teaming up with Moore for her duo high-speed arrangement of the Dadaist Kurt Schwitters' Ursonate—a revolutionary work composed of four movements in sonata form using Scandinavian phonetics, not notes, and to be pronounced in German. Moore will honor Frederic Rzewski on his 70th birthday with a performance of To His Coy Mistress (to sung words by Andrew Marvel) and De Profundis. With text by Oscar Wilde (written in prison while serving 2 years hard labor for homosexual acts), De Profundis is a powerful existential statement of disenfranchisement and protest.
About Lisa Moore
Lisa Moore (piano and voice) was born in the leafy capital of Australia. “Her energy is
illuminating” (New York Times) and “her recitals are legendary” (American Record Guide).
She enjoys one of the most diverse lives experienced by performers today. At home in many
genres, Moore collaborates with a huge range of musicians and artists. Combining powerful
technique with vivid vocal theatricality, she plays, sings, speaks, improvises and acts,
creating unique and unforgettable concerts. Working with living composers for over 30
years and based in New York City since 1985, she plays solo and with groups of all sizes
and styles, developing new ways to present music in concert and on recordings. Moore is
also an artistic curator, designing programs and festivals. She most recently developed and
curated Australia’s Canberra International Music Festival Sounds Alive ‘08 series, importing
over 35 musicians from around the world for 10 days of new music. Moore was the
founding pianist for the Bang on a Can All-Stars, touring with them for 16 years worldwide.
New collaborative projects include composing and improvising for concerts with Iva Bittova
and Don Byron as well as concerts with So Percussion, Karen Bentley Pollick and Signal.
Moore’s touring solo programs include “ipiano:my brilliant career,” “Wilde's World,” “The
Totally Wired Piano,” “Janacek from the street” and “The Pianist Speaks.” She has made
guest appearances at festivals in the following places: Holland, Lincoln Center, Schleswig-
Holstein, BBC Proms, Israel, Warsaw, Uzbekistan, Musica Ficta Lithuania, Prague Spring,
Istanbul, Athens, Taormina, Southbank's Meltdown, Dublin’s Crash, Graz, Huddersfield,
Scotia, Paris d'Automne, Shanghai, Beijing, Hong Kong, Turin, Palermo, Barcelona,
Heidelberg, Berlin, Perugia, Tanglewood, Houston Da Camera, Jacob's Pillow, Aspen,
Norfolk, Sandpoint, Saratoga, Victoriaville, Ojai, Other Minds, NY's Sonic Boom, BAM Next
Wave, MassMoca, Bang on a Can, Keys to the Future, Healing The Divide, Adelaide, Perth,
Queensland, Canberra, Sydney, Sydney's Olympic Arts, Sydney Spring and Mostly Mozart,
Brisbane Biennale, and the Darwin Festival. Moore currently teaches at the Yale-Norfolk
New Music Workshop and at Wesleyan University. She is a graduate of the University of
Illinois, Eastman School of Music and SUNY Stonybrook. Her four solo recordings are on
the Cantaloupe Music and Tall Poppies labels. 30 other chamber recordings are on
Cantaloupe, Sony, Nonesuch, DG, CRI, BMG, Point, New World and New Albion. For more
Moore please visit http://www.lisamoore.org.
Merkin Concert Hall’s upcoming new music concerts which delve into the many possibilities of the piano are the scintillating duo of Helena Bugallo/Amy Williams on March 21, 2009 and the one and only Cecil Taylor, solo on March 28th , 2009. These concerts are dedicated to showcasing innovation in keyboard writing and performance, as well as Merkin Concert Hall's two beloved Steinway pianos.
Listings Information:
Merkin Concert Hall at Kaufman Center presents
PIANOPLY
Lisa Moore: Wires, Words and Hammers
Saturday, October 25, 2008 at 8:00pm
129 West 67th Street (between Broadway and Amsterdam)
Tickets at 212 501 3330 or http://www.kaufman-center.org
Single tickets are $25 (members $20)
EDITORS: Please refer to the series by its name, PIANOPLY,
and its location, Merkin Concert Hall at Kaufman Center
Press Only: Hi-res photos for download at http://kaufman-center.org/press/image-library
About Merkin Concert Hall
Renowned for its acoustics, accessibility and innovative programming, the recently renovated Merkin Concert Hall is the recipient of multiple
awards for adventurous programming, most recently from ASCAP/Chamber Music America in 2002–03. The Hall is a division of Kaufman
Center, which also includes Lucy Moses School (a community arts school) and Special Music School (a New York City public school for musically
gifted children). A not-for-profit organization founded in 1952, Kaufman Center occupies its own facility, the award-winning Goodman House,
located in Manhattan’s Lincoln Square arts district. The Center is an unsurpassed cultural resource where people of all ages can experience the
joy of artistic creation, expression and appreciation.
Kaufman Center’s presentations in Merkin Concert Hall are made possible in part by institutional support from the Amphion Foundation, BMI Foundation, Inc., Mary Flagler Cary Charitable Trust, Edward T. Cone Foundation, Aaron Copland Fund for Music, Barbara Bell Cumming Foundation, The Gladys Krieble Delmas Foundation, Fink Foundation, Inc., Ann & Gordon Getty Foundation, Harkness Foundation for Dance, Herman Goldman Foundation, The Horace W. Goldsmith Foundation, The Florence Gould Foundation, The Edith Meiser Foundation, Rodgers and Hammerstein Foundation, Fan Fox and Leslie R. Samuels Foundation, Adolph and Ruth Schnurmacher Foundation, Starr Foundation, Phyllis Fox and George Sternlieb Foundation, and with public funds from the National Endowment for the Arts, the New York State Council on the Arts, a State Agency and the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs.