New Music ensemble Contemporaneous brings an early look at Act 1 of their upcoming work, History of Life, by composer and Co-Artistic Director, Dylan Mattingly, and librettist Thomas Bartscherer. The piece invites the audience to experience music and storytelling in the Homeric oral tradition that created the Odyssey as though it had been passed down continuously from parents to children for the last 2700 years, picking up stories and sounds with each generation. Singer Iarla Ó Lionáird is accompanied by a ragtag band of twelve musicians who play hurdy-gurdies, harp, toy piano, harmonium, strings, and percussion. History of Life draws on the original rhythms and language of ancient Greek, the mesmerizing power of Ireland’s sean-nós singing, and both real and entirely imaginary folk musical traditions, creating a sound that is altogether new.

Contemporaneous is an ensemble of 25 musicians whose mission is to bring to life the most transformative music by living composers through performances, commissions, recordings, and educational programs. Described as “exact and detailed, but also lively and openly dancing” (The New York Times) and “leading new music towards its better self” (I Care If You Listen), Contemporaneous particularly champions the creation of large-scale works and “dream projects,” which composers might not otherwise have opportunities to realize due to scale.

110 minutes
$40 General | $50 Premium
Mountain Stage, Outdoors

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