ADVERTISEMENT

    Music Preview: Ymusic Bring Entrancing Chamber Music to ThirtyOne West

    No one plumbs the intersection of classical and popular music more adroitly than NYC’s ensemble Ymusic, and they do it without pandering to the fans in either camp. Much of Columbus remembers their opening for and backing Ben Folds on recent trips to our town, but the greater Columbus area is lucky enough to host a return visit to Newark’s new ThirtyOne West this Sunday.

    ADVERTISEMENT

    As the first-call choice chamber music for contemporary singer-songwriters like Folds, Sufjan Stevens, Shara Worden, Jose Gonzalez, and Bon Iver, Ymusic has a larger footprint on popular culture than many groups with their dedication to new material by adventurous composers. That delicate balancing act extends to the ensemble’s other work. In a fantastic interview for the blog The Indie Handbook, cellist Nadia Sirota said, “We just want to bring the highest level of musicianship to all of these really exciting collaborators and exciting types of music. And there was a way in which sort of non-classical music was — ghettoized by classical musicians (which is probably a terrible word for it since more people listen to music that’s not classical than the other way around)…The word “conservative” is in “conservatory”, so we all had pretty conservative learning experiences and then we all found ourselves working with these really exciting, innovative musicians who were not classical composers. So that was sort of the pre-existing conditions. And then it was more like, how do we be as awesome as possible within this context. I don’t think it was a whole bunch of New Music players being like ‘hey man, let’s reach across the aisle and slum it in the indie world.”

    Sirota has put out two stunning records under her name as well as hosting Q2’s Meet the Composer for WNYC, essential listening for anyone interesting in “new music” and works in other exciting avant-garde ensembles ACME And Alarm Will Sound. Violinist Rob Moose had a long, fruitful collaboration with Antony Hegarty and his arrangements enriched acts from Alabama Shakes to The National to Grace Potter. Trumpeter CJ Camerieri held down chairs in Paul Simon’s and Yoko Ono’s bands among a laundry list of collaborations. Cellist Gabriel Cabezas has distinguished himself on the classic repertoire including a Saint-Saens that Chicago Classical Review called “inspirational” and “a performance that brought out both the strength and the subtlety of the piece’ of Beethoven in Cleveland. Flutist Alex Sopp stopped me cold at a MATA Festival a few years ago with a tone like nothing I’d quite heard before and gripping emotional content; she also plays with other avant stalwarts NOW Ensemble and The Knights. Multi-instrumentalist Hideaki Aomori has more of a jazz background than the other members as seen on his burn-burning solo record Glue but also enriched projects as diverse as Sufjan Stevens’ orchestra work BQE and the new Broadway hit Natasha, Pierre, and the Great Comet of 1812.

    This Ymusic visit comes in advance of a new album, First, out on February 17. Unlike their 2011 debut Beautiful Mechanicals or 2014’s Balance ProblemsFirst is a collaboration with one composer, Son Lux. Son Lux, real name Ryan Lott, wrote the gorgeous title track to the ensemble’s debut and is known for knotty, intricate pieces that still tap into a vein of pure emotion for the listener. The new album is produced by Thomas “Doveman” Bartlett, who this writer saw share the stage twice with Sirota, once at Merkin Hall in New York (a bill that also featured Moose) and once in a collaborative set at Knoxville’s Big Ears Festival with composer Nico Muhly and guitarist Sam Amidon, and was blown away both times.

    If you’ve got any interest in “indie-classical” or love chamber music but find repertoires can be stuffier than you’d like, this is a must see. If you just have an interest in some of the most beautiful music being made today, this promises to reward you again and again.

    Ymusic plays ThirtyOne West on Sunday, January 29, at 8 pm. For tickets and more info, visit thirtyone-west.com.

    ADVERTISEMENT

    Subscribe

    More to Explore:

    Photos: Sleater-Kinney at Newport Music Hall

    Long-running alt-punk pioneers Sleater-Kinney returned to Columbus on Wednesday...

    More Than Music: Making Friends with Dom Deshawn, Joey Aich & OG Vern

    I attended my first Dom Deshawn show in December...

    Photos: GROUPLOVE at KEMBA Live!

    Alt-Rock five-piece GROUPLOVE brought their infectious bounce-around songs to...

    Concert Preview: Sleater-Kinney at Newport Music Hall

    Little Rope is the 11th studio album from veteran...
    Richard Sanford
    Richard Sanfordhttp://sanfordspeaks.blogspot.com/
    Richard Sanford is a freelance contributor to Columbus Underground covering the city's vibrant theatre scene. You can find him seeking inspiration at a variety of bars, concert halls, performance spaces, museums and galleries.
    ADVERTISEMENT