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The series will present modern chamber music from a broad sampling of composers, including Shostakovich, Bartok, Stravinsky, Schoenberg, and Ives. “We expect to include at least one composition from each decade of the 20th century,” explains CCM artistic director Michael Henoch, the principal organizer of the series. In addition CCM is commissioning new works for the first time in its 14-year history. This year the group will perform compositions by Richard Wilson of Vassar College and Sebastian Huydts of Northwestern University.
Henoch admits that modern music has never been especially popular, but he’s sure CCM can make the series an artistic success that will sell out the MCA’s theater: “At 300 seats, we will do very well.” The museum offers a potential synergy between modern art and music, not to mention a healthy mailing list that CCM can mine for ticket buyers. The chamber music group has a loyal audience of its own, with 1,020 current subscribers and an impressive renewal rate of 85 percent. The programs will consist mostly of short, varied works in order to draw diverse crowds. And CCM is bringing in some high-powered talent: the first concert, on May 3, will feature conductor Pierre Boulez, one of the CSO’s most potent weapons in building an audience for modern music. Says Henoch, “People respond to Boulez.”
Art accompanying story in printed newspaper (not available in this archive): Michael Menoch photo by Jim Alexander Newberry.
