Make Music New York celebrates the music of visionary Greek composer Iannis Xenakis with performances throughout Central Park on June 21, 2010. Most dazzling will be the first American open-air performance of Persephassa (1969), a thunderous work for six percussionists. The musicians will be situated around the lake, with the audience members in the center - in rowboats.
In addition, the composer's sole opera, Oresteia, will be performed in Central Park's Swedish Cottage Marionette Theater in a puppet production directed by Luca Veggetti, and a variety of shorter Xenakis works will be played by the Yale Percussion Group at the historic Naumburg Bandshell.
Acknowledgements
Celebration of Xenakis in Central Park is made possible entirely through generous funding by the Stavros Niarchos Foundation.
Oresteia was recorded live at Miller Theatre at Columbia University, September 13-17, 2008. Recording provided courtesy of Miller Theatre and the ICE Ensemble.
Valuable artistic advice and coordination was graciously provided by the New York-based Xenakis Project of the Americas.
