PRISM Quartet and Craig Taborn

 

 

 

Brooklyn Music School and PRISM Quartet co-present the world premiere of Craig Taborn’s Three Animal Riddles, with the composer joining PRISM on piano.

Craig Taborn, piano

PRISM Quartet
Brian Kachur*, soprano saxophone
Zachary Shemon, alto saxophone
Matthew Levy, tenor saxophone
Taimur Sullivan, baritone saxophone

* for Timothy McAllister

 

PROGRAM

The ever-adventurous PRISM Quartet joins forces with the composer/pianist and MacArthur Fellow Craig Taborn in a program featuring the world premiere of Taborn’s Three Animal Riddles.

Taborn writes, “Three Animal Riddles is a work in three movements—Two Fish, Red Sulfur Birds, and Her Basilisk—in which improvisatory piano, in dialogue with a saxophone quartet, encounters metaphors of decomposition, transformation, and synthesis. Alchemical animal riddles, Duke Ellington, and Cecil Taylor inspired this piece, which will take on a new final form with each performance.”

The program also includes work from PRISM Quartet’s ongoing Heritage/Evolution project by Greg Osby, Melissa Aldana, John Coltrane, and Chris Potter, adapted for PRISM’s saxes and piano.

(Program subject to change.)

Pianist/composer and 2025 MacArthur Fellow Craig Taborn shares a look inside his artistic practice.

Check out Craig Taborn’s composition, “The Shining One” from his ECM release Daylight Ghosts, with Chris Speed on tenor saxophone, Chris Lightcap on bass, and Dave King on drums and percussion.

 

What does piano and saxophone quartet sound like together? PRISM has collaborated with leading jazz pianists over the years — Arturo O’Farrill, Uri Caine, and Jason Moran among them. Give a listen to Caine’s Tuesday Dawn, from his suite The Book of Days, with the composer himself on piano.

 

TICKETS

The concert is pay-what-you-wish, starting at $10 — everyone’s welcome, regardless of what you’re able to give. This year we’ve added a $60 option for those who’d like to give more. Choose whatever level feels right: $10, $25, $40, or $60, all fees included. The price you select is the price you pay.

 

ABOUT THE ARTISTS

MacArthur fellow Craig Taborn is an improvising musician and composer creating singular soundscapes through a virtuosic command of piano and expansive knowledge of musical genres. In performances and recordings as a soloist, bandleader, and sideman, Taborn brings a fearless and sophisticated approach to music making, drawing from musical traditions as varied as traditional and contemporary jazz, contemporary classical, experimental, electronic, rock, metal, and hip-hop. His constant exploration of genre and style informs his own distinct musical intelligence and voice. A rare artist of unusual depth and originality, Taborn enhances musical collaborations and composition through his expansive exploration of sound, technique, and instrumentation.

Intriguing programs of great beauty and breadth have distinguished PRISM Quartet as one of America’s foremost chamber ensembles. Praised by The New York Times as “a bold ensemble that set the standard for contemporary-classical saxophone quartets,” PRISM has been presented by Carnegie Hall and the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, and appeared as soloists with the Cleveland Orchestra. PRISM has commissioned over 400 works, including seven by Pulitzer Prize-winners — William Bolcom, Jennifer Higdon, Susie Ibarra, Zhou Long, Bernard Rands, Tyshawn Sorey, and Julia Wolfe — as well as MacArthur Fellows George Lewis, Bright Sheng, and Miguel Zenón. With nearly 40 releases on Albany, ECM, Navona, Naxos, Orange Mountain Music, and XAS, PRISM’s discography is extensive and includes the Grammy-winning The Fifth Century, a collaboration with The Crossing.

 

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

This program is made possible with generous support from the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature, and the Alice M. Ditson Fund of Columbia University. Craig Taborn’s commission is made possible with support from The Presser Foundation.

 

ACCESSIBILITY

PRISM Quartet welcomes all individuals to our concerts, and provides a variety of accommodations for those with disabilities in accordance with the Americans with Disabilities Act. For specific accommodations, please contact info@prismquartet.com or 215.438.5282.