New@Night: Arcadiana Unlocked
Our inaugural New@Night in the Armory’s soaring and acoustically superb lobby! Swing in for a drink and for an informal and eclectic exploration of stunning works by Thomas Adès and Judith Weir.
Sponsor: All Classical Portland
COME EARLY to socialize!
The Armory, at Portland Center Stage
Wednesday, 7/6 • 6:00 pm
Program
Click on any piece of music below to learn more about it.
- JUDITH WEIR ‘Unlocked’ (1999)
JUDITH WEIR (B. 1954)
Unlocked (1999)1. Make Me A Garment
2. No Justice
3. The Wind Blow East
4. The Keys To The Prison
5. Trouble, TroubleUnlocked arises out of my interest in the magnificent collection of American folksongs in the Library of Congress collected by John and Alan Lomax in the 1930s. A significant proportion of the songs were collected from prisoners — mostly black prisoners in Southern jails. The piece is made up of freely composed cello ‘fantasias’ inspired by five of these songs:
Make Me A Garment (No. 1) is based on a song sung by a prisoner in Florida who was found by the Lomaxes in the tuberculosis ward and could only whisper his song. No Justice (No. 2) is a set of variations, using extended playing techniques, growing out of a simple prison song from Georgia (original title Oh we don’t get no justice in Atlanta). The Wind Blow East (No. 3) comes from fragments of a chorus heard in the Bahamas — it represents the prisoner’s dream of a better life. The Keys To The Prison (No. 4) is based on an original song sung by a 15-year old (Cajun) girl in French. In the song, a boy in prison sings to his mother, “Hey mom, I’ve got the keys to the prison and I’m going to escape”. She says “How come, when the warders have the keys hanging round their necks?” and so it goes on. The music composed around it is very fast and agile, and for me represents the prisoner’s fantasy that the prison doors are suddenly wide open, and the guards have all gone. Trouble, Trouble (No. 5) is a transcription/arrangement of a blues sung by a prisoner in Alabama.
Unlocked was written for Ulrich Heinen, and first performed by him in Birmingham, England, in May 1999.
—© Judith Weir
- THOMAS ADÈS ‘Arcadiana’ Op. 12 (1994)
THOMAS ADÈS (b. 1971) Arcadiana, Op. 12 ( 1994) • (20’)
1. Venezia notturna
2. Das klinget so herrlich, das klinget so schön
3. Auf dem Wasser zu singen
4. Et… (tango mortale)
5. L’Embarquement
6. O Albion
7. LetheSix of the seven titles which comprise Arcadiana evoke various vanished or vanishing ‘idylls’. The odd-numbered movements are all aquatic, and would splice if played consecutively. It might be the ballad of some lugubrious gondolier; No. 3 takes a title and a figuration from a Schubert Lied; in No. 5, a ship is seen swirling away to L’Isle Joyeuse; No. 7 is the River of Oblivion.
The second and sixth movements inhabit pastoral Arcadias, respectively: Mozart’s Kingdom of Night, and more local fields. The joker in this pack is the fourth movement, the literal dead centre: Poussin’s tomb bearing the inscription, “Even in Arcady am I.”
Arcadiana was commissioned by the Endellion Quartet with funds from the Holst Foundation.
—© Faber Music
Artists
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Viano Quartet
String Quartet
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Lucy Wang, violin
Hao Zhou, violin
Aiden Kane, viola
Tate Zawadiuk, celloPraised for their “virtuosity, visceral expression, and rare unity of intention” (Boston Globe), the Viano Quartet has quickly soared to international acclaim as one of the most dynamic and in-demand string quartets of their generation. The ensemble has captivated audiences worldwide ever since they were awarded First Prize at the 13th Banff International String Quartet Competition, with appearances at renowned venues such as Lincoln Center in New York, Berlin’s Konzerthaus, Toronto’s Koerner Hall, Hong Kong’s City Hall, and London’s Wigmore Hall. The Viano Quartet are Bowers Program Artists at The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center from 2024–2027.
Viano Quartet’s 2025–26 season includes debut performances at London’s Southbank Centre, the Frick Collection in New York, Dublin’s National Concert Hall, Vivo Performing Arts, Coast Live Music, Friends of Chamber Music Kansas City, Apex Concerts, the Amelia Island Chamber Music Festival, the Fortas Series at the Kennedy Center, Premiere Performances HK, and a mainstage full recital debut at the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center. This season also features collaborations with Avi Avital, Sir Stephen Hough, Gilbert Kalish, Anthony McGill, Miloš Karadaglić, and Vienna Teng. The quartet will premiere a newly written piece by composer Reena Esmail in the summer of 2026.
In 2025, the quartet received the Avery Fisher Career Grant as well as released their first full-length album, Voyager, with Apple Music/Platoon Records.
The Viano Quartet was formed in Los Angeles at the Colburn Conservatory of Music in 2015. The quartet is grateful for the unwavering support from their mentors at the Curtis Institute and Colburn Conservatory.
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Zlatomir Fung
Cello
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Cellist Zlatomir Fung burst onto the scene as the first American in four decades (and youngest musician ever) to win First Prize at the International Tchaikovsky Competition Cello Division. Subsequent accolades, critical acclaim, and standing ovations at performances around the world have established him as one of the preeminent cellists of our time. Astounding audiences with his boundless virtuosity and exquisite sensitivity, the 25-year-old has already proven himself a star among the next generation of world-class musicians.
In the 2024–2025 season, Fung gives recitals in New York City, Boston, and St. Louis, and performs the complete Bach Cello Suites at Mechanics Hall in Worcester, Massachusetts and in Arcata, California, following summer appearances at the Aspen and Ravinia Festivals. He joins orchestras in Rochester, San Antonio, and Billings, among others. Internationally, he performs in Europe and Asia with the London Philharmonic, Barcelona Symphony, and others, and offers a recital tour of Italy. In January 2025, Signum Records released Fung’s debut album, a collection of opera fantasies and transcriptions for cello and piano.
Fung served as Artist-in-Residence with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra for the 2023–2024 season; recent debut appearances include the New York Philharmonic, Cleveland Orchestra, Orchestre National de Lille, and BBC Philharmonic, as well as Baltimore, Dallas, Detroit, Seattle, and Kansas City Symphonies.
Fung made his recital debut at Carnegie Hall in 2021 and was described by Bachtrack as “one of those rare musicians with a Midas touch: he quickly envelopes every score he plays in an almost palpable golden aura.” Fung was a Borletti-Buitoni Trust Fellowship Winner in 2022.
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