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Contact:
Beth Silverman/Eric Eatherly
The Silverman Group, Inc.
(312) 932-9950
[email protected]
For Release Wednesday, Feb. 20
FULCRUM POINT NEW MUSIC PROJECT CELEBRATES 15TH ANNIVERSARY IN 2013
SEASON OFFERS ‘ALTERED STATES’ FILM SCORE CONCERT & SCREENING AS
CENTERPIECE OF COMPOSER JOHN CORIGLIANO 75TH BIRTHDAY CELEBRATION
AT HARRIS THEATER, APRIL 23; CONCERT FOR PEACE IN MILLENNIUM PARK, SEPT. 11
Other Season Highlights include: Fulcrum Point Goes Ivy League: Princeton, February 27;
encore presentation of Afro-Beats! family concert, March 23; and a Music & Dance
retrospective with Melissa Thodos Dance company, in the Fall
Marking its 15th Anniversary this year, Chicago’s Fulcrum Point New Music Project has grown
into a critically acclaimed ensemble performing adventurous contemporary classical music
programs in a variety of Chicago area venues. In 2013, Fulcrum Point continues this tradition
with a wide ranging season including a performance with 100-member orchestra of the John
Corigliano film score, “Altered States,” accompanying the film screening, April 23, in honor of
the composer’s 75th birthday year, along with presenting a free Concert for Peace in the Pritzker
Pavillion at Millennium Park with special guest artists, sarod virtuoso Soumik Datta and the
Chicago Children’s Choir, September 11.
“Our 15th season features the complete spectrum of new art music from emerging young
composers, international jazz and contemporary artists, the best of film sound tracks, and
electro-acoustic music with contemporary dance. Celebrating our partnerships with the City of
Chicago, The Poetry Foundation, The Merit Music School, Thodos Dance Chicago and The Peace
School, our 2013 season is brimming with collaborations, multi-media events, and educational
programs,” said Stephen Burns, Founder & Artistic Director of Fulcrum Point New Music Project.
Expanding on its popular Movie Music programs, featuring live orchestration of film scene
scores, Fulcrum Point is proud to present, with 100-member orchestra, the complete film score
and screening of Ken Russell’s 1980 science fiction classic, “Altered States,” scored by modern
master John Corigliano as part of a special citywide 75th birthday celebration for the composer.
Corigliano, who was nominated for a Best Music, Original Score Academy Award™ for his work
on “Altered States,” is expected to be in attendance for this special one-night-only event at the
Harris Theatre for Music and Dance, 205 E. Randolph Street, Tuesday, April 23, at 7 pm. John
Corigliano, who officially turns 75 on February 16, 2013, is one of America's most widely
acclaimed composers. Among his many distinctions are the Pulitzer Prize in Music, awarded in
2001 for his Symphony No. 2; the Academy Award for his score to the 1999 film “The Red Violin,”
four Grammy™ awards (including three for Best Contemporary Composition) and the
Grawemeyer Award for his Symphony No. 1. Among his notable works are seven Concerti, three
Symphonies, and his 1991 opera The Ghosts of Versailles (commissioned by The Metropolitan
Opera). The Fulcrum Point performance is the centerpiece of a citywide celebration of
Corigliano’s work, which also includes programming by Chicago Chamber Musicians and
PianoForte. This concert is presented in part thanks to the National Endowment for the Arts, the
Elizabeth Cheney Foundation and Columbia College Chicago.
Fulcrum Point continues its annual Concert for Peace programming themed around
international music written about and/or for peace, this year at the Pritzker Pavilion in
Millennium Park, Wednesday, September 11 at 6:30 p.m. As part of an international exchange
collaboration, the works on this program will showcase compositions by South Asian composers,
including the World Premiere of “Shanti,” a commission by Indian-born, Chicago-based
percussionist Kalyan Pathak for Fulcrum Point with special guests, young pop British sarod artist
Soumik Datta and the Chicago Children’s Choir. Pathak’s work will conclude the program and
invite the audience to participate utilizing dozens of tuned gongs positioned throughout the
Pavilion. A sampling of work by acclaimed contemporary Indian composer Param Vir will also
be on the program, providing a “sneak preview” of a Vir commission Fulcrum Point will debut in
2014, blending Indian and contemporary classical music. The composer will be in Chicago
working with Datta and other Birmingham-based artists for ten days in September as part of a
MacArthur Foundation International Connections grant, also incorporating public workshops.
The ‘Altered States’ film score presentation and Concert for Peace are but two of Fulcrum
Point’s programs in 2013. Following, in chronological order, is the season to date, including the
company’s important outreach activities:
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Fulcrum Point Goes Ivy League: Princeton is the second annual concert in a three-year
series celebrating music and poetry from artists with affiliations to Ivy League
universities. The free concert takes place at the Poetry Foundation, 61 West Superior
Street, Wednesday, February 27, at 7 p.m. and showcases the works of four composers
and poets with ties to Princeton University: Steven Mackey, Paul Lansky, Andy Akiho,
and Andrea Mazzariello, and poetry by Paul Muldoon, Susan Wheeler, Michael Dickman,
and this year’s Pulitzer Prize™ winner, Tracy K. Smith.
Afro-Beats! Family Concert, a festive and interactive performance designed for the
whole family, will be presented in a special encore engagement at the Logan Center for
the Arts, 915 E. 60th Street, Saturday, March 23, at 2 p.m. As with its popular 2012 debut
concert, Fulcrum Point will explore the rich rhythms, sounds and images of West Africa in
this 75-minute multimedia performance, featuring works by Fela Kuti, Thelonious Monk,
Pacquito d’Rivera, Steve Reich, and traditional music from Mandingo and AfricanAmerican cultures. Children of all ages will be invited to participate in drumming circles,
traditional African dances, and soulful songs in what is certain to be a spirited program!
This concert is part of the Logan Center Family Series.
A Music & Dance retrospective celebrating the multi-year collaboration with Thodos
Dance Chicago, Saturday, Oct. 5, at 7 p.m. This event will feature a selection of encore
presentations of works by Melissa Thodos Dance in collaboration with Fulcrum Point,
including the World Premiere of choreography to Steve Reich’s Nagoya Marimbas.
Plus, throughout the year, Fulcrum Point Discoveries presents new music by young and
emerging American composers in a free public setting at the Merit Music School. This
series gives underserved American composers the opportunity to hear their music
interpreted by Chicago's best musicians and to explore their work in dialogue with a
community of performers, listeners, and other composers. Fulcrum Point Discoveries
programs are scheduled for May 18, June 24, July 22, August 12, and Dec. 16.
Ticket prices for each program vary by venue; a new Fulcrum Point Subscribers’ Discount pass
offers a pair of general admission tickets to any three ticketed events for only $100.
Subscriptions are available only on the Fulcrum Point website, www.fulcrumpoint.org. To
purchase single tickets or for more information on all 2013 concert programs, please visit
www.fulcrumpoint.org or call (312) 726-3846.
About Fulcrum Point
Since its formation by trumpet virtuoso and conductor Stephen Burns in 1998 under the
auspices of Performing Arts Chicago, the mission of Fulcrum Point New Music Project has been
to champion new classical music and highlight contemporary composers who are inspired and
influenced by popular culture, including literature, film, dance, folk, rock, jazz, blues, Latin and
world music. Through multi-disciplinary concert performances and educational programs, the
25-member Fulcrum Point ensemble seeks to encourage audiences to make cross-cultural
connections between new music, art, technology and literature, gaining greater insight into
today’s diverse world. Burns, himself, has been acclaimed on four continents for his widely
varied performances encompassing recitals, orchestral appearances, chamber ensemble
engagements, and innovative multi-media presentations involving video, dance theatre and
sculpture. For more information on Fulcrum Point and its programs visit www.fulcrumpoint.org.
Since 2007, Fulcrum Point New Music Project has proudly offered "Sound Tracks" and “Sound
Tracks PLUS," in-school educational outreach programs serving students of the Chicago Public
Schools that have little or no music education. "Sound Tracks" is designed to introduce 4th and
5th graders to global cultures through world music and new music, geography, arts and
architecture. Each school receives six workshops composed of lectures, video presentations and
live performances. Not just a music appreciation program, “Sound Tracks” also provides ideas
and tools for the teachers to enhance their schools' existing social studies programs. "Sound
Tracks PLUS" is an advanced, 100% participatory program for the 5th and 6th graders learning to
make music using drums, keyboard percussion, traditional dance and song. The workshops
culminate with a performance by the students with Fulcrum Point musicians.
Fulcrum Point New Music Project's year round programs are supported in part by: The National
Endowment for the Arts, MacArthur Foundation International Connections Fund, The Richard H.
Driehaus Foundation, Columbia College Chicago, The Polk Brothers Foundation, The Irving Harris
Foundation, The Gaylord and Dorothy Donnelley Foundation, The Zuckerman Family
Foundation, The Aaron Copland Fund for Music, Inc., Elizabeth Cheney Foundation, the Harris
Theater for Music and Dance, Heitman, LLC., The Illinois Arts Council, a state agency, JNL
Graphic Design, The Anne & Burton B. Kaplan Fund of The Mayer & Morris Kaplan Family
Foundation, a CityArts Grant from the City of Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs & Special
Events, The Neisser Family Fund, The Daniel and Genevieve Ratner Foundation, The STEP
Foundation, Farney R. Wurlitzer Foundation and The Saints. For more information please visit
www.fulcrumpoint.org.
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