Eden Mcadam-Somer at Jordan Hall

Original Works and Recompositions Offering a Kaleidoscopic Perspective on Protest Music and Social Change Throughout History

NEC Faculty Eden MacAdam-Somer, Anthony Coleman Tanya Kalmanovitch plus

Student pieces include Soldiers Joy which explores the dual reality of soldiers lives in the field and when they come home; a reflection on the Persian Gulf War; a piece inspired by Gandhi’s non-violent protest, and much more


Join NEC’s Eden MacAdam-Somer and Contemporary Improvisation department students and faculty in a concert featuring original works and recompositions that offer a kaleidoscopic perspective on protest music and social change throughout history. Following in the tradition of such greats as Bob Dylan, Pete and Peggy Seeger, Abbey Lincoln, John Coltrane, Dmitri Shostakovich, Amkoullel, and Arya Aramnejad, performers will turn themselves and their communities inside-out, examining the way that music shapes and is shaped by one’s place in the world around us. The concert takes place on Tuesday, February 18 at 8 p.m. in NEC’s Jordan Hall, 290 Huntington Avenue, Boston, MA. It is free and open to the public. For more information, log on to http://www.necmusic.edu/hard-rains-gonna-fall or call 617-585-1122....

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Original Works and Recompositions Offering a Kaleidoscopic Perspective on Protest Music and Social Change Throughout History

NEC Faculty Eden MacAdam-Somer, Anthony Coleman Tanya Kalmanovitch plus

Student pieces include Soldiers Joy which explores the dual reality of soldiers lives in the field and when they come home; a reflection on the Persian Gulf War; a piece inspired by Gandhi’s non-violent protest, and much more


Join NEC’s Eden MacAdam-Somer and Contemporary Improvisation department students and faculty in a concert featuring original works and recompositions that offer a kaleidoscopic perspective on protest music and social change throughout history. Following in the tradition of such greats as Bob Dylan, Pete and Peggy Seeger, Abbey Lincoln, John Coltrane, Dmitri Shostakovich, Amkoullel, and Arya Aramnejad, performers will turn themselves and their communities inside-out, examining the way that music shapes and is shaped by one’s place in the world around us. The concert takes place on Tuesday, February 18 at 8 p.m. in NEC’s Jordan Hall, 290 Huntington Avenue, Boston, MA. It is free and open to the public. For more information, log on to http://www.necmusic.edu/hard-rains-gonna-fall or call 617-585-1122.

Performing are NEC faculty members Eden MacAdam-Somer (voice/violin) with NEC alumnus Jeff Balter (percussion) in an improvisation on Bob Dylan’s A Hard Rain’s A Gonna Fall; pianist/composer Anthony Coleman with the Survivors Breakfast Ensemble; and violist/violinist Tanya Kalmanovitch in an interpretation of John Cage Song #34. NEC student performers include Dylan McKinstry – original Irish Nationalist Ballad; Mark Goldstein – piece inspired by Gandhi’s non-violent protest;
Patrick M’Gonigle and Jacob Means – Soldiers Joy (exploring the dual reality of soldiers lives in the field and when they come home); Alexandra Greenwald – An Empty Glass, (jug band tongue-in-cheek song); Katharine McShane – re-composition of John Cages 6 Pieces for Violin and Piano; Lautaro Mantilla – composition examining of hierarchies in government; Damon Smith – original pop song - insidiousness of consumerism; Kirsten Smith (bass) – original song based on sexist comments made to her as a female bassist; Sam Fribush and CI Old Time String band – Are You washed in the Blood of the Lamb; Lukas Papenfusscline (Tufts/CI) – reinterpretation of Ives’ General William Booth Enters Into Heaven; Nima Mohammadi – reflection on the Persian Gulf War, performed with Eden MacAdam-Somer, Jerry Leake’s West African Drum Ensemble, CI Non Majors Ensemble, CI winds and brass, and alumni Abigale Reisman and Vessela Stoyanova; plus two versions of John Cage Song 35 –one performed by Rebecca Sullivan (voice) and one performed by Katharine McShane (cello/voice) and Tal Zilber (electronics).

This concert is part of NEC’s year-long Music: Truth to Power festival, a series of over 30 concerts which demonstrate just how vital music is to the human struggle and what revolution in artistic expression sounds like. Programs range from roots music to Beethoven, fight songs to anti-war anthems.



Founded in 1972 by musical visionaries Gunther Schuller and Ran Blake, New England Conservatory's Contemporary Improvisation program is “one of the most versatile in all of music education” (JazzEd). Now in its 41st year, the program trains composer/performer/ improvisers to broaden their musical palettes and develop unique voices. It is unparalleled in its structured approach to ear training and its emphasis on singing, memorization, harmonic sophistication, aesthetic integrity, and stylistic openness. Under Blake's guidance for its first twenty-six years, the program expanded its offerings under subsequent chair Allan Chase and current chair Hankus Netsky. Alumni include Don Byron, John Medeski, Jacqueline Schwab, Aoife O'Donovan and Sarah Jarosz; faculty include Carla Kihlstedt, Blake, Dominique Eade, and Anthony Coleman. “A thriving hub of musical exploration,” (Jeremy Goodwin, Boston Globe), the program currently has 43 undergrad and graduate students from 14 countries.

http://necmusic.edu/ci

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