Kyle Flens plays works for percussion by some of his favorite Chicago collaborators in this concert of solos and duos, in which the instruments onstage come alive in different ways: Igor Santos’ Anima literally anthropomorphizes the harp and percussion, while Luis Fernando Amaya’s Bestiario: Tres evokes the body of an unknown “beast”; Michael Gordon’s “XY” is an epic of ever spiraling polyrhythms inspired by the double helix of DNA, while Jonathan Hannau highlights the drum set’s possibilities as a solo instrument, and Darcy Copeland’s the tiger bares its teeth explores themes of vulnerability and connection through shifting relationships between instruments. Fellow Dal Niente members Ben Melsky, Jesse Langen, and Katherine Schoepflin Jimoh guest star.

Program

Igor Santos - Anima* for percussion and harp (2019)

Luis Fernando Amaya - Bestiario: Tres for percussion and guitar (2019)

Michael Gordon - XY for solo percussion (1997)

Darcy Copeland - the tiger bares its teeth for percussion and clarinet (2019)

Jonathan Hannau - Six Moments in a Room for solo drum set (2016/2019)**

*denotes World Premiere

** bring your own cassette tape to the concert to be used in Jonathan Hannau’s piece!