Rising – Gordon, Anonymous Man
Michael Gordon – Anonymous Man
CD Release - Today on Cantaloupe Music!
Sunrise, Friday March 20
Today is a big day for us. Finally, after two years of waiting, we're releasing our latest recording on Cantaloupe Music: Michael Gordon's magnum opus Anonymous Man. Written for us and premiered at the Month of Moderns 2017, we recorded it in March 2018 at the Curtis R. Priem Experimental Media and Performing Arts Center (EMPAC) of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, New York.
The first of several autobiographical works Michael is writing for us (we were to premiere the second this weekend, but we'd like more than ten people to hear it!), Anonymous Man is a concert-length work about his experiences living in a changing neighborhood in Lower Manhattan, meeting his future wife (the composer Julia Wolfe), raising a family, and especially his encounters with two homeless men who lived across the street. The interplay of personalities is beautifully rendered in music, springing from Michael's conversations with the homeless men – serious, funny, mysterious, poetic, and mundane.
Of its premiere, The Philadelphia Inquirer wrote, Anonymous Man "leaves the impression of being an important piece, and a creative leap forward for Gordon....The Crossing's performance brought out many moments of subtle emotion that made you want to hear the piece again. Immediately." Now, we can.
A note of thanks: the commissioning of Anonymous Man was made possible through the generous support of an Anonymous Donor. The recording of Anonymous Man was made possible through the visionary support of Another Anonymous Donor. Both donors continue to make our lives rewarding and meaningful with their support of commissions and recordings; we are grateful. (The irony of Anonymous support of Anonymous Man isn't lost on us!)
Happy CD Release Day - we only get three or four of these a year, and we love them.
We'll see you back in your inbox on Monday morning at Sunrise.
Stay well.
- The Whole Team @ The Crossing
text and music by Michael Gordon
commissioned by The Crossing and premiered July 1, 2017
at the Presbyterian Church of Chestnut Hill
recorded March 20, 21, and 22, 2018 at The Curtis R. Priem Experimental Media and Performing Arts Center (EMPAC) at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, NY
Adrian Peacock, producer
Argeo Ascani, engineer
editing by Adrian Peacock and Will Brown
mixing by Dave Rowell
mastering by Will Brown.
* * *
The Anonymous Man Team
Artists:
Katy Avery, Nathaniel Barnett, Jessica Beebe, Kelly Ann Bixby, Karen Blanchard, Abigail Chapman, Colin Dill, Micah Dingler, Robert Eisentrout, Joanna Gates, Dimitri German, Steven Hyder, Michael Jones, Heather Kayan, Frank Laucerica, Chelsea Lyons, Maren Montalbano, Rebecca Myers, Daniel O'Dea, Rebecca Oehlers, James Reese, Daniel Schwartz, Rebecca Siler, Daniel Spratlan
Donald Nally, conductor
Kevin Vondrak, assistant conductor
John Grecia, keyboards
Jonathan Bradley, executive director
Shannon McMahon, operations manager
Katie Feeney, grants manager
Elizabeth Dugan, bookkeeper
The Board of Directors of The Crossing
The staff at EMPAC
Our friends at Cantaloupe Music and Bang on a Can
The great family of hosts opening their homes to The Crossing
represented by Alliance Artists Management