Southern Exposure
New Music Series

John Fitz Rogers, Artistic Director
Michael Harley, Assistant Director

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Press | Giving | Past Seasons | Contact | Composition Program

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News

The Feb. 29 Imani Winds concert will be the final show for series founder and artistic director John Fitz Rogers. We'll be having a special reception celebrating John and his leadership of this wonderful series following the concert in the music lobby -- all are invited.

Reserve Yourself a Seat
These concerts are standing room only and early arrival is suggested for seating. For a donation of $100 or more, patrons may reserve one seat for the entire 2011-12 Southern Exposure season.

Award for Adventurous Programming
The Southern Exposure Series won the 2007 Chamber Music America/American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) Award for Adventurous Programming. See the USC Press Release (pdf) or visit the ASCAP site for for more information.

The 2011-12 Season

All concerts are free and open to the publicand take place at 7:30 p.m. in the School of Music Recital Hall, 2nd Floor, 813 Assembly Street (next to the Koger Center).

Imani Winds Wednesday, February 29 The award-winning Southern Exposure New Music Series closes its 2011-12 season with a leap-day performance by the Grammy-nominated Imani Winds, one of the most celebrated and successful groups in chamber music today. A leading woodwind quintet (flute, oboe, clarinet, French horn, and bassoon), Imani is known for its dynamic playing,

inspirational outreach programs, and culturally poignant programming that meaningfully bridges European, American, African, and Latin American traditions. “Imani revels in challenging preconceptions about 'classical' music and musicians” (Boston Globe). Imani’s Columbia debut is anchored by two masterworks from Hungarian modernist icon György Ligeti: his popular Six Bagatelles, and the head-spinning Ten Pieces, a work seldom heard because of the formidable challenges it presents performers. Other pieces in this concert’s cultural smorgasbord include Derek Bermel’s klezmer-infused Wanderings, the hip-hop violinist/composer DBR’s (Daniel Bernard Roumain’s) theatrical Five Chairs and One Table, Imani flutist Valerie Coleman’s Tzigane, which honors music from different nations influenced by the Romani (gypsy) people, and Uruguayan-born Miguel del Aguila’s Wind Quintet No. 2, inspired by music of the Caribbean and the Middle East. This performance and related events are funded in part by a grant from South Arts in partnership with the National Endowment for the Arts and the Southern Arts Federation.

Exposed Wiring IV: Take 2 Saturday, January 21 Southern Exposure and xMUSE (USC’s Experimental Music Studio, under the direction of Reginald Bain) combine forces once again to present an amazing evening of genre-bending music and cutting edge technology. This concert is the "second take" of a program originally planned two years ago but snowed out -- the artists were stuck in a blizzard in New York City! Assuming the weather cooperates this time, we're excited to at long last feature the splendid duo Odd Appetite, New York based performers/composers Ha-Yang Kim (cello) and Nathan Davis (percussion), in works for musically interactive computer software, spatial speaker configurations, amplified triangles, microtonal bells, drums, tuned aluminum pipes, and a de-tuned and amplified cello with stomp boxes and electronic effects, all played with dazzling virtuosity and passion. In addition to music by Davis and Kim, Odd Appetite will also perform Radiohead's "Like Spinning Plates" in an arrangement that uses electronic loopers, wine glasses, and whirly tubes. The concert also includes Lois Vierk's "Go Guitars" for solo and pre-recorded electric guitars, influenced by traditional Japanese court music, and performed by local guitar hero George Fetner; and Reginald Bain's "Jovian Images," inspired by NASA photographs of planets and performed by renowned saxophone virtuoso Susan Fancher. Nathan Davis and Ha-Yang Kim will give a public talk at the USC School of Music (R210), Friday, January 20, 2:30-4 p.m. (R210)

Calder String Quartet Thursday, November 17 The Southern Exposure New Musi Series proudly presents a concert by one of the most exciting and engaging string quartets performing today. Called "superb" by the New York times, the Calder String Quartet defies boundaries by performing a broad range of

repertoire at an exceptional level. Already the choice of many leading composers to perform their works--including Christopher Rouse, Terry Riley and Thomas Adès--the group's distinctive approach is exemplified by a musical curiosity brought to everythiing they perform, whether it's Beethoven, Mozart, or Haydn, or sold-out rock shows with bands like The National or The Airborne Toxic Event. Inspired by the innovative American artist Alexander Calder, the quartet is known for the discovery, commissioning, recording, and mentoring of some of today's best emerging composers, and the group continues to work and collaborate with artists across musical genres, spanning the range of classical and contemporary music, as well as rock, dance, and the visual arts; and in venues ranging from art galleries and rock clubs to Carnegie and Walt Disney concert halls to the Late Show with David Letterman. Their Southern Exposure performance features works by Thomas Adès and Henryk Górecki, as well as new works commissioned by the Calder Quartet by Andrew Norman and Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Christopher Rouse. This is a concert you won't want to miss! So mark your calendars, and please join us for this very special event.

ACME Ensemble Friday, October 7 Winner of the Chamber Music America / ASCAP Award for Adventurous Programming, the Southern Exposure New Music Series kicks off its 2011-2012 season with a performance by the acclaimed ACME Ensemble. Hailed by Time Out New York as "one of New York's brightest new music indie-bands." ACME's dedication to cutting-edge contemporary literature extends

across genres, and has earned them a reputation among both classical and rock crowds. They've performed in venues such as Carnegie Hall and Brooklyn Academy of Music, andcollaborated with artists and bands ranging from pianist Simone Dinnerstein to Grizzly Bear. ACME's instrumentation is flexible, and includes some of new music's most sought-after and engaging musicians, including flutist Eric Lamb, clarinetist Joshua Rubin, violinist and composer Caleb Burhans, violist Nadia Sirota, cellist and artistic director Clarice Jensen, pianist and composer Timo Andres and percussionist Chris Thompson. ACME does not subscribe to one stylistic movement or genre, its concerts present all genres of contemporary music in the same light and with the same conviction. In that spirit, their Southern Exposure performance includes "Come Round," a classic by American composer Jacob Druckman, as well as new works by John Luther Adams, Missy Mazzoli, Marcos Balter, and Nico Muhly. So mark your calendars, and please join us for the beginning of a brand new Southern Exposure season!

About Southern Exposure's Artistic Director John Fitz Rogers

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Updated: February 24, 2012 by RB