Present Music

Present Music has been Milwaukee’s foremost performer and presenterof contemporary classical music since the early ‘80s. They have also played arole in commissioning new work. On Present Music’s new CD, Graffiti, the ensemble have recorded recent commissions from a trioof composers, unrelated to each other except for a shared, postmodern eclecticsensibility.

Elena Kats-Chernin’s rhythmically busy Village Idiot is a dynamic piece inseveral movements. The intricate arrangement rides on Philip Bush’s stridentharpsichord (played like a subliminal tom-tom) along with Terry Smirl’smalletted percussion; electric guitarist Jason Seed softly punctuates themelody, carried in part by Stas Venglevski on bayan accordion. If a drum kitwere added, Village Idiot could be abridge between minimalism and prog rock.

Reflecting on childhood memories of the vicious1960s riot in Detroit,Randall Woolf’s Motor City Requiempulls sampled echoes of ‘60s soul together with teasing melodic and rhythmichooks suggesting that era’s music. Finally, Armando Luna’s Graffiti in II Movements is a clever tribute to 13 very differentcomposers, including Chick Corea and Dimitri Shastakovich, Bach and Brubeck.

David Luhrssen

Present Music will perform another representativepiece of contemporary music this weekend. OmnivorousFurniture is a recent work by Mason Bates, who straddles the worlds ofserious composition and club music. Also on the program will be work by JohnAdams, Raymond Scott and Arnold Schoenberg, animation by UWM film students anda performance by Madisonfunk-klezmer band the Shtelblasters. 7:30 p.m., March 27, Turner Hall Ballroom.