This program includes orchestral favorites, thoughtfully reworked to maximize the impact of the piano sextet configuration.

MASS SUM - RECREATING JULIUS EASTMAN @ NORTHWESTERN 1980

In 1980, American composer Julius Eastman had a controversial residency at Northwestern University in which all three of his epic multi-piano works were performed. This program is a six-piano recreation of that legendary evening in Chicago.

THE BIGGER PICTURE - NEW YORK NEW MUSIC

In this program, Grand Band showcases its deep connections to multiple generations of the vibrant New Music scene in New York City, in a program that is a feast of New York-based composers across several decades, finishing with the original six-piano work by Steve Reich.

GRAND BAND GLASS

Grand Band has been granted permission to arrange two large movements of Philip Glass’ legendary Music in 12 Parts. By translating the piece into an all-piano texture, the brilliant formal construction of the work comes to the fore, drawing the audience into the heart of the early Minimalist movement in the 1970s Downtown New York loft scene

CANTO OSTINATO BY SIMEON TEN HOLT

Simeon ten Holt’s minimalist masterpiece, Canto Ostinato, has been transfixing audiences since it was first performed in 1979. Grand Band’s unparallelled ensemble playing transforms the piece’s intricately interlocking structure into a sublime peregrination.

PHYSICAL SOUND - THE NEXT NEXT WAVE

The twenty-first century has been accompanied by an explosion of eclecticism and renewal in the new music of young composers. This program showcases the vitality and variety of what music critic Justin Davidson has called the ‘next next wave’ of contemporary music.

LIMITED APPROXIMATIONS - A SIX- PIANO CONCERTO BY GEORG HAAS

Composer Georg Friedrich Haas composed an epic concerto for six microtonally-tuned pianos and orchestra in 2010, limited approximations. The piece was immediately celebrated for its unique soundworld and gripping impact, but it has never been performed in the United States. Grand Band is perfectly situated, as the only professional piano sextet in the country who also happen to be champions of contemporary music, to bring this monumental contemporary landmark to American audiences.