“Who is this Mr. Head and where can I find more of his beautiful music?”
As host of From the Top, the classical showcase carried by more than 200 NPR affiliates, Christopher O’Riley could not resist a subversive impulse. Amidst the Bach and Brahms, the virtuoso pianist inserted his own transcriptions of compositions by the acclaimed pop band Radiohead.
Curious classical fans, he told the Baltimore Sun, began phoning stations. The result was True Love Waits: Christopher O’Riley Plays Radiohead, the first album by a classical pianist to earn four stars from Rolling Stone magazine.
Most recently, O’Riley has joined forces with Matt Haimovitz, a pioneering cellist who — as the first classical musician to play New York’s legendary punk incubator CBGB’s — has helped revolutionize what it means to be a classical musician today.
On Friday, Oct. 12, O’Riley and Haimovitz will bring their innovative partnership to St. Louis as part of the Edison Ovations Series at Washington University.
Titled Shuffle.Play.Listen., the performance draws on their ambitious double-length CD of the same name, which deftly spans classical and pop music genres. The program will showcase works by Bach, Gabrielli and Stravinsky alongside compositions from Radiohead, the Arcade Fire and Astor Piazzolla.
“If any artists were destined to collaborate, it was surely this pair,” writes The New York Times, while Strings magazine calls Shuffle.Play.Listen. “by far one of the most eclectic and interesting audiophonic adventures that I’ve had the pleasure of embarking upon of late.”
The Washington Post adds that O’Riley and Haimovitz blend “genres and styles in a way that echoes the actual listening experience of most iPod-owning music lovers.”
Note: The first half of the program will be pre-arranged. The second half will be programmed from the stage. A Q&A with the audience will immediately follow.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8V9S9j8uf6sChristopher O’Riley and Matt Haimovitz perform the Arcade Fire’s Empty Room.
Tickets and sponsors
Shuffle.Play.Listen. begins at 8 p.m. Friday, Oct. 12, in the E. Desmond Lee Concert Hall of Washington University’s 560 Music Center. Tickets are $36, or $32 seniors, $28 for WUSTL faculty and staff and $20 for students and children.
In addition, O’Riley will lead a free master class at 7 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 11, also in the E. Desmond Lee Concert Hall. The class will feature students from WUSTL’s Department of Music in Arts & Sciences, but the public is invited to observe.
Tickets are available at the Edison Box Office and through all MetroTix outlets. The 560 Music Center is located in University City at 560 Trinity Ave. Edison Theatre is located in the Mallinckrodt Center, 6445 Forsyth Blvd.
For more information, call (314) 935-6543, e-mail edison@wustl.edu or visit edison.wustl.edu.
Edison programs are made possible with support from the Missouri Arts Council, a state agency; the Regional Arts Commission, St. Louis; and private contributors.
Shuffle.Play.Listen. is made possible with the support of St. Louis Public Radio 90.7|KWMU and the WUSTL Department of Music.