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Program
Liquid Music Schedule
11/05/13 Ensemble dal Niente
11/16/13 Oneohtrix Point Never (8pm Sold Out) 11/16/13 Oneohtrix Point Never (10:30pm) 01/12/14 Hilary Hahn and Hauschk: Silfra 02/13/14 Olga Bell: Origin/Outcome 02/14/14-05/11/14 S/S/S 03/21/14 Timo Andres: Work Songs 03/22/14 Timo Andres: Work Songs 05/06/14 Daniel Bjarnas and Nadia Sirota 06/03/14 Ethel: Documerica Buy the full 9-concert Liquid Music series for just $151.00 or mix and match four or more concerts to create your own customized series starting at just $40. All series subscribers receive 2 free ticket vouchers for best available seats to a regular SPCO concert (up to an $80 value). To order call the SPCO Ticket Office at 651.291.1144 or thespco.org. Read More
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The Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra's Liquid Music series is in its second season. The program was designed to expand the world of classical music through unique presentation formats. In additional, Liquid Music's shows are accessible to non-traditional classical fans with its affordable prices and often collaborating with some exciting and different musicians not typical of this genre.
Last night's Jherek Bischoff show at the Fitzgerald Theater in St Paul (co-presented with the Walker Art Center, in collaboration with American Swedish Institute and Minnesota Public Radio), accomplished all of Liquid Music's goals.
"I'm a very thankful man," Bischoff said as he kept thanking everyone involved in this massive music undertaking. The program, from what I understood hearing the stories on stage, was that this started over a year ago. Liquid Music gave Bischoff the freedom to assemble his super dream team to perform music with his musical arrangements. Imagine if you were given this gift, you wouldn't ever want to leave the stage either.
The well-organized program started with an introduction by the Current's Steve Seel and MPR's Valerie Kahler. To me, pairing up the two was like old vs new; Seel thought it was okay to 'tweet' while Kahler kindly disagreed.
After the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra (SPCO) seated, Jherek Bischoff came on stage in a suit and golden shoes. You can tell right away that Bischoff was not used to this special treatment, having confessed that his years of playing at typical dive bar and venues did not prepare him for this. We last saw Bischoff opening up for Amanda Palmer last year, and even then, he was strangely happy to be on stage to perform chamber music for rock/pop fans.
The set was divided in two parts: the first were all Bischoff's work, with the exception of Konono No. 1's "Kule" and Bob Lind's "Counting". Duets on the recorded Bischoff's albums were sung by the three special vocalists: Sondre Lerche on "Blossom", Channy Leaneagh on "Counting", and Ólöf Arnalds on "The Nest". As pointed out by Arnalds, drummer Greg Saunier, from Deerhoof, was the odd-man out, having usually taken a backseat to the three vocalists. However, he was always part of the show with well-timed drum rimshots.
Just to give you a little background, we have, at one point or another, covered each of these hand-picked artists. Sondre Lerche is a Norwegian singer/songwriter who is always experimenting with his sound, in particular his Heartbeat Radio album. Ólöf Arnalds, cousin to classical composer Ólafur Arnalds, is from Iceland. Channy Leaneagh, as you know, is from the popular Poliça band, with their second album Shulamith coming out this week, Octotber 22nd, on Mom+Pop. I saw Greg Saunier's band Deerhoof a few years ago and I was blown away at their ability to experiment and improv their live songs.
Highlight of Bischoff's set was a story about how he used to be a sailor and one time his boat was caught in the windstorm and they could not move for three days. He was maybe a mile from shore after seeing one tiny light in the distance. So on the last night, after thinking he was going to die, he looked in his binoculars to see that the light was, in fact, a television set… and the person living there was simply watching "Seinfeld"!
The second half of the program, after the intermission, were songs by the vocalists, but re-imagined and re-arranged by Bischoff. They often work, because as they say, a good song can be set to any tone and genre. In particular, Arnolds' song "Surrender" was set to a "disco" beat.
If Bischoff's various introductions of his guests didn't give it away, watching their interaction on stage and his wide smile, he was definitely a fan and an admirer. He even started slow dancing with Lerche during his performance fo "Sleep on Needles", a song that Lerche wrote fourteen years ago.
A special surprise was Sondre Lerche unveiled his new song, "Bleeding Out Into the Blue". It has not been recorded, and Lerche suggested that it may be on his next album. Bischoff, right away, said that the words 'bleeding out' made him quiver, which got a bit of a laugh.
Jherek Bischoff ended the show with one of the most complex song he's ever written, "Cistern". It did not require Bischoff to play an instrument, but instead as acting conductor. The song seem to take into account space and sound, and at one point you can hear bells from the back of the room.
As all the artists on stage mentioned at some point, the Liquid Music program for this year is amazing. You can get a season pass to all the shows at a discount $151, but can also mix and match if you are only interested in a few shows. The next show is contemporary chamber music group Ensemble dal Niente on November 5th.
"I'm a very thankful man," Bischoff said as he kept thanking everyone involved in this massive music undertaking. The program, from what I understood hearing the stories on stage, was that this started over a year ago. Liquid Music gave Bischoff the freedom to assemble his super dream team to perform music with his musical arrangements. Imagine if you were given this gift, you wouldn't ever want to leave the stage either.
The well-organized program started with an introduction by the Current's Steve Seel and MPR's Valerie Kahler. To me, pairing up the two was like old vs new; Seel thought it was okay to 'tweet' while Kahler kindly disagreed.
After the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra (SPCO) seated, Jherek Bischoff came on stage in a suit and golden shoes. You can tell right away that Bischoff was not used to this special treatment, having confessed that his years of playing at typical dive bar and venues did not prepare him for this. We last saw Bischoff opening up for Amanda Palmer last year, and even then, he was strangely happy to be on stage to perform chamber music for rock/pop fans.
The set was divided in two parts: the first were all Bischoff's work, with the exception of Konono No. 1's "Kule" and Bob Lind's "Counting". Duets on the recorded Bischoff's albums were sung by the three special vocalists: Sondre Lerche on "Blossom", Channy Leaneagh on "Counting", and Ólöf Arnalds on "The Nest". As pointed out by Arnalds, drummer Greg Saunier, from Deerhoof, was the odd-man out, having usually taken a backseat to the three vocalists. However, he was always part of the show with well-timed drum rimshots.
Just to give you a little background, we have, at one point or another, covered each of these hand-picked artists. Sondre Lerche is a Norwegian singer/songwriter who is always experimenting with his sound, in particular his Heartbeat Radio album. Ólöf Arnalds, cousin to classical composer Ólafur Arnalds, is from Iceland. Channy Leaneagh, as you know, is from the popular Poliça band, with their second album Shulamith coming out this week, Octotber 22nd, on Mom+Pop. I saw Greg Saunier's band Deerhoof a few years ago and I was blown away at their ability to experiment and improv their live songs.
Highlight of Bischoff's set was a story about how he used to be a sailor and one time his boat was caught in the windstorm and they could not move for three days. He was maybe a mile from shore after seeing one tiny light in the distance. So on the last night, after thinking he was going to die, he looked in his binoculars to see that the light was, in fact, a television set… and the person living there was simply watching "Seinfeld"!
The second half of the program, after the intermission, were songs by the vocalists, but re-imagined and re-arranged by Bischoff. They often work, because as they say, a good song can be set to any tone and genre. In particular, Arnolds' song "Surrender" was set to a "disco" beat.
If Bischoff's various introductions of his guests didn't give it away, watching their interaction on stage and his wide smile, he was definitely a fan and an admirer. He even started slow dancing with Lerche during his performance fo "Sleep on Needles", a song that Lerche wrote fourteen years ago.
A special surprise was Sondre Lerche unveiled his new song, "Bleeding Out Into the Blue". It has not been recorded, and Lerche suggested that it may be on his next album. Bischoff, right away, said that the words 'bleeding out' made him quiver, which got a bit of a laugh.
Jherek Bischoff ended the show with one of the most complex song he's ever written, "Cistern". It did not require Bischoff to play an instrument, but instead as acting conductor. The song seem to take into account space and sound, and at one point you can hear bells from the back of the room.
As all the artists on stage mentioned at some point, the Liquid Music program for this year is amazing. You can get a season pass to all the shows at a discount $151, but can also mix and match if you are only interested in a few shows. The next show is contemporary chamber music group Ensemble dal Niente on November 5th.
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Jherek Bischoff: Composed at the Fitzgerald Theater, St Paul (10/18/13) Left to right: Sunmi Chang (not shown), Elsa Nilsson, Maiya Papach, Sondre Lerche, Olof Arnalds, Jherek Bischoff, Channy Leaneagh, Charles Block (behind), Michelle Campbell, and Greg Saunier.
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