Thursday, November 9 @ 8pm

In James W. Mann Center for Performing Arts in the New York Mills Schools

A dark and delightful evening-length chamber work based on Carlo Collodi’s beloved The Adventures of Pinocchio, Pine Eyes is a rich mixture of music and words—a compelling adventure for the imagination that will captivate audiences of all ages. Narrator Krisanne Weiss joins Zeitgeist to create a fantastic tale of transformation and discovery with plenty of the bewitchment, adventure, and heroism so crucial to a good fairy tale.

Pine Eyes was written by Martin Bresnick for Zeitgeist in 2008, and was commissioned by and premiered at the Walker Art Center. Pine Eyes is part of Bresnick’s body of work Opere della Musica Povera (Works of a Poor Music), which explores themes of poverty, extremity, and loss. The composer uses limited visual and musical resource to create work of gorgeous simplicity, great depth, and captivating immediacy. Lauded for providing “a once-in-a-lifetime experience for adventurous concertgoers,” Zeitgeist is a new music chamber ensemble comprised of two percussion, piano and woodwinds.

One of the longest established new music groups in the country, Zeitgeist commissions and presents a wide variety of new music for audiences in the Twin Cities and on tour. Always eager to explore new artistic frontiers, Zeitgeist collaborates with poets, choreographers, directors, visual artists and sound artists of all types to create imaginative new work that challenges the boundaries of traditional chamber music. The members of Zeitgeist are: Heather Barringer, percussion; Patti Cudd, percussion; Pat O’Keefe, woodwinds; Nicola Melville, piano.

Martin Bresnick’s compositions, from opera, chamber and symphonic music to film scores and computer music, are performed throughout the world. Bresnick delights in reconciling the seemingly irreconcilable, bringing together repetitive gestures derived from minimalism with a harmonic palette that encompasses both highly chromatic sounds and more open, consonant harmonies and a raw power reminiscent of rock. At times his musical ideas spring from hardscrabble sources, often with a very real political import. But his compositions never descend into agitprop; one gains their meaning by the way the music itself unfolds, and always on its own terms.

This evening performance is a reprise to an educational outreach performance attended by the students of the New York Mills Pubic Schools. Both the educational outreach and and the evening performance are supported by a Minnesota State Arts Board Arts Tour grant.

For Tickets, call (218) 385-3339. Tickets are $12 in Advance, $15 at the Door with members receiving a $2 discount. Students always get in for the low price of $5!

Learn more about Zeitgeist on their website: zeitgeistnewmusic.org