Share

By overwhelming consensus, the Vijay Iyer Trio has become one of the pivotal jazz bands of the twenty-first century. Described as “the best piano trio in jazz today” (Der Spiegel), “truly astonishing” (NPR) and “the best band in jazz” (PopMatters), the trio’s music is emotionally resonant and deeply interactive, radiating groove and brimming with polyrhythmic detail, rooted in tradition yet truly innovative in style and form.

Hailed as “entrancing” (BBC Music Magazine) and “artists in the deepest sense of the word” (CutCommon), Merz Trio – winners of the Naumburg, Concert Artists Guild, Fischoff and Chesapeake Competitions – are known for their inventive programming. Join Merz Trio as they search for song in night’s darkness. Beginning with the 12th century chants spun by Hildegard von Bingen in her solitary monastic cell, explore melody sung into and for the night, weaving together a musical conversation that joins the voices of Purcell, Schumann, Alma Mahler, Brahms and Zemlinsky, and into the twentieth century with Thelonious Monk’s poignantly lonely ode to a dark hour.

Meta4 returns to DACAMERA with a dynamic program of vivid musical contrasts. DACAMERA’s dear friend, the great Finnish composer Kaija Saariaho (1952-2023), is remembered with a performance of her second quartet, Terra Memoria; composed “for those departed,” the work is deeply moving in its hypnotic exploration of memory, loss and transformation. Shostakovich’s Quartet No. 4 is a riveting response to the tragedies of the Second World War. The work was withheld from public performance until after Stalin’s death — the composer’s searing personal message is encoded in this powerful musical work. The program concludes with Ravel’s colorful quartet– eagerly embraced by listeners since its first performance in 1904, promising a dazzling and brilliant finale to the evening.

Through an inimitable voice that The New York Times touts as “a smooth, dark alto possessed of qualities you might associate with barrel-aged bourbon or butter-soft leather,” acclaimed vocalist and songwriter Lizz Wright’s singing is a soaring reflection of the cultural fabric of America. Wright is one of the great modern American singers, with an illustrious 20-year career transcending social divides with her offer of love and a deep sense of humanity.