Music Inspired by Steppenwolf and Edward Gorey

Kamran Ince, Andy Akiho & Carla Kihlstedt. Photos from Present Music.

On March 26 and 27 Present Music presents intO tHe WiLd, a concert that perfectly illustrates what has made this ensemble a vital force in contemporary music. Rather than organizing around a single theme, this performance celebrates long-standing artistic relationships while demonstrating the group’s remarkable versatility.

David Lang, one of the most performed contemporary composers today has worked with Present Music for decades. David Lang’s arrangement of Steppenwolf‘s biker anthem “Born To Be Wild” represents a defining moment from the ensemble’s history. Created as an improvised encore during Lang’s 1989 Milwaukee residency with Present Music, this piece transforms the familiar rock anthem through a droll, absurdist narration that creates a kind of contrast to the hype and the heart-pounding character of the song itself.

Andy Akiho‘s “Copper Canvas,” a co-commission with Present Music, Portland’s 49th Parallel and a North Carolina University ensemble, represents cutting-edge compositional techniques. Artistic Director Eric Segnitz compares Akiho’s rhythmically intensive style to Steve Reich’s revolutionary impact: “There was music before Steve Reich and there was music after Steve Reich. You could really see the dividing line, and I actually see that same effect with Andy’s music.”

Segnitz points out that the piece exhibits what might be called a “scattershot style that coalesces into something greater,” featuring moments where “a very beautiful lyrical section just kind of appears” alongside “powerful moments where the sort of passacaglia starts in the lower end.” Jazz influences emerge throughout a composition that functions like “an unstable compound,” constantly shifting and recombining elements into new forms. Although Copper Canvas is new, the energetic style can be heard on YouTube in a related composition, Cobalt Canvas.

Kamran Ince represents Present Music’s longest and most fruitful composer relationship, with the group having commissioned an astonishing 17 pieces from him over the years. Segnitz describes Ince’s work as having “a more classical” sensibility, with writing that “translates very well to the symphonic realm.”

Ince’s compositions stand out for their architectural qualities, Segnitz continues: “The reference to architecture works quite well for the pieces he labels that way. And it’s intuitive, not formulaic. You really feel like you’ve gone on a journey or experienced a plot.” His music features both “imaginative instrumental colors” and emotional “extremes wider than most things I can think of.”

Ince’s commission for this concert then, nothing reflects the consciousness of a life fully-lived, and also a preoccupation with those existential questions which shape our remaining time on earth.

Present Music supporter Jan Serr & John Shannon who has commissioned this and six other works by Ince reflects on this new work. “then, nothing is a music composition in part exploring thoughts and emotions concerning the perennial question of death. For some, the appeal of religious beliefs or the simple acceptance of non-existence is not psychologically satisfying. The loss of a parent naturally intensifies thoughts of mortality. As a demonstration of resilience, the artist turns to musical creation and humor. The artist laughs and replies, Nothing? Then . . . listen to this.”

Perhaps the most anticipated work on the program is Carla Kihlstedt‘s musical adaptation of Edward Gorey‘s alphabet book, “The Gashlycrumb Tinies.” (Gorey’s macabre pen-and-ink illustrations may be appreciated in the gothic animated sequence used to introduce the Masterpiece Mystery PBS series.) Twenty-Six Little Deaths transforms Gorey’s single-sentence descriptions of children meeting grisly and oddly humorous deaths into a 26-movement song cycle, with Kihlstedt writing both the expanded poetry and music.

While Gorey provided the initial inspiration—his darkly amusing vision where “we’re all teetering between life and death”—Kihlstedt significantly develops the material. “She’s the one that gives it life by writing the poetry and creating a musical environment for it,” says Segnitz. “She gets into the psychology of what this child might be thinking or might be attracted to. It’s never about the actual active demise; it’s about the psychological state that the child is in.”

Present Music will be celebrating the release of a CD of Twenty-Six Little Deaths. You will not forget an animated live performance by Kihlstedt, but Segnitz has come to recognize other differences. He quotes composer Ben Johnston:“It’s almost like they’ve reinvented the art of chamber music. One is like a stage-play, the other is more like a movie”. Segnitz and John Tanner produced the CD with an extra effort to reflect each of the 26 songs to sonically imagine the story behind each “little death.” (Raven Chacon‘s monumental Voiceless Mass, winner of a Pulitzer prize after its premiere performance by Present Music in 2022 is being released on CD at the same time.)

Segnitz offers a summary. “If I had to bring somebody to their first Present Music concert, this would be one that I would consider. It gives you a very good idea of what the group does and the range of programming.”

Present Music will perform the program twice, at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, March 26 and Thursday, March 27 at the UW-Milwaukee Jan Serr Studio, 2155 N. Prospect Ave. The program will also be live-streamed on Thursday. In Person and Livestream Tickets are available online.

On Saturday, March 29 the Present Music ensemble will repeat the same program at the prestigious eclectic music event the Big Ears Festival in Knoxville, Tennessee.

The final concert of the season is  Baroque Pop! with Julia Holter at the Milwaukee Art Museum on Sunday evening, May 25. Indie singer Julia Holter blends pop, classical, and avant-garde influences. The program will also feature a work by Alex Temple and a world premiere by Viet Cuong.