Present Music’s Never-Predictable Spirit Will Unleash intO tHe WiLd at Jan Serr Studio

MILWAUKEE (February 26, 2025) – Since 1982, Milwaukee’s acclaimed new music ensemble Present Music has never taken the tame and timid route. On March 26th & 27th, the ensemble will present two world premieres of original compositions. One of them will be Copper Canvas by GRAMMY®-nominated composer Andy Akiho, which explores the number 29 from the Periodic Table of Elements. The other world premiere will be Turkish American composer Kamran Ince’s then, nothing which asks big existential questions with colorful passion.

In addition to these world premieres, crowd-pleaser and Pulitzer Prize-winner David Lang will present a droll, counterintuitive arrangement of Steppenwolf’s iconic biker anthem Born to be Wild. The final piece of the evening, 26 Little Deaths, will honor illustrator Edward Gorey’s 100th birthday. Carla Kihlstedt’s work is based upon the late artist’s darkly humorous alphabet book The Gashlycrumb Tinies. Slides of the famous illustrations will accompany Kihlstedt’s vocals and violin. The performance will serve as an album-release party for the Kihlstedt-Present Music collaboration from Cantaloupe Music label.

The concert will be presented only twice, at 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday, March 26, and Thursday, March 27, at the Jan Serr Studio, 2155 North Prospect Avenue, Milwaukee.

Tickets for the event may be purchased at: presentmusic.org

intO tHe WiLd features work by:

Carla Kihlstedt is an American composer, violinist, vocalist, and multi-instrumentalist. She is a founding member of Tin Hat Trio, Sleepytime Gorilla Museum, The Book of Knots, Causing a Tiger, and Rabbit Rabbit. She has performed with the International Contemporary Ensemble and has worked occasionally on projects with Tom Waits, John Zorn, and Fred Frith. She currently teaches at the New England Conservatory of Music. Ms. Kihlstedt’s appearance is sponsored by Ellen and Joe Checota.

Andy Akiho is a Japanese-American composer and active steel pannist, performing his compositions with various ensembles worldwide. He has received many prestigious awards including the Rome Prize, Lili Boulanger Memorial Prize, Harvard University Fromm Commission, Barlow Endowment, New Music USA, and Chamber Music America. His latest composition, Seven Pillars, performed by Sandbox Percussion, was nominated for two GRAMMY® Awards. Akiho is currently based in Portland, OR. Akiho is commissioned by Christine Rundblad and Randall Lindert.

Kamran Ince is a Turkish-American composer, winner of the Rome Prize, a Guggenheim Fellowship, and the Lili Boulanger Memorial Prize. His work has been performed by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and the BBC Symphony Orchestra, and his recordings can be found on Naxos, EMI, Albany, and Archer Records. He is currently based in Memphis, Tennessee, and is on the faculty of the University of Memphis and Istanbul Technical University. Ince is commissioned by Jan Serr & John Shannon, who are also the concert sponsor.

David Lang is an American composer living in New York City. Co-founder of the musical collective Bang on a Can, he was awarded the 2008 Pulitzer Prize for Music for The Little Match Girl Passion, which went on to win a 2010 Grammy Award for Best Small Ensemble Performance by Paul Hillier and Theatre of Voices. Lang was nominated for an Academy Award for Simple Song #3 from the film Youth. He is one of the world’s most performed composers and is currently teaching at Yale University.

Original premiers of bold new music like this are rare opportunities in Milwaukee due to Wisconsin’s severely limited arts funding. This show would not be possible without sponsors, Jan Serr & John Shannon; co-Sponsors Nancy Leff & KC Lerner; underwriters Ellen & Joe Checota, Jon Stewig & Richard Bradley, National Endowment for the Arts; additional funding from UPAF, Wisconsin Arts Board, CAMPAC and Milwaukee Arts Board; in-kind support from the UWM Peck School of the Arts.

NOTE: This press release was submitted to Urban Milwaukee and was not written by an Urban Milwaukee writer. While it is believed to be reliable, Urban Milwaukee does not guarantee its accuracy or completeness.