Oerknal’s Christian Smith and Daniel Walden present a program of piano | percussion repertoire that explores the boundary between natural and synthetic worlds.

John Luther Adams (“One of the most original musical thinkers of the new century.” – Alex Ross, The New Yorker) lived in Alaska for nearly forty years. Nunataks (Solitary Peaks) and Among Red Mountains are solo piano work that takes its inspiration directly from Alaska’s landscape; Red Arc / Blue Veil is a sumptuous piece for vibraphone, crotales, and piano based on a quote from Wassily Kandinsky: “…those inner sounds that are the life of the colors.” Luther Adams’ music is complimented by Klaus Lang’s expansive the whitebearded man. the six frogs. Works by American composer David Bird and Canadian composer Nicole Lizée offer a different view of the world, one based on urbanity and appropriation. Bird’s EIGHTOH8 is an immensely inventive work juxtaposing eight different dance forms (the march, waltz, tango, bossa nova, swing, rock, punk, and hip hop beat). The rhythmic material of each of these dances is cut up and spliced together to create a mesmerizing final product. Lizée’s Ringer is a tour de force for solo drum set attempting dialogue with elements of pop and funk music.