Season tickets available now!
enSRQ celebrates its seventh season with six concerts featuring contemporary masterworks, compelling new compositions, world premieres, and exciting collaborations. This season also marks the group’s first concert at Sarasota Opera House.
(August 2, 2022) ensembleNewSRQ (enSRQ), the innovative chamber music ensemble, is celebrating its seventh season with contemporary masterworks, compelling new compositions, exciting collaborations, and world premieres. Violinist Samantha Bennett and percussionist George Nickson, the group’s founders and co-artistic directors, have curated a six-program season that shines a light on the evolution of contemporary music in the 21st century. Highlights of enSRQ’s season includes tributes to recently passed composers, George Crumb and Louis Andriessen; a concert highlighting Indigenous composers; world premieres of newly commissioned works by the renowned British composer Mark-Anthony Turnage and the emerging American percussionist/composer Shaun Tilburg; and a collaboration with Sarasota Contemporary Dance. This season concludes with a first-ever concert at the Sarasota Opera House featuring 40 musicians. Season subscriptions for five concerts are available now for $115. For more information on ticket packages and single tickets, including student ticket pricing, visit www.ensrq.org. Tickets for the Sarasota Contemporary Dance performances can be found at www.sarasotacontemporarydance.org.
“ensembleNewSRQ’s seventh season shows the full breadth of what musicians and composers have to say who are living in the moment, writing and performing right now,” says Bennett. “These compositions show how far music can go in the future.”
Nickson couldn’t agree more.
“These works continue to push the boundaries of what instrumentalists can do and show the vibrant, highly impactful current state of contemporary music throughout the world,” Nickson says. “We’ve searched far and wide to bring this specially curated season to Sarasota as a testament to what current musical thought can accomplish and how it can go on playing an integral part in the cultural fabric of our community.”
2022-2023 Season at a Glance
- First Voices: October 10, 7:30 p.m. The ominous reverberations of “Talowa’ Hiloha” (“Thunder Song”) by Jerod Impechchaachaaha’ Tate opens the season with a focus on the historically underrepresented voices of Indigenous composers. The evening also features the luminous “Imago” by Andean composer Inti Figgis-Vizueta, and Gabriela Ortiz’s “Pico-Bite-Beat”—an imaginative and intriguing musical exploration of Mesoamerican cuisine. First Congregational Church, 1031 S. Euclid Ave., Sarasota.
- Collaboration With Sarasota Contemporary Dance: December 1-4. As enSRQ has redefined the limits of new music, Sarasota Contemporary Dance has pushed the boundaries of modern dance with its inventive choreography by Leymis Bolanos Wilmott. Its multimedia exploration of global rhythms, dance, and song is the perfect collaboration. This concert will also showcase stunning scenic and projection design by Sharon McCaman, the St. Petersburg-based multidisciplinary artist. Performances are in the Asolo Repertory Theatre, 5555 N. Tamiami Trail.
- Crumb: January 16, 7:30 p.m. “Black Angels,” the epic lament for the troubled years of the Vietnam era climaxes a tribute to George Crumb (1929-2022), the Pulitzer Prize-winning composer whose works are among the most frequently performed compositions in today’s musical world. Renowned soprano and enSRQ favorite, Lucy Fitz Gibbon returns to sing Crumb’s evocative “Madrigals,” and the emotionally powerful “Demeter Prelude” by Crumb’s protégé, Margaret Brouwer will also be performed. First Congregational Church, 1031 S. Euclid Ave., Sarasota.
- Vespers For A New Dark Age: February 6, 7:30 p.m. The voices of the Dallas-based Verdigris Ensemble rise in collaboration with ensembleNEWSRQ to present the compelling choral works of two internationally acclaimed composers: “The Branch Will Not Break” by Christopher Cerrone—as inspired by the poetry of James Arlington Wright; and “Vespers for a New Dark Age” by Missy Mazzoli—set to the poetry of Matthew Zapruder. First Congregational Church, 1031 S. Euclid Ave., Sarasota.
- And The Hits Keep Coming: March 20, 7:30 p.m. The virtuosic versatility of the percussionist is celebrated in a program featuring Krizts Auznieks’s “Prelude and Ether” for marimbas, vibraphone, and piano; Emma O’Halloran’s “Shell” for marimba quartet; and the world premieres of newly commissioned works for percussion ensembles by the renowned British composer Mark-Anthony Turnage and the emerging American percussionist/composer Shaun Tilburg. First Congregational Church, 1031 S. Euclid Ave., Sarasota.
- 1976: April 17,7:30 p.m. Forty musicians ensemble to perform a double bill of contemporary classics, both composed in 1976. HK Gruber’s vastly entertaining “Frankenstein” (a “pandemonium for baritone chansonnier and ensemble”) opens the program, and Louis Andriessen’s iconic and groundbreaking “De Staat” concludes it. Sarasota Opera House, 61 North Pineapple Ave., Sarasota.
About ensembleNEWSRQ:
Founded in 2015 by violinist Samantha Bennett and percussionist George Nickson, ensembleNEWSRQ (enSRQ) is a versatile chamber music ensemble in Sarasota, FL, dedicated to playing and advocating for the music of contemporary composers. Through thoughtfully curated and innovative programs, enSRQ demonstrates how contemporary music is a reflection of our world and cultural experience. The ensemble strives to manifest the creativity of the current generation and inspire audiences to participate in musical culture in a profound way.