Mason Bates introduces the Chicago Symphony to new instruments:

the LAPTOP and the Rodgers Digital Organ.

Music NOW concerts take place at:

Harris Theater for Music and Dance

205 East Randolph Drive

For Tickets Call (312) 294-3000 or go to the web at: Music NOW Concert Oct 4

When Mason Bates begins his two-year term as a composer-in-residence with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra in September, he'll bring his electronica-infused compositions with him, challenging what audiences think of this "new" music.

Bates, 33, wants to win over skeptics by showing us the places music takes him.  The Virginia-raised composer also moonlights as DJ Masonic and spins hip-hop and house in dance clubs all over the world. His earliest blended compositions interweave percussive sounds with acoustic instruments, often with Bates cuing the electronica on a drum pad himself.

The first MusicNOW concert of the season ends with Digital Loom, which features the traditional sounds of the pipe organ against Bates' edgy electronics. In this composition Bates moves in and out of a soundscape similar to that of a parlor organ with tremolo and distant church bells, grounding listeners in the familiar, with the new.  

Digital Loom was written for electronica and Pipe Organ, though it will be performed on a Rodgers Digital Organ, brought in exclusively for this premiere in Chicago.  Bates became familiar with the Rodgers Organ in the Studio at the Julliard School of Music.  He specifically requested the use of a Rodgers for the program as he has had excellent results using Rodgers for performances around the United States. Fortunately the 16-channel Rodgers Touring was able to be secured for the event.

Electronics and propelling rhythms fly high in a show that features exciting and mysterious music by Mexican composers Enrico Chapela and Ana Lara, genre-bending works by Anna Clyne and Mason Bates, and music by Chicago's own Marcos Balter. The creation of Chapela's energetic Li Po involved recording a poem by José Juan Tablada and translating the reading's pitches and notes into a musical score. The first MusicNOW concert of the season ends with Digital Loom, which features the traditional sounds of the pipe organ against Bates' edgy electronics.

MusicNOW is Chicago's most exciting new music series, with performances by musicians from the CSO and MusicNOW Principal Conductor Cliff Colnot, and hosted by newly appointed Mead Composers-in-Residence Mason Bates and Anna Clyne. Meet the musicians and composers at postconcert receptions with FREE food and drink!

Program

Enrico Chapela Li Po 

Marcos Balter Vision Mantra 

Anna Clyne Steelworks 

Ana Lara Bhairav 

Mason Bates Digital Loom 

Performers

Musicians from the Chicago Symphony Orchestra

Cliff Colnot conductor

Mason Bates Mead Composer-in-Residence and host

Anna Clyne Mead Composer-in-Residence and host

MusicNOW is Chicago's most exciting new music series, with p

erformances by musicians from the CSO and MusicNOW Principal Conductor Cliff Colnot, and hosted by newly appointed Mead Composers-in-Residence Mason Bates and Anna Clyne. Meet the musicians and composers at postconcert receptions with FREE food and drink!