Fri 2/6 @ 7PM
Sat 2/7 @7PM
Cleveland-based No Exit New Music not only perform avant-garde contemporary music (frequently commissioned works and world premieres) as well as pieces that influenced it, but they are also presenters of ensembles with a similar sensibility.
This week they’re bringing in a Philadelphia/Iowa-based duo called Ligament, featuring vocalist Anika Kildegaard and bassist Will Yager for two performances. The group’s instrumentation and use of sounds, as well as the themes of the pieces they play, stretch boundaries in various directions.
In Cleveland, they’ll perform five compositions written between 1982 and 2025, some of which have specific, even obscure, political themes. Zac Fick-Cambria’s 2023 machina addresses Supreme. Court Justice Harry Blackmon’s 1994 dissent in a capital punishment case, while Ruby Fulton’s 2022 and if not, why not deals with “the isolating effects of interstate migration on new mothers in early 20th century America,” something probably not on most people’s radars. James Dillon’s 1982 A Roaring Flame is described as “a glossolalic summoning, a primordial and macabre incantation.” They’ll also perform Amy Beth Kirsten’s 2012 yes I said yes I will yes, and Katherine Balch’s 2015 Vidi l’angelo nel marmo.
Both shows will feature a short opening set by the Cleveland State Percussion Ensemble, featuring three 2025 pieces written for the “Aquarian”: “a glass instrument with a soft, clear, resonate sound and a relaxing water-like quality to its tone.”
They’ll perform at Kent State University’s Ludwig Recital Hall on Friday and at the Praxis Finer Workshop’s Gallery in the Waterloo Arts District on Saturday. No Exit events are always free and open to the public.