February 18, 2011, Friday - Alisa Weilerstein and Gabriel Kahane at Southern Theater

Location: Southern Theater, 1420 Washington Avenue South

Time:  8:00pm

A natural virtuoso hailed for her impassioned musicianship and expressive range, 27-year-old cellist Alisa Weilerstein is renowned internationally as one of the premiere soloists and chamber musicians of her generation, set apart by her distinctive musical presence and charisma.

Gabriel Kahane’s rapid ascent as a composer of concert works comes into focus with this season’s premiere of three commissions: a large chamber work for the Los Angeles Philharmonic conducted by John Adams; a string quartet for the Kronos Quartet; and this program’s cello sonata/song cycle for Weilerstein and himself.

Kahane set Little Sleep’s Head to the eponymous poem by Galway Kinnell, from his monumental work The Book of Nightmares. The work expresses a dialogue between movements for cello and piano and song-like settings of Kinnell’s poem. Twin Cities premiere: Little Sleep’s Head Sprouting Hair in the Moonlight, Gabriel Kahane.

Co-commissioned by Stuart and Linda Nelson and the Southern Theater.

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