Young Composer Series Returns w/ Richard Parry (Arcade Fire) + Nico Muhly

The highlight of this fall will be next Sunday, September 28th when The Arcade Fire’s Richard Reed Perry performs his “Music For Heart & Breath” with America’s most lauded and acclaimed young composer, Nico Muhly and New York’s yMUsic ensemble in the Sanctuary of The First Unitarian Church.

Richard has put together an exquisite collection of modern neo-classical pieces inspired by the likes of Steve Reich and Brian Eno. Each note will be played in synch with the heart rates or breathing rates of the performers, each musician generating their own tempo by listening to their pulse with a stethoscope during the performance. At times fragile, playful, sombre and intimate, these unique and stunning creations have been dreamt into life by Parry’s refreshing compositional approach and his own philosophical belief that music and nature – in this case the human body – can be, indeed are, explicitly linked. Richard will be joined on Sunday by composer Nico Muhly and New York’s yMusic ensemble.

Tickets are on-sale now and we greatly encourage you to take a moment to learn more about the special evening that we have in store for you!

RICHARD REED PARRY (ARCADE FIRE) 

As the red-headed polymath and multi-instrumentalist at the heart of the endlessly inventive art-rock band Arcade Fire, Richard Reed Parry has performed in front of immense crowds and sold millions of records across the world. But this is only one aspect of an artist whose unconventional trajectory has resulted in work that is as varied as it is surprising and unique. In between the last few Arcade Fire world tours Parry has crafted an innovative debut record of solo compositions released this past summer.

NICO MUHLY

Nico Muhly has composed a wide scope of work for ensembles, soloists and organizations including the American Symphony Orchestra, Boston Pops, Carnegie Hall, Chicago Symphony, New York City Ballet, New York Philharmonic and the Paris Opéra Ballet. He was last in Philadelphia with his critically acclaimed opera, “Dark Sisters” which had a sold out run at The Kimmel Center. For those who do not listen to classical music, you may well already be familiar with Nico Muhly’s work without realizing it. He has collaborated and performed with Antony (of & the Johnsons fame), Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy, Rufus Wainwright, The National and Bjork. He even finds time to work as a performer and conductor for Philip Glass on his various film soundtracks.

YMUSIC
Hailed by NPR’s Fred Child as “one of the groups that has really helped to shape the future of classical music,” yMusic is a group of six New York City instrumentalists flourishing in the overlap between the pop and classical worlds. Their virtuosic execution and unique configuration (string trio, flute, clarinet, and trumpet) has attracted the attention of high profile collaborators—from Dirty Projectors to My Brightest Diamond—and more recently inspired an expanding repertoire of original works by some of today’s foremost composers.