Opera Review: Poe-Faced

The American Modern Ensemble premieres a pair of chamber operas.
by Paul J. Pelkonen

The composer and his title character.
Original photo of Stewart Copeland © 2015 by Shayne Gray. 

The spirit of artistic invention was in full flower on Saturday night, as American Modern Ensemble premiered its production of a pair of chamber operas at Dixon Place, the engaging bar and cabaret that hides a robust subterranean performance space on Chrystie Street. The operas were The Whole Truth by AME artistic director Robert Paterson and a new orchestration of The Cask of Amontillado by rock star turned composer Stewart Copeland.

Concert Review: Put Them Together, and What Have You Got?

The American Modern Ensemble plays SubCulture.
by Paul J. Pelkonen

Samples of an electrocardiogram (pictured) were used in the New York premiere of
Robert Paterson's I See You at SubCulture.

The Chamber Music of America conference is in town and New York is thrumming to the sound of scraped, plucked, bowed and strummed fiddles of all shapes and sizes. On Thursday night in the subterranean depths of SubCulture, that fabulous concert venue tucked neatly under Bleecker Street, the American Modern Ensemble hosted a concert dubbed String Theory: a marathon showcase of modern chamber music, featuring three other chamber ensembles and a stack of world premieres.