Following the driving motivations of Fonema Consort, Of Tongues examines various roles and approaches to the voice embraced by contemporary composers, and pays homage to Webern’s vocal music, which even now is a decisive force in shaping the course of new music. The program travels from the thoughtful dissection of a Borges poem in Irene Quero’s Línea, to unbridled dramaturgy in the works of Pablo Chin and Francisco Guerrero; from the purely sonic understanding of phonemes without semantic content in two works by Jason Eckardt; to the spiritual texts that enabled Webern to formalize his use of the twelve-tone method in Drei Lieder. “Of Tongues” ultimately reveals that phonology and semantics are powerful tools to develop expressive musical possibilities. Fonema Consort is honored to perform as part of National Sawdust's inaugural season with curator Miranda Cuckson.

Program
Pablo Chin | Scene from (in)armonia
Pablo Chin | (in)armonia: retratos
Jason Eckardt | Equilibrium: Part II, of Tongues
Jason Eckardt | To be held...
Francisco Guerrero | Erotica
Irene Quero | Línea
Webern | Drei Lieder, Op. 18