Living Japanese composers navigate similar tensions to those found in Murakami’s artwork: the dangers and delights of both the natural and technological worlds, the reconciliation of tradition with the global marketplace, and the struggle to preserve the unique sensibility of Japanese culture within a modern context. From Joji Yuasa’s pioneering electronic sounds to the cultural challenges of Ken Ueno’s work, Sounds Modern will present a diverse selection of recent Japanese music that sheds light on the context of Murakami’s work.

Have you ever overheard the private thoughts of a stranger? In this concert, Sounds Modern will present music that projects inward experience out loud. Much as Ron Mueck’s lifelike and detailed sculptures invite their viewers into the psychological experiences of the figures, music of California visionary James Tenney and other innovative composers will invite the audience to listen in(ward) to intimate meditations and conversations.

House Taken Over: A Concert Inspired by Misty Keasler’s Haunt

Sounds Modern evokes haunted houses and the spirit world. Featuring works by Jeffrey Stadelman, Pang Vongtaradon, Andrew May, and Pauline Oliveros.

Sounds Modern presents Electric EARth: music to celebrate the art of Doug Aitken, in the auditorium at the Modern on Saturday, June 10 at 2 pm. Sounds Modern celebrates the multiple, shifting, and technically mediated perspectives of Aitken’s art with music by Crumb, Cage, Xenakis, and others that places the listener in a variety of imaginary worlds. From the deep ocean to the center of a charcoal fire, travel with us deep inside the sound worlds of the Electric EARth.

Admissions is free to the public.

Sounds Modern presents "Hearing Where the End Starts," in conjunction with the KAWS exhibition. Like KAWS' works, the music on the concert will be inspired by graffiti, cartoons, technology, and popular culture. The program will include works by John Zorn, Zack Browning, Eric Lyon, and Charles Dodge.

www.soundsmodern.org

Sounds Modern

Sounds Modern, the brainchild of modern music guru Elizabeth McNutt, is a vibrant and exciting concert series featuring contemporary music that makes the works on display in the Modern’s galleries come to life in the concert hall. McNutt is the director of the University of North Texas contemporary music ensemble Nova and co-director of the new music organization Atomic Clock Music Events. Admission is free

Saturday, December 13, 2 pm—How Far to 14th?

Sounds Modern: Modern Subjects, Classic Forms
Saturday, October 17; 2pm; admission free

Sounds Modern presents Framing Desire in Music, a concert of recent works in which composers express their longing, sentimental and magical, for an unattainable and distant reality. The program includes works that celebrate particular people and places – and especially beloved pieces of music that composers refer to (even incorporate), reframing them much as photographs and video reframe and reinforce elements of the visual world.