Columbia to Continue Streaming “Pop-Ups”

Some readers may recall that one of my most satisfying streamed experiences under pandemic conditions was provided by Columbia University. More specifically, the Live from Columbia concert series included a “sub-series” entitled Pop-Ups in the Lantern. These consisted of video captures of performances in the Lantern penthouse that is part of the university’s Manhattanville campus; and the offering was a solo piano recital by Simone Dinnerstein drawing upon her recent album, A Character of Quiet.

Earlier this week Melissa Smey, Executive Director of Columbia’s Miller Theatre, announced that the Live from Columbia series would continue to offer free performances, working in conjunction with Columbia’s School of the Arts. Three performances will be streamed during the months of September, October, and November, respectively. Whether or not the series will continue into next year has not yet been decided. However, the Miller Theatre has created a Live from Columbia Web page, which currently accounts for the three performances taking place during the fall season, including three RSVP hyperlinks, one for each of the performances and each required for viewing the video stream. Specifics are as follows (with times given in Pacific Time):

Saturday, September 18, 1 p.m.: A film of Arturo O’Farrill & the Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra performing on the Miller Theatre stage will be live-streamed. The program will present two recent compositions by O’Farrill. It will begin with the world premiere performance of “Mundoagua,” which was commissioned by the School of the Arts in honor of Columbia’s Year of Water. This will be followed by “Gulab Jamón,” which O’Farrill completed in 2019.

Tuesday, October 12, 4 p.m.: Dinnerstein will be giving another solo recital, this time in one of Columbia’s most iconic reading rooms in the prestigious Butler Library. The program will be devoted entirely to Richard Danielpour’s An American Mosaic, a fifteen-movement suite, which was commissioned by the Oregon Bach Festival. Some readers may recall that this site discussed the recording of Dinnerstein playing this suite this past March. The film made at the Butler Library will be given its video premiere.

Yarn/Wire in performance (photograph by Cherylynn Tsushima, courtesy of Aleba & Co.)

Tuesday, November 9, 4 p.m.: This will also be a video premiere of a performance film. The performers will be the members of the percussion and piano quartet Yarn/Wire, pianists Laura Barger and Julia Den Boer and percussionists Russell Greenberg and Sae Hashimoto. Their performance will present the world premiere of “Laminar Flow,” scored for piano and percussion quartet by Zeno Baldi. This will be preceded by Thomas Meadowcraft’s “Walkman Antiquarian,” scored for grand piano, sampler, and two percussionists. Both of these compositions were written expressly for the Yarn/Wire performers.