Press Release

October 29, 2024

For Immediate Release

Press Contact:

Gail Wein - (646) 484-9691

ClassicalCommunications@gmail.com

November 13

Baruch Performing Arts Center presents

KRAKAUER & TAGG: BREATH & HAMMER

Klezmer clarinetist David Krakauer and pianist Kathleen Tagg bring a program of world music, improvisation, and classical music to the Silberman Recital Series

On Wednesday, November 13 at 7 pm, Baruch Performing Arts Center presents Grammy-nominated classical and world music clarinetist David Krakauer with acclaimed South African-raised pianist/composer/producer Kathleen Tagg in their program Breath & Hammer.

Krakauer has been praised internationally as a key innovator in modern klezmer as well as a major voice in classical music. Tagg is an award-winning pianist, composer and producer who has crafted a distinctive style that mixes together acoustic and electronic sounds, loops, samples and extended techniques. 

"November 22" by Kinan Azmeh (arr. Krakauer & Tagg)

Their program Breath & Hammer brings together world music, classical music and improvisation. It is a unique opportunity to see the pair’s unorthodox playing styles in a chamber music setting. Krakauer & Tagg's acrobatic and highly virtuosic arrangements of tunes by a host of performer-composers from around the globe are placed alongside original compositions and complete reimaginings of traditional tunes and standards close to their hearts. Selections include the jazz standard "Body and Soul," music by Claude Debussy, John Zorn, Kinan Azmeh and more.

Krakauer & Tagg began working together in 2012, and each year have pushed further against the boundaries of standard concert programming by creating programs that completely redefine the sounds and roles of their instruments: Krakauer’s use of extended techniques, improvisation, and circular breathing on the clarinet, along with Tagg’s prowess inside the piano to remake it as a harp, a zither, a drum, and a cello creates a collective sound that completely transforms these two acoustic instruments. Their work together includes large-scale dialogue works; creating works for soloists and orchestra or symphonic wind band; multimedia immersive works with spatialized audio and live video art; film scores; works for genre-crossing band, alongside their acoustic and electric duo performance programs. 

Tickets to Krakauer & Tagg: Breath & Hammer on November 13 at 7 pm are $35 general admission ($20 for students), available at bpac.baruch.cuny.edu. Baruch Performing Arts Center is at 55 Lexington Avenue (enter on 25th Street between Third and Lexington Avenues, on the south side of the street). This concert is part of the Silberman Concert Series.

Silberman Concert Series

Wednesday, November 13, 2024 at 7 pm

Baruch Performing Arts Center presents:

KRAKAUER & TAGG: Breath & Hammer

Baruch PAC (55 Lexington Ave., New York, NY) (enter on 25th St. between 3rd and Lexington Aves)

Tickets are $35 general admission ($20 students),

available at bpac.baruch.cuny.edu

PROGRAM

November 22 by Kinan Azmeh, arr. Kathleen Tagg

Première Rhapsodie by Claude Debussy

Parzial by John Zorn, arr. Krakauer, Tagg

Der Gasn Nign, Trad., arr. Krakauer, Tagg

Berimbau by Kathleen Tagg

Body and Soul by Green, Heyman, Sour, and Eyton, arr. Krakauer, Tagg

Chassidic Dance by Abraham Ellstein

Moldavian Voyage by Emil Kroitor, arr. Tagg, Krakauer

Synagogue Wail by David Krakauer

Der Heyser Bulgar, Trad. arr. Krakauer and Tagg

Baruch PAC 2024-25 Season:

• November 13: Krakauer & Tagg
• January 8 – February 9: Dead as a Dodo from Wakka Wakka (part of the Under The Radar Festival)
• January 27: Michael Yeung, percussionist
• March 6: Chelsea Guo, pianist and vocalist
• May 13-25: Faust from Heartbeat Opera
• May 19: Hanzhi Wang, classical accordionist 

Baruch Performing Arts Center is at 55 Lexington Avenue (enter on 25th Street between Third and Lexington Avenues, on the south side of the street) in the heart of Manhattan. Praised for its superb acoustics, the Rosalyn and Irwin Engelman Recital Hall has been called "a perfect hall for chamber music" by Anthony Tommasini of The New York Times.