Sound Bar: The Brothers Balliett
New York Live Arts and Le Train Bleu Present the perfect kick off to the week with Sound Bar. Join us at the Live Gallery Cafe, in our lobby for Live Music and happy hour specials on Mondays in November.
Two world premieres by The Brothers Balliett
BRAD BALLIETT Concerto Grosso
DOUG BALLIETT New rap cantata
performers to include:
Brad Balliett, bassoon
Doug Balliett, double bass
Catherine Gregory, flute
Megan Levin, harp
Colin Davin, guitar
Doug Balliett’s prolific career spans classical performance, composition, rap, rock, spoken word, period performance, and conducting. His compositions have been heard around the world, ranging from solo instrumental works in Lincoln Center to a full-scale hip-hopera at the Lucerne Festival. New York ensembles that have recently performed his work include Ensemble ACJW, The Millennials, The Colonials, Deviant Septet, and DZ4. Doug holds a bachelor’s degree from Harvard University and a master’s degree in historical performance from The Juilliard School. He has performed as solo or principal bassist with Ensemble Modern, San Antonio Symphony, Metropolis Ensemble, Alarm Will Sound, Talea Ensemble, Trinity Baroque Orchestra, Handel and Haydn Society, Arcadia Players, and Pink Martini. As part of The Oracle Hysterical, he and his collaborators have presented hip-hoperas, art-rock song cycles, rap cantatas, and other genre-bending works all over America and Europe. Doug co-hosts The Brothers Balliett radio show with his twin brother Brad Balliett on WQXR’s Q2 new music channel. As part of his Ensemble ACJW program, he teaches in the Bronx at MS 244 The New School for Leadership and the Arts.
New York City-based bassoonist and composer Brad Balliett is gaining a reputation for unusual and thought-provoking programming, performance and composition. Principal bassoon of the Princeton Symphony, Brad performs regularly with Metropolis Ensemble, Signal, Decoda, and Ensemble ACJW, and has performed at festivals including Marlboro, Tanglewood, June in Buffalo, and Festspiele Mecklenburg-Vorpommen. Formerly acting principal of the Hartford Symphony, Brad has also appeared as principal bassoon with the Houston Symphony and American Ballet Theater, and has performed with the New York City Ballet, International Contemporary Ensemble, Anthony Braxton, Zakir Hussain, and Miguel Zenon. Brad is an alumni of Carnegie Hall’s The Academy, and is a founding member of Decoda, the Deviant Septet, and DZ4. Brad graduated summa cum laude from Harvard University in 2005, and holds an MM from Rice University. Brad is also active as a composer, and makes hip-hop albums with his band The Oracle Hysterical. Brad also hosts a weekly radio show on WQXR’s online channel, Q2, called The Brothers Balliett.
