Present Music celebrates with its "25 Years Season Finale" concert on Saturday at UWM's Helen Zelazo Center. Show time is 7:30 p.m.
To prepare for the show, I sent managing director Eric Lind five questions. Below are his replies. Enjoy.
OMC: What is Present Music, anyway?
EL: Good question! I'm still trying to figure that one out too ... since it depends on the artists we're collaborating with. But if you think Kronos Quartet, and then throw in a dozen more musicians, you're in the ballpark.
OMC: You celebrate your 25 Years Season Finale on Saturday, wow! What can we expect at the show?
EL:
Musical fireworks! Kevin Stalheim, PM's artistic director commissioned 11 new works this past year by composers from all over the world, and this concert has two new pieces. Gao Hong has written a new piece for the ancient Chinese instrument, the pipa; Greg Spears is a 30-something composer who has written a new piece called Brave Men Sail; and then we have the return of Amy X.
OMC: Who is Amy X and why should we be excited?
EL:
Amy X is a big part of the San Francisco, techno-avant-garde scene. She was here with Present Music last season, and she was such a big hit, we wanted to bring her back as part of our 25th birthday celebration. She does a lot with electronic manipulation of live sound, overdubbing and layering. She's been compared to artists such as Meredith Monk, Kate Bush and Laurie Anderson.
OMC:
What's on your iPod these days?
EL:
I'm gearing up for a road trip from Vegas to Northern California this summer, so I've been pulling out stuff like John Adams' "Hoodoo Zephyr" and Terry Riley's pieces for marimbas. I'm thinking about long desert drives. Meredith Monk is one of my favorites. There's a little piece called "Arctic Bar" that I've always come back to; it's really just vocal nonsense.
OMC: What can we look forward to next season?
EL:
We'll have six concerts next season all at different locations, from the Irish Cultural and Heritage Center to the Milwaukee Art Museum and the Zoo. We want the whole experience of attending a Present Music concert, not just the music, to be about adventure. We'll be launching new pieces by emerging composers, and collaborating with groups like Danceworks and Milwaukee Dance Theatre. It's hard to explain. People will just have to come and give us a try.
A life-long and passionate community leader and Milwaukeean, Jeff Sherman is a co-founder of OnMilwaukee.
He grew up in Wauwatosa and graduated from Marquette University, as a Warrior. He holds an MBA from Cardinal Stritch University, and is the founding president of Young Professionals of Milwaukee (YPM)/Fuel Milwaukee.
Early in his career, Sherman was one of youngest members of the Greater Milwaukee Committee, and currently is involved in numerous civic and community groups - including board positions at The Wisconsin Center District, Wisconsin Club and Marcus Center for the Performing Arts. He's honored to have been named to The Business Journal's "30 under 30" and Milwaukee Magazine's "35 under 35" lists.
He owns a condo in Downtown and lives in greater Milwaukee with his wife Stephanie, his son, Jake, and daughter Pierce. He's a political, music, sports and news junkie and thinks, for what it's worth, that all new movies should be released in theaters, on demand, online and on DVD simultaneously.
He also thinks you should read OnMilwaukee each and every day.
