THIRD ANGLE NEW MUSIC ENSEMBLE ~ REVIEWS
LYNN DARROCH , The Oregonian
“Third Angle New Music Ensemble presented six distinct combinations of spoken
word and music at the Wonder Ballroom Friday in the closing concert of the group's
'06-'07 season. "Hearing Voices: The Sound of Literature" featured
readings by author Sherman Alexie, among others. Whether the pieces provoked
laughter, discomfort or awe, they all brought new life to words.”
DAVID STABLER, The Oregonian
“Aesthetically, King Vidor's 1924 silent thriller "Wild Oranges" is
an ice age away from today's techno-laden movies. That is precisely the point
of Third Angle's concert. Portland's we'll-try-anything-once, new-music ensemble
deliberately chose an old-fashioned vehicle to illustrate how chamber music connects
to different art forms. Third Angle's night at the movies plugged chamber music
into popular culture. What's more, the group did it with brand new music -- which
frequently has been the bane of classical music audiences.”
JOSHUA KOSMAN, San Francisco Chronicle
“Oregon composer Robert Kyr is a new name to me, but this group of three violin
concertos, written with a canny combination of virtuoso display and genial accessibility,
left me impressed, excited and often touched. Each concerto has its own distinctive
flavor -- one is a series of variations on a Southern hymn tune, one a pan-Asian
celebration with a Balinese gamelan and one a schematic but dramatic treatise
on conflict resolution. The soloists, Denise Huizenga and Ron Blessinger, are
simply first-rate.”
Textura.org
“Robert Kyr's thoroughly inviting trilogy of violin concerti enacts three
spiritual 'voyages' with the violinist in each case exploring sonic landscapes
corresponding to archetypal themes of love, harmony, and peace. Enhancing the
collection's appeal, each work exudes a different character—the first lyrical,
the second boisterous, the third a combination of both—plus the instrumentation
changes, with the violinist accompanied by the Third Angle New Music Ensemble
in the outer concerti and a Balinese gamelan group alongside a chamber orchestra
in the second.”
Willamette Week
“Third Angle is not only performing works written in the past 30 years, but the composers are actually still living, including works by the Detroit Symphony's Michael Daugherty, the Colorado Symphony's Jon Deak, and Portland's own Bryan Johanson.”