By WQXR Staff<\/p>\n
Contrary to the misguided and musty reputation often bestowed upon classical music, this art form is very much alive \u2014 and in the hands of many talented and creative musicians ushering it forward. That\u2019s why WQXR is kicking off 2019 by introducing \u201c19 for 19,\u201d a group of artists we love that includes long-time heroes, established favorites and newcomers set for stardom. We\u2019re planning all sorts of exciting collaborations across our platforms throughout the year, so stay tuned. Get to know them here, and if you haven\u2019t yet heard what they can do, now\u2019s the time.<\/p>\n
Meet the line-up:<\/strong><\/p>\n Teddy Abrams, conductor \/ composer \/ pianist<\/strong> Inon Barnatan, pianist<\/strong> The Knights<\/strong> Read the full list<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" By WQXR Staff Contrary to the misguided and musty reputation often bestowed upon classical music, this art form is very much alive \u2014 and in the hands of many talented and creative musicians ushering it forward. That\u2019s why WQXR is kicking off 2019 by introducing \u201c19 for 19,\u201d a group of artists we love that … Continued<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":605,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.opus3artists.com\/api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/622"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.opus3artists.com\/api\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.opus3artists.com\/api\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.opus3artists.com\/api\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.opus3artists.com\/api\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=622"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.opus3artists.com\/api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/622\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1864,"href":"https:\/\/www.opus3artists.com\/api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/622\/revisions\/1864"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.opus3artists.com\/api\/wp\/v2\/media\/605"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.opus3artists.com\/api\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=622"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.opus3artists.com\/api\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=622"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.opus3artists.com\/api\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=622"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nTriple-threat Teddy Abrams is often dubbed \u201cthe new Leonard Bernstein,\u201d and in true Bernsteinian fashion, this gifted musician has transformed the classical scene in Louisville, Kentucky, where he is music director of the Louisville Orchestra. A tireless advocate for the transformational power of music, this Michael Tilson Thomas prot\u00e9g\u00e9 also runs the Britt Festival in Jacksonville, Oregon, where some of his cooler initiatives include anointing \u201cconducting\u201d fellows (in which the likes of composer-in-residence Caroline Shaw will be instructed in the art of baton-wielding) and orchestral fellowships that give aspiring string players a much-needed stepping-stone into the industry. In his downtime \u2014 of which there can\u2019t be much \u2014 Abrams also plays clarinet and leads the genre-blending Sixth Floor Trio.<\/p>\n
\nNew York-based Israeli pianist Inon Barnatan is so admired by audiences and musicians alike that his fellow artists fall over themselves to collaborate with him \u2014 meaning his dance card is perpetually full. Musically speaking, what we love best of all about Barnatan is his sheer range. Not only does he slay the Romantic repertoire (he has been dubbed \u201ca born Schubertian,\u201d and he\u2019s a Chopin, Mendelssohn and Rachmaninoff master as well), but he\u2019s also fully at home performing more recent works. His reading of Messiaen\u2019s From the Canyons to the Stars might just be definitive, and he\u2019s a brilliant advocate for contemporary voices such as Thomas Ad\u00e8s and Matthias Pintscher. Having recently finished his term as the New York Philharmonic\u2019s first-ever artist-in-residence, in 2019 Barnatan becomes music director of La Jolla Music Society Summerfest, and we can\u2019t wait to see how he brings his musical intelligence, poetic sensibility and innate sense of fun to the proceedings. Barnatan performs live at The Greene Space for the launch of our \u201c19 for 19\u201d project on January 31.<\/p>\n
\nThe creative brainchild of brothers Colin and Eric Jacobsen, The Knights emerged from a number of informal chamber music reading parties. Although the ensemble defies easy categorization, it might best be described as a collective that wants its performances to be as culturally relevant as they are technically sound. While based in Brooklyn (The Knights are artists-in-residence at BRIC), the ensemble collaborates with artists from beyond the borough, considers musical influences from across the globe and often presents the work of composers with a similar artistic outlook, building their own unique, borderless sound. Consider 2017\u2019s album Azul<\/em>, featuring Osvaldo Golijov\u2019s composition of the same name as performed by the orchestra and Yo-Yo Ma, Caroline Shaw\u2019s arrangement of Stockhausen<\/em> and a bounty of interpretations of music by Sufjan Stevens. This year The Knights trek across Europe in a 13-city tour with Israeli mandolinist Avi Avital, and drop into Zankel Hall with Syrian clarinetist Kinan Azmeh. Before that, you can witness the group\u2019s electrifying brand of music-making live at The Greene Space on 31 January as part of our \u201c19 for 19\u201d launch event.<\/p>\n