CONCERT OF ROBERT BLACK (NEW YORK, USA) 

A concert given by a unique musician and double-bassist Robert Black (New York, USA) was held on March 17, 2009 in the Universal night-club.

His performance in Kaliningrad must be accredited to the cooperation between the CEC ArtsLink international organization, the Apposition Music Forum, the Moscow, Kaliningrad and Nizhniy Novgorod branches of NCCA, supported by the Centre of Development and Support of New Music «Devotio Moderna» and the Trust for Mutual Understanding Foundation.

The Russian new-music-fanciers got a unique chance to have a deeper engagement into creative work of the double-bassist from New York, Robert Black, who was appearing constantly at major international festivals, such as Takefu International Music Festival, Japan, the Helsinki Festival, NYYD, Estonia, and many others. Currently, Robert performs successfully with the Bang On A Can All Stars, New York City’s famous music ensemble. He has collaborated and performed with musicians from John Cage to D.J. Spooky, Elliott Carter to Meredith Monk, Cecil Taylor to young emerging composers. He recently created and performed the music for Kathryn Walker and the production of The Odyssey. Other collaborations include films by Rudy Burckhardt.

Those who came were able to witness a most riveting performance given by a solo double-bassist. Black is an astonishing virtuoso who can make the bass sing like a cello or handle bursts of notes as cleanly as a violin. He’s also quite an inspiration to composers, as Black puts his awesome technique to work seeking out the expressive, musical potential of the pieces he plays.

The program included the works by contemporary international composers (ranging from 1964 to 2008): ОGiacinto Scelsi (Italy), Hans Werner Henze (Germany), Iannis Xenakis (Greece), Francois Rabbath (France), Colin Bright (Australia), Elliott Carter (USA), Evan Ziporyn (USA), Michael Gordon (USA), James Tenney (USA), Peter Velikonja (USA), Jacob Druckman (USA), Robert Black.

The day before the concert, on March 16, Robert Black held a workshop in the Rachmaninov Kaliningrad Regional musical college which gathered the students of the pop music and music theory department, the college teachers as well as local artistic intelligentsia. 

Workshop in the Kaliningrad music college

Concert in the Universal night-club