Music for Piano and Humankind: intrigued?

This release of an intriguing concert at Duquesne University's PNC Recital Hall came to me too late to get into our print highlight areas for this week, so I include it here:

On Sunday, October 25th at 2:50 PM, NY-based guest artist pianist Irena Portenko and the attending audience will give the World Premiere of a work by the acclaimed composer Israel Kremen – “Kaleidoscope.”  The work, which was written in 2005 and is fully titled “Kaleidoscope” of 25 Preludes and Fugues for Piano and Humankind” is scored, interestingly enough, for Piano and the Audience; and pays homage to the highly inspirational masterpieces - the cycles of Preludes and Fugues - of J.S. Bach, Hindemith, Shostakovich and Rodion Shchedrin.  

Based on the idea of quick and constant change from one mood/subject/reality to another, much like a Kaleidoscope, which ends its cycle only to find itself at the beginning, the work boasts an eclectic mix of Russian tunes of ancient Russian wedding, Bulgarian folk dances, Ukrainian traditional melodies, Czech ballads, Romanian folk songs, Jewish folk melodies and Hebrew prayer tunes, Lithuanian motifs and Oriental modes.  As its title suggests, “Kaleidoscope”  calls for a mandatory participation from the audience which includes whistling the tune of the fugue, repeating names of musicians from the Bach family after the performer, and reciting different texts of a 12th century motet translated into English, among other.
The concept “New Baroque Music of the 21st Century” provides an intriguing combination of genres from the Baroque style of the 17th and 18th centuries– preludes and fugues, with modern melodic, harmonic and polyphonic environments.

Tickets are $10 (suggested donation) and are available at (412)-396-6083 or www.duq.edu/music.  PNC Recital Hall is located on the 1st Floor of the Mary Pappert School of Music at Duquesne University, 600 Forbes Ave., Pittsburgh (Uptown), PA 15282.  For more information please call (412)-396-6083 or visit www.duq.edu/music.