The Philip Glass Ensemble at Le Poisson Rouge
The Philip Glass Institute (PGI) was established at The New School in early 2019 to form a new learning and creative center built on Glass’s enduring contributions to modern culture. Since then, students, faculty, and the public have had a variety of opportunities to immerse themselves in the work of Philip Glass, other important artists within his circle, and the work of the iconic Philip Glass Ensemble (PGE), which is in residence at the university as well.
Recently, the PGE performed Glass’s acclaimed “Music in Twelve Parts” at the hip Greenwich Village venue Le Poisson Rouge. Thanks to the connection between The New School and the Ensemble, students were able to meet Philip Glass himself, attend rehearsals for the piece, as well as learn key technical aspects about the composition from the sound designer and Mannes School of Music faculty member Dan Bora.
Bielawa shared that the performance at Le Poisson Rouge was met with an enthusiastic reception at the packed venue, where people were both familiar with the piece, and encountering it for the first time, too.
“For us it was really fun to perform the piece in that intimate club setting rather than in a big concert hall, which is where we have become more accustomed to doing it,” said Bielawa. “The club feel is closer in scale and vibe to some of the lofts that the piece was first performed in, back in the early ‘70s. A really different feeling!”
The PGE will next be performing “Music in 12 Parts” at the Annenberg Center in Philadelphia, and in March, they will perform Glass’s recently rediscovered piece “Music in 8 Parts” in Helsinki and Athens.