In Durham, two of the world’s most enterprising and important new-music ensembles convene for a rare double-bill. The JACK Quartet, now at the end of a two-year Duke Performances residency, has set new international standards for audacity, imagination, and excellence. Likewise, over the course of a decade, New York sextet yMusic have restlessly explored the nexus between contemporary classical music and indie rock, collaborating with the likes of Bon Iver and Ben Folds while premiering works from Caroline Shaw and St. Vincent’s Annie Clark. Duke Performances’ ensemble-in-residence two years before JACK Quartet came to Durham, yMusic is “at the forefront of a rapidly changing performance culture,” as The New York Times declared.

JACK Quartet
Zosha Di Castri: String Quartet No. 1
John Zorn: Nachträglichkeit with Alex Sopp
Tyshawn Sorey: Everything Changes, Nothing Changes

yMusic
Gabriella Smith: Tessellations
J.P. Merz: nested forms
yMusic: Cribbea
yMusic: Peter Inn
Gabriella Smith: Maré
Sufjan Stevens (arr. Rob Moose): Year of the Horse
Caroline Shaw: “Their Stenciled Breath” from Draft of a High-Rise