08-27-20

Corinna da Fonseca-Wollheim, The New York Times, August 2014

The neo-Gothic tower of Riverside Church plays refuge to a number of rare, if no longer actively endangered, species. Exhibit A: Henry and Henrietta, the pair of peregrine falcons that nest on a ledge high above Morningside Heights. Exhibit B: the Locrian Chamber Players, one of the most uncompromising contemporary-music ensembles in the city.

The group, which was founded in 1994 and counts composers among its ranks, takes a hard line in its definition of what qualifies as contemporary music: Anything older than 10 years is out. It’s also strict with its audiences, who are given no program notes to guide them until after the performance. But when it comes to musical taxonomies, the Locrian Chamber Players offer a generous embrace to a wide spectrum of sounds. The only true common denominator at Thursday evening’s concert of works by five different composers was the high standard of playing.

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