NO EXIT, Cleveland's inimitable new music ensemble, continues celebrating its 10th Concert Season with world-premiere performances of newly commissioned works. Guaranteed to be a spellbinding listening experience, the program spotlights brand-new pieces by five Cleveland-area composers who are recognized for their singular and distinctive voices: Hong-Da Chin (The Arc of a Tear), Ty Emerson (Darkling, I Listen), Colin Holter (Pallor), James Praznik (Screaming Songs), and Timothy Beyer (She Was My Only Child). Special guests Patchwork (saxophonist Noa Even and drummer Stephen Klunk) join NO EXIT on stage to premiere Praznik and Beyer’s compositions.

“Greater Cleveland is one of the outstanding artistic regions in this country, and it has been under-valued and under the radar for too long,” said NO EXIT artistic director Timothy Beyer. “We are fortunate that a renaissance of sorts is taking place here now to spotlight the many amazing and talented artists who reside in northeastern Ohio. There’s no question that Cleveland’s arts community can and should be a source of great pride for its residents. We are so pleased to present this free concert of unforgettable new music by local composers to our community. Cleveland deserves to be heard!”

Beyer provided the following information to describe the Cleveland Composers concert program: “For a long time now, composers have sought inspiration and found connections between music and other mediums of art. This series of concerts features a few works that fit that bill. The impetus for Chin’s magnificent piece (The Arc of a Tear) is a poem by the 20th century Chinese poet Gu Cheng. Emerson's piece (Darkling, I Listen) was inspired by and uses text from Ode to a Nightingale by the English Romantic poet John Keats. My piece (She Was My Only Child) takes both its namesake and subject matter from a 1946 painting by the Pittsburgh-based painter, Louise Pershing.”

“The other two new compositions on our program are also extremely interesting,” he continues. “Praznik’s' Screaming Songs delves into the notion of virtuosity in a unique and rewarding way, while Holter deftly explores a new sonic landscape, combining electronic sounds with live acoustics in Pallor. All works combined, the Cleveland Composers series offers three nights of extraordinary new music.”

PROGRAM:

• Hong-Da Chin: The Arc of a Tear
• Ty Emerson: Darkling, I Listen
• Colin Holter: Pallor
• James Praznik: Screaming Songs
• Timothy Beyer: She Was My Only Child

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Since its inception, NO EXIT has served as an outlet for the commissioning and performance of contemporary avant-garde concert music. Now in its 10th season, and with well over 80 commissions to date, NO EXIT is known forpresenting exciting, meaningful and thought-provoking FREE concert programs—always with the philosophy of bringing the concert hall to the community (partnering with welcoming non-traditional venues), and by creating an experience that allows its musically curious audience to really connect with what they hear ... “free and open to the public” in every sense.