What happens when the Seattle Symphony gets untuxed?
The symphony will show a whole different side in its debut Bumbershoot performance, happening Sunday as part of the annual Seattle Labor Day weekend extravaganza of music and arts.
The symphony’s new music director Ludovic Morlot will host the show, which includes a new number for electric bassoon, a Vivaldi concerto including Morlot on violin, and a piece called “Failing: A Very Difficult Piece For Solo String Bass,” in which the bassist will carry on a conversation with the audience while playing that composed-to-be-difficult piece.
It was the arrival of the 37-year-old Morlot that inspired the symphony to seek a spot under the umbrella, which is broad enough to incorporate comedy, theater, visual arts and a mysterious spectacle dubbed “PAS (Potentially Annoying Sound).”
But really, how big is that umbrella?
Eighties icons Daryl Hall and John Oates (now sans the large mustache) fit beneath it, along with Seattle hip-hop maestros Macklemore & Ryan Lewis. Sharing the shelter are Bonnie Birch, a Seattle accordionist (2 p.m. Sunday) appearing as part of Youngershoot, an expanded lineup of kids programming.
And though the symphony is performing selections from Vivaldi’s Double Violin Concerto in A minor, the other four selections in its concert are hardly the stuff typically heard at Benaroya Hall. (However, symphony public relations director Jill Becker points out that Sept. 18, the symphony will open the hall’s doors to a genre-busting of array of musicians at its free Day of Music; learn more at seattlesymphony.org).
“Morlot is interested in exploring different ways of doing things,” Becker said. “He’s really interested in breaking down barriers in terms of genre.”
Also on the program: selections from Philip Glass’ String Quartet No. 5; the new bassoon piece composed and performed by the symphony’s Seth Krimsky; “Street Musicians,” a comic piece composed by Anthony DiLorenzo in 2008; and “Failing,” performed by the symphony’s Joseph Kaufman, which is as much performance art as it is music.
“I liked the absurdity of the idea of having to play and talk at the same time,” composer Tom Johnson said in a 2007 interview in Paris Transatlantic Magazine. “I was sure that even the best players would fail, but in fact, it’s played pretty well pretty often.”
If these are the kinds of things the symphony’s musicians play when they get untuxed, what do they wear?
“I don’t know what the dress code is,” Becker said. “I will not be at all surprised if it involves jeans.”
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