The Chicago Symphony Orchestra recently announced that award-winning architect Frank Gehry will create the stage design for two special CSO concerts focusing on the life and music of Pierre Boulez.
These two concerts on November 14 and 16, "Boulez at 90: Provisionally Definitive," are part of the CSO's "Beyond the Score" series, which harnesses live and multimedia elements to delve into the history and creation of a particular piece of music or artist.
Boulez, who is the CSO's Conductor Emeritus, is world-renowned as a composer, conductor and tireless advocate for new music.
"Boulez at 90" is a 75-minute kaleidoscopic play of music, words and imagery which features original stage design by Gehry, as well as an ensemble of CSO musicians, actors, special lighting and projections--including rare documentary footage of Boulez from the 1960s to the present day.
"Pierre Boulez and Frank Gehry have been close friends for many decades, so I am especially delighted that Frank can be an important part of celebrating Pierre this fall," said CSO President Deborah Rutter.
"Frank's level of innovation in the field of design is equaled only by Pierre's innovation in music, making this collaboration such a natural one," she continued. "Frank's work is widely acclaimed, and of course, the Jay Pritzker Pavilion and BP Bridge that he designed--and which are right across the street from Symphony Center in Chicago--are beloved by Chicagoans and visitors alike."
Gehry has received numerous accolades for his other famous concert halls, art museums and public buildings, including the Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles, the New World Center in Miami, Eight Spruce Street Residential Tower in New York City, and the Guggenheim Museums in Bilbao, Spain and Abu Dhabi, to name a few.
Although he is known primarily as an architect, Gehry has ventured into the world of stage design before. In 2012, he designed the set for a performance of Mozart's opera Don Giovanni presented by the Los Angeles Philharmonic.
More information about the CSO's "Beyond the Score" series is available at cso.org.
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