NICO MUHLY

Saturday 1:00 PM at the Bijou Theatre
William Basinski + 802 Tour

Sunday 4:00 PM at the Bijou Theatre
St. Vincent + Nico Muhly & Doveman

Nico Muhly’s uncanny ability to move from genre to genre has paid off, working with some very well known names, including Björk, Antony Hegarty (of Antony & the Johnsons), Bonnie “Prince” Billy, and modern classical composer, Philip Glass.

Muhly also composed the music for the films, Choking Man and Joshua.  In 2006, his debut recording Speaks Volumes was released.  Most recently he released the collection Mothertongue.

Mothertongue sounds like the product of someone in love with language. Voices are treated as exquisite instruments. (The click of the teeth, the tap of the tongue, the smack of the lips, et. cetera.)

When Muhly composes, the last thing he thinks about is the actual notes that musicians will play. He begins with books and documents, YouTube videos and illuminated manuscripts.

Mothertongue is filled with jittery, anxious repetitions and jarring chords that are intended to suggest the nauseating atmosphere of international jet lag and airport stultification, along with more mundane domestic anxieties. For the title track, Muhly layered the voice of Abigail Fischer, a mezzo-soprano, singing all the addresses at which she has ever lived on top of recordings of another friend taking a shower, eating toast, and frying an egg.   It’s a kind of personal archaeology that reveals more visceral information than you would think capable from mere words and music.

Muhly and playwright Craig Lucas were recently awarded a commission by the Metropolitan Opera and Lincoln Center Theater. The two are composing an opera based on a real internet murder plot. The work will make its debut in June 2011 at the English National Opera and head to the Met for the 2013-14 season.

Nico Muhly will be performing as part of The 802 Tour at Big Ears.