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Tuesday, 3/23, at the Harris Theater, Fulcrum Point played
one of their most disappointing programs in memory. Somehow
the concert-going public must have sensed this in advance as the attendance was paltry; at most 200 by my estimate.
Here’s what the few devotees heard:

“Wintu Dream Song” by David Dzubay for two violins, viola, cello
and flugelhorn, played respectively by Rika Seko, Kathleen
Brauer, Claudia Lazereff-Minaroff, Marc Bandfronbrener &
Stephen Burns.

Well performed, but not memorable (and it’s only two days
since I’ve heard it).

“Kukulkan II” by David Dzubay for Janic McDonald on flute,
Wagner Campos on clarinet, Kathleen B on violin, Mark B
on cello & Kuang-Hao Huang on piano. The one is base
on a visit to Chichen Itza in Yucatán, Mexico.

I recognized all of the Chichen Itza monuments sited in this
piece, but I was only partially convinced that the music
matched their character.

“Sulvastra” by Evan Ziporyn for Rika Seko & Kathleen B on
violins, Claudia L-M on viola, Mark B on cello, Yang Wei
on Chinese Pipa & Kalyan Pathak on Indian tabla.

I thought the tabla and pipa added some entertaining
value to this piece. Although the program notes depict
some high mystical order for this music, it only reached
level 1 of nirvana for me.

“Óox p’eel ikil t’aan” by Hilda Paredes. Stephen
collaborated with the Luna Negra Dance Theater to
present this work based on ancient Mayan folklore.
(You already knew this by the title, didn’t you?)

I liked the percussive effect in this piece but Luna Negra
didn’t add much by running, moon-walking,
and flailing across stage. The only poignant moment
was the flower girl, with a sack of big (let’s say) dahlias
which were thrown at the feet of the dancers and musicians.

“Urban Legends” by Randall Woolf featuring the a whole
group of performers including percussion, sax, flute/piccolo,
oboe/english horn, french horn. Woolf attempted to bring
his knowledge of rap to the stage by capturing four rap artists
on tape and writing a chamber piece to accompany them.

The rappers were represented on-screen by B&W posterized
slides. I’d would have preferred to see them in-person lending
some reality to the words. Otherwise I would’ve shortened the
program by a few minutes and get to the wine & cheese
earlier.
–
Bruce