“Tyshawn Sorey drifts through the interior of the Rothko Chapel…. He visits Houston to find inspiration for a piece of music that makes its world premiere this month: ‘Monochromatic Light (Afterlife),’ ” writes Andrew Dansby in Sunday’s (2/6) Houston Chronicle. Houston’s Da Camera co-commissioned the score and will perform the world premiere with chamber ensemble and vocalists on February 19 and 20. “Sorey calls the late New York composer Morton Feldman his biggest influence, in terms of music composition…. Feldman debuted his composition ‘Rothko Chapel’ at the Rothko Chapel in 1972 to mark the one-year anniversary of the space and to pay tribute to Rothko, who had taken his life just before the chapel dedicated to his work opened. A half-century later at the chapel, Sorey will present a piece [co-commissioned] by arts organization Da Camera. ‘Monochromatic Light (Afterlife)’ … reaches back to the past, while creating something contemporary…. ‘A lot of my music deals with grief in many ways,’ [Sorey] he says. ‘I see those colors in the chapel.’ … Sorey feels like the logical composer to update a signature piece for the Rothko Chapel in the 21st century.”
Change font size
