Violinist Jennifer Koh has received considerable publicity for her activities during the coronavirus pandemic. First, as a contemporary music performer, she found her career devastated as live performances dried up, and she was forced to subsist on food stamps for a time. She bounced back, though, offering streaming video of short works she had commissioned from a variety of composer friends, some well known, some rising figures (the latter received "micro-commission" fees). Alone Together offers 39 of these commissioned ...
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Violinist Jennifer Koh has received considerable publicity for her activities during the coronavirus pandemic. First, as a contemporary music performer, she found her career devastated as live performances dried up, and she was forced to subsist on food stamps for a time. She bounced back, though, offering streaming video of short works she had commissioned from a variety of composer friends, some well known, some rising figures (the latter received "micro-commission" fees). Alone Together offers 39 of these commissioned pieces, none more than a few minutes long. Some directly reflect pandemic conditions (there are two separate pieces with sirens); others have a more general mood of isolation and desperation, but what is remarkable is the constant sense of discovery Koh brings to the music. There are a few instances where the music hangs out in the overtone series and a few other unusual moves, like insertions of the human voice. However, for the vast majority of the time, the violin plays in its...
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