Event

Fifth House Ensemble: Unchained Melodies

Sunday, January 13, 2019
3:00 pm - 4:15 pm
Petty Auditorium

Unchained Melodies, by Dan Visconti, is chamber music with a contemporary twist that evokes the contrapuntal rigor of medieval music and the crafty puzzles of J.S. Bach.

Praised by the New York Times for its “conviction, authority, and finesse,” the Chicago-based Fifth House Ensemble harnesses the collaborative spirit of chamber music to reach beyond the traditionally perceived limits of classical music. 

Composer Dan Visconti’s music is rooted in the improvisational energy and maverick spirit of rock, folk music, and other vernacular performance traditions—elements that tend to collide in unexpected ways with his classical training. For his ongoing initiatives to address social issues through music by reimagining the arts as a form of cultural and civic service, Visconti was awarded a 2014 TED Fellowship and delivered a TED talk at the conference’s 30th anniversary.