Bluets

PROGRAM NOTE

Just about ten years ago, I first met and collaborated with the members of yMusic. Earlier that year, Rob & CJ had conceived of a new kind of ensemble whose defining characteristic might be described as "classical pedigree married to pop/vernacular music fluency". Our first concert together, in which we premiered my song cycle For the Union Dead, on poems by Robert Lowell, happened also to be yMusic's first public performance. Needless to say, they have gone on to do incredible things in the music world, commissioning and recording works by new music luminaries like Andrew Norman and Caroline Shaw, as well as collaborating individually and collectively with pop artists ranging from Paul Simon and Sufjan Stevens to Ben Folds and Anohni. I have learned an extraordinary amount about music from the six uniquely gifted individuals who comprise yMusic, and remain in awe of their staggering artistry. Bluets is, in a sense, a small tenth anniversary gift celebrating our continued friendship.

— Gabriel Kahane, July 2017

PURCHASE