MUSIC
SATURDAY, MAY 26
8:00 PM

Ekmeles:  End Words and Stimmung
Saint Peter's Church
346 West 20th Street, Chelsea, Manhattan

$20; $15 students
http://ekmeles.com/wp/2018/03/end-words-and-stimmung/

I would call this a night of microtonal choral music, but I don't want to scare you off.  Because here's the thing:  Stimmung, a bedrock work of the genre by a composer (Stockhausen) known for his impenetrability, is actually one of the most accessible Modernist classical pieces for listeners who like electronic pop music -- even EDM, but more particularly glitch and microhouse.  Premiered in 1968 and very much of its era, it also forecast the sounds of today.  The singers sit in a circle, like hippies, and sing simple tonal phrases, but it isn't all Mellow Yellow:  the phrases overlap each other to create overtones -- which, again, might sound kind of forbidding, but really is both exciting and transporting.  Perhaps despite itself, the piece even at times develops a beat!  It comes to sound something like . . . glitch or microhouse!  Also on the bill is a new microtonal choral work by Christopher Trapani. Ekmeles is a New Music choir that is beyond praise.  This is another instance of music that fans of advanced pop would like if they would only listen to it.

MAKE A NIGHT OF IT:  A good opportunity to check out how the reboot of Momofuku Nishi, from a rather contrived attempt at Italian-Asian fusion to more of an "interesting" Italian spot, has worked.