Her varied program is bound together by a kind of enlightened whimsy. The longest work on the program is the Nosturnos of Brazilian-born Arthur Kampela. It is a big work in every sense of the word—in shape, stylistic variety, and dynamic scope. Although not without repose, the overall effect of the piece is happily noisy. Another “big” work is Stefano Gervasoni’s Studio di disabitudine, which runs for about 15 minutes, sounding like a confused poet wandering about on the face of the moon. Gervasoni, who was born in 1962, follows the sort of bemused nihilism that has run through the Italian avant-garde (think Fellini, or better yet, an atonal Nino Rota). Randy Nordschow, the youngster of the bunch at 37, is similarly aloof. Detail of Beethoven’s Hair was not inspired by the music of Beethoven, as far as I can discern, but by an extreme close-up of a portrait of the composer. Here is another walk on the moon, again by a composer with solid technical skills and imagination.

The rest of the program belongs to a more mature group of pioneers and experimenters. The late Claude Vivier provides the most energetic music here, bordering on hysteria at times, but built upon carefully shaped structure. Ligeti is getting a heap of attention as the musical world observes his passing in June of this year. The three Études give us a clue to his greatness; the music is concise, delightful, and distinctive. The American iconoclast composers James Tenney and Elliot Sharp share a fascination with the very nature of sound, as these two works demonstrate. Sharp is not so “in your face” here as he can be, and uses the computer to find remarkable new voices from the piano. Tenney has fashioned a tribute to Steve Reich, using a tape loop to transform a simple rocking pattern into a fantastic kaleidoscope of colors and microtones from an extremely limited pitch range. Tenney and Sharp, in their unique ways, make music that is so audacious that it makes people want to scream, but patience and continued exposure can be rewarded with new worlds, and even revelation.

FANFARE: Peter Burwasser