Renderings provided by LMN Architects featuring Octave 9’s first Artist in Residence, cellist Seth Parker Woods
Hannah Kendall, composer
Seattle Symphony Unveils Daring, Imaginative Programming for New Immersive Venue, Octave 9: Raisbeck Music Center
VISIONARY PROGRAMMING INCLUDES FIVE COMMISSIONS AND FEATURES OVER 70 CONTEMPORARY COMPOSERS THROUGHOUT SPRING 2019
Nov. 14, 2018
SEATTLE, WA – Today the Seattle Symphony announces the much-anticipated artistic programming for Octave 9: Raisbeck Music Center, a new innovative venue in Benaroya Hall opening in March 2019. An unprecedented milestone in Seattle Symphony’s history, the inaugural season of Octave 9 features daring excursions beyond the limits of convention, representing a bold commitment to the music of today. Through the nexus of technology, art and design, Octave 9’s versatile, immersive environment will see five world premieres, over 70 contemporary composers and 70 instrumentalists from the opening in March through June 2019.
Octave 9: Raisbeck Music Center’s novel first season includes a 24-hour nonstop Contemporary Music Marathon that features multi-sensory and interactive performances; creative chamber concerts; intimate performances alongside illuminating conversations with artists and composers; insightful lectures; events for families that spark curiosity; and a new performance venue for the community.
“Octave 9 is groundbreaking,” shared Krishna Thiagarajan, President & CEO of the Seattle Symphony. “In this space, we will live and breathe today’s art and support contemporary composers with a dedicated medium for their work. Arts are the way a society articulates itself, and Octave 9 signifies the importance of supporting the voices of today.”
Beginning in March 2019 the Seattle Symphony will invite composers, musicians and interdisciplinary artists to explore the venue as a creative tool. In addition to innovative Seattle Symphony projects, Octave 9 will serve as an artistic incubator, welcoming the community and local artists to take advantage of the venue’s unique capabilities as a small chamber music hall or experimental performance environment.
“At Octave 9, we will create spectacular multisensory performances that engage and delight many different types of audiences,” added Elena Dubinets, Seattle Symphony Vice President of Artistic Planning and Creative Projects. “With an immense variety of music, we can inspire, challenge, provoke and transform, always in a dialogue with the communities we serve. In our inaugural season we will have the opportunity to work with over 70 composers of all backgrounds, collaborating with them to create and share the music of the future.”
The launch of Octave 9 coincides with the 20th anniversary of Benaroya Hall, the Seattle Symphony’s home since 1998. Centrally located in downtown Seattle across the street from the Seattle Art Museum and blocks from the Harbor Steps, Pike Place Market, Seattle Theater District and the new Seattle Waterfront Octave 9 will add a third performance venue to Benaroya Hall. Designed in collaboration with LMN Architects as a space unlike any other, it will open new opportunities for cross-genre collaborations and allow the Symphony to continue to boldly push boundaries and engage new audiences.
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SETH PARKER WOODS Cellist and interdisciplinary artist Seth Parker Woods is Octave 9’s first Artist in Residence, from March 2019 through the 2019–2020 season. Parker Woods joined the orchestra in October 2018 for several free community performances. He will be a featured performer throughout the opening of this new venue including the March 10 program curated by Derek Bermel, and in an hour-long self-curated program during the Contemporary Music Marathon. His marathon performance will include interactive and electronic works by Ryan Carter, Nathalie Joachim, George Lewis and Annea Lockwood.
“Given my background of working with various types of music, multimedia and electronics, Octave 9 is the perfect playground,” shared Parker Woods. “Because of this space, I’m really able to dream big and develop something extremely dynamic. It’s a privilege to be able to usher in a new concert hall in a way and help configure things for not only my tenure, but for all artists that will utilize the space.”
IN THE SPOTLIGHT
Octave 9 will host performances and discussions that delve into the chamber music and creative process of contemporary composers. Surrounding the performance of their works on the mainstage, composers John Harbison, Heiner Goebbels and Hannah Kendall will each share and discuss their music and unveil the inspirations that go into their compositions.
