World-renowned director Peter Sellars’s new staging of composer Tyshawn Sorey’s Monochromatic Light (Afterlife) opens on September 27 and runs through October 8 at New York’s Park Avenue Armory. Commissioned by DACAMERA and Rothko Chapel in celebration of the Chapel’s 50th Anniversary, Sorey’s piece had its sold-out, world premiere performances at the Chapel in February. The New Yorker called Monochromatic Light (Afterlife) “gripping,” and NPR called it “full of mystery, with floating unsettled harmonies.”
Visionary director Peter Sellars collaborates with Tyshawn Sorey to ritualize this deeply moving work. Within the confines of a ceremonial chamber, audiences are immersed in Sorey’s composition, works by celebrated visual artist Julie Mehretu, and choreography by flex pioneer Reggie (Regg Roc) Gray to gain new perspectives on time, space, and movement. And while profoundly personal, this spiritual happening also serves as an invocation of the collective memory and ancestral trauma of our time and the distant but resonant past.
Composer, Conductor, Tyshawn Sorey
Director, Peter Sellars
Visual Artist, Julie Mehretu
Choreographer, Reggie (Regg Roc) Gray
Lighting Design, James F. Ingalls
Sound Design, Marc Urselli
Viola, Kim Kashkashian
Piano/Celesta, Sarah Rothenberg
Percussion, Steven Schick
Vocal Soloist, Davóne Tines
Choir, The Choir of Trinity Wall Street
For tickets and more information, visit the Armory’s web site.