Liquid Music

03/27/2026

Mary Prescott's Ancestral Table made its world premiere last week at Millwick! 🌿

Thanks to all who gathered for a nourishing evening of new music and storytelling by Prescott in collaboration with legendary chef Jazz Singsanong of Jitlada Thai Restaurant.

This event was coproduced by LA Phil and Liquid Music and part of LA Phil's Body and Sound Festival.

Photos:
1, 5-6, 11, 12, 15 by FarahStop
2-4, 7-10, 13-14, 16, 17 by Andrea Smith

03/17/2026

Announcing BODY LIVE LIVE MUSIC at Topanga Tower

Part of LA Phil’s Ritual festival, curated by Esa-Pekka Salonen
Coproduced by LA Phil Insight, Liquid Music, and Studio Dimitri Chamblas

A pilgrimage. A progression.

BODY LIVE LIVE MUSIC transforms the decommissioned Topanga Tower into a living instrument, invoking sound and movement as part of a communal artistic rite. Conceived and directed by creative partners Kate Nordstrum and Dimitri Chamblas, the experience unfolds across terrain and architecture, guiding audiences from daylight into dusk in a deliberate progression of gathering, activation, and release.

From city to sea, body to horizon, gesture to vibration, BODY LIVE LIVE MUSIC at Topanga Tower offers an intensifying arc of visceral perception.

Spring 2027 performances. Program details to be announced in August.

More info: liquidmusic.org/body-live-live-music-at-topanga-tower

Kate Nordstrum Dimitri Chamblas LA Phil

Artwork & design by Daedalus Li

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BODY LIVE LIVE MUSIC is a new joint practice of choreographer/director/producer Dimitri Chamblas (Paris Opera, CalArts, Studio Dimitri Chamblas) and curator/artistic director/producer Kate Nordstrum (Liquid Music, Boston Symphony Orchestra). Dedicated to site-inspired performance projects, this ongoing venture melds music, movement, and environment into communal art experiences of the highest caliber. Together, Chamblas and Nordstrum focus on artistic and natural landscapes that center body and sound with a commitment to ‘shared reality.’

12/09/2025

Just announced! The fiercely innovative JACK Quartet performs Georg Friedrich Haas’ visionary Third String Quartet, "in iij Noct"—a piece meant to be heard in total darkness, creating a uniquely physical concert experience. The musicians communicate solely through sound, inviting one another into musical journeys, and deciding together how far they will travel down each path.

April 9 at REDCAT, Los Angeles. This performance is one of multiple projects co-produced with the LA Phil for the Body and Sound Festival, running January–April, 2026.

Learn more at https://liquidmusic.org/jack-quartet-haas-in-the-dark.

12/03/2025

Historia heads to London! 🇬🇧 Following recent concerts in New York and Minnesota, the Barbican Centre in partnership with Liquid Music presents the UK premiere of writer Karl Ove Knausgård and composer/percussionist Glenn Kotche’s collaboration on Mar 5, 2026.

The evening centers on a new Liquid Music-commissioned work that unites Knausgård's textual prowess with Kotche's sonic explorations, accompanied by visuals from director Johan Renck. The performance also features readings from Knausgård’s "The School of Night" and a selection of Kotche's compositions, both new and established.

Tickets go on sale this Fri, Dec 5. Learn more at https://liquidmusic.org/karl-ove-knausgrd-and-glenn-kotche-historia-barbican-london.

Photos: Andrea Smith

11/13/2025

The Twin Cities premiere of Gabriella Smith's Aquatic Ecology was an unforgettable sound experience evoking nature's beauty and crisis. The new work wove raw field recordings of hidden ecosystems — including shrimp crackling, parrotfish eating algae off coral, fish species, melting ice, rainfall, whales, and more — directly into the moving composition performed by yMusic. Gabriella and cellist Gabriel Cabezas opened the evening with a captivating set of music from their album Lost Coast (and beyond). Thanks to everyone who made this beautiful evening possible!

Photos: Andrea Smith

11/11/2025

Momentum from the NYC premiere continued as Karl Ove Knausgård and Glenn Kotche brought their inspired new work Historia to Northrop. What a beautiful weekend of collaborative communion and deep conversation. Thanks to all who joined us!

Photos: Andrea Smith

Special thanks to Dr. Thomas von Sternberg and Eve Parker for their generous support of this project.

11/07/2025

We are ecstatic to celebrate a GRAMMY nomination for Adam Tendler's Inheritances in the Best Classical Instrumental Solo category! The work was produced by Liquid Music and made its world premiere in Minneapolis, followed by several presentations across the country since 2022. Sending huge, heartfelt congrats to Adam and all of the incredible composers involved.

Photo: Jayme Halbritter

11/07/2025

Composer Gabriella Smith sat down with Minnesota Senior Climatologist Kenny Blumenfeld to discuss Smith's path to environmentalism and the power of art to inspire climate action, a conversation hosted by Freshwater Society in collaboration with the Walker Art Center. See her perform with cellist Gabriel Cabezas and the Twin Cities premiere of Aquatic Ecology for yMusic on Sat, Nov 8.

Watch the full video at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WgrxtRD37xc.

11/06/2025

"Crossing Open Ground is both a journey and a dwelling, a way of moving through a landscape and letting it speak back."

In late October, 40 musicians performed John Luther Adams's Crossing Open Ground in Utah's Snow Canyon State Park. The ensemble’s tones emerged and dissipated into the desert air — a soundscape shaped by the land itself. Having spent a week immersed in the environment, trumpet player Trever Hagen reflects on music, change, and the experience of performing Adams's work on the Liquid Music Blog.

Continue reading at https://liquidmusic.org/blog//music-and-change-in-performing-john-luther-adams.

Crossing Open Ground at Snow Canyon State Park was made possible by Kayenta Arts in partnership with Utah Tech University.

By Trever Hagen

10/31/2025

Thanks to everyone who joined us for the world premiere of Historia by Karl Ove Knausgård and Glenn Kotche at 92nd Street Y last night. The inspired collaboration was rich in words, music, and friendship — with stunning visuals by Johan Renck.

Minneapolis, you're next! Catch Knausgård and Kotche this Sun, Nov 2 at Northrop. Get tickets at https://www.northrop.umn.edu/events/karl-ove-knausgard-glenn-kotche-historia-2025.

Photos: Mayra Bajana

10/30/2025

In anticipation of the Twin Cities premiere of environmentalist and composer Gabriella Smith's Aquatic Ecology, yMusic cellist Gabriel Cabezas and violist Nadia Sirota offered reflections to take with you into the performance: on Smith’s enchanting ability to alter perceptions of sound, on expanding the voice of their instruments through encounters with aquatic languages, and on the singular experience of making chamber music with a choir of humming fish.

Check out "Aquatic Ecology: Reaching New Depths of Listening with Gabriella Smith and yMusic" by Amy Chatelaine on the Liquid Music blog, and get your tickets to the performance on Nov 8 at the Walker Art Center!

Read it here: https://liquidmusic.org/blog//aquatic-ecology-reaching-new-depths-of-listening-with-gabriella-smith-and-ymusic-gabriel-cabezas-nadia-sirota.

By Amy Chatelaine

10/29/2025

"What I'm not interested in when I'm writing is thinking or planning. It’s like an improvisation and it's only possible if you practice a lot. And it’s the same with an instrument—if you play, you can't think. You have to be in it, and that's the place to be." —Karl Ove Knausgaard

Ahead of their appearance together for Historia, novelist Karl Ove Knausgaard and composer/drummer Glenn Kotche sat down with writer Steve Marsh for Mpls.St.Paul Magazine to discuss their respective processes, the role of rhythm in their work, and the exciting connections between writing and music.

Read more and get tickets to their program on Thu, Oct 30 at 92nd Street Y and Sun, Nov 2 at Northrop: https://liquidmusic.org/blog//writer-karl-ove-knausgaard-and-wilco-drummer-glenn-kotche-collab-for-liquid-music