Tortoiseshell Music Home of composer Nathan Curtis

I am pleased to announce my first performances since...well, since I launched Tortoiseshell Music. If you live in the Boston area and would like to hear my music, now's your chance. I will be playing two afternoon recitals at the Lily Pad in Cambridge on Saturday, August 30 and Saturday, September 13. For more details, see my concert listings for the 30th and the 13th.

I am looking forward to both performances, but I am especially excited about the first one, which is barely a week away now. This recital will feature the premiere of the first installment of my Holy Tango Songbook, for which I will be joined by some special guests. In the Holy Tango Songbook, I have set poems from Francis Heaney's The Holy Tango of Literature, which is a wonderful collection of literary parodies inspired by anagrams of the original authors' names. I first started to set some of these poems to music back in 2006, and now I get to share the first batch of six songs, still warm from the oven (There are many other poems from The Holy Tango that I would like to set, so expect additional installments in the future). When I informed Francis of my recital plans, he graciously offered to come up from New York to give an introduction and readings. Since Francis and I are both members of the National Puzzlers' League, I decided to seek out other NPL members to round out the performance, so I will be joined by mezzo-soprano Lorinne Lampert and pianist Stephen Williams. Lorinne and Francis both came up from New York for a rehearsal last weekend (while Stephen came from the South Shore), and it was fantastic. Hopefully I won't be shown up as a charlatan for my efforts at singing baritone alongside.

Anyway, Francis, Lorinne, and Stephen have all been very helpful in putting this performance together, and I encourage you to come on August 30 and hear the results. Sadly, I can not fill a full recital with the Holy Tango songs, so you will have to sit through some piano and flute solos beforehand. But maybe you're into that sort of thing. (I shouldn't judge; that would be incredibly hypocritical.) If it is your sort of thing, then you should ALSO come to the recital on the September 13, where I will be playing solo works on piano, bass trombone, flute, and clarinet. (Strange assortment of instruments, I know. I'll let you know if I learn how to play any others in the next three weeks...) And even if you can't make it on either date, recordings of both performances will be available at the store not too long afterward, with some tracks freely available on the site as well. Isn't that something?

The follow-up to my recital debut on August 30. At this recital, I will be presenting an entirely instrumental program, performing solo works on a wide range of instruments. Come and gawk at my ability to play trombone, flute, piano, AND clarinet! But not all at once.

The concert is scheduled to run from 3 to 4 PM; the doors will open at 2:45. Admission is $10. The Lily Pad has space for 90, but seating is limited, so show up early to claim a seat. In addition to performing my own compositions, I will be featuring works by Beau Kenyon, Warren Weberg, and John McDonald.

ALSO! Note that the date of this concert has been changed from September 6 to September 13.

Come hear my debut recital at the Lily Pad in Cambridge! I will be presenting a variety of instrumental and vocal works, spanning the full length of my (admittedly brief) compositional career. This recital will include the premiere performance of the Holy Tango Songbook, a setting of poems from The Holy Tango of Literature, by Francis Heaney. If you enjoy literary parodies, sparkling wit, or unrestrained wordplay, you'll love Holy Tango. For this performance, I will be joined by a number of special guests, including Heaney himself, who will give an introduction and/or readings. The program will also include A Very Wibbly News Flash for mezzo-soprano and piano, Four Little Preludes for solo piano, and other works for solo flute or piano.

The recital is scheduled to run from 3 to 4 PM; the doors open at 2:45. Admission is $10. The Lily Pad has space for 90, but limited seating; show up early to claim a seat.