New York, NY — The 92nd Street Y, New York (92NY), one of New York’s leading cultural venues, presents Pekka Kuusisto, violin and Gabriel Kahane, piano and vocals in their new collaboration COUNCIL on Saturday, May 11, 2024 at 7:30 pm at Buttenwieser Hall at The Arnhold Center. Online streaming is also available for 72 hours following the performance.

An artist of extraordinary and wide-ranging gifts, Finnish violinist Pekka Kuusisto joins us to perform a program of new works co-written with intrepid musician/singer-songwriter Gabriel Kahane. Part of a broad commissioning initiative by Kahane, the work features Kuusisto (on violin, vocals, harmonium, four-string electric guitar, loops, and electronics) and Kahane (on piano, vocals, electric/acoustic guitars, harmonium, and loops) demonstrating the warm baritone and poetic pianism that have distinguished him. The program also features Kuusisto in solo violin works by Kahane and music by Bach, Nico Muhly, and others. A concert of intense beauty that expands our ideas of new music.

Kuusisto/Kahane, new work (New York premiere; 92NY co-commission)

Additional works TBA

This concert is under 90 minutes and will be performed without intermission. Join us in the hall’s lounge following the performance and meet the artists.

Violinist, conductor, and composer Pekka Kuusisto is renowned for his artistic freedom and fresh approach to repertoire. Kuusisto is Artistic Director of Norwegian Chamber Orchestra and Principal Guest Conductor & Artistic Co-Director of Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra. He is also a Collaborative Partner of San Francisco Symphony, and Artistic Best Friend of Die Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen. 

In the 2023/24 season, Kuusisto performs with Mahler Chamber Orchestra, Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchester, Helsinki Philharmonic, San Francisco Symphony, Norwegian Chamber Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic, NHK Symphony Orchestra Tokyo and Boston Symphony Orchestra. He appears as guest conductor with Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra, Gothenburgh Symphony Orchestra, Scottish Chamber Orchestra, Swedish Chamber Orchestra, and Orchestre de chambre de Paris. As Council, Kuusisto tours Norh America and Australia with singer-songwriter Gabriel Kahane.

In the 2022/23 season, Kuusisto performed with Berliner Philharmoniker and Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra. He also returned to perform with The Cleveland Orchestra, San Francisco, and Cincinnati Symphony Orchestras, Gürzenich-Orchester Köln, and Mahler Chamber Orchestra. Kuusisto made his debuts as a conductor with Philharmonia Orchestra and Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra. He is also Sinfonieorchester Basel’s Artist-in-Residence.

An advocate of contemporary music and gifted improviser noted for his innovative programming, Kuusisto’s recent projects have included collaborations with Hauschka and Kosminen, Dutch neurologist Erik Scherder, electronic music pioneer Brian Crabtree, jazz-trumpeter Arve Henriksen, juggler Jay Gilligan, accordionist Dermot Dunne, and folk artist Sam Amidon. 

Kuusisto’s 2023 releases included an album on which he conducts Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra on the first recording of Jaakko Kuusisto’s Symphony, Op.39 (BIS), and another as violinist with Malin Broman and Ostrobothnian Chamber Orchestra performing works by Tarrodi, Byström, Larsson and Zinovjev (Alba). In 2022, Kuusisto released his first album as conductor, partnering with Vilde Frang and Die Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen, presenting the Stravinsky and Beethoven Concerti for Warner (for which he was nominated for a Gramophone Award) and as soloist performing the world premiere recording of Ades’ Märchentänze with Nicholas Collon and Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra (Ondine). With Pentatone, Kuusisto and Norwegian Chamber Orchestra presented the album First Light in 2021, featuring the world premiere recording of Nico Muhly’s violin concerto, Shrink. Other recent releases include Ades’ Violin Concerto Concentric Paths recorded with Aurora and Nicolas Collon, Hillborg’s Bach Materia and Bach’s Brandenburg Concertos No.3 and 4 with Swedish Chamber Orchestra and Thomas Dausgaard, and Daniel Bjarnason’s Violin Concerto with Iceland Symphony Orchestra. 

Pekka Kuusisto plays the Antonio Stradivari Golden Period c.1709 ‘Scotta’ violin.

Gabriel Kahane is a musician and storyteller whose work increasingly exists at the intersection of art and social practice. Hailed as “one of the finest songwriters of the day” by The New Yorker, he is known to haunt basement rock clubs and august concert halls alike, where you’ll likely find him in the green room, double-fisting coffee and a book.

He has released five albums as a singer-songwriter including his most recent LP Magnificent Bird (Nonesuch Records), hailed by the San Francisco Chronicle as “a gorgeous, intimate collection of musical snapshots.” As a composer, he has been commissioned by many of America’s leading arts institutions, including the Brooklyn Academy of Music, Carnegie Hall, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, and the Public Theater, which in 2012 presented his musical February House.

In his 2023/24 season, Kahane embarks on a new collaborative commissioning project with the Attacca Quartet, Pekka Kuusisto, and Roomful of Teeth as part of a two-year initiative with San Francisco Performances, with additional performances scheduled around the U.S. and Europe.

Season highlights include the European premiere of emergency shelter intake form in London with the BBC Concert Orchestra, duo recitals with Jeffrey Kahane, a conducting appearance with the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, and the New York premiere of his piano concerto Heirloom by Jeffrey Kahane and The Knights.

A frequent collaborator across a range of musical communities, Kahane has worked with an array of artists including Paul Simon, Sufjan Stevens, Andrew Bird, Phoebe Bridgers, Caroline Shaw, and Chris Thile. In 2019, Kahane was named the inaugural Creative Chair for the Oregon Symphony. Kahane relocated with his family to Portland, Oregon in March of 2020. 

Date and Time: Saturday, May 11, 2024 at 7:30 pm

Location: Buttenwieser Hall at The Arnhold Center, 1395 Lexington Avenue, New York, NY 10128

Tickets start at $25 and are available at https://www.92ny.org/event/pekka-kuusisto-and-gabriel-kahane.