NOW! Concerts starting now

MILLERTON — The successful NOW! Concerts series will begin its second season June 11 at 2 p.m. at the NorthEast-Millerton Library Annex. The concert will feature modern and contemporary chamber music, played by cellist Sophie Shao, violinist Jennifer Frautschi and violist Beth Guterman Chu. “These three musicians are some of the most exciting and sought after musicians of their generation,” said Dianne Engleke, who along with husband Mark Liebergall cofounded NOW! Concerts. “We are very excited and honored and fortunate to have them come to Millerton to play a concert for us, and in Sophie’s case to return to us for a second season.”NOW! Concerts was created in 2010 because Engleke and Liebergall felt there were so many musicians who wanted to play music being written today, but were having trouble finding venues in which to perform. Because of that listeners weren’t being presented with the opportunity to hear new works.“The reason we started it was because we wanted to hear chamber music concerts dedicated to contemporary chamber works,” Engleke said. “In speaking to musicians we found that there were very few venues which permitted them to play a concert made solely of modern and contemporary work. “Sophie [Shao] said that in concerts which include both contemporary pieces and pieces from previous centuries, the audience has trouble making those transitions,” she added. “It was hard for listeners to appreciate radically diverse music in the same concert.”That is no longer the case, thanks to the NOW! Concerts. In the first half of the June 11 performance, there will be music from four living composers ranging in age from 39 to 79. Those composers include Lei Liang, a young Chinese-American composer; Osvaldo Golijov, an Argentinian-Jewish composer and winner of the McArthur Genius Award; and Annie Gosfield, a composer living in Brooklyn who explores the beauty of nonliving sounds. There’s a possibility some of the composers will attend the concert.Finishing the first half of the performance will be a string trio by Krzysztof Penderecki, who was a prominent avant garde composer before moving into a more melodic music style.After the intermission there will be two pieces by composers who laid some of the groundwork for modern music, composers who were born in the 19th century but lived into the 20th century, during which time the pieces to be performed were written. The performers chose the program for the afternoon and the order in which the pieces should be played, something Engleke said was important.“Last year we worked at being pedagogical,” she said. “We wanted old pieces and to show how they related to the new pieces. This year we let the musicians come up with a theme to the concert and how it all relates, so we left it up to them.”The main goal, according to Liebergall, is for both performers and listeners to take something away from the performance.“I hope they get enjoyment,” he said.Ticket prices are $20 for adults and $10 for students. Tickets will be set aside for those who would like to attend but cannot afford the ticket price. Tickets may be purchased online at nowconcerts.org, at Kamilla’s Floral Boutique or Little Gates Wine Merchants, both on Main Street in Millerton, by email at 3cornerscontemporarymusic@gmail.com or by calling 518-789-0617. Tickets will also be available at the door. Seats are not reserved so those planning to attend are encouraged to arrive early.The Annex, located at 28 Century Blvd., across the street from the Millerton post office, is now handicapped accessible. There will be three NOW! Concerts this season; the next two concerts will be held in September and October.