By Thomas May
Special to The Seattle Times
No matter how many other leisure-time options compete for our attention, there really is nothing to replace the connection that happens at a live performance. Fortunately for classical music lovers, local organizations are busting out a new season of enticing variety, from early music innovators to contemporary composers inspired by the findings of science.
“Fluid Dynamics”
Violinist Rachel Lee Priday combines music and science in a multimedia live performance premiere of her new project and album, “Fluid Dynamics,” Oct. 8 at Meany Hall.
Venturing far beyond Debussy’s “La Mer” — perhaps classical music’s most famous portrait of the sea — violinist Rachel Lee Priday, who also teaches at the University of Washington School of Music, combines music and science in this multimedia live performance premiere of her new project and album, “Fluid Dynamics.” Inspired by the research of oceanographer Georgy Manucharyan (also on the UW faculty), Priday commissioned six of today’s most interesting composers — including Gabriella Smith (now based in Seattle) and Kronos Quartet cellist Paul Wiancko — to respond to videos illustrating Manucharyan’s experiments tracking the physics of the ocean. Priday will be joined by pianist Cristina Valdés.
Oct. 8; Meany Hall, University of Washington, 4040 George Washington Lane N.E., Seattle; tickets from $20; 206-543-4880, st.news/fluid-dynamics