Flotation Device celebrates the 60th birthday of Wenchen Qin, one of the most intriguing—and outside—Chinese composers active today, and the 50th anniversary of a pair of modestly-attended but historically cataclysmic Arvo Pärt concerts in Soviet Estonia that inaugurated his famous tintinnabuli style. We contrast Pärt's spiritualism with Meredith Monk's physicality via her new album with Phaedra Ensemble, while Witold Lutosławski and Anthony Braxton represent the "anti-Pärt" 50th anniversary faction with examples of the former's symphonic modernism and the latter's great 70s free jazz quartet with George Lewis, Dave Holland and Barry Altschul. We preview Music of Remembrance's upcoming traversal of works by Walker, Aminikia and Reich. And a dive into Okkyung Lee's thumpy new electroacoustic album with Explore Ensemble rounds out the proceedings.
