Dynamic Performances from Exceptional Collabs Flow Through Liquid Music | Northrop Series

Liquid Music is a cutting edge lab for innovators in musical composition. It was founded at The Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra in 2012. Since going independent in 2020, series curated by Liquid Music have been called “one of the country's coolest alt-classical concert series” (Star Tribune) and developed an international reputation. As part of the partnership with Northrop, the students at the University of Minnesota’s School of Music will have the opportunity to work with some of the most innovative musicians working today.

Sarah Davachi is a renowned composer of intricate and immersive soundscapes. These highly technical works redefine the shape and breadth of sound. Davachi has toured all over the world, and spent ten years as an interpreter and content developer of the collection of acoustic and electronic keyboards for the National Music Centre in Canada. Trained in classical piano, her experience working in a musical instrument museum spurred her to learn to play acoustic and electronic keyboards, harpsichords, and organs, among other instruments. Davachi will demonstrate her vast abilities on Northrop’s historic, inimitable pipe organ.

In 2008, Mike Hadreas titled his MySpace page ‘Perfume Genius’ and launched his professional music career. Since then, the former club doorman has been catapulted from the Seattle fog into notoriety. Kate Wallich is an accomplished dancer, choreographer, and educator. In 2010, Wallich invented Dance Church—a popular all-levels movement class. Read about How These Two Artists Merged Mediums On ‘The Sun Still Burns Here’.

Kit Downes is a virtuoso pianist and organist, with a large catalog of recorded and commissioned works. Fun fact: he once performed with Bryan Cranston (aka Walter White) as part of the National Theatre production of Network. For this world premiere of Southern Bodies, Downes will be joined by Bill Frisell—one of the most influential jazz guitarists in American music, and the subject of a biography entitled Beautiful Dreamer: The Guitarist Who Changed The Sound of American Music. A small ensemble of esteemed string players from the local, and world-class, The Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra complete this one-of-a-kind evening.

Sun Dogs pairs electrifying composers with expert filmmakers to create an unforgettable cinematic experience. The Northrop performance features: 

• Alarm Will Sound—an elite collective of daring musicians who have collaborated with “a wide range of compelling experimental artists in pursuit of undiscovered artistic territory.”
• Arooj Aftab, the first Pakistani Grammy Award winner, and Devonté Hynes, known for his four solo albums as Blood Orange. 
• A powerhouse trio of women filmmakers: Mati Diop, a French-Senegalese director and actress, who was recently awarded the Golden Bear at the Berlin Film Festival; Manon Lutanie, a director, cinematographer, and filmmaker; and Josephine Decker—said to be ushering in a “new grammar of narrative” by The New Yorker.
• A Northrop-commissioned prelude by Daniel Wohl, whose music for film and television runs the gamut from Mother! to Tales of the Walking Dead.
• Composer Rafiq Bhatia, whoThe New York Times says “ is writing his own musical language, with filmmaker Apichatpong Weerasethakul, whose film Memoria with Tilda Swinton has a 90% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.