MATT HAIMOVITZ, CELLO, Kilby Court, Wednesday.
Kilby Court is an unlikely destination for a classical musician. The music club, which is nestled at the end of an alley with the same name, caters to teens and pre-teens and generally books punk bands. The club is in an old building surrounded by dilapidated warehouses.
You enter the club through a large courtyard. There are handwritten signs warning the crowds against moshing, for liability reasons. These are plastered between posters for bands that have played at Kilby Court or will be playing there in the near future.
The atmosphere in this west-side club echoes the mantra of punk: defiance and rebelliousness. A deep chasm separates the urban decay of Kilby Court from the gentility of Main Street.
And it is exactly in this kind of milieu that Matt Haimovitz feels at home. The 33-year-old cellist has been touring the country since last year, bringing his music to people in rock clubs and bars. His goal is to play in at least one city in every state. So far, he has 15 states to go.
The music Haimovitz plays on his "Anthem Tour" is taken mostly from the like-named album he released last year. The album and the play list on his tour consist of music by living American composers. As he noted in his remarks during his performance Wednesday, the CD and the tour is a celebration of the greatness of America through its music.
Haimovitz played in the club's courtyard. It was packed to capacity (and probably beyond) with twentysomethings. There were a few older people in the crowd, but they were definitely in the minority.
The audience listened with rapt attention to Haimovitz's playing, drinking in the strange sounds emanating from his 18th century cello. The music he played was unfamiliar to most of those at the concert — and, it's a safe bet, to most classical-music aficionados as well.
Unless you've listened to "Anthem," you've probably never heard David Sanford's "Seventh Avenue Kaddish" or Steven Mackey's "Rhondo Variations" or Toby Twining's "9:11 Blues." This was a new experience, and the audience was hypnotized by what it heard.
But it wasn't just new music that Haimovitz played. He also played Bach, including the entire Second Suite in B minor for solo cello. And somehow, surprisingly, Bach didn't seem out of place at all. If anything, Bach's music complemented and validated the other pieces on the program.
Throughout the evening, Haimovitz's playing was accompanied by a variety of sounds. The crackling and popping of a large open fire toward the back of the courtyard didn't distract him. Nor did the low growl of traffic in the distance or a couple of helicopters flying overhead. At one point, toward the end of the concert, the loud wailing of fire engines nearby permeated the air.
Haimovitz didn't hear any of it—he was absorbed in his music; lost in another world.
He closed the concert with his arrangement of Jimi Hendrix's take on "The Star Spangled Banner," which he's called "Anthem." And after hearing all the pieces on the program, "Anthem" served as a reminder that there isn't necessarily a huge gap between rock and contemporary classical music.
Innovative composers and enlightened performers can bridge that gulf and make music a visceral experience accessible to everyone.
E-mail: ereichel@desnews.com