Outpost is the closest thing I've seen to a contemporary classical seisiun. The brainchild of soprano Carrie Henneman Shaw and Minnesota Orchestra violist Sam Bergman, Outpost is an occasional new-music and spoken-word showcase that Bergman calls "a 21st-century variety show." It started in 2018, but has been on a pandemic-caused hiatus until Monday, when Outpost rose again as part of the Great Northern Festival.
Submitted by Joanne De Pue on April 19, 2021 - 8:14am
Outpost co-founders Carrie Henneman Shaw and Sam Bergman. Shaw is artist-in-residence in the UW Music Voice program (Photo: courtesy Star Tribune).
Maybe what classical music needs is something like an old-fashioned Irish seisiun, where the formality of the form drops away and musicians throw themselves enthusiastically into the give-and-take of collaboration, bridging tunes with an engaging story or joke.
Read the full review at the Star Tribune.
Carrie Henneman Shaw is artist-in-residence in the University of Washington Voice program.