EnsembleNEWSRQ served as our guide once again in the adventures with new music in Monday’s program “Solitude and Suffrage,” performed live online from the First Congregational Church and available for an extended period on the group’s website ensrq.org.
While I miss the live performance and communal experience of concerts, there are some surprise benefits to video performances, chief among them the opportunity to listen a second time to catch what you might have missed. That is invaluable for the brash new music in enSRQ programs. Instead of hearing familiar favorites and cozy sounds, at times we are confronted by uncomfortable dissonances and strange noises.