"THE BQE" At BAM

PHOTOS: "The BQE" at the Brooklyn Academy Of Music, Thursday, November 1, 2007. Five performers with Hula-Hoops, and overhead visual projections accompanied the 30 piece chamber orchestra with Sufjan Stevens and his band. The 30 minute orchestral piece contained a wealth of new melodic material. The program contains an essay explaining the significance of the Hula-Hoops, including the obvious connection to the wheel and motion, staples of the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway.

Sufjan Stevens on stage at the conclusion of "THE BQE"

A Great Concert AT BAM

The photo is a little dark (click it to enlarge,) but it gives you the idea. Singer-songwriter Sufjan Stevens brought his band and a 30 piece chamber orchestra to BAM to perform a commission entitled "The BQE." Stevens is at the piano in the photo. The 30 minute orchestral tone poem, done with overhead projections showing the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway, traffic, and neighborhoods, and also accompanied at times by five performers, two guys and three women with Hula-Hoops, was sort of a "Koyannisquatsi" for Brooklyn yuppies. In fact there are many echoes of Philip Glass-like minimalism in Steven's music. The house was packed and the audience roared its approval. After an intermission, Stevens and all the musicians performed selections from his previous albums, including the wonderful "Illionise." I had to leave a few minutes early to make my bus connection back to Philadelphia, but the trip was surely worth it. Stevens is a true musical genius.

Jim