The iconic American composer Terry Riley (b. 1935) began The Holy Liftoff (2022-2025)* as an open-score sketchbook of brilliantly colored drawings for multiple flutes, commissioned by Claire Chase for her multi-year Density 2036 project. Through a realization by Samuel Clay Birmaher, these sketches have since evolved into a multidimensional work blending through-composed material, graphic notation, evocative artwork, and Riley’s signature open-form scoring. Heard now as an eight-voice chorus of flutes (seven pre-recorded and one live, played by Chase), The Holy Liftoffis joined on the program by Riley’s Pulsing Lifters (2022) and Pulsefield 3 (2025), both expanding the modular, improvisatory spirit of the larger project: Pulsing Lifters reimagined for keyboards by Alex Peh, and Pulsefield 3 with its vivid drawings culminating in a return to song—“the oldest and most urgent mode of music-making,” as Chase notes. For this performance, she is joined by Parker Quartet, pianist Alex Peh, saxophonist Neil Leonard, and special guests from the Berklee Interdisciplinary Arts Institute, the Harvard New Music Ensemble, and Students in Contemporary Chamber Music.

Curated and hosted by Prof. Claire Chase