I first met the composer Wang Lu on a warm weekend in south Brooklyn in the spring of 2008. The International Contemporary Ensemble, where I’m a pianist and original member, was about to premiere her “Siren Song.” It was by far the craziest-sounding piece on the program. “This one is beyond the beyond,” I said […]
Author Archives: Jacob Greenberg
Jacob Greenberg, a longtime pianist for the International Contemporary Ensemble, lives in Berlin. He teaches each summer at the Tanglewood Music Center, where this past season he coached rarely-heard Ives songs and chamber music.
Posted inEssay
Even and Perverse
Suburban New Jersey, 1991. My parents’ record collection contained a disc from the 1950s of Charles Ives’s chamber pieces and songs—surely one of the first recordings made of this astonishing composer’s work. From that entire memorable LP, which I played virtually on repeat, one track stood out: “The Pond,” for voice and chamber orchestra. The […]