The setup itself, two pianists and two percussionists, is not conventional. Yet it formed naturally, without a deliberate plan. This naturalness elucidates why giving a title to each member of Yarn/Wire is perhaps misleading: there’s a fluidity to the quartet that shatters and belittles the relevance of the principles imposed on being a pianist or percussionist. Pianists Ning Yu and Laura Barger deviate from the traditional melodic purpose; their sharp, punctuated jabs on the keys intertwine with Russell Greenberg and Ian Antonio’s percussion. And then Yarn/Wire’s fluidity in a logistical regard came in the finale of a University of Michigan concert last year, after winning the university’s M-Prize Chamber Competition. Antonio walked over to a rock kit at the front-center of the stage; as he gradually cascaded rolls across the toms, the other three members surrounded him, each whacking a cymbal, all in a precise slew of rhythmic intervals.
Vulnerable to the Unknown
On Yarn/Wire’s “Currents” Series
