Counterpoint_1600x660

Counterpoint_1600x900-1
Photo by Richard Termine
Counterpoint_1600x900-3
Photo by Richard Termine
Counterpoint_1600x900-4
Photo by Richard Termine
MoreForever_1600x900-1
Counterpoint_1600x900-2
Photo by Richard Termine
Conrad Tao & Caleb Teicher – Counterpoint

“[Counterpoint] demands such a high level of presence and such a close attentiveness to one another. To me, it doesn’t feel removed from the classical tradition. You are given a score as a musician and you are interpreting a score every time and every night. Of course, that interpretation is formed by the work you have done ahead of time, by practicing and thinking and preparation. While all of that is true, the interpretation is actually taking flight anew for every single show.”

San Diego Tribune

Counterpoint is a collaboration between pianist and composer Conrad Tao and choreographer and dancer Caleb Teicher. The duo explore the dichotomy of their different perspectives and artistic practices, expanding their individual expressive capacity through a collective experience. Harmonic, rhythmic, and theatrical counterpoint between the artists seeks to map out constellations linking their disparate traditions, driving the imagination and opening the heart. The stylistically diverse music of Counterpoint includes the Aria from Bach’s Goldberg Variations, Art Tatum’s demented stride piano, Arnold Schoenberg’s ironic take on the Viennese waltz, a delicate miniature from Tao and Teicher’s More Forever, and threading it all together, a work that bridges traditions, approaches, and styles—Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue. Tao and Teicher’s earlier work, More Forever, is a Bessie Award-winning, New York Times critic’s pick which was lauded for “constantly extending the sonic aspects of dance.”

Caleb Teicher specializes in musically-driven dance traditions and interdisciplinary collaboration. Their work has been presented at venues including The Joyce Theater, New York City Center, the Guggenheim Museum, Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival, and Lincoln Center. Caleb is the recipient of a 2019 New York City Center Choreographic Fellowship, a 2019 Harkness Promise Award, a 2019 NEFA National Dance Project Production Grant, and two Bessie Awards. Their work has been featured by The New York Times, NPR, Forbes, Vogue, Interview Magazine, on the cover of Dance Magazine, and on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert alongside Regina Spektor.

Conrad Tao has appeared worldwide as a pianist and composer. Born in Urbana, Illinois in 1994, he is the recipient of the prestigious Avery Fisher Career Grant and was named a Gilmore Young Artist. As a composer, he was also the recipient of a 2019 New York Dance “Bessie” Award, for Outstanding Sound Design / Music Composition, for his work on More Forever, his first collaboration with Caleb Teicher. He has appeared as soloist with major orchestras including the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Cleveland Orchestra, New York Philharmonic, and Boston Symphony. As a composer, his work has been performed by orchestras throughout the US; his first large scale orchestral work, Everything Must Go, was premiered by the New York Philharmonic and his violin concerto, written for Stefan Jackiw, was premiered by the Atlanta Symphony and the Baltimore Symphony.