Alisa Weilerstein, cello on Mar 10, 2023 | UCSB Arts & Lectures

“My greatest hope is to create a series of performances that will deepen the possibilities of connection between audience and performer.” – Alisa Weilerstein

“Weilerstein is a throwback to an earlier age of classical performers: not content merely to serve as a vessel for the composer’s wishes, she inhabits a piece fully and turns it to her own ends.” The New York Times 

An Arts & Lectures Co-commission

In Alisa Weilerstein’s groundbreaking, multi-year performance series FRAGMENTS, new music by some of the most compelling composers of our time meets the timeless beauty of Bach’s Six Suites for Solo Cello in an immersive, multisensory audience experience. In FRAGMENTS 1, individual movements from Bach’s first suite are thoughtfully integrated with selected new works to create a wholly original emotional arc. Enhanced by responsive lighting and scenic architecture, the music is performed without pause or printed program details, creating an atmosphere of enchantment, adventure and discovery.  

With FRAGMENTS, cellist Alisa Weilerstein creates a space for performer, composer and listener that is at once physically intimate and philosophically expansive.

Featured Composers: In each FRAGMENTS program, 5-6 composers are featured. There are 28 FRAGMENTS composers in total: Andy Akiho, Johann Sebastian Bach, Courtney Bryan, Chen Yi, Alan Fletcher, Gabriela Lena Frank, Osvaldo Golijov, Joseph Hallman, Gabriel Kahane, Daniel Kidane, Thomas Larcher, Tania Leon, Allison Loggins-Hull, Missy Mazzoli, Gerard McBurney, Jessie Montgomery, Reinaldo Moya, Jeffrey Mumford, Matthias Pintscher, Gity Razaz, Gili Schwarzman, Caroline Shaw, Carlos Simon, Gabriela Smith, Ana Sokolović, Joan Tower, Mathilde Wantenaar, Paul Wiancko.

Learn more about the Creative Team behind FRAGMENTS.

Made possible by gifts to the A&L Commission of New Work Endowment Fund

Presented in association with UCSB Department of Music