It’s not often we have the chance to see or hear incomplete thoughts of great composers. Completed works come down to us having been considered, reconsidered, polished and readied for presentation. But how fascinating it can be to get a glimpse into the workshop, into the process, into promising beginnings that never grew into their full selves, marble blocks that are half statue, half stone. And how intriguing it would be to have composers of our day reach back and hold hands with some of the great composers of the past, entering, after their own fashion, thoughts started and left dangling, suggestive and mysterious.

For this “Fragments” project we are exploring the idea of this linkage, reentering abandoned imagined spaces to discover what they might suggest when examined from a fresh perspective. Incomplete works of varying lengths by composers such as Mozart, Schubert, Bach and Schoenberg will be paired with new compositions by some of our most thoughtful and imaginative composers to form hybrid creatures. Traditionally mythical beasts of this persuasion, living in two worlds at once, have been believed to have magical powers. We are hoping for some magic here as we find out how today’s composers collaborate with their predecessors. We expect, at the very least, to have a compelling, colorful and challenging evening-length program.