Brightwork newmusic, noted for boundary-breaking chamber music that blurs the line between pop and the avant-garde, concludes its Sierra Madre Playhouse residency with Midterms: This Will Hurt Someone, a concert of provocative, humorous and deeply human works inspired by civic life and social change, on Saturday, September 26, 2026, 8:00 PM, at the historic 99-seat performing arts venue.
A twist on political theater, the program, curated by Artistic Director Aron Kallay, is a nod to the upcoming midterm elections, embracing politics through sound.
Highlights include the world premiere of What Remains (Âncheh Mimânad) by Iranian American composer Hesam Abedini, whose work explores the intersections of classical Persian music, jazz, Western contemporary traditions, and computer music.
Also featured are Ted Hearne’s By-By Huey, which, the composer notes “memorializes the (self-) destructive”; Ian Dicke’s Get Rich Quick, a multimedia piece inspired by the financial crash of 2009; and Alvin Singleton’s Jasper Drag, a moving meditation on collective memory that takes its name from a racially motivated murder in Jasper, Texas.
Additionally, the ensemble performs Aron Kallay’s arrangement of Matt Marks’ This Will Hurt Someone, set to the final words of politician R. Budd Dwyer, who took his life on live TV in 1987, and Frederic Rzewski’s Coming Together, a powerful distillation of prison life based on text from a posthumously published book of letters by Samuel Melville, who was killed in the 1971 uprising at New York’s Attica Correctional Facility. It is accompanied by the world premiere of a video by Yago de Mateo and features narration by actress Tracey Leigh (3 from Hell, Criminal Minds, Greys Anatomy).
Brightwork newmusic’s featured musicians include Artistic Director Aron Kallay, piano; Mona Tian violin; Zack Reaves, cello; Sara Andon, flute; Brian Walsh, clarinet; Nick Terry, percussion; Fahad Siadat, tenor; Tracey Leigh, narrator; Yago de Mateo, video (Coming Together); and Kate Alexandrite, video (Get Rich Quick).
Brightwork newmusic has been hailed as “dazzling” (Los Angeles Times) and celebrated for delivering “music that slips between multiple traditions, honoring each but beholden to none” (San Francisco Classical Voice). The Los Angeles-based chamber ensemble was formed in 2013 by Kallay. Built around a sextet instrumentation (piano, violin, cello, flute, clarinet, percussion), it focuses on presenting contemporary classical music and landmark works from the past hundred years. The ensemble’s mission is to revitalize the art of new music by commissioning living composers, premiering their works and inviting listeners into the creative process.
For tickets ($12-$35) and information, please call 626.355.4318 or visit www.sierramadreplayhouse.org. Sierra Madre Playhouse is located at 87 West Sierra Madre Boulevard, Sierra Madre, CA 91024.