Boston Court Pasadena Features Puppetry, Clowning and Four-Hand Piano Mash-Up May 30

The slightly surreal “Satie Project” visits Boston Court Pasadena May 30 & 31 (Photo – Joe Mazza)

Modern piano music and puppetry rarely share the same stage, but a new collaboration between Piano Spheres and Boston Court Pasadena promises exactly that, with a healthy dose of clowning and avant-garde theatricality mixed in.

By Melanie Hooks

On Saturday, May 30, and Sunday, May 31, Piano Spheres joins forces with performer and puppet artist David Gordezky to present “The Satie Project,” an inventive multimedia performance blending the music of French composer Erik Satie with puppetry, cabaret, and contemporary composition.

The production centers on Satie’s complete works for piano four hands, including the beloved Trois morceaux en forme de poire (Three Pieces in the Shape of a Pear), whose seven movements inspired seven newly commissioned world premiere compositions by contemporary composers.

Performing the evening’s demanding repertoire are Piano Spheres artists Thomas Kotcheff, Vicki Ray, Aron Kallay, and Nic Gerpe, whose performances anchor the ambitious program.

Known for his sly humor and rejection of artistic convention, Satie serves as the ideal muse for a production that blurs the line between concert and theater. Gordezky leads a troupe of performers that includes Rachel Ho and John Morgenstern in a surreal collage inspired by Dada, Fluxus, and Absurdist traditions. Inventive object and puppet design by Eli Presser adds another visual layer to the production’s eccentric aesthetic.

The result is a playful and intentionally disorienting theatrical concert experience — one that channels the spirit of Satie himself, often nicknamed “The Velvet Gentleman.”

The program includes Satie’s four-hand piano works:

• Aperçus désagréables (Unpleasant Glimpses)
• En habit de cheval (Riding Gear)
• Trois petites pièces montées (Three Little Stuffed Pieces)
• Trois morceaux en forme de poire (Three Pieces in the Shape of a Pear)

The evening will also feature seven world premiere commissions:

• TJ Cole – Slowly (The Life Cycle of a Fruit Salad)
• Mikhail Johnson – Redite
• Jihyun Kim – Morceaux 3
• Veronika Krausas – (Une autre) Manière de commencement
• Celka Ojakangas – En plus
• Nathan Schram – More of the Same
• Dale Trumbore – Detached

“The Satie Project” will be performed Saturday, May 30 at 8:00 pm and Sunday, May 31 at 2:00 pm at Boston Court Pasadena.

More information and tickets are available at Piano Spheres.