Emily Pinkerton and Patrick Burke on “Red Rocking Chair”
I recently sat down with Pittsburgh music power couple Patrick Burke and Emily Pinkerton. Patrick teaches composition and theory at Duquesne and is a member of the New York-based NOW Ensemble and Emily is well known as a singer-songwriter for her unique blend of American and Chilean folk music (she also has great operatic chops, but that’s a story for another time). Emily and Patrick are collaborating on a new piece for NOW called Red Rocking Chair, based on an Appalachian folk song by the same name (also known as “Sugar Babe”), and the new work will be premiered by now at NYC’s North River Music series on February 25. Red Rocking Chair combines Emily’s crystal-clear voice and nimble banjo picking with the existing NOW instrumentation. The video below includes Patrick and Emily talking about the process of composing the work as well as a preview of the piece. I think you’ll really enjoy it, and if you’re an ex pat Burgher in New York, be sure to catch NOW on February 25.
February 16, 2010 at 11:22 am Comment (1)