Friendly advice: Brooklyn Rider is a quartet not afraid of the new

The boys ofBrooklyn Rider recently released "The Brooklyn Rider Almanac" and will performworksfrom the album at Hahn Hall Sarah Small
The boys ofBrooklyn Rider recently released “The Brooklyn Rider Almanac” and will performworksfrom the album at Hahn Hall
Sarah Small

There some classical quartets dabble in contemporary composers while making sure to keep some Bach or Beethoven handy, Brooklyn Rider has shown its commitment to the shock of the new by commissioning a whole album of new works and then touring it.

“The Brooklyn Rider Almanac,” released on Mercury Classics this last September, contains an hour’s worth of commissioned works from artists like Bill Frisell, Christina Courtin, Gonzalo Grau and others. Not everybody involved is a classical composer. In fact, at Thursday night’s performance at Hahn Hall, Brooklyn Rider will premiere “Ping Pong Thumble Thaw” by Glenn Kotche, drummer of the rock band Wilco. The work was commissioned by UCSB Arts & Lectures.

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