À LA MAO | MAO BOPPIN’ HARD

Whether bop, folk or blues is the starting point for the Modern Art Orchestra's pieces, they always end up in the same place: you can discover the orchestra's own voice in different styles. For the MAO, openness to genre and a unique instrumental combination are foundations that began with the name when it was first launched 18 years ago. Since then, they have honed a big band sound unique to them through hundreds of concerts, dozens of albums and scores of premieres. A cross-section of these is now on display in this spring season's concerts, which focus not on a single composer but on the inspirational power of a stylistic ideal, a jazz tradition. There will also be a premiere in the spring series, but most of the pieces have already been performed, usually only once, and in this arrangement they will be able to reveal new associations and new contexts.