By Kelly Belich, The Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra

The inaugural season of the SPCO’s Liquid Music series wrapped up on June 18 and 19 at SPCO Center with the world premiere of The Rough Mixes by Minnesota-native Reid Anderson. The piece featured Anderson (who is perhaps best known as the bassist for The Bad Plus) on electronics, drummer Jeff Ballard, as well as an ensemble of classical musicians including SPCO violinists Steven Copes and Sunmi Chang, Minnesota Orchestra’s cellist Anthony Ross. The program also featured video design by Brooklyn-based architect Cristina Guadalupe.

The Star Tribune wrote, “Anderson’s strengths as a composer made their presence known from the moment the string players slipped the first dose of elegant counterpoint under the simple synth melody that opened the performance.” And Pamela Espeland wrote for Bebobified, “It sounded like contemporary classical music acquainted with jazz. It was minimalist and complex, smooth and spikey, baroque and Bach-ish, melodic and abstract, soaring and elegant. Varied in tempo and mood, it was a lot of things.”

Liquid Music’s second season will begin in September, and season tickets are on sale now at thespco.org/liquidmusic. Next season’s lineup includes a collaboration with Hilary Hahn and Hauschka, and performances by Olga Bell, Jherek Bischoff, Oneohtrix Point Never, and ETHEL. The SPCO’s Liquid Music series seeks to expand the world of classical music through innovative new projects, boundary-defying artists, and unique presentation formats.

(Left to right) Stephen Copes, Sunmi Chang, Anthony Ross, Jeff Ballard, and Reid Anderson performing the world premiere of The Rough Mixes at SPCO Center.