Jennifer Koh & Missy Mazzoli: Tiny Desk Concert

Jennifer Koh & Missy Mazzoli: Tiny Desk Concert with tags npr, npr music, national public radio, live, performance, tiny desk, tiny desk concert, tony desk, tiny concert

Tom Huizenga | March 20, 2024

Thankfully, few no longer believe that playing classical music requires an evening gown or a tux. When composer Missy Mazzoli and violinist Jennifer Koh made their way into our Tiny Desk office space, we took note of the beautiful ink on Mazzoli‘s arm, her clunky black boots, and Koh’s bright blue hair and sleeveless leather dress.

The two artists have been collaborating for 15 years and this ferocious and beautiful set traces that history. It also reveals an essential equation of how classical music works: Mazzoli, the composer, who is currently writing a work for the Metropolitan Opera, conjures up music in her head, and Koh, the performer, breathes life into it.

Koh opens with Hail, Horrors, Hail, a recent solo piece she included on Alone Together, a homespun album recorded during the height of the pandemic which earned her a Grammy. Mazzoli joins at the keyboard in a bespoke arrangement of the final movement from Procession, Mazzoli’s sumptuous violin concerto, inspired by medieval healing rituals, which Koh premiered in 2022 with the National Symphony Orchestra.

Dissolve, O my Heart, the first piece Mazzoli wrote for Koh, spirals out into an emotional journey touched with spasms of joy and grief. It’s rooted in late-night discussions fueled by Chinese food, cupcakes and Bach’s revered Chaconne D minor that is quoted at the beginning. Koh closes with Kinski Paganini, unsettled music inspired by the German actor Klaus Kinski’s volatile performances.

Hearing this set, in all its rugged delight, feels like we’re eavesdropping on something personal — a fruitful, collaborative friendship between composer and performer that has yielded amazing music.

SET LIST

Mazzoli: Hail, Horrors, Hail

Mazzoli: Violin Concerto (Procession): “Procession Ascending”

Mazzoli: Dissolve, O my Heart

Mazzoli: Kinski Paganini

MUSICIANS

Jennifer Koh: violin

Missy Mazzoli: keyboard

TINY DESK TEAM

Producer: Tom Huizenga

Director/Editor: Kara Frame

Audio Technical Director: Neil Tevault

Series Producer: Bobby Carter

Videographers: Kara Frame, Joshua Bryant

Audio Engineer: Ted Mebane

Production Assistant: Elle Mannion

Photographer: Keren Carrión

Tiny Desk Team: Maia Stern, Ashley Pointer, Hazel Cills

Executive Producer: Suraya Mohamed

Series Creators: Bob Boilen, Stephen Thompson

VP, Visuals and Music: Keith Jenkins

#tinydesk #jenniferkoh #missymazzoli