Tarnish (pay-what-you-wish)

Hailed by The New Yorker as “ever-adventurous,” PRISM Quartet presents a pay-what-you-wish program of extraordinary works composed for the ensemble on October 11 at the Germantown Branch of Settlement Music School in Philadelphia and October 12 at Christ & St. Stephen’s Church in New York City. The program consists of Yarn by Marcos Balter, Tarnish by Nina C. Young, KEEN by Roshanne Etezady, Fair and Balanced? by Frank J. Oteri, and Graffiti II by Roberto Sierra.

PRISM co-founder and tenor saxophonist Matthew Levy writes, “the works on the program are among the group’s most meaningful commissions. Each resonates deeply and tests the bounds of what is possible on the saxophone. The program’s title is a nod to Ms. Young’s work, Tarnish, which is about revealing hidden beauty, beauty that is ephemeral, vanishing into the ether. All of the works on the program touch on this idea, including Yarn by Marcos Balter, a lament for the late saxophonist Ryan Muncy that explores the fragility of yarn as a metaphor for the fragility of life itself. PRISM recently recorded both works, along with Mr. Sierra’s Graffiti II for a 2026 release on XAS. KEEN and Fair and Balanced? appear on previously released PRISM albums.”