Join us on Saturday, February 25th for Wagner's Nightmare. Wagner's Nightmare is a tongue-in-cheek send-up to the most controversial and influential artist of all time, Richard Wagner. It's culmination is here, in an album of music Wagner would not like.

For better or for worse, incendiary opinions, vitriolic identity politics, and polarizing depictions of national identity are some of the most prevalent themes in today's discourse. Whether we are enthralled by this mania or exhausted by it, we cannot escape it. In this emaciated public landscape, depleted of empathy and nuance, artists are in a unique position to comment both as insiders and observers to this arena.

With this in mind, we are proud to present this recital tour as the culmination of a nearly two year project in which we reveled in one of classical music's most incendiary, vitriolic, and polarizing figures: Richard Wagner. The man and his music are iconic, absurd, and influential...and so are the controversies and outrage that have surrounded him since he set pen to paper. Through essays, podcasts, videos on special themes, and a full length album (released on February 16, 2023) Wagner's Nightmare explores in a light-hearted manner, the reasons why Wagner is so widely admired and roundly derided. There is one theme which unites all these varied activities: whatever we do somehow always circles around a something Wagner famously hated.

We hope that by approaching Wagner with equal amounts of praise and pot-shots, respect and ridicule, sincerity and satire, our audiences will reflect on how they themselves regard today's polarizing, overwrought, and sometimes absurd social climate.

Musical Program will Include:

Music by...Johannes Brahms, Richard Wagner, Franz Liszt, Erik Satie...and more!

Daniel Orsen is a violist in the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, prior to which he freelanced in Boston where he performed with A Far Cry, the Boston Symphony Orchestra, Fermata Chamber Soloists, and the Phoenix Chamber Orchestra, and was the artistic dire ctor of Jamaica Plain Chamber Music. Daniel has performed Mozart's Sinfonia Concertante with the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, and appeared as soloist with the Fermata Chamber Soloists and Oberlin Contemporary Music Ensemble. His festival credits include Krzyzowa, Ravinia, Prussia Cove, Verbier, and the Perlman Music Program. Daniel has an interest in cultural and intellectual history, which is manifesting itself here, in Wagner's Nightmare. His writing has also been published in The Anglican Way and The Journal of the American Viola Society. 

Daniel is a native of Pittsburgh, PA. He was taught and mentored by members of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, Credo, and the Perlman Music Program before his Conservatory with Kim Kashkashian. He plays on a 2013 Philip Injeian viola and a 2014 Benoit Rolland bow, both specially made for him.

With regular engagements in festivals, concert series, and competitions in both Europe and the United States, French-American pianist Pierre-Nicolas Colombat has been recognized by audiences and international juries alike for his collaborative artistry. After publishing his doctoral dissertation (Boston University), he moved to Basel, Switzerland to continue his studies with Jan Schutsz. Through his work as a concert organizer, writer, and performer Colombat actively seeks out creative ways to bring the living heritage of classical music into the 21st century. His main duo partners include Daniel Orsen (violist), Kathrin Hottiger (soprano), and Vinicius Costa (bass-baritone).

Cost: 
Friends of DANK Haus (what is this?): $15
General Public: $20

Please Note: Free parking is located at 5/3 Bank located at Western and Gunnison Avenue.