Multi-instrumentalist and composer Peter Nelson-King returns to the Wayward Music Series to present No Place To Go, a large-scale improvisation cycle based on the poetry of Ishikawa Takuboku (1886-1912). Takuboku wrote in tanka and free verse formats, and much of his work addresses modern malaise in an arrestingly contemporary way. No Place To Go uses piano, electronic keyboard and voice to explore 11 translations of Takuboku’s poems made at the University of Washington nearly a century ago, bringing the poems and genreless improvisation into new territory. Also featured are Aaron Keyt’s 8 Pieces for Melodica, receiving their world premiere, as well as transportative pieces by Richard Cameron-Wolfe, Robert Carl and Aaron Kirschner.
Peter Nelson-King is an active performer and teacher on trumpet and piano, and plays regularly with multiple orchestras and large ensembles in the Seattle area. A King County native, they earned degrees from University of Puget Sound and Boston University, returning to the Seattle area after freelancing in the Northeast. They are a longtime member of Lake Washington Symphony Orchestra and Brass Band Northwest, and a frequent recurring member of the experimental jazz group Scrambler. As a solo and chamber performer, they specialize in promoting works by composers who have unjustly fallen into neglect, and have revived major works by dozens of these composers for Seattle audiences.