I have long predicted that the orchestra will someday be replaced by the acoustic chamber ensemble augmented by electronics. The way my luck with predictions runs, that probably means my great-great-grandchildren will have season tickets to the NY Phil. Nevertheless, the orchestra was an expression of pre-WW I aristocratic opulence, and has never seemed financially tenable in a democracy. But take a mixed group of virtuosi, add amplification, synthesizers, and samplers, and, voilà—you have a tenably cheap touring group with all the sonic power of the orchestra and at least as much variety. The Sequitur ensemble's January 12 concert at Merkin gave the new... More >>>