And now for something completely different - the Omega Ensemble at the Malachi

May 7, 2026

Despite what some pedants think it is often difficult to place music into a specific genre.

Is the performance of Aaron Copland's "Fanfare for the Common Man" performed by Emerson, Lake and Palmer progressive rock or classical? Willie Nelson is a certified country artist but the first time I heard his song "Opportunity to Cry" I was listening to an 80-year-old black Chicago bluesman. The streaming service Accuradio has an entire channel dedicated to orchestral versions of Beatles songs (most of them work, some don't). The first songs written by Glenn Frey and Don Henley were kept back until the third Eagles album because they didn't want to be labelled a "country music band" and confined to only certain radio stations. People went berserk when Bob Dylan dared to play an electric guitar at a folk festival. The Moody Blues record "Days of Future Past" (which has four movements, just like a symphony) was a test to see if orchestral and rock music could be recorded in the same studio at the same time. Opera singer Dame Kiri Te Kanawa put out a record called "Kiri Sings Ella" consisting of jazz standards that had been recorded by Ella Fitzgerald (note perfect but without Ella's fluidity or sense of timing). Benny Goodman was definitely a "Giant of Jazz™" but I've got a recording of him playing classical pieces with an orchestra. Billy Joel's "New York State of Mind" is now a jazz standard. Pete Townshend and George Gershwin wrote extended pieces which have been called operas but "Pinball Wizard" isn't like "Summertime". "Rhapsody in Blue" and "Bohemian Rhapsody" are excellent pieces of music that meet the definition of "rhapsody" but are totally unlike each other.

Or, to put it briefly, the boundaries between musical categories are very porous and in a lot of cases only a very brave pedant would be certain about where something belongs.

Which brings us to "Howl", the music performed by the Omega Ensemble at the Malachi Gilmore Hall on Sunday, May 3. Where did it fit on the genre spectrum? The best answer is probably "Wherever you want to put it". Anything with a viola and cello must be classical (but, but "Eleanor Rigby"). Anything with moving time signatures must be jazz. Anything loud and amplified must be rock.

But it wasn't really any of them, in any conventional sense. Whatever the audience expected to hear they probably heard something else. Something completely different.

I make no secret of the fact that I like jazz and a bit of quality rock, but a scan through iTunes at my place throws up Arvo Pärt, the Kronos Quartet, Audiomachine, Philip Glass and other performances and performers that have pedants and perfectionists scratching their heads and saying "What?".

So did I enjoy it?

Almost all of it, although I won't be specific about the very few bits I didn't like or found a bit tedious. (There's an old saying - "Just because you can do something doesn't mean you should".) Among my record collection there are probably only a handful of albums where I like all of the tracks and wouldn't leave any out. The three worst records I have ever bought are by Sonny Rollins, Keith Jarrett and the Rolling Stones. Completely unlistenable but I'm a great fan of all three. Just not of these recordings.

The music on that afternoon was very well performed and obviously very well rehearsed and made by extremely competent musicians. It was also very challenging, especially to anyone who came along expecting traditional chamber music, but pushing the boundaries of any art form will always challenge the status quo and always have conservative detractors or people who question where things are going. I imagine there was horror when Adolphe Sax invented the saxophone (How can a woodwind instrument be made of brass?) and there are people around who maintain that Beethoven doesn't sound right on a modern piano. Everyone is welcome to live in the past (just ask anyone to tell you when the best popular music was being written) but change will always be with us.

You can see the program for the event here, but I will stick to commenting on the first and last pieces.

The first piece was "Tooth and Nail", a 2010 composition by Missy Mazzoli, performed by Neil Thompson on viola. Solo viola compositions are rare for some reason but when done well they can work. (As someone pointed out to me, of all the instruments in an orchestra, the viola is the one with the range that most closely matches that of the human voice.)

About the composer:

Deemed "Brooklyn's post-millenial Mozart" and "among the most inventive and surprising composers working today", Grammy®-nominated composer Missy has established herself as "the 21st century's gatecrasher of new classical music".

Mazzoli had this to say about this piece:

Tooth and Nail was inspired by the extraordinary musical traditions of Uzbekistan, where jaw harp (also called Jew's harp or mouth harp) plays a prominent role. The jaw harp player consistently plucks the instrument, creating overtones and melodies by changing the shape of their mouth, and the central Asian style takes this technique to wild and beautiful extremes. I have created my own version of this music, based on my memories of hearing Uzbek jaw harp players. The electronic part is made up almost entirely of viola samples, allowing the live viola to play in counterpoint with itself.

You can hear a short extract from "Tooth and Nail" below.

The program ended with the Piano Quartet by Danny Elfman.

Four-time Oscar nominee Danny is one of the world's most versatile and accomplished film composers, with scores including Edward Scissorhands, Batman, and Alice in Wonderland. He is now establishing himself in the concert hall with an ongoing series of acclaimed 'classical' works including concerti for violin, cello and percussion, two orchestral suites, and the Piano Quartet and Percussion Quartet.

Elfman's comments:

It was 2017 and I was travelling to Berlin to hear the Berlin Philharmonic perform. As usual it was a spectacular event. While there, I met Knut Weber, their principal cellist. He was the one who suggested the possibility of writing a piano quartet for his ensemble, The Berlin Philharmonic Piano Quartet. I was once again faced with something to explore that I knew absolutely nothing about, so of course I immediately agreed.

Having only recently finished the violin concerto, I was much more relaxed with diving into what was, for me, more uncharted territory. The idea of writing a string quartet was intimidating, as I'm so infatuated by the string quartets of Shostakovich - but the presence of a piano gave me a bit more confidence, and I loved the freedom that the genre provides.

For some strange reason, my first thematic thought going into it was doing variations on the familiar children's schoolyard taunt: "Nya, nya, nya, nya nya…" I had no idea why, but wasn't aware of anyone doing that before and thought it would be fun. It was. You can hear it in the second movement of the quartet, "Kinderspott". It was a great pleasure writing my first quartet for such wonderful musicians.

And here's a sample.

All quotes are from the printed program.
Recordings were made with a phone sitting on the floor. Sorry, but you have to work with what you've got.

It was an enjoyable afternoon, well spent. The artists, David Rowden (Clarinet and Artistic Director), Mark Ingwersen (Violin I), Asmira Woodward-Page (Violin II), Neil Thompson (Solo Viola), Paul Stender (Cello) and Vatche Jambazian (Piano) must be congratulated, as must Lucy and Johnnie East of the Malachi for bringing this to the people of Oberon.

The verdict - five stars and a thumbs up. If you get a chance to see the Omega Ensemble performing anything, grab a ticket with both hands. But be aware - what you expect might not be what you get.