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The Arts Intel Report

Alisa Weilerstein: Fragments—World Premiere at the Spoleto Festival

The American cellist Alisa Weilerstein.

May 26–31, 2025
66 George Street, Charleston, SC 29424, United States

Finally! Alisa Weilerstein’s Fragments, the whole nine yards in six one-hour concerts. The superstar cellist and MacArthur Fellow started telling us about this project in January 2023, and here’s what we found out: Fragments was going to mix and match the 36 movements of J. S. Bach’s six cello suites, BWV 1007–1012, with 70 shorts from a cohort of 27 living composers. Each composer was to deliver two or three self-standing statements adding up to a total of 10 minutes. Weilerstein would then curate the bits and bobs into six fixed collages, each of which would incorporate an entire Bach suite, though not necessarily in Bach’s order. There’s also a director in the mix (Elkhanah Pulitzer), as well as designers for modular scenic elements and lighting (Seth Reiser), couture (Molly Irelan), and hair and makeup (Heather Sterling). Hilariously, the composers’ names—some you’ll know, some you won’t—are listed alphabetically by first name, running from Alan Fletcher to Chen Yi (guess why), with Johann Sebastian Bach sandwiched between Joan Tower and Joseph Hallman. The first Fragments segments—”Wonder,” “Tumult,” “Emergence,” and “Labyrinth”—have been road-tested to good effect. Spoleto Festival patrons will be the first to hear “Lament” and the concluding “Radiance.” —Jeanne Malle