Beautiful Trouble - World Premiere

Natacha Diels, Beautiful Trouble (2024)

JACK Quartet makes its Penn Live Arts debut in the world premiere of Natacha Diels’ Beautiful Trouble. Based on a five-part video series for choreographed string quartet, this concert-length production merges experimental music, video and theatre to create a sensory experience that considers our ability and desire to consume media. Diels created the work to examine a moment in time through the power of abstract narrative and music, both heard and seen.

Creative Team: JACK Quartet, Performers; Natacha Diels, Composer, Director, Video Designer; Julia Bumke, Lead Producer; Matthew Craig, Technical Director, Sound Designer; Kent Sprague, Lighting Designer; Maile Okamura, Costume Designer

Beautiful Trouble was developed with support from Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity, TIME:SPANS, The Barlow Foundation, and the Sachs Program for Arts Innovation.

“The JACK Quartet’s fearless forays into the world of extended string technique has firmly ensconced the New York City-based group on the cutting edge of the new music scene. Beautiful Trouble, a collaboration with composer and Penn professor Natacha Diels, pushes their boundaries even further by venturing into the realm of the visual. Conceived as a six-part video mini-series, the premiere of this multimedia composition interrogating “the oversaturation of our current era” and “social impact of ubiquitous cameras,” will be must-see TV for those interested in the nexus of art, music, and politics.” - WRTI.org