THE 222 is proud to present the World Premier of the 75 minute multi-media composition Misterioso, written and performed by acclaimed pianist Vijay Iyer and celebrated trumpeter Graham Haynes.

Misterioso, an exclusive commission funded in part by the National Endowment of the Arts, is a dynamic contemporary conception informed by the two artists’ lifelong indebtedness to the artistry of Thelonious Monk. The duo’s project responds to the question, “What does the inner Monk sound like?” The artists construct a fantasia of electroacoustic music and images influenced by the spirit of Monk: his reserve of stillness, his dynamic fluidity, his buoyant wit, his many moods, from exuberant to taciturn, and most of all his rigorous ways with sound and time.

“Monk was a master of rhythm, color, and surprise, and he was unafraid of extremes of vibration and sensation. Misterioso doesn’t recapitulate Monk’s music, but it zeroes in on how he dreamed, imagined, moved, listened, and felt.”