In Your Ear Festival

THURS.-SUN., NOV. 11-14

HAROUN AND THE SEA OF STORIES

THURS., NOV. 11

ZANKEL HALL, Carnegie's jewel of a subterranean stage, opens its second season with the eclectic four-day In Your Ear festival. Composer John Adams curated the six-event concert series with an ear toward the iPod generation-mixing up performers and traditions without regard to genre boundaries.

International "around the world in a weekend" programs such as these frequently get mired in the cliché, but the talent in the proposed line-up will likely help this fest avoid leaning too heavily on that crutch for its raison d'être.

An appearance by Algerian-born/Paris-based Souad Massi kicks things off. The singer/songwriter is most often singled out for her organic integration of Arabic lyrics with wide-ranging traditional, folk and pop musical influences. Another highlight is likely to be the Sunday appearance of composer and master kamancheh (aka bowed spike fiddle) player Kayhan Kalor. Kalor has traveled extensively in his home country of Iran since childhood and incorporated the diverse regional traditions he came across into his own work.

On hand Saturday afternoon will be Evan Ziporyn and his Gamelan Galak Tika. They are set to perform Ziporyn's Amok! and Tire Fire as well as a selection of traditional repertoire for the Balinese gamelan orchestra (with some non-traditional Western instrument additions).

Another composer-led group known for its unique instrumentation, the Paul Dresher Ensemble, will take the stage Friday night. The electronic Marimba Lumina and the Quadrachord (with its remarkable 164-inch-long strings) will both make an appearance during In the Name(less) (For Two Invented Instruments). The program also includes a number of works from the ensemble's just-released New Albion disc Cage Machine, including Concerto for Violin and Electro-Acoustic Band featuring David Abel, the violinist for whom it was written.

In other news, you've still got one more night to catch the New York City Opera's premiere production of Haroun and the Sea of Stories, penned by Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Charles Wuorinen and based on the novel by Salman Rushdie. Familiar with Wuorinen's work before I got to the theater, I was well prepared for the melody-less delivery of the libretto, and sat back to enjoy the fine performances and Disney-esque costumes. My companion, however, was asleep in 20 minutes, so we made our exit at intermission. If you go, don't expect to leave the theater humming.

Zankel Hall, 154 W. 57th St. (7th Ave.), 212-247-7800; call for times and prices; New York City Opera, Lincoln Center, 63rd St. (B'way), 212-870-5630; 7:30, $27-$105.