There have been many milestones in Philip Glass’ legendary musical career, and yet another one will occur at Lincoln Center when the venerable Philip Glass Ensemble teams with New Latin Wave to present a concert version of the 1986 Glass album, Songs from Liquid Days, for its first live hearing in nearly four decades, January 25 at David Geffen Hall.

Songs from Liquid Days famously saw Glass contact several legendary pop- rock songwriters—Laurie Anderson, David Byrne (from whose lyric came the album’s title), Paul Simon, and Suzanne Vega—to send him lyrics, which he then set to music. The resulting six-song crossover collection was not only the biggest-selling album of Glass’ career, it also was one of a series of unlikely but illuminating collaborations on which Glass thrives, like his work with Robert Wilson on Einstein on the Beach or director Godfrey Reggio on the Qatsi film series. For the January Liquid Days revival, the Philip Glass Ensemble and New Latin Wave will keep that collaborative spirit alive.

“Philip Glass and the ensemble have always been interested above all in collaboration,” Andrew Sterman, general manager and performing member of the Philip Glass Ensemble, explains. “It’s one thing to rehearse and go onstage as the ensemble and perform, and we definitely do those. But Philip is always looking for new partners and artists to work with. And this collaboration will be a treasure. It’s in our bones. ‘With whom can we collaborate?’ That’s the marrow of Philip and the ensemble."

For Sokio, founder and director of New Latin Wave, the arts organization that curates and co-presents the annual series FUTUROS New Ideas in Composition with Lincoln Center, this collaboration is significant on many levels. “New Latin Wave connects Latino artists in different fields with institutions that Latinos are not usually associated with,” he says. “Many people don’t know how important Philip Glass is for Latino musical artists and composers. His music has inspired new generations of Latino musicians. If you ask any of the singers (on the January 25 concert), they’ll say they all know this album and they know his music—but they’re not often asked to perform it for whatever reason.”

Since this performance will be the first of the entire album since its release 40 years ago, Sterman says it’s imperative that they do it justice, especially since Glass has always been an artist who, when he finishes one project, immediately moves onto the next. “There’s a little bit of archeology involved,” he notes. “When Philip finishes a score, it gets filed away and he turns to the next thing. So we had to pull the manuscripts from deep storage to bring them back to life. So now we’re putting this incredible piece onstage with different singers (than on the original recordings).”

Those singers—Darian Donovan Thomas, Magos Herrera, Lisa Bielawa, Sasha Gutierrez, Melisa Bonetti, and Britt Hewitt—were chosen after an arduous process, according to Sterman. “The question is do they match the song, the spirit of it? Can they find what’s in between the contemporary classical voice and the natural voice? Philip Glass was looking for the in-between, which is a rare thing. And we are very happy with this group of singers.”

Sokio sees the teaming of the Philip Glass ensemble and Latino singers as an example of the trust these artists have in one another. “This combination is a win-win: for the music, for the artists, for the institution that believed in this idea and, ultimately, for the audience, many of whom will see themselves represented onstage.”

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