The finished new works celebrate Jones' love for chamber music in three pieces performed with live accompaniment by the Orion Sting Quartet and other artist members of the Chamber Music Society. The first piece Verbum meaning "word" in Latin is set to Beethoven's string quartet, #16, in F Major, Opus 135. Beethoven's last string quartet is the first movement of this evening of new work. Jones collaborated with the Orion String Quartet at a Classical Action benefit at the Brooklyn Academy of Music on a solo to the Adagio movement of this quartet in 1998. He was inspired by its "expansive, disturbing depth and the economy of its structure."

The second piece, worldwithin-out, is set to two of living composer Gyorgy Kurtag's string quartets, String Quartet Opus 1 (1959) made up of six movements over nine minutes and 12 Mikroludium Opus 13 for String Quartet (1977-1978) which includes a movement as short as twelve seconds. The works are rigorous and playful in structure giving way to emotional outbursts. Although Jones finds these compositions "acerbic, charming, and stimulating," he admits, "The music may challenge the ears of a dance audience." Worldwithin-out is dedicated to Chris Komar, veteran dancer and assistant to Merce Cunningham, who passed away in 1996.

The third piece, Black Suzanne, is set to a heartfelt Shostakovich octet. Jones seems sympathetic when he reminds us, "History has not been kind to Shostakovich, a composer who wrote music to flatter Stalin." Black Suzanne is choreographed in a classical vocabulary with athletic contact partnering. Jones is developing a style with rehearsal director Janet Wong that "pushes the company's partnering athleticism even further." Black Suzanne, full of emotion and propulsion, is slated to replace D-Man in the Waters on our program and is anticipated to replace D-Man as the company's new signature piece. Costumes for the new work are designed by Liz Prince and scenery by Bjørn Amelan.

Scenery, terrain, and landscape are important to Jones in his personal life as well as in his work. Sculptor/set designer/associate artistic director Bjørn Amelan, Jones' life partner, collaborates with Jones (and a landscape artist) on the scenery that is their garden at their home in upstate New York. Valley patrons who think of Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company as the quintessential New York dance company may be surprised to know how much time Jones spends nurturing his garden and how important it is to him. When reminded in September that there are no guarantees in this life, Jones spent a week alone in the garden - a garden that, for him, is for remembering and forgetting. To Jones "It's a [personal] place for contemplation." The garden he designs for the public is the work he creates for the company. "Both depend on imagination, sweat, and faith," says Jones. His private garden is bound by a fence, but he strives to create work with no boundaries for the public. In both gardens and in every aspect of his life, Jones continues to dig deep, find the courage to continue searching for what's real, and "fly in the face of mediocrity."