Festivals

Composers, Concerts, Contemporary Classical, Festivals

Get your Stockhausen on!

And you thought the master was gone?… Nooo no no, not that easy… His foundation and famous summer courses in Kürten continue — even stronger, if that’s possible. Starting today, July 10th, and continuing every day through July 26th, at 8pm there’s a concert featuring Stockhausen’s work (interspersed with course participants, which spiritually is very much the same thing). It’s a crazy insane compendium of S.’s music, spanning decades; there’s just too much to put on the main page, so I’ll list it all after the jump (and why the hell isn’t German Radio or the BBC camped out for this one?? This isn’t a ‘course’; this is more of a WoodStockhausen!). But before that I’ll quote the official press release:

Karlheinz Stockhausen is alive! His after-life is never ending and more comprehensive than ever: The Kürten Stockhausen Courses and Concerts were Stockhausen’s favourite project and have gained even larger dimensions after his death. The stream of students who want to interpret Stockhausen’s inheritance in a new way, and who for that reason pilgrim from all over the world to Stockhausen’s hometown in the “Bergische Land” every summer, is not ebbing – on the contrary. The same applies to listeners and music lovers. Many of them stay with host families in Kürten. The duration of the concert series has been extended from nine to 17 days. The programme includes electronic sounds, as well as piano, singing, violin, viola, piccolo, basset horn, English horn, tam-tam or percussion. The new version of PROZESSION for computers is brand new. The concerts presented are the highest level and are astoundingly full. And, they are augmented by special lectures: Renowned musicologists speak on Stockhausen’s life and work. (more…)

by Steve Layton
Competitions, Composers, Contemporary Classical, Festivals, Opera

Is that a vocal score in your pocket or are you just happy to see me?

The 2009 Opera Vista Festival and competition just finished up down here in Houston. Line Tørnhøj of Aarhus, Denmark was voted by the audience as the winner with her opera Anorexia Sacra. Second place went to Camilo Santostefano of Buenos Aries, Argentina, and his opera El Fin de Narciso. Tørnhøj received a check for $1,500 and will have her opera fully staged at the 2010 Opera Vista Festival, while Santostefano received $1,000.

The festival also also featured performances of the two winning operas from the 2007 Vista Competition: Edalat Square by R. Timothy Brady and Soldier Songs by David T. Little.

And before you can even catch your breath, here comes the deadline for submitting that score you’ve been slaving away on night and day: July 5th is the date you need it in for next year’s fest. Obviously the cash prize is not going to let you retire to the Riviera; but it’s a chance for a real staging & performance with excellent musicians, with a good and enthusiastic crowd, and recognition for your next step down that road. Viswa Subbaraman and crew really work their butts off to put this on; kudos for providing so much encouragement to the new, amid all the grand fossilization paraded everywhere else. All the info on the who, what, where and why can be found at Opera Vista’s website. Get cracking! (you, that is, not the voice…)

by Steve Layton
Composers, Concerts, Contemporary Classical, Experimental Music, Festivals, File Under?, June in Buffalo

June in Buffalo starts Monday

Red Fish Blue Fish. Photo credit: Irene Haupt
Red Fish Blue Fish. Photo credit: Irene Haupt

Two of the happiest experiences I’ve had as a composer were back to back summers (’98 and ’99) at JUNE IN BUFFALO. Held at SUNY Buffalo in upstate New York, the weeklong festival is a chance for ‘emerging’ composers to hear their music performed by top notch musicians and to have it critiqued by master composers.

By the end of the festival, they’re likely to have gotten a good tape of their piece, met performers and new music ‘movers and shakers,’ listened to nigh a hundred hours of contemporary fare, gathered tons of ideas for new works of their own, and made some lifelong chums among the other emergent creators. To this day, I keep in touch with many folks I met at JiB.

This year’s festival runs from Monday, June 1 through Sunday, June 7. The senior composers are MARTIN BRESNICK, BERNARD RANDS, MATTHEW ROSENBLUM, HARVEY SOLLBERGER, and festival director DAVID FELDER. Ensembles include the Buffalo Philharmonic, Slee Sinfonietta (JiB’s in-house new music orchestra!), Meridian Arts Ensemble, Verge Ensemble, and the New York New Music Ensemble.

SUNY Buffalo has recently boosted its online presence in the new music community. The university’s Robert and Carol Morris Century for Twenty-first Century Music has launched a website offering programming from the past two years of JiB and other SUNY Buffalo new music activities. Alongside this is an addition to the blogosphere, entitled Edge of the Center.

There’s plenty to be excited about this year, but next year’s festival celebrates twin anniversaries: the thirty-fifth anniversary of JiB’s inception and its twenty-fifth since David Felder resurrected it from hiatus. Should be a loaded week!

David Felder. Photo credit: Irene Haupt
David Felder. Photo credit: Irene Haupt

While it’s been a while since I’ve gone to JiB, I have a few suggestions for attendees.

1) Bring extra copies of scores, parts, and recordings

2) Make enough business cards to share with performers, composers, etc.

3) That said, don’t force any of the above on anyone. Unlike some venues, the spirit at JiB is more about ‘building a new music community’ and less about ‘sharp elbowed angling for commissions.’

4) Bring non-perishable food: power bars, H2O, etc. Between lectures, seminars, rehearsals, concerts, and socializing, opportunities to eat are few and far between.

5) Leave yourself far more time to get out of the dorm than you think will be necessary. That place is a labyrinth!

6) Be polite to your performers and to the JiB staff. The week is a gauntlet: they are unbelievably busy!

7) Be a good colleague to your fellow composers. If you have something to say about their music, be constructive. Don’t use the masterclasses as an opportunity for one-upmanship.

8 ) Keep open ears. You may not like a certain style now, but getting a chance to hear all sorts of music at JiB may provide stimulus for projects or avenues of inquiry that you can’t yet foresee.

9) Don’t expect to get any new music written. The festival’s days start early and end late. Soak in the sounds. Get out and meet people.

10) Enjoy – you’ll never forget June in Buffalo.

by Christian Carey
Bang on a Can, Chamber Music, Concerts, Contemporary Classical, Downtown, Festivals, New York

Marathon Meets Twitterthon

Yes, it’s that time of year again… The Bang On A Can Marathon is about to take flight once more, this Sunday, May 31 from noon to midnight at the World Financial Center Winter Garden (220 Vesey Street, NYC).  And yes, it’s all FREE.

Knowing we can’t all be every place at once, a band of nine volunteers will all be tweeting their reactions and observations in real time! — @anastasiat, @talkmusic, @sethcolterwalls, @espyem, @ogiovetti , @memilybk, @cryfok, @dotdotdottweet and @elimaniscalco.  To simplify things, you can follow all in one centralized spot (even if you’re not an active twitterer) by checking this link (or searching the tag “bangonacan”). Should be oodles of fun, especially for us folk out in the hinterland.

Acting as kick-off for the larger, citywide River to River Festival, the BOACM packs so much great music and so many great performers that even 12 hours can end up flying by (maybe in a haze, but what a glorious haze!). Why not just quote a bit from their own press release?…

The Marathon features two world premieres commissioned especially for the occasion – one from Oscar winning-pianist, composer, producer and actor Ryuichi Sakamoto and the other from innovative guitarist Bill Frisell. Both works will be performed at the Marathon by the Bang on a Can All-Stars with Sakamoto and Frisell as guest soloists. Sakamoto, who began his career with the synthpop trio Yellow Magic Orchestra, has gone on to release numerous albums with artists as diverse as David Byrne, Iggy Pop, Brian Wilson, Youssou N’Dour, and DJ Spooky, and score films including The Last Emperor, Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence, The Little Buddha, Wild Palms, Snake Eyes, and Femme Fatale. Bill Frisell has been recognized as one of the world’s leading guitarists since the late 1980s, and his eclectic music touches on jazz, progressive folk, classical music, country music, noise and more. The Marathon will also feature post-rock band Tortoise, bringing their signature merging of dub, dance, jazz, techno, rock, and classical minimalism to the Winter Garden. Tortoise will perform selections from their upcoming album, Beacons of Ancestorship (Thrill Jockey, June 2009), their sixth full-length album and first release of new material in five years.  (more…)

by Steve Layton
Composers, Concerts, Contemporary Classical, Festivals, Mexico

New Music in Morelia

Morelia (in the State of Michoacan, Mexico) will be hosting its Fifth Contemporary Music Festival from June 1-6. Although relatively young, the festival has gathered prestige and generated enthusiasm in the course of a few years, thanks in part to a list of distinguished composers and performers. Just a few names: Helmut Lachenmann, International Contemporary Ensemble, Robert Platz, Nicholas Isherwood, Carlos Sánchez Gutierrez, Cuarteto Latinoamericano, Manuel Rocha, Dynamis Ensemble.

This year Morelia will be listening to some world-renowned composers and performers such as Philippe Manoury (France), Jack Body (New Zealand), S21-well-known Wilfrido Terrazas (Mexico), Orlando Jacinto García (Cuba), Eddie Mora (Costa Rica), Ekaterina Shatskaya (Russia), Iracema de Andrade (Brazil), and Christophe Desjardins (France). Concerts, lectures, and workshops will be given in the course of the week.

If the musical guests intrigue you, it should be mentioned that Morelia is known to be one of the most beautiful cities in Mexico. Its colonial architecture and rich cultural life make it an attractive destination. But now I’m beginning to sound like a promoter of tourism for the State of Michoacán.

The festival is organized by the Government of the State of Michoacán, the Mexican Center for Music and Sound Art (CMMAS, after its spanish abbreviation and whom I thank for the information) and the Conservatorio de las Rosas. It promises to be another interesting edition.

by Iván Sparrow
Contemporary Classical, Downtown, Festivals

A Preview of “SPOTLIGHT on Minimalism” – Sunday, April 5 7:30PM at Le Poisson Rouge

Keys to the Future will present an evening of Minimalist solo and duo piano works on Sunday, April 5 7:30PM, at Le Poisson Rouge (158 Bleecker Street, between Thompson and Sullivan).

Pianists Stephen Gosling, Blair McMillen, Lisa Moore, Molly Morkoski and Joseph Rubenstein will present a wide range of Minimalist solo and duo works, including Steve Reich’s seminal Piano Phase (1967) and John Adams’ Hallelujah Junction (1996). As the date approached, I thought I’d write a few words about a couple of the pieces on this concert.

I will open the concert with 6 selected works of Howard Skempton. Skempton has worked for decades in England as a composer, accordionist, and music publisher. He studied in London with Cornelius Cardew in 1967 and Cardew helped him to discover a musical language of great simplicity. Since then he has continued to write unaffected by compositional trends, producing more than 300 works – many of which are miniatures for solo piano or accordion. Skempton calls these pieces “the central nervous system” of his work. Many of his compositions have been recorded, including selected piano works performed by John Tilbury on the Sony Classical label. I will be performing 6 works from the 1970s and 80s, the last of which – Well, well Cornelius (1989) – was written as a tribute to Skempton’s teacher.

Lisa Moore will then play Ryan Brown’s Ceramics (2002) – here are some notes by the composer: “My grandmother had an enormous collection of fancy old teacups that she kept in a large glass china cabinet in an immaculate, incredibly quiet, and primarily white-toned living room. I used to clean every single cup by hand when I stayed with her during the summer. The image of all those cups shining in that large, bright, glass-and-mirror cabinet kept coming to me while I was writing Ceramics. This is music for teacups.”

Blair McMillen and Stephen Gosling will conclude the program with Steve Reich’s Piano Phase (1967), which was Reich’s first attempt at translating his famous “phasing technique” from recorded tape to live performance. In Piano Phase the performers repeat a rapid twelve-note figure, initially in unison. As one player keeps tempo with robotic precision, the other speeds up very slightly until the two parts line up again, but one sixteenth note apart. The second player then resumes the previous tempo. This cycle of speeding up and then locking in continues throughout the piece, casting a hypnotic spell.

I’ll try and post here again tomorrow about a couple of the other pieces on the program, which are John Adams’ “Hallelujah Junction” (1996), Ryan Brown’s “Ceramics” (2002), Nico Muhly’s “A Hudson Cycle” (2002), and David Lang’s sublime “Wed” (1997).

“SPOTLIGHT on Minimalism,” takes place this Sunday, April 5, at Le Poisson Rouge in New York City at 7:30PM. Admission is $15. Le Poisson Rouge is on 158 Bleecker Street, between Sullivan and Thompson St. For complete information about this concert and our upcoming 3-day festival of contemporary solo piano music (May 19-21), please check out our newly updated website: http://www.keystothefuture.org/

Any questions can be directed to Le Poisson Rouge: (212) 505-3474 or to info@keystothefuture.org

Thanks for reading, and I hope to see you there.

Joseph Rubenstein

Artistic Director, Keys to the Future

“Keys to the Future: SPOTLIGHT on Minimalism” is made possible in part with public funds from the Manhattan Community Arts Fund, supported by the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs and administered by the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council.

by Joseph Rubenstein
Click Picks, Concerts, Contemporary Classical, Festivals

Time Machine

On this very page back in 2007, one of my ‘click picks’ told you about a great historic recording available to hear on the web: one of John Cage’s and Lou Harrison’s earliest all-percussion concerts, presented at the Cornish School in Seattle, May 19th, 1939. As I wrote in my earlier post:

The performers heard include Cage, his then-wife Xenia, and the dancer Doris Dennison. (and quite possibly Lou Harrison himself. The photo here shows Lou, John, and Xenia behind, Doris and Margaret Jansen in front).

The pieces on these recordings represent the core of the West-Coast experimentalist group (I know, I know, Harry Partch; but he was off on his own very different journey): Lou Harrison’s Counterdance in Spring, Henry Cowell’s Pulse, two movements from Cage’s own Trio, Johanna M. Beyer’s Tactless and Endless, William Russell’s Three Cuban Studies, and again Harrison with his Fifth Simfony. You just can’t get much closer to sitting in on the roots of this exciting period.

Well, turns out there’s another way to get close to this event: to honor the 70th anniversary of these concerts, Cornish (College now, no longer just a ‘school’) is having a festival in which much of this same music and more will once again inhabit the same space. Titled “Drums Along the Pacific” (the same name the intrepid 1939 group’s first tour used), The schedule for the March 26-29 shindig follows:

The Music of Henry Cowell , March 26, 8:00 pm
The Music of Lou Harrison, March 27, 8:00 pm
Presentations – Free Event!, March 28, 1:00 pm
John Cage Marathon: Part I, March 28, 4:00 pm
John Cage Marathon: Part II, March 28, 8:00 pm
Presentations – Free Event!, March 29, 1:00 pm
Festival Finale: Gamelan Pacifica, March 29, 4:00 pm

Performers include the Pacific Rims Percussion Quartet, pianist Steven Drury, tenor John Duykers, the Seattle Chamber Players, and Gamelan Pacifica. It’s $15 per concert, but $40 will get you a pass to the whole thing. That link up there will take you straight to Cornish and the rest of the info, like programs for each concert, directions, contact and such. Oh, to be back in Seattle right now!…

by Steve Layton
Contemporary Classical, Festivals, Piano

88 keys x 15 performers + 3 composers = Ethos NewSound Festival at SUNY Fredonia

It’s pretty easy to drive by Fredonia, NY without realizing you’ve done so…it’s one of the many small communities that dot the I-90 Interstate between Cleveland and Buffalo, practically on the shores of Lake Erie. The surrounding countryside is known for grapes and snow…Norman Rockwell would feel right at home in the town square, and it’s often found in the dictionary illustrating the definition of “quaint”.

Not exactly the place you’d expect to find a new music series, but that’s just the way we like it. Over 30 years ago the composition students at SUNY Fredonia began to fund their student concerts through the Student Association and since 2001 the Ethos New Music Society has fostered a major concert series in Western New York called the NewSound Festival. Within the past two years the festival has featured eighth blackbird, Ethel, Morton Subotnick, Missy Mazzoli and many others.

This year it was decided to focus on the piano as the thread tying the festival together, and as we’re now into our second week it seems to have been a very successful choice. Last week we kicked things off with the husband & wife team of pianist Kathleen Supové and composer Randall Woolf, who laid bare tales of their professional lives, discussed the essentials of living as a freelance composer and performer and gave a wonderful concert featuring two works by Randy as well as Jacob Tel Vendhuis, Anna Clyne and Neil Rolnick with video by Luke DuBois. I’d known both of them by reputation, recordings and Facebook, but it was a treat to finally get to meet them in person – and to find out that they had never been invited to speak anywhere together at the same time made it even more satisfying.

Kathy Supové performing Neil Rolnick\'s \"Digits\" (photo by Lori Deemer)
Kathy Supové performing Neil Rolnick’s “Digits” (Photo by Lori Deemer)

On Monday, it was time for some Cage, and Austin’s Michelle Schumann was kind enough to bring her prepared piano kit up to the Arctic Tundra that is Western NY and show the throngs of composers, pianists and percussionists how it’s done – first by giving an in-depth lecture on the history of the prepared piano and demonstration of how to prepare a piano without incurring the wrath of the piano techs (who had already fled the scene), and then by introducing over 200 of our student body to John Cage’s Sonatas & Interludes. When she was finished, those who weren’t thanking us for bringing her in were crowding around the piano to investigate the innocent carnage that was the bolts, erasers, screws and plastic strips that were expertly inserted between the strings.

Investigating the Prepared Piano (Photo by Lori Deemer)
Investigating the Prepared Piano post-concert (Photo by Lori Deemer)

Luckily we’re still not half-way through our NewSound Festival, in case you happen to be in the area – if you have any questions, contact me at deemer@fredonia.edu.

Here’s a breakdown of the rest of the festival:

Bowed Piano Ensemble with Stephen Scott, composer and Victoria Hansen, soprano
Rosch Recital Hall, SUNY Fredonia campus
Friday, Feb. 13: 4pm, Preparation Workshop & 8pm, Lecture/Demonstration
Saturday, Feb. 14: 8pm, Concert, $5 general public

Pianist Amy Briggs and Composer David Rakowski
Rosch Recital Hall, SUNY Fredonia campus
Thursday, Feb. 19: 8pm, Lecture/Demonstration
Friday, Feb. 20: 8pm, Concert, $5 general public

Pianist/Composer Amy Williams
Rosch Recital Hall, SUNY Fredonia campus
Tuesday, Feb. 24: 8pm, Concert, Free admission

Pianist Hilary Demske plays the music of Henry Martin
Rosch Recital Hall, SUNY Fredonia campus
Saturday, Feb. 28: 8pm, Concert, Free admission

by Rob Deemer
CDs, Chamber Music, Classical Music, Composers, Contemporary Classical, Festivals, File Under?, Los Angeles, New York, Orchestras

Tonight at BAM: US Premiere of work by Enrico Chapela at Brooklyn’s Nuevo Latino Festival

Saturday night at 8 pm, the Brooklyn Philharmonic, under the direction of Michael Christie, gives the US premiere of Enrico Chapela’s Noctámbulos, a piece for rock trio and orchestra. Chapela will also participate in a panel discussion on Latin American Identity in Music at 4:30 (details below).

Chapela is a composer on the rise; Boosey and Hawkes added him to their roster in 2008 and he’s recently received several high profile commissions. I spoke with him on Thursday about the BAM event and his other activities. Born in Mexico, he started out his musical career as a rock guitarist, playing SXSW with a band in the nineties. He currently resides in Paris, where he’s finished a Master’s degree at the University of Paris and is pursuing a Ph.D. His dissertation topic is the two-hundred year history of symphonic music in Mexico.

An earlier version of Noctámbulos, titled Lo Nato es Neta, can be heard on Chapela’s debut CD, Antagonica. Lo Nato es Neta is scored for rock trio and acoustic quintet. Chapela readily acknowledges the cross-pollination present in the work, “It explores a wide range of rock styles – everything from metal to Pink Floyd to King Crimson.” I hear a fair bit of Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention in its juxtaposition of rock solos with angular melodic fragments, spiky post-tonal verticals, and Stravinskyian ostinati.

The piece was entered in a composition competition, but didn’t place. Happily, one of the judges dissented from the majority and separately arranged a commission for the Dresden Sinfoniker. The result: Noctámbulos, a revisioning of Lo Nato es Neta that features the rock trio as concerto soloists. It also incorporates more improvisation.

This is an exciting time for Chapela. He’s playing the guitar part in the premiere. Simultaneously, he’s working hard to finish a commission for the LA Philharmonic. “At first, I thought it would be too much to be the solo guitarist at the Brooklyn Philharmonic performances while trying to finish the piece for LA. But then I realized, who could ask for a better gig than this? Between practicing and writing, I told my wife to not expect to see me much for a couple of months!”

CROSSING BORDERS: A discussion on Latin American identity in music

Saturday, January 31, 2009 / BAM Hillman Attic Studio, at 4:00PM

Moderated by Carmen Helena Téllez / Invited panelists: Gabriela Lena Frank, Enrico Chapela, and Paul Desenne

NUEVO LATINO MAINSTAGE – Saturday January 31, 2009 at 8:00 PM

BAM Howard Gilman Opera House

Michael Christie, conductor; Virginie Robilliard, violin; Chapela Trio; Enrico Chapela, guitar; Jesús Lara, bass; Luis Miguel Costero, drums

Gabriela Lena Frank: Leyendas: An Andean Walkabout (NY Premiere of string orchestra version)

Paul Desenne: The Two Seasons (NY Premiere)

Enrico Chapela: Noctámbulos (US Premiere)

by Christian Carey
Bang on a Can, CDs, Composers, Concerts, Festivals, Music Events, New York

Riding the Next Wave: Michael Gordon

Composer Michael GordonThis week the Next Wave Festival 2008 is raging at BAM, and there are several chances next week to hear Lightning at our feet, the latest from Ridge Theater and Michael Gordon at the Harvey Theater. (Dec 9, 11-13)

Gordon and I spoke on the phone about the new work that premiered in Houston. Listen to our conversation here – Lightning Interview with Gordon and Clare.
Here’s an added bonus, Gordon has a new EP coming out Tuesday, a fascinating “Purgatorio: Popera” on Canteloupe. We talked about it, as well as being married to a composer (Julia Wolfe) and everyone’s favorite 100 year old on Thursday, Elliott Carter! mp3 file

by John Clare