New York

Chamber Music, Classical Music, Composers, Concerts, Contemporary Classical, Downtown, Experimental Music, Improv, Music Events, New York, Piano

Interpretations Season #20 Artist Blog #4 — JB Floyd, Raphael Mostel

This Fall marks the twentieth season of provocative programming in New York City brought to you by Interpretations. Founded and curated by baritone Thomas Buckner in 1989, Interpretations focuses on the relationship between contemporary composers from both jazz and classical backgrounds and their interpreters, whether the composers themselves or performers who specialize in new music. To celebrate, Jerry Bowles has invited the artists involved in this season’s concerts to blog about their Interpretations experiences. Our fourth concert this season, on 20 November, features composer-performers JB Floyd and Raphael Mostel at Roulette.

JB Floyd:
My concert on the Interpretations Series on November 20th will mark the third time that I have presented my compositions on this prestigious series. These concerts have featured my works for flute and piano, vocal pieces for Thomas Buckner and the Yamaha Disklavier™ and keyboard works that combine the unique features of the Yamaha Disklavier™ as a concert piano and as a controller keyboard.

Though my music is mostly notated there are usually opportunities for improvisation within each composition. Having worked on many occasions with Thomas Buckner I am particularly looking forward to our work together on a new piece of mine, In Crossing The Busy Street for baritone voice and Yamaha Disklavier™. The poem is by Daniel Abdal-Hayy Moore a poet whose works inspire musical representation.

Other compositions are for the Yamaha Disklavier™ and will be performed by my talented protégé, Liana Pailodze who is an Artist Diploma candidate at the Frost School of Music at the University of Miami. It is an honor to be included on this celebrated series that is celebrating its 20th Anniversary.

Raphael Mostel:
Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Black Bela
I am haunted by Bela Bartok. He composed certain musical ideas which pursue me, and unbidden keep coming back to mind. My Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Black Bela is an attempt to exorcise this musical “possession” using one particularly searing turn from Bartok’s Piano Sonata. I’ve enlisted help from John Cage, Morton Feldman, Leonard Bernstein, Gyorgy Kurtag and many others. Wallace Stevens’ poem seemed to bless this exorcism. My apologies to triskadecaphobes.

A Letter to Benoit Mandelbrot, or, Authenticity
I’d written to Benoit Mandelbrot, the father of fractal geometry, asking if he’d never wondered why — since visual representations of fractals are so beautiful — the supposed musical representations of fractals are not? I offered to explicate mathematically. He wrote back inviting elaboration, which I did. But my explanation, he said, “mystified” him. My Letter to Benoit Mandelbrot is a further meditation on music, self-similarity and cheating.

by JB
Bang on a Can, Downtown, Minimalism, New York

Terry Riley, Bang On A Can All-Stars @ Le Poisson Rouge, NYC

The last concert I attended that involved one of the great minimalist composers was a concert over the summer at the Dream House–a three hour long close encounter (small, hot and sweaty room) with La Monte Young and crew. While I enjoyed the music, I felt that I had my fill of hot and sweaty for the rest of the year.

So it was a surprise when I saw La Monte Young talking to Terry Riley at a specially reserved table just some 10 feet away from me (as well as the fact that I was hot and cramped once again). As a young musician, and fan of the two composers, I imagined Riley’s and Young’s close interactions as just another story out of my not-so-favorite music history book and not something of real life, played out so many decades later before my eyes. It was a warm scene and I found myself wondering what they could be talking about, if only I could get a few feet closer.

The show began with a BOAC All-stars solo set. The set included two pieces, Glamour Girls by Lukas Ligeti and a BOAC arrangement of four player piano pieces by Conlon Nancarrow.

Glamour Girls was apparently written just a few years back, but overall felt like it was born out of the 1980s funk scene. The piece was purposely disconcerting with its tendency toward disjunct lines, mismatched rhythms and wild speech. Of course, none of these qualities make it a terrible piece but it certainly is one where it is more enjoyable to be on the performing end than on the listening, if only because it makes you feel just slightly frantic when the musical rapport streaming off stage hits your ears. At times I was reminded of Cartesian Reunion Memorial Orchestra (the group flourished in the eighties), but on an acid trip. Either way, the piece was performed well and it is apparent that BOAC All-stars are called all-stars for their great technical expertise.

The Nancarrow suite was a mixture of jazz and varying tempos going on simultaneously. One of the pieces was so characteristic of the 1950s, with its combination of jazz and Nancarrow’s playfulness with tempo and rhythm, that it would have been the perfect follow-up for Marty Mcfly’s Johnny B Goode. Like the Ligeti piece it followed, there was a strong sense of intentional discontinuity and uneasiness and despite all of the complexities of music written originally for a machine with the ability to outperform the strong performer, the ensemble was tight and clean. Had they not, the nuances that evolve from the tension created by the rhythmic complexity would have been totally lost. So it is good to feel uneasy after all.

There was a short intermission, and I heard a LCD Soundsystem song that I knew I had heard piping out of the speakers the last time I was at Le Poisson Rouge. The club was crowded, or so it appeared crowded as there were several tables along the floor cramping people in the back. It seemed like a good turnout, nonetheless. I surveyed the faces of the crowd, trying to surmise whether it was young or old; while there were people under their thirties and even in their twenties (such as myself), the crowd still maintained a strong forty-plus following. I wondered what the connection was between each individual member of the audience and the headliners. I thought, it could not be possible that they were all classically trained musicians like myself. Some of them were lawyers and CEO’s and New Kids On The Block fans, right?

(more…)

by Veronica Paez
Bang on a Can, Chamber Music, Composers, Downtown, Minimalism, Music Events, New York

Watch Out for David Lang

David Lang, who you will recall won this year’s Pulitzer with his piece The Little Match Girl Passion, will be submitting himself to the hard-hitting S21 interview next week.  I’ll be asking him what he plans to do about the financial meltdown, the war in Iraq, and whether he stands by his selection of Sarah Palin as his running mate.  Or something–I haven’t written the questions yet.

In the meantime, those of you who live in New York may want to know that Wordless Music is presenting a concert of Lang’s music next Wednesday, November 5th, at Le Poisson Rouge (158 Bleecker Street, New York).  Doors at 7:00, show starts at 7:30.  The show will consist of the American premiere of his piece Pierced with the Real Quiet.  Special guests include the Flux Quartet and Theo Blackmann singing Lang’s version of Lou Reed¹s Velvet Underground song “Heroin.”  Both pieces appear on Lang’s new Naxos disc, which I’ve been listening to a lot and recommend.

by Galen H. Brown
CDs, Composers, New York, Opera

An Adams’ Baritone

Eric OwensBaritone Eric Owens is busy this fall – his Met debut as General Leslie Groves in John Adams’ Dr. Atomic is just a start to his performances this season in New York, Atlanta, London and Los Angeles.
Today is the release of A Flowering Tree on Nonesuch Records with Owens as the storyteller, another role he created. I spoke with Eric Owens about this new recording, his Met debut and about working with composers.
MP3 file

by John Clare
Chamber Music, Classical Music, Composers, Concerts, Contemporary Classical, Downtown, Experimental Music, Improv, New York

Interpretations Season 20: Artist Blog #1 — Michael Lipsey

This Fall marks the twentieth season of provocative programming in New York City brought to you by Interpretations. Founded and curated by baritone Thomas Buckner in 1989, Interpretations focuses on the relationship between contemporary composers from both jazz and classical backgrounds and their interpreters, whether the composers themselves or performers who specialize in new music. To celebrate, Jerry Bowles has invited the artists involved in this season’s concerts to blog about their Interpretations experiences. Our first concert this season on 2 October, features the Myra Melford Quartet and Henry Threadgill’s Zooid + Talujon Percussion Ensemble. Michael Lipsey of Talujon has volunteered to write about how his group worked with the Mary Flagler Cary Charitable Trust to commission a new work from Henry Threadgill:

Contemporary music is exciting. People are trying new things, creating new works, involving new audiences members. The division between genres is the most open it has ever been. With that in mind, Talujon Percussion, Henry Threadgill and Zooid have teamed up to play on the Interpretations Series in honor of the series’ 20th season.

Henry Threadgill is one of the most unique voices in contemporary improvisatory music. His resume is breath-taking, his skills are immense and his interests are wide and varied. About two years ago, Henry called me up a day before a Talujon concert. He told me he was interested in the group and wanted to come to our performance. We were happy to meet him and honored that he would come to one of our performances.

A few days after the performance, Henry again called and asked if we would be willing to work on a new work. The answer was, of course, “Yes”. Henry decided to write a piece for Talujon and his ensemble, Zooid. We ended up applying to the Mary Flagler Carey Trust for the commission. We have used that commissioning vehicle in the past. Through this organization we were also able to commission a work for 4 drum sets by Julia Wolfe.

After meeting with Henry, he decided to compose a piece for each individual in Talujon.
We all gave Henry our wishlist of instruments. Henry then used our strengths in his composition. The piece that came out of this process uses four of our members, each with our own set-up. The piece is called “Fate Cues”.

We start rehearsals tomorrow and we are all excited. If you listen to Henry’s works you find that he is a fluid composer. He is continually asking more from the players. The charts are difficult, but that is not the emphasis of his works. He wants the musicians to move through the piece together as a strict unit. Each voice in individually created but maintaining its own presence. The rehearsal process is key.

Talujon is a group that has 18 seasons of unity. We know each other and feel very comfortable with each other. Much like any ensemble, we can feel our musical relationships and know how to support one another. We like to experiment and have practiced improvisation many, many times. Jazz improvisation is different than what we are used to. First, we just need to get past feeling uncomfortable about improvising in front of these great jazz masters in Zooid. I think that part will be ok. All the members have been in these situations before and as a group; Talujon thrives on making the uncomfortable, comfortable.
We like challenges and Henry is open and excited about the challenge.

It should be fun 🙂

*****

Myra Melford Quartet: Happy Whistlings; Henry Threadgill’s Zooid + Talujon: Fate Cues

Thursday October 2, 2008, 8pm at Roulette.

more information / Interpretations

by Michael Lipsey
Concerts, Contemporary Classical, Downtown, Minimalism, Music Events, New York

M50: Minimalism Turns Fifty

Minimalism Turns Fifty
This September marks the 50th anniversary of musical Minimalism, an artistic revolution which critic Kyle Gann has described as “the most important musico-historical event of my lifetime.” I’m delighted to announce that Sequenza21, in collaboration with the exciting new concert series Music On MacDougal, will be celebrating this important milestone with a concert of early Minimalist music.

When: September 17th, 2008 at 8:00 PM
Where: The Players Theatre, in Greenwich Village, Manhattan
115 MacDougal Street, New York, NY 10012
Tickets: By Phone: 212-352-3101 or Online.

Program:
Steve Reich — “Piano Phase” (1967) (Version for two Marimbas)
Philip Glass — “Piece in the Shape of a Square” (1967)
Terry Jennings — “Piano Piece” (December 1958) and “Piano Piece” (June 1960)
Intermission
Terry Riley — “In C” (1964)

We know that this September is the fiftieth anniversary because in September of 1958 La Monte Young completed his “Trio for Strings,” which is generally regarded as the first true Minimalist piece. Young is arranging for a performance of the Trio later in the season, and our concert is focused on representative pieces from the first 10 years of the movement. “Piano Phase” is arguably the high point of Reich’s use of phasing, and a perfect example of his “music as a gradual process.” “Piece in the Shape of a Square” illustrates Glass’s early interest in additive processes. “In C” represents the arrival of the pulsating, repetitive, tonal Minimalism which has dominated the genre ever since.

In some ways the most exciting pieces on the program are the early “Piano Pieces” by Terry Jennings. Jennings (who died tragically in 1981) was the first composer to understand what Young was doing and to follow in his footsteps, and in December 1958, a mere two months after Young completed the “Trio for Strings,” eighteen year old Jennings wrote the first of three “Piano Pieces.” We’re presenting the first two of these pieces, which we believe haven’t been performed publicly since 1989.

This concert is also the inaugural concert of the Players Theatre’s hot new concert series “Music On MacDougal.” Curated by pianist Sheryl Lee, Music On MacDougal promises to become one of New York’s most interesting presenters of new music–classical and otherwise. This season’s lineup includes the DITHER Electric Guitar Quartet, Mantra Percussion, Moet, Newspeak, Grenzenlos, Matrix Music Collaborators, and others. The full season schedule can be found here.

The M50 concert has been sponsored in part by a generous contribution from Cold Blue Records. The performers are a veritable who’s who of hotshot New York musicians. The current lineup (subject to a few changes) is Mike McCurdy (Percussion), Jessica Schmitz (Flute), Elizabeth Janzen (Flute), Joseph Kubera (Piano), Dan Bassin (Trumpet), George Berry (Trombone), Sila Eser (Viola) Gillian Gallagher (Viola), and Adam Havrilla (Bassoon).

This concert is, to the best of our knowledge, the only concert celebrating this important anniversary, so you won’t want to miss it. See you in September!

by Galen H. Brown
Composers, Concerts, Contemporary Classical, Festivals, Music Events, New York

ICO (formerly VIM:TRIBECA) Concert Series Disaster

Last year, many of us saw a posting regarding the VIM:Tribeca concert series. The organizers, Judd Greenstein and Kimball Gallagher, wanted to put on concert series of mostly new works; the composers were responsible for providing performers. The concerts were to be put on in the Gallerie Icosahedron (I’m deliberately not linking to them, for reasons that will be apparent soon!). The first indication of trouble to us should have been the delays, imposed by the gallery, regarding scheduling and, we found out later, the renting of a piano. The first public sign of trouble was the sudden announcement that the concert series was now to be called the ICO series.

When it was announced that my work had been accepted, I was thrilled. I was to be featured alongside Pamela Stein; I contacted Kathy Supové, who was going to play my new pieces for interactive piano. And, Pam was going to sing the premiere of a piece by Lukas Ligeti. This had all the makings of an exciting event.

On Thursday, we received the following note:

1) CONCERT FEE: all concerts will be subject to a $300 minimum, payable to the gallery in half a week before the concert, with the remainder due at the show. For double-bills, each artist will be responsible for half this figure. In addition to this de facto rental fee, all money over $600 in receipts from the door will continue to be split 50/50. The fee is a guarantee against low turnout – a deposit, essentially. These checks must arrive 1 week before each concert, beginning with the February 14th show, and all checks should be mailed to Gallerie Icosahedron, 27 N Moore St., New York, NY 10013, and made out to Gallerie Icosahedron.

2) TICKET PRICE: the ticket price will now be raised to $20, with no student discounts.

3) REHEARSAL FEE: all artists will have access to the gallery from 5-6:30 on the day of the show. Any other rehearsal times need to be scheduled in advance and will be available at a $40/hr rate.

4) INTERMISSION: there will be NO intermissions of any kind. For double-bills, there will be a brief set change, but even this will be less than a standard intermission.

5) COMPS: there will be no comps, except for press.

6) PIANO: the piano needs to be kept at the back of the gallery, and cannot be moved forward.

And, furthermore, Judd and Kimball were to be removed from the organization of the concerts themselves. Actually, we’d have to individually negotiate elements of the shows, if we wished to continue.

At this point, the series is in disarray. I haven’t kept track, but most of the participants have jumped ship. I’m not sure if I would have done this had these policies been in place beforehand. But, to impose these changes mid-season – mind you, the ICO had a full slate of concerts in the Fall of 2007 – is just infuriating. And, looking at their demands, the one that irks me the most is the policy against comps or student discounts. $20 is a steep fee, particularly when you’re just going to a gallery with folding chairs. $20 would get me into a lot of concert halls in many places (okay, nosebleed seats in some places), and with more comfortable chairs.

I’m aware that costs have risen tremendously in the past few months. But, assuming their gallery would have been open those nights anyway, would the ICO series really have been displacing $300 worth of business? $900, if you count the door costs.

What’s truly disturbing is the Kremlin-style overthrow of the originators of the series. Here you have two people who have done all the work, put a huge amount of time, energy, and, I assume, their own money into this project. It seems to me that the ICO people just want the series to go away, which it seem like it will.

First of all, here is my advice. If anyone is still planning on putting on one of the ICO concerts, please go support them. Go to the gallery, and have a good time. Don’t buy any refreshments if the gallery sells them.  As a matter of fact, avoid direct eye contact with any gallery employee.  However,  if you see any art there you like, write down the name of the artist, and contact them directly when you go home. If you like, wait until their show at the ICO is done. Buy something else from them, but make sure no money goes to the Gallerie Icosahedron.

At one point, I have been told, they complained about the nature of the music being presented. It wasn’t ‘classical’ or ‘conservative’ enough. I didn’t realize that we were under the scrutiny of the new music police, telling us how to write as well as demanding that we pay – oh, and that piano is just there for decoration.  I’m sure that their list of demands would eventually include no parallel 5ths or un-resolved dissonances – and, I’m sure, no Max patches.
This is truly a horrible situation for all of us. I understand that concerts do need to be canceled sometimes. Performers get sick or injured, the composer isn’t finished with the piece, sometimes even accidents occur in the performance venue. Yet, this is truly, truly appalling: a concert canceled because of greed and almost maniacal control exerted by the proprietors of the concert space. I am disgusted by their actions.

This morning, someone suggested that we try to find another location. I’m all for that, although I have my doubts that we’d be able to find a decent concert site that would have availability for all the events (which were scheduled on Thursdays). If that can be done, I’d be thrilled. I’d be happy to wait until the Fall. I’d be happy to pay or raise funds for a performance at a good venue. And, I’ll be happy to avoid walking down the street anywhere near the Gallerie Icosahedron.

by Anthony Cornicello
Classical Music, Contemporary Classical, Metropolis Ensemble, New York

The Sooner The Better

Andrew Cyr writes: 

Hi Jerry,

I just wanted to give you a heads up about a couple of things:

Avner Dorman, the composer we just cut an album with (in editing mode now), had some incredible news in Germany, which I think is potentially worthy of a post. His new percussion concerto was just premiered in Hamburg a few weeks ago, and was just added in a rare surprise programming shift, with Munich Symphony — when was the last time you heard an American symphony do something like that!  Check out the press release, which I received from his publisher, Schirmer.  You can have a look at his website, too, http://avnerdorman.com , for additional info too…

In Metropolis news, another very talented composer we’re
collaborating with, Ryan Francis (b.1981), has won a prestigious
commission from the American Composers Forum, for a piano concerto which we will premiere in April….  There’s pretty much complete info for you on that on our homepage, under NEWS (we’ve a blog post about it) http://metropolisensemble.org/ — might be worthy of a post with you at some point, if you announce these kind of things.  I think Ryan is an incredibly talented composer to be watched…

Hope all is going well in the new year, and thanks for all your
support!!!

All the best,

Andrew

by Jerry Bowles
Classical Music, Contemporary Classical, New York

The Sun’s Not Yellow, It’s Chicken

If you’ve been wondering who is responsible for dumbing down American musical culture, it’s people like Ronen Givony and me.  Givony, as many of you know, is the mini-Sol Hurok who is responsible for New York’s priceless Wordless Music series.  Like me, Givony is not a composer or musician or even someone who reads music.  But, also like me, he loves new music and wants to help nurture and promote the talented people who do.  The web has given us both platforms to indulge our desire to do so.  

According to Andrew Keen, that makes us the worst kind of well-meaning but dangerous and misinformed schmos.  We are”amateurs,” in the most perjorative sense.  Keen’s new book The Cult of the Amateur: How Today’s Internet is Killing our Culture blames the equalitarian nature of web publishing and self-promotion for everything from Britney to global warming.

I dunno.  Seems to me that influential “amateurs” have always been with us.  Weren’t a lot of the explorers and scientists of the late 19th and early 20th centuries people who simply pursued their discoveries, quite often using their own resources?  

I’m sure this august group can think of many examples of amateurs who have had some influence on the advancement of new music.  Share some of them with us, please.

p.s.  By the way, I am no longer an amateur web site builder and manager.  My first paid-for site called MyVenturepad opened for business yesterday.  Nice article today on the front page about the changing of the guard at Nashville’s Bluebird Cafe.

by Jerry Bowles