Zentripetal

  • Zentripetal

    Zentripetal made its debut in 2006, when violinist Lynn Bechtold and cellist Jennifer DeVore decided to explore the violin/cello duo repertoire and to premiere new works for the combo. They have been playing together since they were students at the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston. To date, the duo has performed recitals and programs at Galapagos in DUMBO, the Goethe Institut NYC, the Roerich Museum, the Players Theatre, and the Renee Weiler Concert Hall at Greenwich House, as well as on series in New Jersey and Pennsylvania. They are finishing up their first CD which will be released in early fall.

  • Lynn Bechtold

    Violinist Lynn Bechtold has appeared in recital throughout the U.S., Canada, Holland, and Switzerland. An advocate of contemporary music, she has worked with composers such as Gloria Coates, George Crumb, John Harbison, and Morton Subotnick, and has premiered works on the Princeton Composers' Series and Composers Concordance. In 2001, she gave the premiere of "Violynn," a work for violin and electronics written for her by Alvin Lucier. As a member of the Lumina String Quartet, the East Village Opera Company (rock/opera band), the SEM Ensemble, and the New York Symphonic Ensemble, among others, Ms. Bechtold has performed around the world. Other programs have been with the Absolute Ensemble, North/South Consonance, Parsons Dance, the Paul Taylor Dance Company, the Vermont Symphony, and the VOX Opera Readings. In addition, she has performed with singers such as Boyz II Men, Sheryl Crow, Roberta Flack, Smokey Robinson, J-Pop band SMAP, and Donna Summer. She has performed at venues such as Alice Tully Hall, the Blue Note, the Frick Museum, the Harvard Club, Joe's Pub, the Kosciuszko Foundation, Merkin Hall, St John the Divine, and Zankel Hall. Ms. Bechtold received her Master's Degree from the Mannes College of Music where she was a student of Felix Galimir. She received a double-degree in Violin and English from the New England Conservatory of Music and Tufts University in Boston. In addition, she likes to compose works for strings and electronics. She is on the faculty of Greenwich House Music School in NYC, and the Norwalk Youth Symphony.

  • Jennifer DeVore

    Cellist Jennifer DeVore received her BA in Art History from Harvard University before earning her Masters degree from the New England Conservatory, where her teachers were Colin Carr and Laurence Lesser. An active chamber musician and soloist, she has appeared at Lincoln Center, Merkin Hall, Zankel Hall and Weill Hall and at the Musicorda, Yellow Barn and Spoleto festivals. Groups she has played with include the Brooklyn Philharmonic Orchestra, Ensemble Pi, the Jose Limon Dance Company, and the Metamorphosen Chamber Orchestra. She is also a member of the Harrisburg Symphony. As a member of the Lumina String Quartet, Ms. DeVore has toured Russia and the Ukraine. Travel with other chamber groups has included concerts throughout Southeast Asia, Europe, Israel and Costa Rica. A champion of contemporary music, Ms. DeVore has worked closely with composers John Cage, Ornette Coleman, and John Zorn, has premiered many solo and chamber works, played in the Bang-On-A-Can Marathon and on WNYC's "New Sounds," and has recorded pieces by Cage and Xenakis, as well as pieces by many American composers. Her diverse interests have led to recordings and performances with artists such as Il Divo, DJ Spooky, East Village Opera Company, Josh Groban, Laura Brannigan, Suzanne Vega, the Trans-Siberian Orchestra and many independent bands in New York. Television appearances include spots on Good Morning America, Live with Regis and Kelly, and the CW11 Morning Show. She teaches at the Packer Institute in Brooklyn and privately.

Concert Dates

  • October 9, 2011 - New York City
  • April 24, 2011 - New York City

15 one-minute selections for Zentripetal

  • You Filthy...!!

    Joshua Backes

    Joshua Backes is a Missourian and veteran of "Indie" rock and folkish bands. After several years of shows, tours and recording, he turned to composing for piano and other instruments. He now studies at the University of Wisconsin in Milwaukee and expects to earn a Bachelors of Fine Arts in Composition and Technology in two years.

    "You Filthy...!!" is a raucous collage. The piece is agitated at times and breathy at others. Fifty-eight seconds of quick gestures that cycle through composed variations. It blows by, and it's over.

  • No.

    Jay Batzner

    Jay C. Batzner is currently on the faculty of Central Michigan University where he teaches music technology, electronic music composition, and music theory courses. Prior to this position Dr. Batzner was on the faculty of the University of Central Florida, Kansas City Kansas Community College, Metropolitan Community Colleges (Kansas City area), and Indiana University Southeast. He earned his doctorate in composition at the University of Missouri-Kansas City and holds degrees in composition and/or theory from the University of Louisville and the University of Kansas.

  • Fossil Gas

    David Bohn

    David Bohn lives in West Allis, Wisconsin. He is an associate lecturer at the University of Wisconsin-Parkside, music director at St. John's Lutheran in West Milwaukee, President of the Wisconsin Alliance for Composers, and vice president of the Wisconsin Chapter of the Organ Historical Society.

    The title "Fossil Gas" is an anagram of G(Sol)-fis-as, the primary pitch material of the composition.

  • Waiting For Yasi

    Alex Chilvers

    Alex Chilvers (b. 1985) is an Australian composer and writer, currently studying at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music. Over the past two years, he has studied with Michael Smetanin, Matthew Hindson and Paul Stanhope. He also regularly contributes to the Australian classical music and arts magazine Limelight (print and online).

    At approximately midnight on February 2, 2011, Severe Tropical Cyclone Yasi wreaked havoc on the north-eastern coast of Australia. This short piece, inspired by the Fifteen Minutes of Fame project and Zentripetal, was composed prior to impact. Evolving combinations of density and intensity are created by mixing and manipulating motives.

  • Danza Vigorosa

    John Michael Hunt

    John Michael Hunt (b. 1986) was born in Shreveport, Louisiana and grew up in Tulsa, Oklahoma. He has background in jazz and classical saxophone, piano, voice, dance, musical theater, and conducting. He is currently pursuing his Master's in Composition at the University of Texas at Austin studying with Dr. Donald Grantham.

    The piece was conceived with the feel of a vigorous, driving texture and conjured the image of frenetic dancing, perhaps just within the boundaries of control. Formal development was a tricky but fun challenge within the confines of one minute; two themes are stated and developed, sandwiched between an intro/outro motive and transitional material that leads into and out of the brief formal sections.

  • Shaddowing

    HyeKyung Lee

    HyeKyung Lee is currently teaching at Denison University in Granville, Ohio. She received her doctoral degree in composition and Piano Performance from the University of Texas at Austin. Her music can be found on Innova, Vienna Modern Masters, Aurec, Capstone, Mark Custom, New Ariel, Equilibrium recordings, and SEAMUS CD Series Vol.8

    Two instruments follow each other, sometimes honestly, diligently, and sometimes hesitantly, and in disguise.

  • Fragment

    Paul Lombardi

    Paul Lombardi holds a Ph.D. in music composition from the University of Oregon, and has studied composition with David Crumb, Robert Kyr, Stephen Blumberg, and Leo Eylar. His music has been performed in more than 20 states across the US, as well as in other areas in North America, South America, and Europe. Recordings of his music are available from Capstone Records, Zerx Records, and ERMMedia. Many groups have played his music, notably the Kiev Philharmonic, the East Coast Composers Ensemble, Third Angle, and Hundredth Monkey. He is the winner of the 2011 Renee B. Fisher Piano Composition Competition, and has received numerous commissions including one by Oregon Bach Festival Composers Symposium in honor of George Crumb on the occasion of his 75th birthday. Some of his scores are published in the Anthology of Contemporary Concert Music (currently in press). Dr. Lombardi's theoretical work focuses on mathematics and music, and is published in the Music Theory Spectrum, Indiana Theory Review, Mathematics and Music (forthcoming), and Mathematics and Computers in Simulation. He has presented his research at numerous theory conferences, both national and regional. He was the pianist for the Hundredth Monkey Ensemble from 2000 to 2003, and was a soloist for the Siskiyou Community Orchestra in 1994. He has been a member of the theory and composition faculty at the University of New Mexico since 2003, and was a member of the faculty at the Shenandoah University in 2010.

    Please listen and enjoy.

  • Just a Minute

    John Melcher

    John Melcher was born in Indiana in 1951, studied at Juilliard, lived in San Francisco for many years, and moved to Thailand in 1997. In 1983, he developed the first commercially-available MIDI recording application, and continues to use computers as a virtual orchestra to realize his compositions.

    "Just a Minute" is from a set of short pieces drawing inspiration from the Gleichniszahlen Reihe, or the "speak-and-say" number series (1, 11, 21, 1211, 111221, 312211...) The violin and cello parts are based on iteration number 17 of the series, but in opposite directions.

  • Chaiku

    David Morneau

    David Morneau is a composer of an entirely undecided genre, a provider of exclusive unprecedented experiments. In his work he endeavors to explore ideas about our culture, issues concerning creativity, and even the very nature of music itself. Learn more @ http://5of4.com

    Infused with spicy rhythms and the finest harmonic sophistication, this caffeinated composition packs quite a kick.

  • Violin a1/Cello

    Ken Paoli

    Ken Paoli is currently a professor of music at College of DuPage in Glen Ellyn, IL. He was a faculty member at DePaul University and chairman of Music Theory and Composition at Western Illinois University. His latest multi-channel work "Analogic" was premiered at WOCMAT in Taiwan last November.

    "Violin a1/Cello" was generated using an object oriented algorithm that makes use of Gaussian and Cauchy probability curves for the elements of pitch and rhythm. The generated material was then compositionally manipulated to create an inversional dialogue between the cello and violin.

  • Six Moku Hanga

    Ronald Keith Parks

    Ronald Keith Parks has written for and been commissioned by Duo XXI, Charlotte Civic Orchestra, Out of Bounds Ensemble, NeXT Ens, NC School of the Arts Symphony, and many others. His compositions have been performed in numerous venues throughout North and South America, Europe, Australia, and Asia.

    "Six Moku Hanga", for violin and cello, was written for Zentripetal. Moku Hanga is the Japanese phrase for wood block printing (moku means wood and Hanga translates as print or graphic). The six moku hanga are each variations on one another and are played in succession.

  • 60" Game

    Samuel Pender-Bayne

    Samuel Pender-Bayne is a composer, conductor and singer based in Sydney. His compositions take various paths depending on the nature of the commission he receives, sometimes lyrical and tonal, whilst other times adventurous and experimental. No matter the style, Samuel always aims to write consequential music that works.

    60" Game is a work with an indeterminate score that requires improvisation from the performers. It is based on a table of graphics which were composed using a simple mathematical pattern, and represent various improvisational instructions. It's a bit of fun for quick and carefree enjoyment.

  • 9.80665

    Russell Podgorsek

    Russell Podgorsek, violist and composer, is a DMA student at the University of Texas at Austin and a graduate of the Hartt School of Music (CT). He was recently commissioned by the Salisbury Symphony Orchestra (MD) for his "MicroSymphony" and the Sudbury Youth Orchestra (ON) for his "Lament and Lullaby".

    "9.80665" - acceleration due to gravity. This piece is a micro-study in gravitation and acceleration towards and away, utilizing pitch, time, rhythm, articulation, and dynamics to "musicalize" these physical phenomena.

  • Hm

    Malina Rauschenfels

    Malina Rauschenfels studied cello and composition at Eastman and Juilliard. She loves to write tailor made pieces for specific people and to perform and create pieces that combine her love of music and dance where she seeks to break down the boundaries that separate the arts into disparate areas.

    "Hm" is pronounced with a flat inflection and quickly, hence the staccato marking. It is the sort of response one may have to something perplexing or ambivalent - non-committal. "Hm" is intended to be a whimsical response to the dance of life and the surprising and ironic happenings that often coincide.

  • March in Jazz Time!

    Bob Siebert

    I received my Bachelor and Masters of Music Degrees from Manhattan School of Music, and have been a performer/composer/teacher in the New York area for the past thirty five years. My music runs the gambit from pop influenced electronic realism through reinvented jazz standards to experimental electronic pieces and music for the African thumb piano.

    "March in Jazz Time!" is a jazz/blues inspired piece that combines my classical education in composition with the jazz skills I picked on the bandstand. A minimalist snapshot of a traditional jazz march. Catch the beat!