Before Ralph Vaughan Williams would sanction the premiere of his “Sinfonia antartica,” he wanted to test drive it, so to speak, with a performance in situ, so he flew John Barbirolli and the Hallé Orchestra to McMurdo Station. Due to untimely scheduling conflicts with the facility’s researchers, the audience numbered only five men and two penguins, which the men cooked and ate during the interminable – for them – Intermezzo movement. The subsequent debut of the piece in 1953 was sufficiently well received, however its popularity skyrocketed after Vaughan Williams added the penguin-eating sequence to the score.
Moonlight on the Mountain Birmingham, Alabama on Wednesday, May 29th at 7:30 pm.
Cellist Craig Hultgren will be presenting Fifteen Minutes of Fame Occupy Cello - Upsetting the Musical Status Quo. This unique program features 15 one-minute solo acoustic compositions selected from an international call for submissions. Hultgren will play these works created especially for this program at Moonlight on the Mountain on Wednesday, May 29th at 7:30 pm. These concise vignettes represent composers from the United States, Canada, Argentina, the United Kingdom, Germany, Italy and Romania. Hultgren performed this same program of pieces in New York City earlier this month of May as part of the Composer's Voice concert series. The pieces are based on forward-looking concepts that challenge the traditional role of the instrument. Additionally, Hultgren will be playing two Max softward computer works for cello and electronics by Philip Schuessler and Kari Besharse. Schuessler is from Birmingham and graduated from Birmingham-Southern College. He and his wife Kari teach at Southeastern Louisiana University in Hammond. Also on the program will be an improvisation by Hultgren, a couple of video montages by Birmingham videographer James Willett and a rock and roll solo written by South Carolina guitarist Brandon Goff.
Admission for the program is $10 for adults and $5 for students and seniors. Moonlight on the Mountain is located at 585 Shades Crest Road in Birmingham, AL 35226. It has been designed a warm, comfortable listening venue, presenting a variety of performers in an informal concert format. Inspired by the appeal of house concerts and "unplugged" shows favored by musicians and small audiences nationwide, The Moonlight showcases performers in a mini-theater environment - cozy and upclose with cabaret table seating. The audience is invited to bring their own alcoholic or nonalcoholic beverages. For more information about this program visit Fifteen Minutes of Fame: Occupy Cello and oonlight on the Mountain.
Cellist Craig Hultgren is a long-time activist for new music, the newly creative arts, and the avant-garde. This year he has performed solo concerts and chamber music in St, Louis, Miami, Atlanta, Memphis and Bowling Green, Ohio. A recipient of two Artist Fellowships from the Alabama State Council on the Arts, he is a member of Thámyris, a contemporary chamber music ensemble in Atlanta.
Composers selected for this Fifteen Minutes of Fame are:
Daniel Arite, Emanuela Ballio, David Bohn, Chris D. Burton, Deiter Buwen, Ross Feller, Matt Horrigan, Magdelena Kress, Serban Nichifor, Douglas Ovens, David R. Peoples, Robert Percy, Alan Shockley, Juan María Solare, and Luca Vanneschi
With 60x60, video artists Patrick Liddell, Sabrina Pena, Rachel Cosic & Zlatko Cosic have created 60 original works to accompany 60 experimental music compositions from 60 different international composers, each composition being 60 seconds or less in duration.
The 60x60 Presenters mix is designed to honor and present those composers who have helped promote the 60x60 cause. This mix of 60x60 includes the works of composers who have presented 60x60 performances in the past, present and future. Robert Ratcliffe is the audio coordinator for the 60x60 (2012) Presenters Mix.
60x60 Video (2012) Presenters Mix
May 31, 2013 7:30pm Webster University Film Series,
Winifred Moore Auditorium,
470 E. Lockwood, St. Louis
60x60 (2012) Presenters Mix
Composers include:
Liana Alexandra, Ricardo Arias, Dennis Bathory-Kitsz, Rich Bitting, Benjamin Boone, Scott Brickman, George Brunner, Paul Clouvel, Zlatko Cosic, Douglas DaSilva, Brad Decker, Paul Dibley, Erin Dougherty, Leonardo Duerto, Chris Flores, Douglas Geers, Josh Goldman, Melissa Grey, David Gunn, Bruce Hamilton, Dorothy Hindman, Yoko Honda, Lynn Job, Aaron Krister Johnson, Tova Kardonne, Juraj Kojis, Patrick Liddell, Elainie Lillios, Moises Linares, John Link, Blake Martin, Charles Norman Mason, Mike McFerron, Jeff Morris, Serban Nichifor, Rich O'Donnel, Michael James Olson, David R Peoples, Kala Pierson, Christopher Preissing, William Price, Gene Pritsker, Robert Ratcliffe, Robert Sazdov, Jacky Schreiber, Nivedita ShivRaj, Alan Shockley, Juan Maria Solare, Adam Sovkoplas, Adam Stansbie, Allan Strange, Eldad Tsabary, Katerina Tzedaki, Jeremy Van Buskirk, Robert Voisey, Patricia Walsh, Andrew Walters, Rodney Waschka, Aaron Word, and Sabrina Pena Young
Vox Novus is pround to announce the selections for the 15 one-minute contrabass clarinet pieces composed for Fifteen-Minutes-of-Fame with Alex Sramek to be performed Sunday, June 9, 2013 for the Composer's Voice concert series at the Jan Hus Church in New York City.
The theme of this call is “Thinking Outside of the Paperclip”
Alex Sramek is a Los Angeles-based clarinetist, composer, and purveyor of shenanigans. MFA from CalArts in hand, this refugee from software engineering has recently made a playful nuisance of himself playing in a klezmer/rock band, guesting with a drone/doom tuba duo, leading improv sessions across Europe, teaching a room full of Clarinetfest attendees grotesque extended techniques, writing minimalist songs for obsessive-compulsive children, and thrilling unsuspecting guests with impromptu restroom concerts. More on his shenanigans can be found at mostlydifferent.com.
Composers selected for Fifteen Minutes of Fame with Alex Sramek include:
Rodrigo Baggio,
Joseph Bourdeau,
Michael Boyd,
Andy Evan Cohen,
Marissa DePronio Dike,
Jon Fielder,
Ari Frankel,
Fermino Gomes,
Roger May,
Berk Özdemir,
Bettie Ross,
Daniel Schnee,
Juan Maria Solare,
Lori Archer Sutherland, and
Ron Wray
Electronic Music Midwest is dedicated to programming of a wide variety of electroacoustic music and providing the highest quality performance of electronic media. This annual festival consists of approximately nine short concerts (about 1 hour in length) over the course of a weekend in Autumn. Our goal is to bring together vibrant and interesting artists of all forms, give them a vehicle for their expressions, and a place for them to share ideas with others.
Since its beginning, EMM has programmed over 500 new electroacoustic compositions. Composers have traveled from around the world to graciously share their music with audiences in the Midwest. However, EMM is about more than just playing new music. We strive to create an environment conducive to building community interaction. Most concerts are approximately one hour long, and composers have plenty of time to "talk shop" with each other as well as interact socially with students and audience member
"…Johnson played beautifully, displaying a firm musicality and a flair for drama." - Kansas City Star
"…her sensitivities rather extraordinary, baroque while futuristic." - www.acousticmusic.com
Kari Johnson is a pianist who specializes in new music and electronic music performance. Praised by critics for her "amazing musicality" and "flair for drama," Ms. Johnson works to create a dynamic, captivating experience for her audience. Like most pianists, Johnson began her training in traditional classical repertoire. Throughout her undergraduate and graduate studies, she developed an interest in playing rarely performed and highly stylized works, particularly music of the early baroque and late twentieth century.
Call for Submissions
Kansas City Kansas Community College and Lewis University are pleased to announce an international call for submissions for the Electronic Music Midwest Festival, to be held October 24-26, 2013 at Kansas City Kansas Community College.
Each concert will feature an 8.1 speaker diffusion system. Acclaimed pianist Kari Johnson will be the featured performer and composers are encouraged to submit works for her consideration. Any composer regardless of region, age or nationality may submit one work.
EMM accepts all electroacoustic works, but we especially seek music that falls within one of the following categories:
1) Composition for piano and fixed media and/or live electronics
2) Two channel works for fixed media
3) Up to eight channel works for fixed media
4) Instrument(s)/Voice(s) and fixed media or live electronics (composer to provide performers)
5) Works for video
6) Sound Installations and Interactive Media (composer to provide all non-standard equipment)
7) Live Laptop works
8) Live Interactive works
Fifteen-Minutes-of-Fame: Happy Birthday Maestro Verdi with pianist Giuseppe Lupis
Deadline June 10, 2013
Vox Novus is calling for one-minute pieces composed for Fifteen-Minutes-of-Fame: Giuseppe Lupis, piano to be premiered October 10, 2013, 8.00 p.m. Sherman Van Solkema Concert Hall, at Grand Valley State University, Allendale, MI.
This call is open to all composers. All works must be 60 seconds or less.
Theme: “Happy Birthday Maestro Verdi”
Notable composer Giuseppe Verdi was born on October 10, 1813. To celebrate his bicentennial, composers are encouraged to submit works for solo piano inspired by the music or life of Giuseppe Verdi and the theme "Happy Birthday Maestro Verdi." Compositions do not necessarily have to include themes by Verdi or be imitative of Verdi's music; but should have some connection. The composers can interpret this creatively. Submitted works can be written in any style and use any technique.
Works that feature the peculiar characteristics of the piano are welcome.
Pianist and composer Giuseppe Lupis enjoys more than twenty years of experience in the musical field, with frequent appearances in the United States, South America, and Europe. As composer, Lupis aims at restoring the prominence piano enjoyed in the 19th Century by featuring the peculiar characteristics of the instrument. In crafting his works, Lupis gives great consideration to the performer, the audience, and the musical language. Lupis’ works have been broadcast by Sky Classica TV, TV2000, Rai3 Lazio, Vatican Radio, and presented at the Berlin Philharmonic, Queen Elizabeth Theatre in Vancouver, Opera House in Copenhagen, Martha Argerich Presents Project in Buenos Aires, Argentina; in Rome, London, New York, Dallas, Chicago, Rio de Janeiro, Seoul, and across the United States, Canada, Italy, Poland, United Kingdom, Bulgaria, Kazakhstan, and South Korea. A former pupil of Aldo Ciccolini, Lupis holds a Doctoral degree from the University of Georgia and serves on the piano faculty at Grand Valley State University.
Calling for works (3-5 minutes) composed for electric-jazz guitar and piano
Deadline September 9, 2013
Vox Novus is calling for short pieces (3-5 minutes) minute pieces composed for electric-jazz guitar and piano to be premiered by Rodrigo Baggio, guitar and Lis de Carvalho,piano)at the EMESP College of Music in collaboration with Composer’s Voice concert Series October 20, 2013 in São Paolo, Brazil
Rodrigo Baggio has excelled internationally in 2012, playing concerts and having his music played in various countries around the globe. He was the guest guitarist of Université Laval (Quebec) in their 2012 winter semester, premiering four compositions (“Serra Verde” – for guitar, “Suíte Américas” – for guitar and trombone, “Lâmpada do Operário” – for tenor, guitar and trombone and “Ciclo de Improvisações Sobre Memórias Regionais” – for guitar and tenor saxophone) commissioned by the great trombone player Dr. James C. Lebens for that special occasion. Alongside the concerts, Mr. Baggio has composed music for different ensembles and projects such as “Fantasia Brasileira I” (for guitar) specially written for Prof. Brian Katz (University Of Toronto). His piece “Three Insights Of The Brazilian Landscape” (for Percussion) was one of the winner pieces of “Carl von Ossietzky Composition Prize” at Oldenburg University (Germany). A former pupil of Jaime Barbosa (Composition/University of Ribeirão Preto), Dr. Marcos Cavalcante (Improvisation/University of Campinas) and Arrigo Barnabé (Composition/ULM), Baggio is currently developing his own project called "Guitar Solo" in which Composition and Improvisation are combined on a particular way of instrumental performance.
Pianist, arranger and composer Lis de Carvalho started her Music education with her mother, Dinéa de Carvalho Ferrete when she was 6 years old and later studied with piano jazz with Hilton Jorge Valente (Gogô); composition with Prof. H. J. Koellroeuter; harmony, arrangement and Orquestration with Prof. Cláudio Leal Ferreira; Electronic Music and Synthesizer Programming at Escola Síntesis; Advanced Piano with Prof. Maria José Carrasqueira. Lis obtained a Bachelor’s Degree in Philosophy -at FFCHL ( Faculdade de Filosofia, Ciências Humanas e Letras) and a Bachelor’s Degree in Jazz Piano at FASM (Faculdade Santa Marcelina). Lis de Carvalho teaches piano and harmony, as well as the coordinator of the Jazz Piano Program at Tom Jobim EMESP - ( Estado de São Paulo Music School). She has performed with the following musicians: Paulo Moura, Raul de Souza, Lula Galvão, Roberto Sion, Altamiro Carrilho, Edu Lobo e Orquestra Jazz Sinfônica, Quarteto em Cy, Vânia Bastos, Tetê Spindola, Eliete Negreiros, Zezé Mota, Paula Lima, Margareth Menezes, Walter Franco, among others. Lis de Carvalho has recorded a Bossa Nova piano solo CD, for the MPBaby Series, MCD record. She has launched a digital video class by HMP Publishing Company and recorded many of her compositions in several CDs and DVDs with Celso Pixinga and other mainstream musicians of vocal and instrumental music. Lis has recently (2012) released her own CD Caminho de Dentro at the live TV Program Ses.
