| < | October 18, 2013 | > |
REVIEW |
Composer’s Voice: Virtual Vacation- by Erin BomboyComposer’s Voice transitions from the haze of summer into the crisp, colorful ambiance of autumn with its October 13th program. Highlighting inspirations from Debussy to South America, this show comforts spirits disappointed by the loss of light and warmth. It takes us on a sonic vacation with works featuring an abundance of these diminishing elements. Inspired by the plush harmonies and sensuous tonalities of the eminent Impressionist composer, the program opens with a themed 15-Minutes-of Fame: Reimagining Debussy. Pianist Stephen Porter offers nuanced phrasing and visceral sensitivity to enhance the sumptuous consistencies of these compositions. Erik Branch’s “Fuyuyamaji (Mountain Path in Winter)” is snow-soaked sporting finely etched corners, a sonic portrait of Sesshu’s “Winter Landscape.” In “Le Tombeau de Piano,” Giuseppe Lupis fashions a burgundy-hued piece laced with fragile scrolls of frost; it swirls gently before escalating into a purring confection topped with sophistication. Steven H. Markowitz’s “Wasabi,” as the title suggests, operates as a skippy, syncopated pungency that tickles in its burning playfulness. “Golliwogg’s Leaf Rag,” composed by Remigio Coco, acts as a toe-tapping, tartly smart amalgam of Joplin’s rags and Debussy’s cakewalk. Cindi Hsu, with “Prelude in A-flat Major,"winds tender tissues — whisper-thin their fragility — into a flaky skein that oozes into ephemera. Ann-Marie Turcotte, Anna Aidinian, Aurelio Scotto, Dustin Peters, Juan Maria Solare, Peter Reilich, Serban Nichifor, James SoeNyun, Jose Jesus de Acevedo Souza, and Darren Wirth contribute enticing selections to Fifteen-Minutes-of-Fame: Reimaging Debussy. 
Marisol Gentile’s two-part composition, “DOS CUADROS CAMPESTRES,” is renderedwith verve by Duo Anova (cellist Susan Davita Mandel and guitarist Kenji Haba). Studded with moments of repose, the two pluck, strum, prick, and tap their instruments to fashion a porous composition;the guitar’s brief, wiry episodes salt the virile weep of the cello. “DOS CUADROS CAMPESTRES” operates like childhood memory, patched and poignant against time’s endless sweep. Stephen Porter returns to play CaioSenna’scunning and challenging “Three Etudes.”Dense, assertive, with temperatures ranging from volatile posturing to swaggering finesse, Porter’s shimmering dexterity jockeys the uninterrupted tumble. 
Six works performed by soprano Agueda Fernández-Abad and pianist YumiSuehiro highlight compositions set to Spanish poetry. Fernández-Abad’s handsomely bronzed voicesurges under Suehiro’s exact, clever playing. Robert Voisey’s “Soy” offers a pliantly velvet piece braided with tricky, needle-sharp coils while Claudia Montero’s “Esta Grave Daño” is dark and intense, immersed in tender capitulation. “El Sueño,” by Juan Maria Solare, populates a surreal landscape, colored by metaphor and the sticky sweet seduction of dreams. Robert Voisey’s “Queja” and Claudia Montero’s “Dolor” and “Ven” also appear on the program. These three, penned by Argentinian poet Alfonsina Storni, complete the set of six, which were all written specifically for Agueda. 
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At Carnegie
“A-one, a-two, a-one two three fo!” chanted Neil as he launched into a stripped-down version of Franz Schubert’s Symphony #9, “the Great.” It was his one chance to impress the Carnegie Hall critics and he meant to make the most of it. True, he was technically on the street outside of the famous concert hall, but he wasn’t about to let a little technicality ruin his chance for stardom. It was also true that, at the moment, the only person watching him was Dan, the itinerant kung fu apprentice whose family had been whacked by ninjas. Still, Neil was grateful for any audi-ence, and he tried hard to nail the high B flat that capped the first ritornello. He missed, as usual, but, undeterred, he played on. The second movement featured an extended panpipe cadenza, and he attacked it with gusto. Unfor-tunately, for the, like, umpteenth time, he’d forgotten to rinse off the mouthpiece after he last played it, and it reeked of last weekend’s tandouri chicken take-out. Or was it from the week before? He wanted to stop long enough to wipe off the vestiges of gizzard, but Dan was watching him closely, and Neil knew that the show, at all costs, must go on. Somehow, he found the resolve to disregard the vile taste and soldier on. But then an earwig crawled out of the instrument’s middle pipe. Neil recoiled in disgust. The recoiling action triggered a sudden intake of breath. And accompanying the breath into his lungs was, regrettably, the earwig. The horrid little insect instinctively began to swim the wrong way through Neil’s respiratory system towards his ear, where, according to a graphic Discovery Channel program, it would burrow into and commence eating his brain. Neil coughed, hard, and was rewarded with a tiny sliver of insectival wing on his tongue. A subsequent cough was so forceful that he had to set down his guitar to keep his balance. This action signified to Dan that the concert was over. And Dan was not pleased. The music helped him forget about the ninjas. The earwig, meanwhile, having lost both wings, half a mandible and an antenna, still struggled onward, until at last it reached its goal. Moments later, his forehead suddenly itching like crazy, Neil thought how much ol’ Franz Schubert had resembled a bug. And that, alas, was his last thought.
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Upcoming Performances |
Electronic Music Midwest Festival - Kanasas City60X60 10TH ANNUAL INTERNATIONAL MIXThursday, October, 24 2013 (KANSAS CITY, KANSAS) Electronic Music Midwest (EMM) FestivalIt will open with world premiere of the 60x60 International Mix, a project containing 60 one-minute electronic miniatures each by a different composer. The minute works are played back to back for one hour synchronized to an analog clock.
Electronic Music Midwest Festival Thursday October 24, 2012 – Saturday October 26, 2012 Kansas City Kansas Community College 7250 State Ave, Kansas City, Kansas 66112 http://www.emmfestival.org/ A concert schedule of the festival can be found here: http://www.emmfestival.org/data/concerts.php |
Electronic Music Midwest Festival - Kanasas CityEMM features pianist Kari Johnson for its 2013 FestivalThursday, October, 24 2012 – Saturday October 26, 2012 (KANSAS CITY, KANSAS) Electronic Music Midwest (EMM) features the highly acclaimed pianist Kari Johnson as their guest performer for this year’s festival.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. "…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 EMM brings a wide variety of electroacoustic music to the Midwest. The festival consists of nine short concerts about 1 hour in length from Thursday to Saturday containing a host of International composers and musicians presenting and performing new works. It will open with world premiere of the 60x60 International Mix, a project containing 60 one-minute electronic miniatures each by a different composer. The minute works are played back to back for one hour synchronized to an analog clock. Electronic Music Midwest (EMM) is dedicated to programming of a wide variety of electroacoustic music and providing the highest quality performance of electronic media. Since its beginning, EMM has programmed over 500 new electroacoustic compositions. The Festival brings together vibrant and interesting artists of all forms, giving them a vehicle for their expressions, and a place for them to share ideas with others. Composers travel from around the world to share their music with audiences in the Midwest. EMM creates a pleasant experience for audiences to listen to new works and speak with their creators in person. It is a unique opportunity to meet an international community of composers and musicians creating the music of tomorrow, today. Electronic Music Midwest Festival Thursday October 24, 2012 – Saturday October 26, 2012 Kansas City Kansas Community College 7250 State Ave, Kansas City, Kansas 66112 http://www.emmfestival.org/ A concert schedule of the festival can be found here: http://www.emmfestival.org/data/concerts.php |
Composer's VoiceAn International Performing Cast Comes Together in Memorial Concert for Composer Liana Alexandra
In an exciting collaboration performance between an international cast of performers, the Romanian Cultural Institution in New York City, Serban Nichifor, and Vox Novus, Composer’s Voice presents works written or inspired by the late Romanian composer, professor, and musicologist, Liana Alexandra, with performances by Pauline Kim Harris, Riko Higuma, Wonki Lee, and Jennifer Shaw. Liana Alexandra was an internationally award winning composer, professor, and musicologist from Bucharest, Romania. She also performed as a member of Duo Intermedia and was co-director of the Nuova Musica Consonante-Living Music Foundation Festival with Serban Nichifor. The concert will feature three of Alexandra’s own works as well as works dedicated to her memory, including works by Vox Novus directors Robert Voisey and Douglas DaSilva. It also features the world premiere of fifteen one-minute works, written specifically for this performance by composers Wade Meyers, Georgiana Trandafir, Ching-Chu Hu, Kala Pierson, David Heuser, Mike Perdue, Serban Nichifor, Gordon Francis Blaney Jr., Daniel Mihai, Scott Brickman, Jose Mora-Jimenez, Joshua Ransom, Andy Cohen, Guido Bisocoli, and Corina Alexandra Tirziman. 
Hailed by the New York Times for her "lightning-fast reflexes" and "breathtaking" performances, Pauline Kim Harris has been notably described as "a sorceress of the violin." A Grammynominated artist (Universal/Decca), she engages her audiences world-wide in ground-breaking classical and genre-bending crossover, to the envelope-pushing experimental/ avant-garde. 
Riko Higuma (piano) has performed and collaborated with legendary artists such as Albert Markov, Neil Rosenshein, Aaron Rosand, Cho-Liang Li, Alan Gilbert, Steven Tanenbom, Dora Schwarzberg, and Timothy Eddy. She has performed around the globe in such contries as the United States, Russia, and France. She has studied both in the United States and France. 
Wonki Lee (saxophones), distinguishing himself as a “remarkable saxophonist with his instrumental prowess and keen artistic grasp,” was the first Korean selected as a semi-finalist in the Adolphe Sax International Competition. He is an active concert saxophonist, performing a wide range of music, including solo premieres and chamber music. He won first prize for MTNA Young Artist NY State Competition.
Jennifer Shaw (cello) began playing at the age of nine. She has performed with ensembles such as the Brubeck Quartet and the Eagles, in locations such as Carnegie Hall, Symphony Space, and the Beacon Theater. 
Composer’s Voice Concert |
Calendar |
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Announcing results for 60x60 10th Annual International Mix60x60 is culminating its 10th project celebrating a decade worth of one-minute works submitted to the project. 60x60 has created over 10 different one-hour mixes to commemorate the decade milestone including its 10th annual International Mix. These 60 composers selected from a pool of 850 works submitted to the project from its latest call for works. The project Director, Robert Voisey is the curator for the tenth 60x60 International Mix.
Composers selected for the 60x60 10th annual international mix include:
You can find more information here |
Opportunities |
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Fifteen-Minutes-of-Fame: David Souza, tenor & Anoush Moazzeni, pianoDeadline: October 23, 2013Vox Novus is calling for one-minute pieces composed for Fifteen-Minutes-of-Fame: Anoush Moazzeni, piano & David Souza, tenor to be premiered on February 23, 2014 for the Composer’s Voice concert series at the Jan Hus Church in New York City. 
Tenor David Souza began his music studies at the Beethoven Music Conservatory in São Paulo (Brazil) and at the Municipal School of Music of São Paulo. He holds a Master’s degree in Vocal Performance from the Music Faculty at the Laval University in Quebec City, Canada in the class of the canadian basse-baritone Michel Ducharme and a Bachelor of Music degree in Vocal Performance at the State of São Paulo University (UNESP) in Brazil. 
Persian born Anoush Moazzeni enjoys a performing career that has frequently taken her around the world. Highlights of recent seasons have included visits to Canada - where she collaborates with the Orchestre OSP de Québec under Jean Picard- Europe, and the Middle East. she has performed at several venues including Roudaki and Avini Hall at home in Tehran; in France at Salle Varèse, Rotonde de l'insa, Musée d'art contemporain de vielleurbanne;and salle Henri Gagnon in Canada. |
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