June 28, 2009 Jan Hus Church 351 East 74th Street New York, New York 10021

The Composer’s Voice Concert Series is an opportunity for contemporary composers to express their musical aesthetic and personal “voice” created in their compositions. This performance features the new music ensemble LOADBANG New music chamber group loadbang is building a new kind of music for mixed ensemble. Their unique lung-powered instrumentation (bass clarinet, trumpet, trombone, baritone voice)

Title Composer Performer Silhouette Matt Hough LOADBANG Andy Kozar - trumpet Will Lang - trombone Alejandro Acierto - bass clarinet Jeff Gavett - baritone Story John Cage LOADBANG Andy Kozar - trumpet Will Lang - trombone Alejandro Acierto - bass clarinet Jeff Gavett - baritone improvisation LOADBANG Andy Kozar - trumpet Will Lang - trombone Alejandro Acierto - bass clarinet Jeff Gavett - baritone Waiting for the Man David Lang LOADBANG Andy Kozar - trumpet Will Lang - trombone Alejandro Acierto - bass clarinet Jeff Gavett - baritone Flute Club David Morneau Rebecca Ashe - flute Furniture Songs Wally Gunn Megan Schubert - soprano Joshua Modney - violin Vicky Chow - piano

Performers LOADBANG New music chamber group loadbang is building a new kind of music for mixed ensemble. Their unique lung-powered instrumentation (bass clarinet, trumpet, trombone, baritone voice) has provoked diverse responses from composers, resulting in a broad stylistic palette ranging from wordless microtonal meditations to broad political satire. In the past two years, they have premiered more than 25 works, including several written by members of the band, and a new arrangement by Pulitzer Prize-winning composer David Lang. They also perform works for indeterminate ensemble, including such New York School classics as Brown's December 1952 and Cage's Four6 and Song Books. Not content to dwell solely in the realm of notated music, loadbang is known for its searing and unpredictable improvisations, exploring the edges of instrumental and vocal timbre and technique, and blurring the line between composed and extemporaneous music. To this end, they have embarked on a project to record improvisations and works written by members of the band, designing fabricating and releasing hand-made copies in a limited edition. Recent performances include appearances at the Roger Smith Hotel on Talea Ensemble's iNSIDE Out series, a program of all premieres at Issue Project Room, and a performance of Cage's Song Books on the Avant Media Festival. The members of loadbang met as part of the first class of Manhattan School of Music's Contemporary Performance program. ?find loadbang on facebook, twitter, and myspace?download loadbang's EPK? Alejandro Acierto - bass clarinet Alejandro T. Acierto is an active soloist, collaborative chamber musician, improviser, and composer whose innovative work in contemporary music and performance has led Time-Out New York to call him a “maverick" of new music. He is co-founder of New York-based ai ensemble and Chicago-based ensemble Dal Niente and also performs with Loadbang, and ThingNY. He has performed as a guest with International Contemporary Ensemble, MIVOS Quartet, Wet Ink Ensemble, and has worked alongside sopranos Tony Arnold and Lucy Shelton. Acierto has also played internationally in several festivals such as the Darmstadt Summer Course in Germany, the International Ensemble Modern Academy Festival in Schwatz, Austria and the Sonic Impact Festival in Chicago. As a composer, Acierto embraces an ambiguous aesthetic that integrates music, sound, performance art, and installation based on historical narratives and people’s stories. His works have been performed by the International Contemporary Ensemble, ThingNY, Loadbang, and the Student New Music Ensemble at DePaul. He recently won the Sidney and Mary Kleinman Prize in Composition for his work strangers in our own land and was granted a composers’ residency fellowship at the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts. Additionally, Acierto’s work has also recently been published by Trifecta Publishing in their premiere edition for art of various artistic mediums. Acierto holds a Masters’ degree in Contemporary Performance from Manhattan School of Music and received his Bachelors’ degree in clarinet performance and composition with a focus in Asian American Studies from DePaul University. His principal teachers include David Krakauer, John B. Yeh, Julie DeRoche, Wagner Campos and composers Reiko Fueting, Kurt Westerberg and Juan Campoverde.?visit Alejandro on myspace? Jeff Gavett - baritone Jeffrey Gavett, is dedicated to the creation and presentation of new music as composer, performer and improviser. He has performed with a broad range of collaborators, ranging from the indie rock group Clogs to new music groups Ensemble de Sade, ICE, SEM Ensemble, Signal, Talea Ensemble, and Wet Ink Ensemble. His own ensemble loadbang has premiered more than 15 new works in the past two years. He has worked with such composers as Nick Didkovsky, Reiko Füting, Liza Lim, Somei Satoh, Steven Takasugi, David Lang, and Terry Riley, performing the music of the latter two at the 2008 Bang on a Can Summer festival, where he was a fellow. Since his arrival in New York, Mr. Gavett has sung many premieres, including Somei Satoh's The Passion and Matt Marks's The Adventures of Albert Fish; US premieres of Liza Lim's Chang-O, Philip Maintz's Fluchtlinie, and Steven Takasugi's Strange Autumn; and works by Nils Vigeland and Susan Botti in a performance at Zankel Hall. Recently he performed at Merkin Hall with Signal, under the direction of Brad Lubman. In this performance he sang the US premiere of Harrison Birwistle's scena The Corridor and the premiere of Nico Muhly's Stabat Mater, and was praised for his "attractive" voice by the New York Times. Mr. Gavett holds degrees from Westminster Choir College and Manhattan School of Music’s Contemporary Performance Program, where he studied with Lucy Shelton. Andy Kozar - trumpet ?Pittsburgh native Andy Kozar is a New York City based trumpeter, improviser, and composer. A strong advocate of contemporary music, he is a founding member of loadbang, a member of TILT Brass, and has performed with new music ensembles including Argento Chamber Ensemble, Talea, Signal, TACTUS, and Mark Gould’s Pink Baby Monster. He has performed alongside artists such as Dave Douglas, Todd Reynolds, Ken Thompson, Brad Lubman, David Cossen, and Caleb Burhans, worked closely with numerous composers including Helmut Lachenmann and Pulitzer Prize winning composer David Lang, and in the past two years, has had over twenty pieces written for him. Equally well versed in the traditional repertoire, he was featured as a soloist with the Carnegie Mellon Baroque Orchestra, performed at Eastman School of Music’s ‘Rising Stars’ recital, is a member of New York City based orchestra Camerata Notturna, and in 2003, he served as principal trumpet of the Pittsburgh Opera Center Orchestra. In addition to contemporary and traditional classical music, his versatility has also allowed him the opportunity to perform with the Grammy nominated Travis Sullivan’s Bjorkestra, the Dave Ravello Ensemble, and indie pop bands including the Generationals and Emanuel and the Fear. He has also performed on Broadway’s Mary Poppins. His teachers include Anthony Pasquarelli, James Thompson, Brian McWhorter, Jens Lindemann, and Mark Gould. He has studied at Carnegie Mellon University, holds a BM from the Eastman School of Music, and a MM in contemporary performance from Manhattan School of Music, and, in addition to being a teaching artist for American Composer’s Orchestra, he is also on faculty at the Long Island Conservatory and the North Carolina Governor’s School for the Arts. Will Lang - trombone Originally from Long Island, trombonist William Lang is an active performer and improviser in New York and Boston. Hailed for his “superb performance” of James Bergin’s Langmusik by the Boston Globe, William is dedicated to playing premieres and new music. He has performed solo recitals at the Stone, the Gershwin Hotel, and Greenfield Hall in New York City, and other venues throughout the Northeast and Miami. He has also appeared as a soloist with the Fredonia Wind Ensemble on a tour of New York State, and as a guest artist on the defacto music series and the Electronic Music Festival. As a chamber musician William has appeared with the Argento Chamber Ensemble, the Claremont Ensemble, the SEM Ensemble, TACTUS, TILT Brass, Wet Ink, and Zero Gravity. William is also a founding member of two New York City based groups: the Guidonian Hand, a trombone quartet, and loadbang, his groundbreaking ensemble consisting of baritone voice, bass clarinet, trumpet, and trombone. He is also a member of the Boston Microtonal Society’s premiere ensemble Notariotous. William has performed in such venues as the Carnegie Hall's Issac Stern Auditorium and Zankel Hall, The Flea, the Guggenheim Museum, Issue Project Room, Lincoln Center's Rose Theatre, Paul Hall, Le Poisson Rouge, St. John the Divine in New York, St. Paul's Church in Boston, St. Peter's in New York, Secret Project Robot, The Stone, and The Tank. Alongside trumpeter Andrew Kozar, William hosted a weekly concert series at Manhattan School of Music, "Will and Andy’s Power Concerts." Featuring guest performers every week and a dedication to new music, there were 42 concerts which built up a steady following and featured the premieres of over 50 new works. William received his Masters Degree from Manhattan School of Music, where he studied with Benjamin Herrington, and his Bachelors Degree from SUNY Fredonia, where he studied with Stefan Sanders and Carl Mazzio. Rebecca Ashe is a freelance musician and appears across the country as a performer, lecturer, and masterclass clinician. A new music performer and collaborator, she has partnered with several composers and has performed at several festivals, including Electronic Music Midwest (Resident Artist for 2010 Festival), Society of Composers, Inc., Kansas City Electronic Music and Arts Alliance (KcEMA), the New York City based Composers Voice Series, SPARK, SEAMUS and the Electroacoustic Juke Joint. She has been adjunct faculty at the University of Missouri-Kansas City, Georgetown College (Georgetown, TX), Park University (Parkville, MO.) and the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor (Belton, TX.). She currently resides in Iowa City where she is the National Distribution Manager for Trevor James Flutes. Rebecca has collaborated with numerous composers and has premiered several pieces, including MHCHAOS, by Christopher Biggs (SEAMUS 2009 Student Award Winner), Jorge Sosa’s Punto y Linea (recorded on Plastic Time, available at CD Baby), Daniel Eichenbaum’s Orbit, for flute, clarinet and electronic sounds, Mike McFerron’s electro-acoustic piece, Open Circuit, Lust, by Robert Voisey and most recently Dark Matter, by Toronto based composer Leslie Melcher. Rebecca is a founding member of Dark Matter, a collaboration of composers, performers and scientists. It fuses cutting-edge technology with exceptional musical artistry. The result is an art form that blurs the boundaries between performance, education, and composition by blending them into a single event. They are based in Kansas City, Missouri, and are planning their first Midwestern tour in 2011 and 2012. Rebecca earned her Bachelor degree in Applied Music (flute) at the Eastman School of Music, where her principal teacher was Bonita Boyd. She earned both Master of Musical Arts and Doctor of Musical Arts degrees from the University of Missouri -Kansas City, studying with Dr. Mary Posses. In 1998, she was the only American and one of four flutists worldwide to be chosen for Trevor Wye's prestigious one-year course in Kent, England. Other major teachers have included William Bennett and Karl Kraber. Megan Schubert - soprano Joshua Modney - violin Vicky Chow - piano

Composers David Morneau does not compose his music with a ‘poetic power’ that emphatically discharges from his work enchanting you in a hallucinogenic state of borderline exaltation. He does not intensely attempt to infuse symbolism into his work and shows no melodic motivation whatsoever. This is not David. So you ask, ‘Well, then what does this so-called proclaimed musical talent propose to do?’ David is a composer of an entirely undecided genre. He works in a variety of media and has an affinity for creative collaboration including: experimental music video, dance, video game, and much more. David recently completed 60x365, a year-long podcast project for which he composed a new one-minute piece every day. Do not think of him as yet another one of those ‘unique composers’ but rather a provider of exclusive unprecedented experiments.

George Barker - Autumn Promise: My inspiration for "Autumn Promise" comes from two quite disparate musical sources: Erik Satie, a French pianist from the late 1800s and early 1900s, and Milton Nascimento, a contemporary Brazilian composer, singer and guitarist. I've always found Satie's music harmonically interesting and Nascimento's guitar work using simple triads to create sophisticated harmonies always inspiring. Combine these elements with the key of (mostly) Em and shifting bars of 3/8 and 2/8 and you have composition that I hope you find enjoyable. Sy Brandon - Southwest Suite: This composition was written for Duozona and premiered by them at Arizona State University in 2005. The piece is divided into three sections with each section containing multi-movements. While the piece is conceived as a unit, it is possible to perform each movement or each section individually or to select one or more movements from each section and make a new grouping. Part III consists of Mexican Songs. Las Mananitas, which a birthday serenade sung early in the day, and A la Puerto del Cielo, a Basque lullaby that came to New Mexico from the Pyrenees Mountains of Spain. Altered chords are added to Las Mananitas as well as Mexican sounding accompaniment figures. After a modulation, A la Puerta del Cielo is stated in an ethereal manner. The tempo then increases and the two songs are combined contrapuntally. After a recapitulation of Las Mananitas, a coda using the last phrase of A la Purta del Cielo serves as an "amen". The last movement, Cielito Lindo, begins traditionally. After the first statement of the verse, the music is repeated in new keys for each phrase. A traditional setting of the chorus is followed by an imitative, modulatory setting of the verse phrases. The chorus, accompanied by Mariachi style strumming in the guitar brings the piece to a rousing conclusion. Douglas DaSilva - Og’s Dance: “Og”was an ancient Amorite king of Jerusalem who, along with an army, was slain by Moses and his men at the battle of Edrei. It can also mean “Original Gangsta” in 90’s hip-hop-glossolalia. The title really comes from my son Jason’s insubordinate “No! Daddy! O. G. No!” His spelling has since improved. This piece was composed as a thank you for Kurt Toriello. Suite Brasileiro: Choro is a form of Brazilian music that dates back to the 19th century and goes in and out of fashion over the years. I fell in love with choro music the first time I heard it. I’ve given it a harmonic (decatonic) update here. A Ultima Dança do Imperador (The Emporer’s Last Dance): The Brazilian Empire lasted from 1822 until 1889. I enjoy the struggle between the Emperor’s regal theme, presented repeatedly (like constantly reassuring "yes-men") and the Brazilian melodies and rhythms that try to creep in. Xico (Francisco Perreira) was an amazing character who led a fascinating life, from childhood to death. He was my father’s friend and was raised as his brother. Sereste pra Mineira is a serenade for my wife, Aldelira. Valsa Paraibana takes the Baião rhythm and adds a beat to it. This piece is a celebration! Paco de Santo Drinks at the Kinsale: This composition was written for Duozona as part of a yet-to-be-completed New York Suite which was to offer colors and vignettes of New York City. Paco de Santo is an attempt to mix Irish music with a Latino edge: a tribute to the New York’s two biggest parades: St. Patrick’s Day and the Puerto Rican Day parades. The Kinsale Tavern is located on East 93rd Street and 3rd Avenue, just south of the border with Spanish Harlem. G. Barker, K. Toriello, K. Watanabe, Gods of Technology Douglas DaSilva Autumn Promise : I had a difficult time printing Autumn Promise. There seems to have been something wrong with the pdf file that George Barker had emailed me. Eventually, I managed to print it and attempted to play it over the next month. I felt that there is something special about the piece and offered it to Kurt Toriello. I was surprised when Kurt told me he was willing to try out the piece since he was preparing to perform some rather substantial pieces on the May 31st concert. He too ran into difficulty with printing the file; but unassumingly thought that he had been emailed a very “modern” work with its strange percentage signs and dollar signs spread out in a seemingly orderly fashion on staff lines. I corrected him before he got carried away. But, the seed had been planted. Kurt showed it to guitarist Kai Watanabe, who said “I was amazed by Kurt who, through intuition, found a connection between the so called ‘bad score' and my improvisational idea.” So, Autumn Promise will be performed twice. Once in its original format and once in the format "corrupted" (or is it some kind of "forced-evolution"?) by modern technology and interpreted by two young brave guitarists!! Angelo Gilardino Ocram: This composition was written during July 1973 for my young pupil Marco De Santi, who gav the first public performance on August 12th, 1973, during the concert he played for the summer course of interpretation for young guitarists held at Roasio S. Eusebio (Italy). Submitted to the 24th International competition for composition "G. B. Viotti" (pieces for one or two instruments) "Ocram" was awarded the gold medal as the best composition of the year. JP Schlegelmilch For Guitar and Piano: This piece took shape partly through recording and transcribing improvisations that Jonathan and I did. A recorded excerpt of the improvisation is used in the performance, processed through guitar effects, and coexisting with the written material it inspired.

The Composer’s Voice Concert Series is an opportunity for contemporary composers to express their musical aesthetic and personal “voice” created in their compositions. Vox Novus collaborating with the Remarkable Theater Brigade and Jan Hus Church to produce a monthly concert series promoting the chamber works of contemporary composers. Vox Novus is a collective of composers, musicians, and music enthusiasts collaborating together to create, produce, promote, and enjoy the new music of today. Our members are from a variety of composers committed to the creation and dissemination of new music. Their music is of a variety of styles, aesthetics, and ideologies. Vox Novus produces and promotes new music. They are dedicated to contemporary music, the musicians who perform, and the composers that write the music of today. Their mission is to cultivate a music community and make their work available to the greater public. Remarkable Theater Brigade founded by Christian McLeer, Dan Jeselsohn and Monica Harte, creates and produces new operas and musicals and takes children’s versions out to special-needs and at-risk children free of charge.

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