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Recognized by The New Yorker and TimeOut New York for presenting one of the ten best classical performances in 2012, Mantra Percussion is committed to substantially expanding the future of percussion repertoire. By commissioning and performing new, significant works for large percussion ensemble by both prominent and emerging composers, Mantra Percussion is committed to breathing new life into the art and engaging in cross-discipline collaborations to produce evening-length events that look toward a grander artistic vision.

On May 19, Mantra Percussion presents selections of their 3Nights portrait concerts of music by Paula Matthussen: electroacoustic composer whose work often features analog circuit bending; Daniel Wohl: electro-acoustic composer who intimately merges digital and acoustic elements; and Zs: a 3-piece “rock” band whose music can be described as a delightful mix of Louis Andriessen and the Velvet Underground. We will perform one commissioned work and select other works from the composers’ catalogues to shape an evening-length event giving us a unique opportunity to create a contemplated presentation that reflect each composers’ artistic relationship to percussion.

The program will be announced from the stage and will include new works by Paula Matthussen, Daniel Wohl, and the Zs.

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Continue reading »]]> Duo Sonidos is an award-winning chamber duo founded in 2006 by classical guitarist Adam Levin and violinist William Knuth at the New England Conservatory. In 2010, Duo Sonidos released their debut CD to widespread critical acclaim and won 1st prize at the Luys Milan International Chamber Music Competition in Valencia, Spain.  Their mission is nothing short of building a fresh and expansive chamber repertoire for their combination.  In the first half of this program, Duo Sonidos presents two commissioned scores: Volaverunt: Homage to Francisco Goya by the Spanish-Cuban composer Eduardo Morales-Caso, and the New York premiere of Jardin Bajo La Luna (Moonlight Garden) Suite by Spanish composer David Del Puerto. The program also includes the New York premiere of Tre Divertimenti by Catalan composer, Salvador Brotons.

In the second half of the program, guitarist Adam Levin presents several new solo works dedicated to him from four generations of Spanish composers, which are also featured on his newest Naxos release, 21st Century Spanish Works for Guitar, Volume 1.  The works presented on this program explore the diversity of Spanish repertoire written for solo guitar over the last five years. Selections include the US premiere of Two New Suggestions by Salvador Brotons, and the New York premieres of Handeliana by Ricardo Llorca, Caprichos No.8: Abstractions of Albeniz by Leonardo Balada, and Nostos: Suite for Guitar by Octavio Vazquez.

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Volavérunt: Homage to Francisco Goya                   Eduardo Morales-Caso (b. 1969)
Tre Divertimenti                                                        Salvador Brotons (b. 1959)
Suite: Jardín Bajo la Luna                                         David del Puerto (b. 1964)
Handeliana (Variations on a theme G.F Handel)      Ricardo Llorca (b. 1962)
Caprichos No.8: Abstractions of Albeniz                   Leonardo Balada (b. 1933)
Nostos: Suite for Guitar                                             Octavio Vazquez (b. 1972)
Dues Noves Suggestions                                          Salvador Brotons (b. 1959)

Duo Sonidos brings together the talents of violinist William Knuth and guitarist Adam Levin. Based in Boston and Madrid, the duo is at the vanguard of the guitar chamber music world. In November 2010 Duo Sonidos released their self-titled debut album, including works by Manuel de Falla, Astor Piazzolla, Salvador Brotons, and the premiere of a recent commission by Eduardo Morales-Caso. Recently awarded 1st Prize at the Luys Milan International Chamber Music Competition in Valencia, Spain, the duo completed an extensive concert tour of Spain in late 2011. This year the duo will be performing an eclectic program of music that includes newly commissioned works and masterpieces by composers such as Robert Beaser, Arcangelo Corelli, G.F. Handel, Xavier Montsalvatge, Jorge Muñiz and David del Puerto.

Duo Sonidos is a bid to amalgamate the capabilities of two classically ambassadorial instruments basic to the fabric of contemporary and classical music alike and to encourage and imprint an aural image of this chamber combination in the musical ear of the listener. There is something new here as well as something attractive and approachable to the crossover classical music audience that may not otherwise be interested in classical performances. The mission of the duo is nothing short of building a standard and expansive repertoire for violin and guitar duos. To this end, Duo Sonidos has forged relationships with contemporary composers with an adaptable catalogue of music or who share an interest in their vision and have written them entirely new works. This commitment to creating a new body of chamber music has led the duo to collaborate with some of the world’s most talented composers, including Jan Freidlin (Israel), Jorge Variego (Argentina), Jorge Muñiz (Spain-USA), David del Puerto (Spain) and Eduardo Morales-Caso (Cuba-Spain). Previous and current projects include the commissioning new works from composers in Spain, Belgium, Israel, and the United States as well as original arrangements made by the duo themselves. Levin and Knuth have performed throughout the United States and Europe and have been honored as US Fulbright Scholars in the field of music performance in Madrid, Spain and Vienna, Austria respectively.

Adam Levin has been praised by renowned American guitarist, Eliot Fisk, as a “virtuoso guitarist and a true 21st century renaissance man with the élan, intelligence, charm, tenacity and conviction to change the world.” The recipient of numerous top prizes, Adam Levin has been recognized by national and international competitions. As an ambassador for the guitar, Mr. Levin is dedicated to sharing the guitar’s vibrant and comprehensive repertoire in underserved areas and unconventional spaces. In 2007-08, he was awarded the Albert Schweitzer Fellowship for innovative community work in the Boston area. In 2008, Levin was awarded the prestigious Fulbright Scholarship to research and perform 20th and 21st century contemporary Spanish guitar repertoire in Madrid, Spain. In 2009, he was also the recipient of the Program for Cultural Cooperation Grant and most recently, Levin was awarded the Kate Neal Kinley Memorial Fellowship to continue his research and performance career in Madrid, Spain.

Levin’s debut record In the Beginning was lauded as “absolutely thrilling…will dazzle and entertain at every possible opportunity” by Minor 7th Acoustic Guitar Music Reviews. His second CD, Duo Sonidos, with violinist William Knuth, was released in late 2010. Levin also released his third CD, Music from Out of Time, featuring world-premiere recordings of solo and chamber works by contemporary Spanish composers. A fourth recording released on the Verso label in 2011, Fuego de la Luna, features the complete guitar works of Cuban-Spanish composer Eduardo Morales-Caso. Levin has embarked on expanding the guitar’s repertoire through collaborations with thirty of today’s renowned contemporary Spanish composers, and will document the works in a four-disc series on the Naxos label in 2012-2014. With his national and international teaching experience, he has mastered the ability to teach students of all ages and backgrounds and to develop their individual talents with the guitar. He is co-director of the innovative music education program, Boston Guitar Immersion, which offers comprehensive guitar instruction to independent schools. www.adamlevinguitar.com

William Knuth, violinist, has earned recognition for his artistry as a solo and chamber musician and has been praised by American Record Guide for his “perfect intonation, wide range of timbre…expressive phrasing, and great sensitivity.” Mr. Knuth spent two years as a US Fulbright grantee to Vienna, Austria studying at the Vienna Universitat fur Musik und darstellende Kunst. He was a featured performer multiple times for members of the United Nations Council as well as foreign ambassadors from Russia, Spain, Germany, and Austria.

In addition to his international touring as a member of Duo Sonidos with Adam Levin, William has participated in various international festivals and academies including the Internationale Sommer Akademie Prague-Vienna- Budapest, the IMPULS New Music Ensemble Akademie with the Vienna Klangforum Orchestra, and the Juilliard International Akademie at the Hochschule fur Musik in Leipzig, Germany. Mr. Knuth has traveled and performed in central Europe at notable venues such as the Bösendorfer Hall and Antonio Vivaldi Hall in Vienna, the Mendelssohn House in Leipzig, Germany, the Instituto Internacional of Madrid, and the Berliner Ensemble in Berlin. Recent concerts in the US have included performances in New York’s Carnegie Hall, Columbia University’s Miller Theater, Boston’s Jordan Hall, Boston Symphony Hall, Harvard Sanders Theater, Boston WGBH Radio, Chicago WFMT Radio, NPR Radio, Mayne Stage Chicago, guest solo appearances with the Syracuse Symphony Orchestra, the Boston International Guitarfest, and ensemble work with Discovery Ensemble (Associate Concertmaster), Signal Ensemble. Boston Philharmonic Orchestra, The Harvard Group for New Music, June in Buffalo festival, and the Ojai Festival.

William holds a MM degree at the New England Conservatory of Music where he studied with Nicholas Kitchen of the Borromeo Quartet, a Fulbright certificate for work with Ernst Kovacic at the Vienna University of Music and Performing Arts, and a BM in violin with a minor in German from the Eastman School of Music and the University of Rochester where he was a student of Lynn Blakeslee and the Ying Quartet. William completed his preparatory studies under the tutelage of James Krehbiel in Syracuse, NY.

Continue reading »]]> Violinist Karen Kim, composer Patrick Castillo, and poet Keno Evol present a program of contemporary solo violin music with the added dimensions of electronics and spoken word. The program revisits an experimental salon evening presented at The Third Place Gallery in Minneapolis on the occasion of the John Cage centenary—a meditation on Cage’s legacy, featuring a spoken word remix of Cage’s “The Future of Music: Credo” and the world premiere of Music for the Third Place: an aleatoric work for violin and electronics comprising pre-composed fragments, found sounds, field recordings, synthesizers, and live audio processing systems. Alongside these, the program incorporates music for solo violin by Jörg Widmann, John Harbison, and a newly commissioned work by Craig Woodward. The program more deeply explores the sympathetic expressive resonance between the violin and the human voice, taking The Future of Music: Remixed as its point of departure, and responding with Castillo’s Anthem [anathema] and Widmann’s Etude no. 2—both of which works involve sung vocalise as part of their compositional texture—and arriving again at Evol’s piercingly musical poetry. Music for the Third Place offers the program’s most expansive sonic breadth, serving to amplify the austerity of John Harbison’s Four Songs of Solitude.

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John CAGE / Keno EVOL (b. 1993)                    The Future of Music: Remixed for spoken word (New York premiere)
Keno Evol, spoken word

Patrick CASTILLO (b. 1979)                               Anthem [anathema] (from The Quality of Mercy) for voice, violin, and
Karen Kim, violin; Patrick Castillo, voice and electronics

Jörg WIDMANN (b. 1973)                                   Etude no. 2 for solo violin (2001) (10’)
Karen Kim, violin

Keno EVOL                                                         The Violins Who Were Blind When the Thunderstorms Hit for spoken word and violin
Keno Evol, spoken word; Karen Kim, violin

Craig WOODWARD (b. 1978)                            In Search of a Violin Sonata (world premiere) (2013) (10’)
Karen Kim, violin

Patrick CASTILLO                                              Music for the Third Place for violin and electronics (New York
Karen Kim, violin; Patrick Castillo, electronics

John HARBISON (b. 1938)                                Four Songs of Solitude for solo violin (1985) (15’)
Karen Kim, violin

Violinist Karen Kim is a native of La Crosse, Wisconsin. She is an active chamber musician and has performed extensively throughout North and South America, Europe, Asia, and Australia. As a member of the Parker Quartet, she received a Grammy Award for Best Chamber Music Performance in 2011, as well as the Grand Prize and Mozart Prize at the 2005 Bordeaux International String Quartet Competition.

Karen Kim received her BM and MM in violin performance, as well as her MM in chamber music, from the New England Conservatory. She studied classical violin with Donald Weilerstein and jazz violin with vocalist Dominique Eade. She has also worked with György Kurtág, Rainer Schmidt, Paul Katz, Roger Tapping, Kim Kashkashian, and Miriam Fried. Karen Kim plays a Joseph Rocca violin made in 1852.

 Patrick Castillo leads a multifaceted career as a composer, performer, writer, and educator. His music has been featured at festivals and venues throughout the United States and internationally including Spoleto Festival USA, the Santa Fe New Music Festival, Interlochen Center for the Arts, Berklee College of Music, Tenri Cultural Institute, Bavarian Academy of Music (Munich), and Nuremberg Museum of Contemporary Art. Recent season highlights include the world premieres of Incident for cello and piano, The Quality of Mercy and The Conversation of Prayers for soprano and ensemble; the German premiere of Cirque for solo violin; and the second New York performance of This is the hour of lead, a chamber cantata for baritone/countertenor and ensemble.

Patrick Castillo is variously active as an explicator of music to a wide range of listeners. For Music@Menlo, a chamber music festival in Silicon Valley for which he serves as Artistic Administrator, he has designed and led a broad variety of educational initiatives for students and audiences of all ages. He hosts the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center’s Late Night Rose series, and has also appeared as guest lecturer at String Theory at the Hunter (Chattanooga, TN), ChamberFest Cleveland, Fordham University, and elsewhere. In 2010, he was appointed Director of Artistic Planning of the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra. For more information, please visit www.patrickcastillo.com

Nineteen-year-old artist, performer, poet, educator, spoken word artist, dancer, and director Keno Evol (Antoine Duke) has received grants, founded companies, and competed nationally as a spoken word artist. He is the founder of No Projection, a company that teaches literacy through spoken word and social justice theater, and is also a founder of Shaking Fences Hip Hop Dance class, Gages Photography and Dopeimgeclothing. He was recently awarded a VERVE grant to create a one-man show he has been developing entitled RAGS. He is currently working for Pillsbury House Theatre, where he founded 8 Stages, a program that uses theatre and spoken word to teach youth how to prevent a culture of violence.

Keno Evol chooses Social Justice Education through theater and art because he believes that in addition to teaching creative and powerful practices, art can educate us on how to become better human beings. He says, “Art allows you to listen to the world around you and take in other perspectives, which is not easily done, especially in today’s society.”

He got his start in the performing arts the first time he saw Michael Jackson on television. As he watched in his living room he was hooked to dance, creating and performing anywhere he could. Since then he has attended conferences and performed in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Detroit, Washington, DC, Arkansas, and Minnesota. He has gone on to teach spoken word and theater in schools, including Washburn, Brooklyn Center, and MNIC high schools. He aspires to found his own organization, “Urban Speaks,” which will teach spoken word and social justice theater to youth around the Twin Cities.

Continue reading »]]> Crossings: New York – Pittsburgh
New works for cello by the composers of Random Access Music (NYC) and Alia Musica (Pittsburgh)

The Random Access Music composers’ collective presents  Kate Dillingham and Amir Khosrowpour. Dillingham (Vc.) and Khosrowpour (Pno) will perform 6 new works—5 world premieres—by the composers of RAM and the Pittsburgh-based collective, Alia Musica, in this collaboration of artists from multiple locales. Included on the program will be works by B. Allen Schulz, David Fetherolf, Gilbert Galindo, Wang Jie, Kerrith Levingood, and Federico Garcia.

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Kate Dillingham enjoys an active career in the United States and abroad. She has performed as a soloist with The St. Petersburg Philharmonic, The Moscow Symphony Orchestra, The Salzburg Chamber Philharmonic Orchestra, and the Moscow Chamber Orchestra. She has appeared numerous times at Carnegie Hall, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Lincoln Center, Bargemusic, and Symphony Space in New York. She has performed at the Kimmel Center in Philadelphia, PA, and has been presented twice at the United States Supreme Court in Washington, DC.

Ms. Dillingham has recorded three CDs; Haydn’s Cello Concertos and music of Claude Debussy, Arthur Honegger, and Gabriel Fauré, both for Connoisseur Society Records, and works of Witold Lutoslawski, Victor Herbert, Antonín Dvorák, and Jennifer Higdon.

Following her New York debut, Edith Eisler from the New York Concert Review deemed her “an excellent cellist; dignified, intelligent, and compelling. An adventurous, dedicated champion of contemporary music, she performed with admirable control, conviction, and authority.” Ms. Dillingham continues to impress audiences and critics alike. After her performance of Jennifer Higdon’s Soliloquy, the New Music Connoisseur described her as “an extraordinary performer who displayed musical insight and emotional depth…”

Ms. Dillingham received both a Bachelor and a Master of Music from Rutgers University as a student of Bernard Greenhouse, after which she was invited to study with Maria Tchaikovskaya at the Moscow Conservatory. A long association with Mr. Greenhouse led to collaboration on an edition of the Sonatas for Violoncello and Keyboard BWV 1027-1029 by J.S. Bach, published by G. Schirmer Inc., which she presented in a combined concert and lecture at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Ms. Dillingham has served on the faculty at Lehigh University in Bethlehem, PA and The New York Summer Music Festival at SUNY, Oneanta. She is commissioning, performing, and recording new music for cello by a number of composers, including Augusta Read Thomas, Laura Kaminsky, Hannah Lash, Jorge Muniz, Vivian Fung, Wang Jie, Andrew McKenna Lee, David Fetherolf, and Ralph Farris. www.katedillingham.com

Described by the L.A. Times has having “irresistible verve, unpretentious directness, and fingers of steel,” pianist and composer Amir Khosrowpour “seeks out what is new and vital and delivers it with passion” (NY Concert Review).  Recent work has included performance art at Museum of Modern Art in New York and Castello di Rivoli in Italy, a solo tour through the Midwest and South, and various engagements with new music groups in New York.  Khosrowpour also performs and composes for a monthly series, Live at the Playground, with his awesome vaudevillian-esque duo, Corky Has a Band.  He lives in The Bronx with his piano and fat black cat. www.amirpiano.com

Continue reading »]]> HANS TAMMEN & THIRD EYE ORCHESTRA: PIKAIA

Hans Tammen uses Earle Brown’s open form composition idea as a starting point to create a large multimovement piece for string and wind quartets, keyboards, rhythm section, voice and live sound processing. The composer has gathered a dream-team of some of the most virtuosic instrumentalists to ever elude labels or boundaries for the premiere of his new work PIKAIA, which combines composed material with extemporization to create a score whose modus operandi is constant change on every level. All About Jazz called the music “nothing short of breathtaking”, and “a masterpiece of musical evocation”.

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PIKAIA           Hans Tammen / GEMA

(Universe Premiere–no guarantee the work has not been played in a parallel universe before)

The Third Eye Orchestra is David Soldier (vio), Jason Hwang (vio), Stephanie Griffin (vla), Alex Waterman (cello), Ned Rothenberg (clarinet, bass clarinet), Michael Lytle (clarinet, contra bass clarinet), Briggan Krauss (as, baritonesax), Chris McIntyre (trombone). Dafna Naphtali (live sound processing, voice), Denman Maroney (p/kb), Ursel Schlicht (p/kb), Andrea Parkins (accordion), Jonas Tauber (b), Andrew Drury (perc), Hans Tammen(composition, conducting, concept)

Hans Tammen creates sounds that have been described as an alien world of bizarre textures and a journey through the land of unending sonic operations. He received a Fellowship from the New York Foundation of the Arts (NYFA)in the category Digital/Electronic Arts in 2009 for the ”Endangered Guitar” – a hybrid guitar/software instrument used to control interactive live sound processing. His THIRD EYE ORCHESTRA open form compositions for large ensembles and live sound processing are inspired by Earle Brown’s Available Forms, and based on numerous scored “building blocks” that are constantly rearranged when performed. He received a generous grant from MAP-Fund to adapt this concept for a large ensemble of electronic instruments, to be premiered in 2014.

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Thomas Piercy: Tokyo to New York – 東京 と ニューヨーク

A concert of new music by contemporary Japanese composers based on their thoughts about NYC and works by non-Japanese composers influenced/inspired by Japan (“Nihon no shiten” – “Japanese perspective”).  This concert will be visually backed by projections of photos of New York City by photographer Christina Boers and photos of Tokyo by Thomas Piercy.  Many of the pieces have been composed for and premiered by Thomas Piercy.  Some of the pieces include the combination of Western classical instruments with traditional Japanese instruments (shakuhachi and hichiriki).

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Thomas Piercy, clarinet and hichiriki, photographer
Mika Tanaka, piano
Elizabeth Brown, shakuhachi
Christina Boers, photographer

Mienai Sakebigoe                               Thomas Piercy
**YUU                                                 Yohei Kurihara
*Enro                                                  Mika Tanaka
Sakana                                               Armando Ayala
Ukiyo-e                                               Greg Bartholomew
KOMORIUTA                                      John Bilotta
Haiku                                                  Andy Cohen
Tulipao                                               Douglas DaSilva
Suibokuga                                          Andrew Davis
…as it leaves the bell                          Jim Fox
Recurrence                                        Michael Frazier
Sensu                                                 Nina Siniakova
summoning a skeleton specter          Daniel J. Thompson
Calligraphy Circle                               David Wolfson
Your Kindness                                    Jun Nagao
*Toro Nagashi                                    Masatora Goya
**Nostalgia                                         Ippei Inoue
**You’ve Got Mail                               Yuichi Matsumoto
**Autumn Festival                               Kento Iwasaki
**Movement 2012                               Katsuhiro Oguri
**Tears of fallen angel                        Tomoko Uzawa
**Amalgam – A                                    Hifumi Shimoyama

*-World Premiere

** – United States Premiere

All of these compositions, except for the Nagao and Shimoyama, were composed for Thomas Piercy.  The Nagao and Shimoyama compositions were arranged by the composers for Thomas Piercy.

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photo by: Ted Gorodetzky / tedgorophoto.com

New music ensemble TWO SIDES SOUNDING presents BROOKLYNQUEENS EXPRESSWAY, a concert featuring vocalists Daniel Neer and Eleanor Taylor and pianist Mila Henry in works that explore life in Brooklyn and Queens through snapshots of New Yorkers’ everyday modes of transportation.

The program includes the premiere of BQE, an urban cantata by composer Robinson McClellan and lyricist Daniel Neer, which juxtaposes the tempestuous relationship of master city builder Robert Moses and the writer/activist Jane Jacobs, with the controversial planning of one of New York City’s most audacious super-highways: The Brooklyn-Queens Expressway. Through the imagined communiqué of letters, phone calls, memos and town hall meetings, the aggressive modern-city vision of Moses is matched by the grassrootsoriented social consciousness of Jacobs, portraying two radically different visions of urban development and renewal during the second half of the Twentieth Century. Also featured are two world premieres inspired by the recent destruction to the Queens and Brooklyn coastline by the effects of Hurricane Sandy; Chandler Carter’s “Far Rockaway” and Patricia Burgess’ “Red Hook”, set to poems by Daniel Neer. Tom Cipullo’s “G is for Grimy: An Ode to the G Train” (with special guests mezzo-soprano Hayden DeWitt and tenor Brandon Snook), Eric Moe’s “Rapid Transit” and Gabriel Kahane’s “Coney Island Avenue” round out the program.

With special guests Hayden DeWitt and Brandon Snook

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G is for Grimy: An Ode to the G Train (2011) Tom Cipullo
+Far Rockaway (2013)                                   Chandler Carter
Coney Island Avenue (2011)                          Gabriel Kahane
+Red Hook (2013)                                          Patricia Burgess
*Rapid Transit (2011)                                     Eric Moe
+BQE, an Urban Cantata (2013)                    Robinson McClellan

+World Premiere
*Commissioned by Two Sides Sounding

TWO SIDES SOUNDING

BROOKLYN-QUEENS EXPRESSWAY

TWO SIDES SOUNDING presents innovative contemporary song programs with roots in the classical salon tradition, creating “a lush garden of musical abundance.” (Classical Voice of New England, cvneweng.org) Founded in 2005 by soprano Eleanor Taylor and pianist Jocelyn Dueck, the ensemble features outstanding artists performing the music of living composers. TSS concerts have been presented by Nautilus Music Theater, The Schubert Club, The Phoenix Concerts, Brooklyn New Music Collective and Friends and Enemies of New Music, and have featured premieres by Eve Beglarian, Corey Dargel, Louis Durey, Edward Ficklin, Christopher Gable, Edie Hill, Gilda Lyons, Eric Moe, Rachel Peters, Kala Pierson, Sam Piperato, Michael Rose, Kamala Sankaram, Daniel Sonenberg and Aleksandra Vrebalov. twosidessounding.com

Mila Henry is a New York-based pianist who specializes in contemporary opera, musical theater, and chamber music. She is Resident Music Director with American Opera Projects, and has worked with OPERA America, Beth Morrison Projects, HERE, Gotham Chamber Opera, American Lyric Theater, and Broadway Dance Center. A sought-after collaborator, she has teamed with composers Libby Larsen, Anthony Davis, Missy Mazzoli, Conrad Cummings, Tarik O’Regan, Paola Prestini, Daniel Felsenfeld, and Jack Perla, and has performed in PROTOTYPE, Make Music New York, BEAT, New York Children’s Theater Festival, and the Philadelphia Fringe Festival. Current projects include Atmospheric Shift: Music of the Elements with Two Sides Sounding +Zentripetal; HARRIET TUBMAN: When I Crossed That Line To Freedom (Nkeiru Okoye) with AOP; SMASHED: The Carrie Nation Story (James Barry/Timothy Braun) with Opera on Tap; and The Scarlet Ibis (Stefan Weisman/David Cote) with HARP. Mila holds degrees from the Manhattan School of Music and Elizabethtown College. She lives in Brooklyn. milahenry.com

Daniel Neer is a singing actor with performing credits that include Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, Royal Opera House Covent Garden, The Apollo, New York City Opera, Guggenheim Museum, American Opera Projects, Chicago Art Institute, The Kitchen, Morgan Library, Aspen Music Festival, and Radio City Music Hall. He has portrayed over 100 roles in theater, opera, and musical theater, receiving critical acclaim for his diverse range of characterizations, and has recorded for Dreamworks, Albany, Newport Classics and Naxos labels. Broadway credits include Baz Luhrmann’s La Bohème and the UK’s National Theatre production of Coram Boy, directed by Melly Still. As a writer, Daniel’s first play, ‘The Interview’, premiered at the 2011 NYC New Works International Festival for Short Plays. His chamber opera libretti include Mercury Falling (Long Leaf Festival), Odes to Earth and Air (Adelphi University), and Stop and Frisk (Brooklyn BEAT Festival). As a lyricist and frequent collaborator with song composers, Daniel’s work has been performed at Yale University, The Clearfield Salon (Philadelphia), New Gallery Concerts (Boston), and with the QUBE String Quartet (Columbus). He studied music and theater at The Ohio State University, University of Michigan and the Royal Academy of Music in the UK. danielneer.com

Soprano Eleanor Taylor has given readings and concerts of new music-theater works at the Alliance Française, Galapagos and New Dramatists, performed with Brooklyn-based experimental music group Ensemble Youkali in works by Ravel and Stravinsky, and portrayed Gilbert & Sullivan heroines Josephine (HMS Pinafore), Yum-Yum (The Mikado) and Phyllis (Iolanthe) with Ridge Light Opera (NJ). As co-founder of new music ensemble Two Sides Sounding, she has collaborated with numerous composers in performances of their vocal works; most recently, she has recorded the music of Eleanor Cory with pianist Christopher Oldfather to be released on Composers Concordance Records in early 2013. Among her favorite traditional operatic roles are Laurie in The Tender Land, which she toured throughout the Midwest, Britten’s Miss Wordsworth (Albert Herring), and Mozart’s Pamina (The Magic Flute) and Despina (Così fan tutte). In 2012-13 she appears in concerts with The Phoenix Concerts, operamission, and the Composer’s Voice Concert Series as well as at the New York Society for Ethical Culture, the Cornelia Street Café and Third Street Settlement. She is working towards her teacher certification in The Alexander Technique. eleanortaylor.com

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Running as a common thread through this program is a stream of constant sixteenth notes. Other than this musical commonality, the pieces couldn’t be more different. The old work on the program, Steve Reich’s “Different Trains,” for string quartet and playback, is a dark work about the holocaust and a seminal work, musically, for the composer’s innovative use of voice “pitches” in the instrumental part.  More recent works include Tristan Perich’s “Interface,” from 2007, for string quartet and special 1-bit electronics created by the composer, in which the sounds of the pulsing speakers and the pulsing string instruments interweave and blend. San Francisco-based composer Dan Becker’s “Lockdown,” from 2010, brings a rock groove to the fore, and David Crowell’s “Open Road,” from the same year, evokes a funky playfulness with interweaving polyrhythms above confident bass line. The program also includes the world premiere of Crossing by twelve-year-old, Russian-born composer Sofia Belimova. Ms. Belimova, who is enrolled in the Special Music School at the Kaufman Music Center, was named an Emerging Composer by the 2012 Tribeca Young Composer Competition.

Interface              Tristan Perich (performed by Pannonia Quartet)

Open Road          David Crowell (performed by Sorpresa Quartet)

Crossing              Sofia Belimova (Student Composer, Performers TBA)

Lockdown            Dan Becker (performed by Face the Music Quartet)

Different Trains    Steve Reich (performed by Pannonia Quartet)

Face the Music Quartet

Haley Gilia, violin 1
Noelle Ike, violin 2
Kaitlin Cullen-Verhauz, cello
Mae Roney, viola

Pannonia Quartet

Ben Goldstein, violin 1
Emma Ike, violin 2
Irene Chun, cello
Javen Lara, viola

Sorpresa Quartet

Luca Sakon, violin 1
Nina Uesato, violin 2
Anthony Choi, cello
Myah Segurah, viola

Praised for “stunning performances” by The New York Times, Kaufman Music Center’s Face the Music is an alt-classical ensemble of more than one hundred and fifteen unusually talented teenagers from in and around New York City. Advancing Kaufman Music Center’s commitment to modern music, Face the Music provides an unparalleled performance and education experience for the next generation of musical leaders.  Special Music School Director Jenny Undercofler founded the group in 2005.

Under the direction of conductor and founder Dr. Undercofler, Face the Music has played across New York City at venues such as Le Poisson Rouge, Merkin Hall, Roulette, the River to River Festival, Lincoln Center Atrium, BAM Café and the Bang On A Can Marathon. The group has been featured on WQXR’s Young Artist Showcase, NPR’s All Things Considered, and played on a live broadcast marking the opening of NY Public Radio’s Jerome L. Greene Performance Space. In 2011, Face the Music was honored with the ASCAP Aaron Copland Award.
Face the Music features elementary, middle and high school students from over forty different New York City-area schools. Many of the performers are students or alumni of Kaufman’s own Special Music School, the only K-8 public school in New York City that integrates pre-conservatory musical training with academic education.

Since 2009-10, Face the Music has maintained three string quartets made up of particularly dedicated and excellent members of the larger ensemble. These three quartets (the Face the Music Quartet, the Pannonia Quartet, and the Sorpresa Quartet) have played on regular Face the Music concerts but have also made solo appearances at the Tribeca New Music Festival, the River to River Festival, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, the MATA Gala honoring Kronos Quartet, the Look and Listen Festival and the Cornelia Street Café.  The quartets have collaborated with composers LJOVA, Dan Visconti, Tristan Perich, Alexandra Vrebalov, Conrad Tao and Angélica Negrón, and have played in master classes for David Harrington (Kronos Quartet), Neil Dufallo (ETHEL) and Kenji Bunch (Ne(x)tworks).

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Leigh Schanfein; photo by Tina Buckler

Periapsis Music and Dance is excited to present the second program of its first season as part of the Queens New Music Festival. Not only will we offer a wide variety of new music by emerging and established composers performed by our talented resident musicians, we will present these works with new choreography by our own resident dance artists and guests. Artistic Director of Dance Leigh Schanfein is joined by guest choreographers Sarah Mettin (Mettin Movement), Lorena Egan (LorenaEganDance), and Yesid Lopez. Each choreographer will display his or her unique styles of movement, setting music by Artistic Director of Music Jonathan Howard Katz, Mary Kouyoumdjian, James Holt, Frederic Rzewski, and others.

Tra:verse Re:verse Moerae [The Fates]      Mary Kouyoumdjian
Choreography by Leigh Schanfein

Crescit eundo      Jonathan Howard Katz
Choreography by Sarah Mettin

Passacaglia      Jonathan Howard Katz
Choreography by Erin Dillon

Mayn Yingele      Frederic Rzewski
Choreography by Lorena Egan

Evening, for bass clarinet and cello      James Holt
Choreography by Yesid Lopez

Supernatural Love      Kati Agócs
Choreography by Leigh Schanfein

PURCHASE TICKETS for this performance.

Periapsis Music and Dance was founded in 2012 by composer/pianist Jonathan Howard Katz and dancer/choreographer Leigh Schanfein in response to the growing gap between dance performance and live musical performance in the NYC arts scene. Inspired by our own experiences creating art together, we wanted to give others in the dance and music communities opportunities to collaborate on new performance pieces.

As artists we aspire to create, and we are building a truly spectacular roster of resident musicians and dancers with whom we will continue to develop our repertoire. Unusual among performing arts companies, however, we also aim to share our productions with other artists. So as a major feature of our performances, we will commission guest choreographers and composers to create and present their own work, offering them the venue, publicity, and the chance to collaborate with our wonderful musicians. Sometimes this will be through direct invitation, and sometimes through competitions or calls for work. Please visit our website for information on the latest calls and activities!

About the artistic directors:

Composer and pianist Jonathan Howard Katz is gaining increasing recognition for the unique immediacy and expressive depth of his music, which speaks to audiences and performers alike. Harnessing this intuitive grasp of communication, combined with a rigorous technical command, he is building a diverse, yet highly individual, body of work that continues to grow. The 2012-13 season will see premieres and performances by pianist Daria Rabotkina (in a Concert Artists Guild commission), flutist Linda Wetherill with bassist Brian Ellingsen, the American Modern Ensemble, the New York Edge Ensemble, and others. As Artistic Director of Music for Periapsis Music and Dance, an organization he co-founded with dancer/choreographer Leigh Schanfein, he will continue his interdisciplinary collaborations, working with Leigh as well as with choreographers Sarah Mettin and Hee Ra Yoo. Dr. Katz’s music has been performed by the Cygnus Ensemble, Alia Musica Pittsburgh, violinist Ari Streisfeld, soprano Mary Mackenzie, and others. He won the 2010 Robert Helps Prize and was a composition semifinalist in the 2009 Queen Elisabeth International Competition of Belgium. Dr. Katz holds degrees in piano performance from Indiana University, New England Conservatory, and Northwestern University, where he studied principally with Ursula Oppens, Gabriel Chodos, and Edward Auer. He is currently in the PhD program in composition at the CUNY Graduate Center, studying with Jason Eckardt and Tania León. Please visit www.jonathanhowardkatz.com for more information.

Dancer and choreographer Leigh Schanfein performs with six companies in the 2012-2013 season, including Gehring Dancetheatre, Christopher Caines Dance Company, and Yoo and Dancers, in addition to presenting and performing in her own work as Periapsis Music and Dance’s Artistic Director of Dance.

Leigh received her MS degree from Purdue University in kinesiology, with a specialization in biomechanics, and her BS degree from the University of California San Diego in animal physiology and neuroscience, with a minor in dance. As a graduate student, she received multiple awards for her research with dancers, which she continues as a research associate at the Harkness Center for Dance Injuries at NYU Langone Medical Center, Hospital For Joint Diseases. Leigh has trained and performed across the USA and abroad in modern dance and ballet and has performed with the City Ballet of San Diego, Purdue Repertory Dance Company, Linda Diamond and Company, Carol Fonda and Company, Collective Body|Dancelab, Indelible Dance, Mark Lamb Dance, Untitled|Collective, Tucker Davis, and others. She is also a dance instructor and a contributing writer for Dance Informa magazine.

Continue reading »]]> THE SUBMISSION PERIOD IS NOW CLOSED. PARTICIPANTS WILL BE ANNOUNCED ON JANUARY 5, 2013.

The composers of Random Access Music are pleased to announce a call for proposals from new music ensembles for the 2013 Queens New Music Festival (www.queensnewmusicfestival.org) on May 17-19, 2013. Random Access Music seeks adventurous proposals from new music ensembles or individual artists dedicated to performing new music to participate in the Queens New Music Festival. Ensembles and performers do not need to have a geographical connection to Queens. We will accept proposals from anywhere.

The Random Access Music composers’ collective (www.ram-nyc.org) will present 8 live concerts of new music over the weekend of May 17-19. RAM will offer performance space and logistical help to ensembles and individual performers that would like to help RAM further our mission of bringing new music to new audiences. Any ensemble that specializes in performing new music for the concert hall will be considered. Any genre or style will be accepted. The only requirement is that the proposed program must be comprised entirely of music written in the last 50 years or by living composers. Eight proposals will be selected by the panel of judges, which consist of the member composers of Random Access Music. We’re looking forward to hearing from you!

WHEN: The Festival will take place over three days: May 17-19, 2013. Concerts will take place on the evening of May 17; 1pm-8pm on May 18; and 1pm-5pm on May 19.

WHERE: All the concerts will take place at the Secret Theatre, Main Stage, 44-02 23rd Street, Long Island City, NY. The Secret Theatre Main Stage space is located just 3 blocks from the PS1 art museum and just a 4 block walk (or less) from the N, Q, R, E, V, G and 7 trains. Long Island City has a burgeoning arts scene, with the Fisher Landau Center for Art , the Dorsky Gallery, the Noguchi Museum, the SculptureCenter, the Flux Factory, the Secret Theatre, and a dozen other flourishing arts groups and venues all located nearby. Secret Theatre will provide box office services for the concert, as well as light refreshments for purchase by the audience.

WHAT: RAM is accepting proposals from all groups and all genres of concert hall new music. Proposals from anywhere in the world will be accepted. While jazz-themed ensembles are acceptable, the festival’s emphasis will be on “concert hall” music (sometimes referred to as “serious” or “classical”). Jazz-themed ensembles should include in their proposal how their work bridges those boundaries. Proposals with electronic and digital instruments/equipment will be accepted. A digital projector and screen will be available for use during a performance. Ensembles chosen for the festival will be given approximately 60 minutes of technical rehearsal time in the venue during May 14-16. Set-up time during the festival will be approximately 30 minutes. Performances will be limited to approximately 75 minutes—including applause, change-over, or non-performance related activity.

HOW: The agreement between RAM and the performing ensembles will stipulate that all ticket sales will be divided equally between RAM and the performers (50/50). RAM will provide the venue, marketing of the festival as a whole by the A440 Arts Group, and logistical support for each ensemble. No performers’ fees will be offered by RAM. No travel expenses will be provided by RAM. No cartage fees will be provided by RAM. No sound, video or stage engineers will be provided by RAM. However, a house manager will be available. Simple tasks like pressing a playback or project button during the performance can be accommodated, however.

THE PROPOSAL: All proposals must be submitted via email to info@QueensNewMusicFestival.org. The proposal should be no longer than 2 pages, should be submitted as a pdf document, and should include the following information:

• Name of the ensemble or individual artists
• Names of ensemble artistic personnel (internet links to artist bios are appreciated, but not required)
• A short description (1 or 2 paragraphs) of the proposed concert, including the titles, composers, and approximate lengths of the works to be performed. Programs must contain a minimum of 1 hour of performance time (including applause, etc.). For ensembles that specialize in improvisatory styles/genres, the description of your intended program should include the kinds of works you will present. (For example, is there a theme to the improvisatory works? Is there a unifying thread? Is there a technical or musical approach to the proposed concert? Describe the feel/look/form of the concert so that the panel can judge the kind of program we should expect to hear and to present with the other festival performers.) Also include any unique technical needs required by the performance.
• 2-5 internet links to audio clips or videos of the performing ensemble. If links are not available, please submit 1 or 2 mp3 clips of representative performances–no more than 10 megabytes TOTAL. Do not send multiple files totaling more than 10 megabytes. The judges will listen to the audio clips to verify artistic quality, only–not to determine which compositions we like or don’t like.
• Email address and name of contact person
• Any dates/times that cannot be scheduled by your ensemble and any performances of your proposed program that take place within 2 weeks of the Queens New Music Festival
• 1 paragraph detailing recent concert attendance (include number of established audience, the actual audience size along with the name of a specific venue, or a reasonable estimate of the size of the audience that might attend your performance at the Queens New Music Festival).

Preference will be given to proposals with a well-planned program and to performers who show past success or strong future potential to build an audience for new music concerts. Ensembles that are performing their program on other dates near to the QNMF should provide evidence that they will still have good audience support at the QNMF.

PROPOSAL DEADLINE:

December 1, 2012. We look forward to hearing from you!