This is copyright protected, so just a couple of notes.

Corinna da Fonseca-Wollheim
January 28, 2012
“Last week’s concert by flutist Claire Chase at (Le) Poisson Rouge, celebrating the release of her new CD “Terrestre,” offered no shortage of athletic challenges and technical sorcery of its own. But what struck me the most about the recent compositions for flute was the return of the breath. By turns expressive, mysterious, and dramatic, it was always unapologetically human. As Chase later told me over the phone, ‘Breath is the one thing we can’t live without. As flute players, it’s something we should honor.’ ”

Claire Chase

See the full article here.

Ms Chase is the leader of ICE – The International Contemporary Ensemble.

At Q2 from New York Public Radio, you can find three long form videocast concerts by ICELAB, the performance group from ICE. Just visit Q2 and search on ICELAB.

Cued Up On Q2 streams Sundays at 2PM on Q2; encores Tuesdays at 8PM and Thursdays at 4PM on Q2

Live Performances by Wordless Music Orchestra, Brooklyn Rider, JACK Quartet, and More
Sunday, January 29, 2012

“There’ll be no shortage of Philip Glass news in 2012. This year will feature the touring revival of his seminal opera Einstein on the Beach. And on January 31, the game-changing American music icon will celebrate his 75th birthday with the U.S. premiere of his Symphony No. 9 by the American Composers Orchestra at Carnegie Hall.

Philip Glass

This week’s Cued Up features in-concert recordings of Glass’s work taken from the last two years. We’ll open with a mesmerizing 2010 performance of his Two Etudes by pianist Bruce Brubaker, and hear energetic live takes of his Suite from Bent by string quartet Brooklyn Rider (chosen by (Le) Poisson Rouge as one of the venue’s favorite live performance of 2011) and String Quartet No. 5 by the JACK Quartet.

In addition, the program features the New York-premiere of Glass’s homage to David Bowie—Symphony No. 4 Heroes—as performed by Brad Lubman and the Wordless Music Orchestra at the New York Society of Ethical Culture in May 2011.

We’ll also hear two pieces by Glass’s disciple Nico Muhly: Brubaker’s 2011 performance of Drones and Piano at the Gilmore International Keyboard Festival and Wish You Were Here from the 2011 Ecstatic Music Festival (on a related note, remember to check out Q2 Music’s Ecstatic Music 2012 Preview this Wednesday, February 1 at 7 pm).”

See the full article here.

This week, Cued Up on Q2 is hosted by Olivia Giovetti

Olivia Giovetti

Gity Razaz

In the far north, the earth freezes hard and time seems to slow. It’s a silent contemplative environment that’s inspired electronic musicians to create a sub-genre called ‘glacial and
isolationist ambient’.

On this transmission of Hearts of Space…we take a deep dive into the winter atmospheres on a program called WINTERSCAPES 2.”

We will hear music from ERIK WOLLO, MAX CORBACHO, IGNEOUS FLAME, PAUL VNUK JR. and OOPHOI, NETHERWORLD, and MARKUS REUTER

Stephen Hill

From the program:

The weekly program is FREE on Sundays

Enjoy Hearts of Space in a variety of ways on your iPhone and many phones in the ANDROID system

Composers:
Don Byron, John Halle, Julia Wolfe, John King, Raz Mesinai, David Lang, Kenji Bunch, Marcelo Zarvos

Performers:
ETHEL String Quartet
Cornelius Dufallo
Mary Rowell
Ralph Farris
Dorothy Lawson
Kenji Bunch

Erdem Helvacioglu Eleven Short Stories
Innova #245 Mar 27, 2012

“Turkish music and the prepared piano are not as far apart as one might think (Mozart tried out some Turkish drum effects with paper on the piano strings back in the day). But now Istanbul-based composer/pianist Erdem Helvacioglu has made the connection even more dramatic and sensuous. “Eleven Short Stories” is a set of nearly a dozen atmospheric vignettes for prepared piano, paying homage to some of his favorite film directors: Kim Ki-Duk, David Lynch, Krzysztof Kieslowski, Theodoros Angelopoulos, Jane Campion, Anthony Minghella, Ang Lee, Atom Egoyan, Darren Aronofsky, Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu and Steven Soderberg.

The pieces are not aligned with a director but rather suggest particular scenes through titles such as Shattered Snow Globe, Mist on the Windowpane, or Bench at the Park. The music runs the full gamut and shades of emotions you might expect from imaginative art-film. There’s stark, pensive observation, wariness of impending jeopardy, rooting around in a Samuel Beckett-like Unknowable; all with the potential for horror and the need for hope. The notes from the piano – gamelan-like – plop gently like summer raindrops coloring the pavement, or slashing the jugular vein, as needs be. Close your eyes and it all makes sense.

Just as a movie proposes its own cinematic reality, each individual piece has preparations unique to its story and soundworld. The piano strings were strewn and inserted with pencils, erasers, paper, plastic and metal spoons, knives, forks, drumsticks, guitar plectrums and slides, e-bows, metal plates, clapsticks, ear plugs, and paperclips attached to the strings within. Not forgetting a toy train and a 60s fashion magazine.

Erdem Helvacioglu (b. 1975) is one of the most renowned contemporary composers of his generation in Turkey. His music has been called “revolutionary,” “groundbreaking,” “emotionally evocative soundscapes with remarkable beauty,” “uncommonly deep, intelligent, and beautiful cinematic compositions”, “luscious and unique,” and “completely arresting and disarmingly beautiful.” Erdem has received awards from the Luigi Russolo, MUSICA NOVA, Insulae Electronicae Electroacoustic Music Competitions. He has been commissioned by numerous entities, from the 2006 World Soccer Championship to the Bang on a Can-All Stars. He is also actively involved in composing for films, multimedia productions, contemporary dance and theatre. He won the “Best Original Soundtrack” award in the 2006 Mostramundo Film Festival, and his film scores have been heard at Cannes, Sarajevo, Locarno, Seoul, Sao Paulo, and Sydney film festivals.

Q2 is the 24/7 New Music Stream from New York Public Radio

The Wordless Music Orchestra Performs Jóhannsson’s Score to Bill Morrison’s The Miners’ Hymns
Tuesday, January 31, 2012

Jóhann Jóhannsson

“On Tuesday, January 31 at 7:30 pm ET, Q2 Music and New Sounds Live present a live audio Webcast of Icelandic composer Jóhann Jóhannsson’s visceral score to filmmaker Bill Morrison’s silent film, The Miners’ Hymns. The music will be performed by the Wordless Music Orchestra conducted by Guðni Franzson and introduced by New Sounds Live host, John Schaefer.

Wordless Music Orchestra conducted by Brad Lubman

John Schaefer

The Miners’ Hymns from Bill Morrison, who Variety heralded as ‘one of the most adventurous American filmmakers,’ is a meditation on the daily lives of coal miners in the industrial city of Durham in northeast England during the early 20th century. Conceived with composer Jóhann Jóhannsson, The Miners’ Hymns contrasts archival footage, some dating back 100 years, with sweeping aerial views of a transformed modern-day Durham.

Jóhannsson’s score to the 52 minute film provides a moving account of the miners’ lives, simultaneously heroic and hardscrabble, with a rich brass and electronic-heavy texture. The music also harkens back to the colliery brass bands caught in the film’s archival footage. “

See the full article here, including “…a taste for the film from the film’s preview and this interview with Morrison and Jóhannsson discussing their collaboration.”

First, the big news, Innova has a wonderful new web site. Be sure to visit. I will be featuring their new releases. But, you need not wait for me, you can visit the site any time. Look near the top of the opening page for Featured Releases.

Guy Klucevsek The Multiple Personality Reunion Tour
Innova #819

Performers:
Guy Klucevsek,Alex Meixner, Brandon Seabrook, Marcus Rojas, Kenny Wollesen, Pete Donovan, John Hollenbeck, Jo Lawry, Theo Bleckmann,
Peter Eldridge, Steve Elson, Dave Douglas, Brave Combo, Jeffrey Barnes, Carl Finch, Little Jack Melody, Alan Emert

“If there’s one adverb-adjective combo that can describe composer/accordionist Guy Klucevsek, it’s unabashedly eclectic. Over the course of twenty-one releases, his music has combined the heart-pounding rhythms of eastern Europe with teeming contrapuntal passages, gorgeous melodies, and Klucevsek’s own ‘trailblazing virtuosity’ [Wall Street Journal]. But his twenty-second release, The Multiple Personality Reunion Tour, might be his most ambitious yet.

It’s a global tour, a worldwide tribute to the composers and musicians who have shaped him as a creative artist. From France to Bulgaria to Spain, he pays homage to Erik Satie and the Swingle Singers, Ivan Milev, and Basque trikitixa maestro, Kepa Junkera. On “The C&M Waltz” and “Moja Baba Je Pijana,” Klucevsek harks back to the Slovenian-American polkas and waltzes of his childhood, while Martin Denny’s exotica gets a nod on “O’O.” Middle Eastern pop even creeps in in the form of “Pink Elephant.”

But he couldn’t have done it alone. The Multiple Personality Reunion Tour is very much a group effort, made possible by a generous United States Artists Collins Fellowship. Carl Finch co-produced six of the tracks, and performed on them with his group, Brave Combo, winners of two Grammy awards for Best Polka Album. Featured on these tracks are two accordion prodigies, Alex Meixner (whose Polka Freak Out was nominated for a Grammy) and exciting young Texas Swing specialist Ginny Mac.

In addition to these special guests, the album features Klucevsek’s longtime Charms of the Night Sky bandleader, trumpeter Dave Douglas and an all-star cast of New York City’s finest musicians: singers Jo Lawry (currently on tour with Sting), fellow innova artist Theo Bleckmann and Peter Eldridge; drummers John Hollenbeck and Kenny Wollesen; Marcus Rojas on tuba; Pete Donovan on bass; Steve Elson on clarinet and saxes; and Brandon Seabrook on tenor banjo and acoustic guitar.

Guy Klucevsek is one of the world’s most versatile and highly-respected accordionists. He has performed and/or recorded with Accordion Tribe, Laurie Anderson, Bang On a Can, Alan Bern, Anthony Braxton, Anthony Coleman, Dave Douglas, Bill Frisell, Rahim al Haj, Robin Holcomb, Kepa Junkera, the Kronos Quartet, Natalie Merchant, Present Music, Relâche, John Williams, Zeitgeist, and John Zorn.

He has premiered over 50 solo accordion pieces, including his own, as well as those he has commissioned from Mary Ellen Childs, William Duckworth, Fred Frith, Aaron Jay Kernis, Jerome Kitzke, Stephen Montague, Somei Satoh, Lois V Vierk, and John Zorn. He has also appeared on “Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood.”

Zack Browning Secret Pulse
Innova #817

Performers:
Ensemble Unity
Cadillac Moon Ensemble
JACK Quartet
University of Central Florida Percussion Ensemble

“Imagine multiple collisions of musical worlds where sparks fly and mediations flow through secret pulses dictated by a magic square. This is the world of Secret Pulse where composer Zack Browning presents a dramatic music of rhythmically-charged pop-inspired riffs battling transcendental melodies. Each composition can be compared to a spider’s web; musically spinning out events whose design is based on a secret pulse derived from the birth dates of the performers using the Lo Shu Square and feng shui.

The special connection between the virtuosic performers on this CD and the music is captured in their powerful performances. Ensemble Unity of Taiwan rocks on the Hakka folksong “Cutting Flowers” in Hakka Fusion. The Cadillac Moon Ensemble becomes speed devils in Secret Pulse and then makes it funky in Moon Thrust and its use of Van Morrison’s “Moondance”. The JACK Quartet both mesmerizes and marvels in their interpretation of the String Quartet, moving effortlessly from soft chorales to loud funk. In Flying Tones, the UCF Percussion Ensemble grooves and grinds then provides a personal and moving rendition of the UCF Alma Mater. The four ensembles consist of musical all stars whose performances on this CD are extraordinary.

The music of Zack Browning is described as ‘way-cool in attitude’ and ‘speed-demon music’ (The Atlanta Journal-Constitution) and ‘propulsive, giddy, rocking…, a rush of cyclic riffs and fractured meters’ (The New York Times). The Irish Times has proclaimed he is ‘bringing together the procedures of high musical art with the taste of popular culture’. Browning’s composition awards have included two Illinois Arts Council Composer Fellowships, a Chamber Music America Commission, and two Arnold O. Beckman Awards and two FAA Fellowships from the University of Illinois. Performances include the Bonk Festival of New Music (Tampa), the International Society for Contemporary Music Festival (Miami), International Computer Music Conference (New Orleans), Spark Festival (Minneapolis), Gaudeamus Music Week (Amsterdam), Composers Choice Festival (Dublin), Sonorities Festival (Belfast) , Skinneskatteberg Festival (Sweden), Asian Contemporary Music Festival (Seoul), and National Chiang Kai Shek Cultural Center (Taipei). “

Marc Rossi Group Mantra Revealed
Innova #816

Marc Rossi, Lance Van Lenten, Bill Urmson, Mauricio Zottarelli, Geetha Ramanathan Bennett, Prasanna, Bruce Arnold

“Since it began, jazz has been—like America itself—a place where disparate and diverse streams have met as they flow towards the ocean. Consider Boston-based pianist/composer Marc Rossi and the members of the Marc Rossi Group as ambassadors from an exotic locale where the dizzying modal runs of South and North Indian music swirl and blend with jazz and Afro-Latin forms. These deep, rich waters have nourished musicians before; think of Dave Brubeck’s Jazz Impressions of Eurasia or Ellington’s Far East Suite. Think of the Miles Davis/Gil Evans collaboration Sketches of Spain or the Mahavishnu Orchestra. John McLaughlin himself, the grand master of eastern jazz fusion, commenting on Rossi’s composition and performance calls the work “very nice indeed!”

With Mantra Revealed, Rossi continues the work he began on Hidden Mandala: bearing the standard for pan-Indian jazz fusion into the present tense and beyond.

As a student of both Hindustani and Carnatic Indian music and a professor of piano and jazz composition at Berklee College of Music, Rossi has been a vital part of the Boston music scene for the past two decades, and he’s assembled an all-star cast for Mantra Revealed. Lance Van Lenten (saxophone and flute), Bill Urmson (electric bass), Mauricio Zottarelli (drums), and Rossi himself make up the core Marc Rossi Group, supplemented by Prassana’s adventurous, Indian-inflected guitar on opener “Jazz Impressions of a Kriti,” the sumptuous voice of Geetha Ramanathan Bennett, and the furious fret work of Bruce Arnold.

The album’s rich panoply of colors and textures comes from the interplay of Rossi’s own distinctive compositions and the players’ absorbing improvisational skills. It’s become commonplace to refer to an album as a “journey” these days, but few navigate a path as wide-ranging, engaging and multi-hued as Mantra Revealed.”

Anna Thorvaldsdottir Rhizoma
Innova #810

Caput Ensemble
Justin DeHart
Iceland Symphony Orchestra

“The works on Rhízōma, the debut album by prominent Icelandic composer Anna Thorvaldsdottir, rise from the earth, born from ghostly roots. Deep sustained tones evoke subterranean caverns; fractured cascades mimic the intricate crystalline structure of giant glaciers. A fleeting rustle of percussion here, the stony scrape of a prepared piano there—a living landscape listened to and learned from. Against these textures skate lines of melody that evoke an enigmatic lyricism. The works throughout the collection display a keen and unique perception of the world through music, despite the variety of settings, perhaps flavored by the composer dividing her time between La Jolla and Reykjavik, between the sunny California coast and Iceland’s volcanic vistas. Rhízōma consists of three larger pieces for orchestra and chamber orchestra, punctuated by five smaller movements from a solo percussed piano work. The larger works are given life by two ensembles who couldn’t be better suited to the task: the Grammy-nominated Iceland Symphony Orchestra conducted by Daniel Bjarnson perform the cinematic Dreaming, while the award-winning Icelandic CAPUT Ensemble conducted by Snorri Sigfus Birgisson perform Streaming Arhythmia and the opening Hrím, which was awarded Composition of the Year for 2010 at this year’s Icelandic Music Awards. Between these larger works lie five movements from the work Hidden, performed on prepared piano by percussionist Justin DeHart. Although her compositions have appeared on a number of albums, Rhízōma is the first full album to consist only of her works and heralds the arrival of a vital new voice in classical music. Anna is a composer whose work is frequently performed by both ensembles and soloists throughout the US and Europe and has been nominated, and won awards, including for the Prix Europa and the International Rostrum of Composers. The Icelandic CAPUT Ensemble specializes in the performance of contemporary music. Established in 1987, CAPUT has premiered countless works, ranging from solo pieces to large chamber orchestra works. The Iceland Symphony Orchestra was founded in 1950 and is one of the leading Nordic orchestras, recording regularly for BIS, Chandos, and Naxos. Percussionist Justin DeHart received his DMA from UCSD in 2010. Although he specializes in contemporary music, he works in a variety of genres.”

Mimi Stillman / Charles Abramovic Odyssey
Innova #814

Mimi Stillman
Charles Abramovic

“Odyssey: 11 American Premieres for Flute and Piano is the latest release from flute superstar Mimi Stillman. This 2-CD collection, with pianist Charles Abramovic, is a breathtaking tour de force that brings together nearly a dozen works – mostly written for Ms. Stillman – highlighting the richness and diversity of the American contemporary music scene.

Odyssey takes its title from the work by Gerald Levinson, and more broadly, it is the adventurous journey representing the recording as a whole. There is stunning breadth and variety of musical styles from eleven composers of different compositional languages and approaches. Mason Bates’s Elements is a virtuosic essay from a composer who is as comfortable in electronica as he is as composer-in-residence for Chicago Symphony. Benjamin C.S. Boyle’s Sonata-Cantilena showcases the vocal nature of the flute in lushly sensuous writing.

Gerald Levinson’s eponymous Odyssey is a 15½ -minute monster of a piece for solo flute, a test of stamina and control. David Ludwig’s Sonata features two outer movements which are fast rides with inexorable momentum propelling flute and piano, surrounding a lyrical, introspective inner movement. Odyssey draws on music of diverse world cultures – David Ludwig was inspired by traditional Argentinean music, Katherine Hoover by Hungarian, American Indian, and Chinese music, Michael Djupstrom by a Balkan folk song. Zhou Tian references his own heritage of Chinese music. David Bennett Thomas cites jazz as an influence on his Whim for Solo Flute, along with elements of Messiaen. In her Mountain and Mesa, Katherine Hoover quotes a Hopi lullaby recorded by an ethnomusicologist. Grammy Award winner Richard Danielpour’s A Quality Love, Stillman and Abramovic’s arrangement of an aria from his opera Margaret Garner, is a poignantly simple song of love in a folk-like vein.

Hailed by The Washington Post as ‘a magically gifted flutist, a breath of fresh air’ and described by Broad Street Review as ‘lyricism combined with introspection, fire and energy,’ Yamaha Performing Artist Mimi Stillman dazzles audiences with her virtuosity, passion, dynamism, and ‘full-toned charisma’ (The Philadelphia Inquirer). The New York Times praised her as ‘technically agile and imaginative in her use of color.’ Philadelphia City Paper marveled at her ‘rock-solid chops and affecting conviction.’ She has performed as soloist with The Philadelphia Orchestra, Bach Collegium Stuttgart, Orquesta Sinfónica Carlos Chávez, and other orchestras and as recitalist and chamber musician at Carnegie Hall, The Kennedy Center, Verbier Festival, and other major international venues. Mimi Stillman is a Renaissance woman – consummate artist, entrepreneuse, historian, writer, and educator. A child prodigy, Mimi was at age 12 the youngest wind player ever admitted to the Curtis Institute of Music, and at 17 she became the youngest wind player ever to win the prestigious Young Concert Artists International Auditions. Equally at home with the classical canon, contemporary music, and Latin and Sephardic world music, she has performed with Paquito D’Rivera, recorded a film score for Kevin Bacon, and was given a long standing ovation for her brilliant performance with Charles Abramovic of the complete flute chamber works of Bach. She is Artistic and Executive Director of Dolce Suono Ensemble, which she founded in 2005, a highly regarded pioneering force in the music world that has produced 23 world premieres in seven seasons.”

So, that is the current crop of the new and adventurous artists at Innova. But, please visit the web site. Especially check out the Links pages, where you can still find Philip Blackburn’s wonderful interview series, Alive and Composing and Measure for Measure.

Innova Recordings is truly a treasure.

Innova is the recording arm of American Composers Forum, St Paul Mn.

The New Canon streams Mondays at 4PM on Q2; encore presentations Wednesdays at 10AM and Sundays at 8PM on Q2.

Straddling the Divide between Indie Rock and Indie Classical

“On The New Canon this week, we chat with composer and Slow Six bandleader Christopher Tignor in advance of his performance with the genre-bending Ecstatic Music Festival, begging the question: Do we really need to distinguish between Indie Rock and Indie Classical?

Last year’s Ecstatic Music Festival was the bee’s knees and the dog’s bollocks, combining music from the independently-fueled classical and rock spheres and creating a veritable who’s who of the New York music scene. The idea was simple: Showing the connective tissue between these two seemingly disparate genres, but when you really chewed on all that was on offer, you started to wonder if there was more tissue than negative space and whether or not we really needed to distinguish between the two forms.

One of the champions of such world-rocking questions is Christopher Tignor, a composer and bandleader of Slow Six who rocks out classical and brings some epic symphonic measures to rock. With the return of EMF (including a show on Feb 9 with string orchestra A Far Cry and post-rock powerhouse This Will Destroy You), we pull Christopher into the Canon.”

The New Canon on Q2 is hosted by Olivia Giovetti

Olivia Giovetti

Deceptive Cadence helps celebrate the 25th anniversary of the original D.I.Y. music collaboration, Bang On A Can.

Members of the Bang on a Can All-Stars playing in Shanghai in 2009.

See the full article here.

Nadia Sirota on Q2 streams weekdays at 12:00 noon and midnight at Q2

New Music in New Places: Celebrating the China in New York Festival on Q2 Music

“Kung Hei Fat Choi! When I was in kindergarten, my super awesome teachers Ms. Danielson and Ms. Doane had us bring in paper bags, in which we cut holes three holes (a big one in the very bottom and two smaller ones on the sides), adorned with construction paper scales, and pulled over our heads to march down the hallway of our school as a giant, kindergartener-fueled Lunar New Year dragon. It was pretty much the best day of kindergarten.

It’s now the year of the DRAGON, an especially lucky year, and Q2 Music is going to help you ring it in with TONS of new music by Chinese and Chinese-American composers. Our parent station, WQXR, is hosting the China in New York Festival this week, and it is chock full of amazing radio events, from Greene Space concerts to the New York Philharmonic’s Chinese New Year performance. Over here, true to our goal of learning about new works straight from the artists’ mouths, we are featuring special guest, composer Huang Ruo, each weekday at the top of my show (12 to 1 pm), to interview some of his favorite colleagues. You won’t want to miss this!!

Xin Nian Kuai Le! Happy New Year! Come celebrate with Q2 Music and WXQR!”

Nadia Sirota

Q2 is the 24/7 New Music Stream from New York Public Radio

“As part of our China in New York festival, composer Huang Ruo interviews a different Chinese-born composer who has lived in the United States and become prominent to New York City audiences. Hear these interviews Monday, January 23 to Friday, January 27 12 noon with repeats at 7 pm on Q2 Music.

Monday, January 23 at 12 noon and 7pm: Zhou Long
Tuesday, January 24 at 12 noon and 7 pm: Du Yun
Wednesday, January 25 at 12 noon and 7 pm: Lei Liang
Thursday, January 26 at 12 noon and 7 pm: Chou Wen-chung
Friday, January 27 at 12 noon and 7 pm: Min Xiao-fen “

Hosted by Huang Ruo

Huang Ruo

See the full article here.