New music fans, be ye in person or on yonder web, unite.
The Tribeca New Music 2013 Festival kicks off tomorrow evening, presenting five cutting-edge concerts from The Cell...all the while broadcasting on the internet (in high-definition, no less).
In the first concert of its first full series as Artists-in-Residence at The Cell (338 W. 23rd Street, between 8th & 9th Avenue), Tribeca New Music presents Art of the Salon, a re-imagining of the salon tradition for the 21st century.
"We're in the cradle of new music in New York City, where one can discover amazing live events tucked away in special venues," said Preston Stahly, Tribeca New Music's artistic and executive director. "But, put in perspective, only a relatively small number of adventurous music lovers in the world can actually get a seat. Our goal is two-fold: to create an intimate, compelling salon experience for our live audience, and to offer the global community a virtual 'seat in the house'--an opportunity to be touched and inspired by these amazing performances from anywhere on earth."
Clockwise: Zach Brock, violin; Margaret Lancaster, flute; Michael Lowenstern, bass clarinet; Richard Sussman, piano/synthesizer
Dutch avant-pop composer Jacob ter Veldhuis (Jacob TV) will have two pieces on this opening concert, both performed by virtuoso flutist Margaret Lancaster.
Lipstick for amplified flute/alto flute and boombox was written in 1998 for Eleonore Pameijer. Employing ter Veldhuis' trademark speech-melody technique (the matching of syllables, pitches and inflections in human speech with musical notes, tones and articulations), the work combines passages full of breathy clicks and pops with found footage from American talk shows. Desperate conversations about human relationships, and a quote from Billie Holiday ("Skip that lipstick/I know you cheat/And what love endures"), reflect the chaotic lives of some of today's zaniest chat show guests.
Here's Katayoon Hodjati and Mobtown Modern's realization of Lipstick from a 2009 performance at the Contemporary Museum in Baltimore, Maryland.
IT (World Premiere) was written for Lancaster, and uses speech-melody matched with newsreel footage of Helen Keller and her coach Ann Sullivan. Syllables, words and sentences--as well as piano and strings--portray an exciting musical and visual drama. Keller's loss of vision and hearing in early infancy made comprehension of the outside world next to impossible. Or so it seemed.
Michael Lowenstern is one of the best bass clarinetists of his generation, as well as a gifted composer in his own right. He has performed with ensembles representing a wide range of musical genres, including the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, Steve Reich and Musicians, The Klezmatics and John Zorn.
About his four pieces on Art of the Salon, Lowenstern says: "Trip is a work that comes from a not-so-successful collaboration with a dancer a few years back, hence the title. Lost in Translation (World Premiere) is a work that incorporates a bit of audience participation--and has at its core English-language travel book phrases. My Mouth was written after my mother sent me all of my father's harmonicas after he passed away in 2006, bringing me back to my roots as a harmonica player. What'd I Say (World Premiere) is a tribute to Ray Charles, incorporating live samples from his seminal recording of that piece."
As a composer, Preston Stahly specializes in electro-acoustic music designed to merge the skills of exceptional performers with computer-generated sound. His Pleiades for solo violin and electronics (World Premiere), written for Zach Brock, brings together both electronic and acoustic colors in a five-section work of arpeggiated harmonics, minimalist loops and jazz-cum-rock improvisation. Some sections of the piece are strictly notated. Others are controlled by the performer via MIDI.
Richard Sussman's Evolution 2 for violin, live piano and electronics (New York Premiere) is part of an ongoing fascination with his blending of diverse styles and techniques. This performance will feature Brock as the violin soloist, with the composer at the piano and on a laptop.
Continuing through Sunday, May 12, Tribeca New Music Festival concerts start at 8 p.m. every night. There is a 3 p.m. matinee at The Cell on Sunday, too.
General admission tickets are $20; students and seniors can get in for $10. Subscription packages for multiple shows are also available.
Visit www.tribecanewmusic.org to read about the other four concerts, and to find out how to beam these wonderful new sounds directly to your computing device of choice.
