Saturday, March 27, 2010

NYCC | In The Loop | Mar 27, 2010

Tomorrow is our MARCH SALON: Sunday: March 28, at 3:30 pm in the rehearsal studio of Symphony Space, 95th street and Broadway. We will have a special guest on hand: Alexa Babakhanian (composer, pianist and singer) will talk briefly about her current work, setting very short Japanese tanka verses with music, art, dance, and video. She will also present to us a live reduced version of some of the settings that will involve music, dance, video, and reading of the verses. In addition, she will talk about the project, which is based on Hokusai's series of prints known as "One Hundred Poets."

All are invited; hope to see you in our new time and space!
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Our SECOND CONCERT of our 2009-2010 season is next Tuesday, March 30, 2010 at 7:30 pm. This concert will be at Symphony Space Thalia, and is billed as a 75th Birthday celebration for Honorary Member, JOHN EATON. The NYCC celebrates its collaboration with the a special guest ensemble, the No Borders Quartet ensemble from Italy, on its first concert tour in the USA, which will feature prominently in many of the evening's performances. $20 tickets are payable at the door. Here's the concert lineup:

Richard Brooks, Circular Motions 
John de Clef Piñeiro, Rhapsody in Blues
John Eaton, Some Spectres
Brian Fennelly, Three's Company 
Patricia Leonard, Venetian Moonlight 
Dana Dimitri Richardson, Pan and Selene
Please join us as we welcome our special guests from Italia!
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Tonight (Saturday, March 27) JOSEPH PEHRSON's  "Mating" for electric guitar and cello will be featured at the Parkside Lounge. Greg Baker plays electric guitar with Dan Barrett on cello. This should be an exciting show—from 8:30PM to 10:30PM—a combined effort between the International Street Cannibals and the Composers Concordance, with lots of varied pieces. The Parkside Lounge is at 317 East Houston between Ave. B and C. (Take the F train to Second Ave. and walk east 2 blocks.) Admission is a suggested $7, with the proceeds to be used as a benefit for Haiti.  More info at streetcannibals.com
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JOHN DE CLEF PIÑEIRO's aforementioned "Rhapsody in Blues" will not only be performed Tuesday evening at Symphony Space, but also at NYU on Monday, March 29. The piece has been "on tour" in concerts and music festivals in Europe is being "brought back to the U.S." by the Italian piano/woodwind ensemble No Borders Quartet as part of its first U.S. concert tour.
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Mezzo-soprano Christina Goyne will perform a special arrangement of RICHARD RUSSELL's "When Time is Over" on Thursday, April 8, at 8pm. The venue is Christ and St. Stephens at 120 West 69th Street. Also on the program are selections by Gounod, Debussy, and Brahms; The accompanist is Jason Wirth. The concert is free, but pay-what-you-wish donations accepted!

Friday, March 19, 2010

New York City Electroacoustic Music Festival

NYCC Composer Member Hubert S. Howe, a professor at Queens College, extends an invitation to the Second New York City Electroacoustic Music Festival, which takes place March 25-27, mostly at the C.U.N.Y. Graduate Center.  Nineteen concerts will present works by over 125 composers from five continents.  The web site for the festival is http://www.nycemf.org/, and the complete schedule is posted at http://www.nycemf.org/schedule/.  Two late evening events will take place at Galapagos Art Space (http://www.galapagosartspace.com/) and Issue Project Room (http://issueprojectroom.org/) in Brooklyn.  Dr. Howe will have a premiere on the Friday evening, March 26 concert.

Tuesday, March 16, 2010

Music from Joseph Pehrson


There are several performances of NYCC Composer Member Joseph Pehrson's music coming up in the next few months:

SATURDAY, MARCH 27, 7:30PM at the "Parkside Lounge": Matingfor electric guitar and cello.Greg Baker plays electric guitar, and Dan Barrett, cello. The Parkside Lounge is at 317 East Houston between Ave. B and C. Take the F train to Second Ave. and walk east 2 blocks. Admission $10. This should be an exciting show from 7:30PM to 9:30PM, a combined effort between the International Street Cannibals and the Composers Concordance, with lots of varied pieces.  The proceeds will be used as a benefit for Haiti. streetcannibals.com/

MONDAY, APRIL 19, 8:00PM The Nature of the Universe IIfor flute and narration,based upon the writings of Lucretius, will be presented by the International Street Cannibalsat the Player's Theatre, 115 Macdougal Street.  Margaret Lancaster is the flutist. Linda Past will choreograph this piece and there will be other mulitmedia elements through the evening. Admission $10.   I will also be narrating the part of William James in Gene Pritsker's philosophical opera "The Varieties of Religious Experiences."

WEDNESDAY, MAY 5, 8:30PM,the International Street Cannibalswill presentBlacklightfor cello and electronicsin the near-just-intonation tuning system of "blackjack." Dan Barrett is the cellist. Linda Past will also choreograph the work. The location is St. Mark's Church in the Bowery, 131 East 10th Street, (Second Ave. and 10th Street) NYC. Tickets $10
TUESDAY, MAY 25, 8PM, the New York Composers Circlewill present Phonefor contralto with Christina Ascher. The location is St. Peter's Church at Citicorp 619 Lexington Avenue at 54th Street. (E train to Lexington/53 St.) Tickets $20 or donation. This piece uses only phonemes, no words. www.nycomposerscircle.org/
SUNDAY, JUN. 27, 1PM, Rob Voisey's and Douglas DaSilva's "Composers Voice"series. Matingfor electric guitar and cello, with Greg Baker, electric guitar, and Dan Barrett, cello. Jan Hus Church, 351 East 74th St., NYC.  This is an all guitar concert, and Greg Baker will be playing several pieces. www.voxnovus.com/

SUNDAY, JUN. 27, 8PM, Phonefor contralto with Christina Ascher.Tenri Cultural Institute 43 W 13th St, NYC.  This is a recital featuring the astonishing Ms. Ascher.www.christina-ascher.com/

Saturday, March 13, 2010

Neil Baldwin to speak to NYCC

Neil Baldwin (www.neilbaldwinbooks.com) - author, teacher & former head of the National Book Awards - will be our guest speaker for the April 24th Salon. (See NYCC Calendar for location, time.) Mr. Baldwin will speak about the world of publishing, a matter of interest for composers wishing to be published, or for self-published composers!

Richard McCandless's "Voyager"


March 27, 2010 (Saturday), 3:45 pm
City University of New York (CUNY) Graduate Center
Elebash Hall
365 Fifth Avenue
New York, NY 10016-4309
212-817-7000



"Voyager," Richard McCandless's work for solo percussion with electronic playback, will be performed as part of the 2010 New York City Electronic Music Festival. Mr. Jude Traxler of the Manhattan School of Music will be performing. Voyager has been performed at two other national new music festivals, and is working its way into the percussion repertoire. It has always been tremendously well received by performers and audiences. Regarding his music, the Washington Post has stated that, "Mr. McCandless clearly places a high priority on communication as well as innovation."


The composer states, "This work takes its name from the Voyager 1 spacecraft, the first human-made object to leave our solar system. Voyager's journey is immense. Traveling about 1,000,000 miles a day, it will take 20,000 years to leave the gravitational field of our Sun, where it will enter deep space and travel for billions of years. At some point during this journey, human beings will no longer exist, and Earth will be no more than a charred cinder. But Voyager will be traveling on."


The concert is free and open to the public. No tickets are required.
More information is available at www.nycemf.org

NYCC | In the Loop | March 13, 2010

Our March Salon returns to a Sunday: March 28, at 3:30 pm in our new location at the rehearsal studio of Symphony Space, 95th street and Broadway. While you have your calendars out, you can note we'll have Salons also on April 24 (Saturday), May 30 (Sunday) and June 27 (Sunday). I'll keep folks posted via In The Loop, and this information is also now posted at the NYCC website: nycomposerscircle.org  

All are invited; hope to see you in our new time and space!
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Our SECOND CONCERT of our 2009-2010 season is fast approaching: March 30, 2010 at 7:30 pm. This concert will be at Symphony Space Thalia, and is billed as a 75th Birthday celebration for Honorary Member, JOHN EATON. The NYCC celebrates its collaboration with the a special guest ensemble, the No Borders Quartet ensemble from Italy, on its first concert tour in the USA, which will feature in many of the evening's performances. 

John Eaton's music will be joined by compositions from Honorary Member DINU GHEZZO, PATRICIA LEONARD, DANA RICHARDSON, RICHARD BROOKS, BRIAN FENNELLY, JOHN DE CLEF PIÑEIRO, and guest composer Mauro Porro. 
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RICHARD McCANDLESS's "Voyager," a work for solo percussion with electronic playback, will be performed as part of the 2010 New York City Electronic Music Festival. Mr. Jude Traxler of the Manhattan School of Music will be performing. Voyager has been performed at two other national new music festivals, and is working its way into the percussion repertoire. It has always been tremendously well received by performers and audiences. Regarding his music, the Washington Post has stated that, "Mr. McCandless clearly places a high priority on communication as well as innovation."

The composer states, "This work takes its name from the Voyager 1 spacecraft, the first human-made object to leave our solar system. Voyager's journey is immense. Traveling about 1,000,000 miles a day, it will take 20,000 years to leave the gravitational field of our Sun, where it will enter deep space and travel for billions of years. At some point during this journey, human beings will no longer exist, and Earth will be no more than a charred cinder. But Voyager will be traveling on."

The concert is free and open to the public, March 27, 2010 (Saturday), 3:45 pm. No tickets are required. More information is available at www.nycemf.org

City University of New York (CUNY) Graduate Center
Elebash Hall
365 Fifth Avenue
New York, NY 10016-4309
212-817-7000
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Our Executive Director JOHN DE CLEF PIÑEIRO reports on another of the NYCC's outreach concerts: "The NYCC presented a successful/very well received Community Encores series recital on March 6 at the Lenox Hill Neighborhood House Senior Center at Saint Peter's Church. 
 
We were very particularly fortunate to have Composer Member GENE MARLOW present to introduce three character pieces from his Les Sentiments d'Amour. He was also very gracious in bringing half a dozen copies of his CD of that work, which were enthusiastically raffled at the end of the concert as a fun conclusion to NATALIYA MEDVEDOVSKAYA's fine performance, which included, among other works, Scriabin's broodingly atmospheric and complex Sonata No. 9 (the so-called "Black Mass" sonata) -- which she performed admirably.
 
We had an audience of approximately 40 Lenox Hill senior members who stayed on to ask questions at the end and who came up to say how this experience with new music was the best they had ever had. 

Three members of the audience made a point of citing to me our explanations and introductions as a good way to make this new music experience more meaningful and enjoyable. In fact, Nataliya's program lent itself quite well to my drawing the contrast between program music and absolute music from piece to piece as an educational theme of today's recital.

At the end, I asked our attendees "would you come again to another recital of the NYCC?" and there was an enthusiastic "yes" from most, if not all, of those in attendance. Looking quite pleased, Miss Stephanie Prince from Lenox Hill approached me and said that she would definitely like to see us come back for another recital soon."
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Our friend NANCY GARNIEZ presents "The Acoustical Kaleidoscope: Imagining the Piano as a Place in Play" in three informal Sunday afternoons of music and talk. Playing representative works of three centuries, pianist and innovative musical thinker Nancy Garniez invites you to imagine the piano in the hands of the mostly young people who "made up" up the instrument as it evolved – much the way young people play their way into mastery of modern-day technology. She proposes an instrument free of its association with right notes and wrong notes, restoring the novelty it never lost during the lifetimes of Haydn, Mozart, Chopin, and of Bartok and other 20th century composers as they adjusted to equal temperament. In this spirit she will introduce improvisatory games that anyone can play at the piano to experience anew its marvelous acoustics—sounds which defy electronic synthesis.

Nancy Garniez has been performing solo and chamber recitals here and abroad for many years. She has taught piano and chamber music at Mannes College since 1972. She is the author of What Might It Mean: An Uncommon Glossary of Musical Terms and Concepts for the Stuck, Bored and Curious (1999) and of numerous articles on the musical life. She is the creator of Tonal Refraction®, a method that objectifies subjective aspects of tone perception.

The talks will be held three Sundays at 4pm: March 21, April 25, May 16, at the TENRI Institute 43a W. 13th St. in Manhattan

Tickets, available at the door, are $20 ($55 for the series); $10 for students and seniors; $5 for children under 12.
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Daniel Stedman, President and Co-founder of The L Magazine, would like to hire a composer and performer (strings or brass) to help with an art project. He's looking for a student or junior-level composer. You can see his work at www.danielstedman.com. This is a pay project, but low budget. If interested, send a resume and sample to: danielstedmanfilm@gmail.com

Pianist Nancy Garniez presents THE ACOUSTICAL KALEIDOSCOPE

Pianist Nancy Garniez
presents
THE ACOUSTICAL KALEIDOSCOPE
Imagining the Piano as a Place in Play
Three Informal Sunday Afternoons of Music and Talk
March 21, April 25, May 16 at 4 p.m.
The TENRI Institute 43a W. 13th St. in Manhattan


Playing representative works of three centuries, pianist and innovative musical thinker Nancy Garniez invites you to imagine the piano in the hands of the mostly young people who "made up" up the instrument as it evolved – much the way young people play their way into mastery of modern-day technology.


She proposes an instrument free of its association with right notes and wrong notes, restoring the novelty it never lost during the lifetimes of Haydn, Mozart, Chopin, and of Bartok and other 20th century composers as they adjusted to equal temperament.


In this spirit she will introduce improvisatory games that anyone can play at the piano to experience anew its marvelous acoustics—sounds which defy electronic synthesis.


Nancy Garniez has been performing solo and chamber recitals here and abroad for many years. She has taught piano and chamber music at Mannes College since 1972. She is the author of What Might It Mean: An Uncommon Glossary of Musical Terms and Concepts for the Stuck, Bored and Curious (1999) and of numerous articles on the musical life. She is the creator of Tonal Refraction®, a method that objectifies subjective aspects of tone perception.


Tickets, available at the door, are $20 ($55 for the series); $10 for students and seniors; $5 for children under 12.   

Debra Kaye's Music on TV

Award winning composer, Debra Kaye
Featured on Manhattan Neighborhood Network


MONDAY, MARCH 8th
8:30 pm (est)
on Minding Your Business
hosted by June Middleton
Time Warner Ch. 57


(The show also airs on RCN Ch 84, Verizon FIOS Ch 35, or Ch 69 without a cable box.)
and
STREAMING LIVE  at:
http://www.mnn.org
Select Ch 57/84/35 under "Watch MNN Live"


WITH PERFORMING ARTISTS
AMY KIMBALL; LYNN BECHTOLD, VIOLIN; WHITNEY LA GRANGE, VIOLA;
FRANK WAGNER, DOUBLE BASS; JAVIER OVIEDO, SAXOPHONE.
Debra's music has been heard at many venues including Carnegie's Weill Recital Hall, and Steinway Hall.  This show features a preview of her most recent work, CHANGING FORMS, in anticipation of its upcoming premiere.


Thanks for watching!


Music of the Beehive--------------
New Music
by Debra Kaye


BEACON, NY
Sunday, March 14, 4pm
Howland Cultural Center
477 Main St.


NEW YORK CITY
Tuesday, March 16, 8pm
Saint Peter's Church/Citigroup
619 Lexington Ave. (at 54th St.)


Suggested donation:  $10
Reception following.


For further information and clips:
www.DebraKayeComposer.com