The Acousticians

When fifty music critics from around the world were asked which orchestra most consistently played in tune, forty-nine of them named the Kamchatka Philharmonic. Were the musicians of a higher caliber than most? Did the conductor demand unprecedented attention to pitch control? Was there something in the water way out there on the eastern edge of the Asian continent? Nope. Instead, credit Dmitri and Ivan Dinklakevich, the orchestra’s acousticians. Employing state of the art sound-enhancing equipment, the brothers constantly adjusted the sonic environment of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky Symphony Hall. A single measure in a Brahms concerto, for example, might involve sweetening the oboe line by 20 dB while subtracting a 220 Hz subharmonic from the violas. More complex compositions—such as John Cage’s 4'33"—typically necessitated formant expulsion, mid-frequency distillation, undertone manipulation, and the random dispersal of infrasonic dissonances. It was grueling work, and Dmitri and Ivan often each lost pounds of perspiration during a 90-minute concert. Still, recognition of their efforts—implied though it was—was ample reward for Dmitri. And Ivan? Not so much, and one day, he ... but that’s another story.

David Gunn
www.DavidGunn.org

Upcoming Performances

60×60 East Coast Mix

Friday October 4, 2013 - 7:00 p.m.

60×60 is an audio collage containing 60 one-minute works by 60 different composers presented continuously in an hour performance. 60×60 is a project of “signature works” and short works created specifically for the 60×60 project. The one-minute works can be of any style, aesthetic or technique. The project embraces diversity in order showcase the wealth of new music being written by the composers of today.

October 4, 2013 - 60×60 East Coast Mix

Robert Voisey (curator)

East Coast mix is the first 60×60 mix comprised of works which incorporate composers from the United States East Coast. Bert Van Herck is the audio coordinator for the 60×60 (2012) East Coast Mix. 60×60 is a one-hour-long show made by sequencing 60 pre-recorded pieces by 60 different composers, each piece a minute in length or shorter. Highlighting the work of a great many composers, 60×60 testifies to the vibrancy of contemporary composition by present a diverse array of styles, aesthetics, and techniques being used today. 60×60 has received thousands of submissions from over 30 countries, produced radio shows, created multimedia and multidisciplinary events, and released several albums.

Compsoers in the 60x60 East Coast Mix include:

See the discriptions of the East Cost Mix pieces here:
http://www.60x60.com/2012_East_Coast_Mix.htm

60x60 works During the concert each of the 60 pieces selected will begin precisely at the beginning of the minute, this will mark the end of one piece and the beginning of another. There will be no pause between the pieces. Works may be less than 60 seconds in length, but may not exceed 60 seconds. Works selected that are less than 60 seconds long are “padded” with silence either before, after, or surrounding the composition. The passage of time is marked by a synchronized clock.

60×60 is a project of “signature works” and short works created specifically for the 60×60 project. The one-minute works can be of any style, aesthetic or technique. The project embraces diversity in order showcase the wealth of new music being written by the composers of today.

60×60 is in its 10th concert season celebrating a decade worth of one-minute works submitted to the project. 60×60 has already presented more than 2000 composers in over 45 different one-hour mixes in more than 250 performances in over 30 countries to audiences in the tens of thousands. 60×60 was specifically designed to present a slice of what is happening today’s music scene and has done so by presenting the maximum amount of composers to the largest audience possible through its various projects and activities.

This 60×60, the East Coast mix is the first 60×60 mix comprised of works which incorporate composers from the United States East Coast. Bert Van Herck is the audio coordinator for the 60×60 (2012) East Coast Mix. 60×60 (2012) East Coast Mix Audio Coordinator Bert Van Herck Bert Van Herck was trained as a pianist and composer at the Lemmensinstitute in Belgium and obtained a PhD in composition from Harvard University Harvard University, where he worked with Helmut Lachenmann, Brian Ferneyhough, Julian Anderson, Magnus Lindberg, Chaya Czernowin, Cristopher Hasty; and at Columbia University with Tristan Murail 60×60 Director: Robert Voisey

“Composer and electronic music impresario Robert Voisey devised the 60×60 concept so large numbers of composers could bring their work to audiences in a portable, palatable, and decidedly unconventional format. Since the series’ inception in 2003, Vox Novus – Voisey’s organization dedicated to the promotion of contemporary composers and their work – has solicited 60×60 submissions by composers at all professional levels worldwide and presented its hour-long recordings at concerts in cities from Brooklyn to Bucharest. .This digitized, compartmentalized, sound-bite format is a tantalizing new way to experience widely varied and eclectic electronic music. And 60×60′s longevity and international acclaim show that Vox Novus’ innovative strategy to attract audiences and encourage composers has actually worked” – Alexandra Jones, Classical Voice of North Carolina

60×60 contains 60 works from 60 different artists. Each work is 60 seconds in duration and sequenced together to create a one hour performance. “A minute can be ample time to express a whole gamut of imaginative sounds, or it can be a constraint which forces an artist to isolate what is the most important element of a work. The point of the project is that it enables an audience to take in and enjoy a cross section of different approaches to new music within a reasonable duration. And the purpose of Robert Voisey is to promote new music” -Malcolm Miller, Music & Vision

60×60 actively seeks to find listeners unaware of the new music scene. 60×60 offers an interesting and exciting program to be discovered by the listener. Performance of various incarnations of 60×60 have been presented in concert halls, theater stages, museums, art galleries, public atriums, bars, nightclubs, building facades, and storefront windows in New York City; not to mention radio airplay, television and Internet broadcast around the world. 60×60 has had hundreds of performances stretching around the globe from remote rural venues in place like Wollongong, Australia and Presque d’ Isle, Maine to city centers such as New York City’s World Financial Center Winter Garden Atrium and London’s Open Weekend for 2012 Olympics at Stratford Circus.

About Harvestworks Harvestworks’ mission is to present experimental artworks created in collaboration with our Technology, Engineering, Art and Music (TEAM) Lab. The Harvestworks T.E.A.M Lab supports the creation of art works achieved through the use of new and evolving technologies and provides an environment for experimentation with project consultants, technicians, instructors and innovative practitioners in all branches of the electronic arts. Our programs are made possible with funds from New York State Council on the Arts, the National Endowment for the Arts, the NYC Dept. of Cultural Affairs, The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Foundation for Contemporary Arts, Materials for the Arts, Jerome Foundation, the Edwards Foundation Arts Fund, Bloomberg Philanthropies and the Friends of Harvestworks.

60x60 Video (2012) Presenters Mix

Friday October 4, 2013 - Noon-7:30 p.m.

Transylvania University’s third annual STUDIO 300 features vanguard of digital arts and music movement willl be presenting the 60x60 Video - 2012 Presenters Mix in its Byte Galler from Noon to 7:30 on Friday October 4th, 2013.

Transylvania University’s Studio 300: Digital Art and Music Festival showcases the cutting edge of art in the digital age with nine exhibitions, three concerts and four lectures presented by 33 musicians and 130 artists in just two days.

The festival, free and open to the community, is Oct. 4 and 5. Exploring creative manifestations of technology is the festival’s focus. Timothy Polashek, director of the festival and assistant professor of music at Transylvania, emphasizes the importance of innovation: “All the artists and musicians involved are also technologists who build their own tools, instead of using preexisting tools in traditional ways. This is one of the factors that makes Studio 300 really exciting.” Polashek is himself a software creator and an internationally recognized composer.

Vox-Novus 60x60 Video Mix” and the BYTE Gallery International Exhibition. “60x60” is a one-hour multimedia performance made up of sixty 60-second or shorter compositions by artists from around the world.

The BYTE Gallery International Exhibition will feature 45 works, selected from several hundred internationally submitted entries. The BYTE gallery features video, audio and still images from all over the world, including Iran, Germany, Puerto Rico, Argentina, Japan, Italy and France.

The 60x60 Presenters mix is designed to honor and present those composers who have helped promote the 60x60 cause. 60x60 Video (2012) Presenters Mix includes the works of composers who have presented 60x60 performances in the past, present and future.

This 60x60 Video mix includes the collaborative talents of Zlatko Ćosić, Patrick Liddell, Sabrina Peña Young. Each video artist has worked with and presented 60x60 Videos in the past. This mix assigns three 20 minute segments to each video artist to create 20 one-minute works to create a one-hour video.

Zlatko Ćosić is a video artist born in Banja Luka, Bosnia and Herzegovina. Ćosić earned a Master of Fine Arts in Visual Art from Washington University and a Bachelor of Arts in Video Production and Interactive Digital Media from Webster University. Ćosić’s work spans from short films, video and sound installations to theater projections and live audio visual performances. His artwork was shown in over twenty countries for which he has received a variety of recognition. Ćosić currently lives in St. Louis and works as a multimedia producer, professor and artist. www.zlatkocosic.com

Patrick Liddell is a composer and video artist living in Chicago. His music/video is a postmodern blend of 'art' and 'popular' styles, with strong hints of electronic, ethnic, video game, experimental, and film music. His YouTube project "Video Room 1000" has received over one million views and has been featured on a host of viral websites. He regularly performs live and improvised video with many groups in the Chicago area, as well as his own video/music/art under the moniker [ontologist]. Patrick completed the video for Vox Novus's "360 degrees of 60x60", a six-hour video installation featuring the works of 360 different composers; each hour of the video revisits the same source material but manipulated to uniquely accompany the music playing. Patrick has also done a video collaboration with the 60x60 (UnTwelve) Mix as well as the 60x60 (2009 International) Mix

Award-winning composer, video artist, and obsessive sci-fi buff Sabrina Peña Young composes mind-numbing media works presented in Asia, North America, Australia, and Europe. Her music has been heard in film festivals, radio, electronic dance clubs, random boom boxes in France, and as not-so-pleasant background music. Young's multimedia works have been performed at the Beijing Conservatory, the International Computer Music Conference, Miramax's Project Greenlight, the Athena Festival, the New York International Independent Film Festival, Art Basil Miami, Turkey's Cinema for Peace, and Pulsefield International Exhibition of Sound Art. Interested in machinima and internet collaboration Young created Libertaria: The Virtual Opera, a sci-fi machinima opera about a teen runaway pairing up with her addict father to blow up an evil genetics factory in a post-USA dystopia. Libertaria: The Virtual Opera will premier in the US, UK and online in October 2013.

Composers selected in the 60x60 Video (2012) Presenters Mix:
Liana Alexandra, Ricardo Arias, Dennis Bathory-Kitsz, Rich Bitting, Benjamin Boone, Scott Brickman, George Brunner, Paul Clouvel, Zlatko Cosic, Douglas DaSilva, Brad Decker, Paul Dibley, Erin Dougherty, Leonardo Duerto, Chris Flores, Douglas Geers, Josh Goldman, Melissa Grey, David Gunn, Bruce Hamilton, Dorothy Hindman, Yoko Honda, Lynn Job, Aaron Krister Johnson, Tova Kardonne, Juraj Kojis, Patrick Liddell, Elainie Lillios, Moises Linares, John Link, Blake Martin, Charles Norman Mason, Mike McFerron, Jeff Morris, Serban Nichifor, Rich O'Donnel, Michael James Olson, David R Peoples, Kala Pierson, Christopher Preissing, William Price, Gene Pritsker, Robert Ratcliffe, Robert Sazdov, Jacky Schreiber, Nivedita ShivRaj, Alan Shockley, Juan Maria Solare, Adam Sovkoplas, Adam Stansbie, Allan Strange, Eldad Tsabary, Katerina Tzedaki, Jeremy Van Buskirk, Robert Voisey, Patricia Walsh, Andrew Walters, Rodney Waschka, Aaron Word, and Sabrina Pena Young

Robert is the Music Coordinator “Macro-Composer” of the 60x60 Presenters Mix 2012. He is an internationally recognized composer, sonic artist, EDM musicologist and performer. He recently completed a PhD in composition/musicology (New Forms of Hybrid Musical Discourse) at Keele University (UK). He is the first composer to develop a musical language and compositional technique through the cross-fertilization of contemporary art music and electronic dance music (EDM). His hybrid works have been performed and broadcast in over 20 countries worldwide, including presentations at major events such as ACMC, ICMC, L’espace du Son, and NIME. Most recently he was invited to serve on the senior programming committee of the International Computer Music Conference in Slovenia.

Click here to see the concert program

60x60 Video (2012) Presenters Mix
Friday October 4th, 2013
Noon-7:30 p.m.
The BYTE Gallery International Exhibition (in Room 27)
Transylvania University
300 North Broadway
Lexington, Kentucky 40508
BYTE Gallery is located in the lower level of the Mitchell Fine Arts Center, across the hall from the Rafskeller Grill and between the Faculty Lounge and Fine Arts Technology Lab.
All Exhibits, Events, & Concerts are Free and Open to the Public

Composer's Voice:
From the Music of Future Generations,
to Works Inspired by an Innovative Renegade

Sunday October 13, 2013 - 1:00 PM

Composer's Voice featuring Fifteen-Minutes-of-Fame: Stephen Porter, piano Re-Imagining Debussy Music by Argentinian and Brazilian composers: Caio Senna; Juan Maria Solare; Marisol Gentile; Claudia Montero; and Robert Voisey. Performances by Agueda Fernández-Abad, soprano; Kenji Haba, guitar; Susan Davita Mandel, cello; and Yumi Suhiro, piano.

Fifteen Minutes of Fame:
Re-Imagining Debussy for Pianist Stephen Porter

A composer whose turbulent and scandalous life is mirrored by his dissonant and mysterious music, Debussy’s compositions sought to defy the societal expectations of his time. Vox Novus’ third concert of the season jumps from a concert about the next generation of composers to a 151 year old composer who sought to bring edge and intrigue into his work and shift the field of music composition towards new heights.

It’s no wonder that internationally acclaimed concert pianist, Stephen Porter, seeks to invigorate the music of today with works inspired by such a dramatic and innovative composer of the past. This Composer’s Voice concert features fifteen one-minute works written by composers from all over the world, including Erik Branch, Anne-Marie Turcotte, Anna Aidinian, Giuseppe Lupis, Steven H. Markowitz, Aurelio Scotto, Dustin Peters, Juan Maria Solare, Peter Reilich, Remigio Coco, Serban Nichifor, Cindi Hsu, James Soe Nyun, José Jesus de Azevedo Souza, and Darren Wirth. With influences from Canada to Europe and South America to Taiwan, this concert is bound to invigorate the senses and re-envision a renowned composer of impressionist music.

You can find more details on Stephen Porter's Fifteen Minutes of Fame at the following link:
http://www.voxnovus.com/15_Minutes_of_Fame/featuring/Stephen_Porter/

In 2012, Stephen Porter was named artist-resident of the Cité Internationale Des Arts in Paris, and invited to give recitals of the music of Claude Debussy during the composer’s 150th birthday year. His performances have been critically acclaimed as “masterful...everything is graceful and appropriate.” Mr. Porter was recently the guest on National Public Radio’s “Diane Rehm Show,” to discuss Debussy’s life and music. He has appeared as soloist at Albert Long Hall in Istanbul, the Rockefeller Foundation at Lake Como, the University of Rio de Janeiro, and LSO St. Luke’s with the Amadeus Orchestra of London.

The concert will also feature longer works by Juan Maria Solare, Robert Voisey, and Claudia Montero. Mr. Porter is joined by performers Kenji Haba (guitar), Susan Davita Mandel (cello), Agueda Fernἁndez-Abad (soprano), and Yumi Suehiro (piano)

Kenji Haba is a guitarist who is exclusively sensitive to timbres in appreciating and expressing the beauty of guitar. Recently, he has been focusing on impressionistic music, especially that of Debussy, Ravel, and Takemitsu.

Cellist, Susan Davita Mandel has performed as a finalist for the AMTL Young Musician’s concert series. She brings together multiple genres of music, collaborating with hip-hop, pop, rock, and jazz artists. Recently, Susan was the featured cellist in Jihae and John Patrick Shanley’s opera “Fire Burning Rain” at the Highline Ballroom in NYC and the Not For Sale campaign event in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Throughout her career, Agueda Fernandez-Abad has performed operas and oratorios with the leading orchestras of Argentina, the United States and Europe. She is the recipient of numerous awards, including the National Fund of Performing Arts Singer of the Year.

Composer's Voice Concert Series is an opportunity for contemporary composers to express their musical aesthetic and personal "voice" created in their compositions. Started in 2001, the "Composer's Voice" concert series has presented over 100 concerts throughout the world premiering the works of thousands of living composers.

Click here to see the concert program

Composer’s Voice Concert
Sunday September 15th, 2013
Jan Hus Church
351 East 74th Street
New York, New York
FREE ADMISSION

Calendar

Opportunities

Fifteen Minutes of Fame

CALL FOR SCORES

Fifteen-Minutes-of-Fame: Land of Mystery and Trolls

Deadline: October 9, 2013

Vox Novus is calling for one-minute violin solos composed for Fifteen-Minutes-of-Fame: Iceland: Land of Mystery and Trolls with Eva Ingolf to be premiered on the Composer’s Voice concert February 9, 2014 at the Jan Hus Church, New York City. The theme for this Fifteen Minutes of Fame call is: Iceland: Land of Mystery and Trolls. The composers can interpret this creatively.

Eva Ingolf is a well known Icelandic violinist particularly recognized for her authoritative performances of solo works by J. S. Bach. She comes from a leading musical family and her father, Ingólfur Guðbrandsson, premiered many of the great choral works in Iceland and six of her sisters and brothers are professional musicians who have made an important contribution to the high quality of the musical life in the country. She began violin studies at a young age, gaining early recognition for outstanding musical talent, including the beautiful tone and artistic interpretation of her playing. After studying at the Conservatory of Reykjavík for 6 years, Eva left Iceland to study with some of Europe’s finest violin pedagogues. Her playing has been greatly influenced by the spirit of the Russian and East-European violin schools.

Click here for more details

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