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Shout Out
The famous offstage trumpet call in Leonora Overture No. 3 had nothing to do with the opera, Fidelio, that it introduced. Rather, it was Beethoven’s shout-out to the time he served in the French army that invaded Portugal in 1801 (cf. War of the Oranges/Pvt. Beethoven). Each day at dawn, a musician roused the bivouacked troops by playing Reveille on a modified bugle that had a range of eight octaves and 90-130 dB. And although many of his comrades begrudged the noisy wake-up call, Ludwig found it utterly soothing, an attribute that he tried to incorporate into the overture. Critics of the day were particularly impressed by the very realistic “emptying of the spit valve” motif that concludes the piece. 
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"Meet the Composer" Launch Party ReviewThe “Meet the Composer” Launch Party, presented by Q2 Music at The Greene Space on June 24, celebrated the launch of the station’s new podcast which gives insight into the methods of some of today’s most innovative composers. Hosted by violist Nadia Sirota, the podcast’s first season contains interviews with composers John Luther Adams, Caroline Shaw, Andrew Norman, Marcos Balter, and Donnacha Dennehy, all of whom had a piece performed at the concert. 
Four of the composers were present (the fifth joined via the internet) for interviews in which they discussed the background of their pieces being performed. These short interviews were just a hint of the hour-long profiles of each composer for the podcast in which Sirota explores his/her output and musical development. First up was Donnacha Dennehy’s Bulb, performed by pianist Vicky Chow, cellist Ashley Bathgate, and violinist Todd Reynolds. The relentless minimalist piece was performed with great energy and remained thoroughly engaging throughout. In Bulb, Dennehy creates great tension and release by barely stretching his sound palette, bringing the strings and piano out of phase, before bringing them back together again. Next was Caroline Shaw’s in manus tuas, performed by cellist Hannah Collins. in manus tuas is tonally and rhythmically regular, reflecting Shaw’s preference for simplicity in her music. It did, however, feature some interesting techniques, such as varying bow pressures and vocals sung by the cellist. The next piece was Marcos Balter’s Pessoa for bass flute and electronics performed by Claire Chase. Pessoa, winding and improvisatory in nature, takes the listener on a tour of the cool things a bass flute can do. The electronics in this piece, used to augment the performing forces to sound like six flutes, were used sparingly and in a way that highlighted Chase’s stunning performance. 
Next were excerpts from Andrew Norman’s An Index of Peculiar Strokes performed by the Attacca String Quartet. An Index of Peculiar Strokes is a series of miniatures, each of which explores a different technique or idea. The miniatures range from tense to spacious to humorous, always capturing the audience’s attention in their short time frames. The program ended with John Luther Adams’ Red Arc/Blue Veil for piano, percussion, and electronics performed by members of Hotel Elefant. The piece created what felt like a large, open space in what was a small room. The vast soundscape created by Adams is typical of his work, which is often influenced by the openness of nature, and is an example of what he does best. After the final piece, the first episode of “Meet the Composer”, featuring John Luther Adams, was officially released. The podcast, which you can subscribe to now on iTunes, discusses Adams’ start in a rock band, discovery of Frank Zappa, move to Alaska, and all the “wrong” decisions that lead him to becoming the celebrated composer he is today. The event ended with the breaking of a celebratory piñata, at which Adams took the first swing (and I the second). Fun was had by all. You can find more as well as see and hear some of the performances at the following link: http://www.thegreenespace.org/events/thegreenespace/2014/jun/24/q2-music-presents-meet-composer-launch-party/ 
Joseph Bohigian |
Fifteen-Minutes-of-Fame video availableWe’ve been listening to YOU! We get frequent inquiries about the videos from our performances. Many of you don’t even realize that we have hundreds of videos available. So, we’ve been sorting them, and we’ve posted them on our website in an easier to find format. You can view the video here at: http://www.Fifteen-Minutes-of-Fame.com/video/ Starting with Fifteen-Minutes-of-Fame for 2014, we’ve already uploaded and made available: Bateira Trio (flutie, viola, double-bass) Courtney Sherman & a very small consortium (soprano & ensemble) David Souza & Anoush Moazzeni (tenor & piano) Eva Ingolf (violin) andPlay (violin & viola) Thomas Piercy & Vilian Ivantchev (clarinet & guitar) Shannon Roberts & Yumi Suehiro (soprano & piano) Matthew Rosenberg (bassoon) Mark Robson (piano & toy piano) Viola Yip (speaking voice & electronics) Javier Perez Garrido (clarinet) PASSIONE QUARTET (string quartet) Maksim Velichkin (cello) We’re working on the Kenyon Wilson video and are waiting for more recordings from our frequent satellite concerts! Then, we’ll be going into our archives to search out any holes in our collection for the previous years (look out for 2013’s Fifteen-Minutes-of-Fame: Satoshi Okamoto, double bass and Pascual Martinez Forteza, clarinet!) Happy viewing! |
Upcoming Performances |
60x60 Melbourne Mix at Australasian Computer Music Conference 2014 in Victorian College of the Arts, Melbourne, AustraliaFriday, May 16th, 2014 at 7:00 PM60X60 IS A ONE-HOUR MUSIC EXTRAVAGANZA FEATURING ONE-MINUTE SLICES OF NEW MUSIC 60 works by 60 artists, 60x60 offers something different every minute 60x60 is a project containing 60 works each 60 seconds in length presented continuously in an hour performance synchronized with an analogue clock. 60x60 presents a slice of what is happening in the contemporary music scene by representing 60 works that are diverse in aesthetic and style. Works are selected from an international pool of emerging and established composers and sequenced in order. The resulting mix is presented, without interruption, as a continuous one-hour performance synchronized to an on-stage analogue clock. Embracing diversity with a fervour not seen anywhere else on the planet Eclectic by nature, 60x60 offers an unmatched diversity of styles, making for a fast-speed, electrifying one-of-a-kind performance that never ceases to surprise. Music includes contemporary, neo-romantic, neo-classic, text-sound, ambient, environmental, noise, experimental, theatrical, folk, jazz, blues, tech-house, rock and everything but the kitchen sink (and maybe even that.) Collecting 60-second miniatures by composers and sound artists from around the world since 2003, 60x60 has featured the work of thousands composers and presented them in hundreds of performances spanning the globe in more than 30 countries. There have been over 35 mixes to date. An International Mix is done every year to represent the complete pool of submissions for that year. And then every year (with the exception of the first) there has been extra alternate mixes of the project. Some mixes are regional to particular regions such as the Canada Mix, Pacific Rim Mix, Midwest Mix, and New York Mix. There are also mixes devoted to gender such as the Athena Mix which has all women. Some mixes are based on themes such as the Munich Mix or the UnTwelve mix. 60x60 was started by composer Robert Voisey in 2003. The 60x60 Melbourne Mix is curated by Warren Burt. FOR THE MELBOURNE ACMC, WE THOUGHT THAT A MELBOURNE (AND ENVIRONS - COMPOSERS FROM AS FAR AWAY AS STAWELL, DROMANA AND BENDIGO!) 60X60 WOULD PROVIDE A GREAT INTRODUCTION FOR OUR VISITORS TO THE AMAZING VARIETY OF MUSICAL STYLES AND KINDS OF MUSICAL THINKING THAT CO-EXIST SIDE BY SIDE HERE. WE EMAILED OUT INVITATIONS TO ABOUT 130 COMPOSERS TO CONTRIBUTE, AND WE RECEIVED 110 SUBMISSIONS. UNLIKE THE INTERNATIONAL 60X60S, OURS WAS NEVER INTENDED TO BE A COMPETITION, SO WE HAVE ASSEMBLED TWO COLLECTIONS OF 60 PIECES EACH, WITH A SLIGHT OVERLAP BETWEEN THE TWO SETS. WE USED RANDOM NUMBERS TO DETERMINE THE LUCKY COMPOSERS WHO APPEAR IN BOTH COLLECTIONS. WE ALSO ASKED COMPOSERS TO SEND US AN IMAGE TO GO WITH THEIR PIECE. 57 COMPOSERS DID SO. SO THE COMPOSERS WHO SENT PHOTOS WENT INTO THE WEDNESDAY PERFORMANCE, WHILE THOSE WITHOUT PHOTOS WENT INTO THE FRIDAY PERFORMANCE. AGAIN, WE USED RANDOM NUMBERS TO DETERMINE WHICH THREE COMPOSERS WITHOUT PHOTOS WENT INTO THE WEDNESDAY PROGRAM. THE RESULTING SEQUENCES OF PIECES ARE EXCITING BEYOND OUR WILDEST EXPECTATIONS. THE QUALITY AND DIVERSITY OF MUSIC IS WONDERFUL. WE HOPE YOU ENJOY LISTENING TO THE SEQUENCES AS MUCH AS WE ENJOYED PUTTING THEM TOGETHER. AND MANY THANKS TO THE COMMITTEE OF ACMC 2014 FOR ALLOWING US TO DO THIS AND GETTING BEHIND THE IDEA. ENJOY! WARREN BURT AND SUSAN FRYKBERG, MELBOURNE 60X60 2014 ORGANIZERS Composers selected for the 60x60 Melbourne Mix include:Warren Burt, Allan Walker, Ceridwen Suiter, Katy Abbott, Tom Fryer, Eve Duncan, Nat Bates, Michael Hewes, Lawrence Harvey, Paul Doornbusch, Alice Hui-Sheng Chang, Dang Kim Hien, Carolyn Connors, Julian Cafarella, David Tolley, Peter James, Michael Graeve, Chris Dench, Rainer Linz, Catherine Schieve, David Chesworth, Joseph Giovinazzo, Hi God People, Petar Jovanov, Ernie Althoff, Mark Pedersen, Philip Brophy, Rod Cooper, Howard Dillon, Al Wunder, Genevieve Lacey and Jim Atkins, Le Tuan Hung, Sam Glazebrook, Rosalind Hall, Linda Kouvaris, Anne Norman, Johanna Selleck, Adam Simmons, Joshua Hay, Peter McIlwain, Nat Grant, Angus Fenton, Phillippe Vranjes, Y H Ippo, Darrin Verhagen, David Young, Anthony Wilson, Alistair Riddell, Clinton Green, Ren Walters, Simon Charles, Tim Catlin, James Hullick, Anthony Lyons, Mark Lyall, Dur-e Dara, Gary McKie, Robin Fox, Sean Baxter, Susan Frykberg, Jeffrey Hannam, Raceless (Adam Gauci), Elliott Gyger, Jacques Soddell, The Crystal Set (Liz Landray, Anna Fern, Hilary Dobson), Maize Wallin, Jaccob McKay, Tim Opie, candlesnuffer (David Brown), Jim Barbour, Brendan Colbert, Paul Moulatlet, Holly Caldwell, Matthew Ellis, Graeme Leak, Angus Burns, Peter Myers, Jordan Lacey, Ross Healy, Judy Pile, George Papanicolaou, Thembi Soddell, Brigid Burke, Zoltan Fecso, Justin Butler, Dindy Vaughan, Tim Catlin, Philip Samartzis, Ros Bandt, Madeleine Flynn and Tim Humphrey, Christina Green, Mark Pollard, Lloyd Honeybrook, Wang Zheng-Ting, Steve Adam, Barnaby Oliver, Dale Gorfinkle, Catherine Sullivan, Rob Vincs, Marguerite Bolland, John Grant, Andrian Pertout, David Hirst, Catherine Meeson, Peter Knight, Roger Alsop, Elwyn Dennis, Melita White, Anthony Magen, Silvia Simons, Herb Jercher, Ross Bencina, West Head Project (Jim Denley, Monika Brooks, Dale Gorfinkle, Anthony Magen)
Melbourne 60x60 – Programme 1:
Melbourne 60x60 – Programme 2: |
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