June 9, 2008 Jan Hus Church 351 East 74th Street New York, New York 10021

Vox Novus joins with Remarkable Theater Brigade and Jan hus Church to present Composer's Voice, a monthly concert series championing the work of living composers.

Title Composer Performer Ghosts in the Machine Jeffrey Phillips The Cadillac Moon Ensemble Dos Palabras Robert Voisey Beth Griffith - soprano and Beth Levin - piano Wander... Christian McLeer Christian McLeer - Piano and electronic playback Secret Pulse Zack Browning The Cadillac Moon Ensemble

Performers The Cadillac Moon Ensemble is dedicated to the exploration of new sonorous and evocative aural possibilities, commissioning new works from and developing integral relationships with emerging and established composers, and challenging ourselves, our composers, and our audiences alike, all while having a bit of fun. Their commitment to these objectives and our unique instrumentation of flute, violin, cello, and percussion yields a stimulating and untapped reservoir from which new musical voices will be discovered and nurtured. Cadillac Moon Ensemble consists of Roberta Michel-flutes, Jeffrey Phillips-violin/viola, Evelyn Farny-cello, and Danielle Weinberg-percussion. Beth Griffith has appeared with Sequentia, Musikfabrik, Ensemble13, L'Art pour L'Art, Cologne Radio Symphony Orchestra, and the Paris Nouvel Orchestra Philharmonique and has worked with composers John Cage, Morton Feldman, Mauricio Kagel and Karlheinz Stockhausen. Her one-hour, solo recording of Feldman's "Three Voices" was awarded the German Record Critics Prize. At 12 Beth Levin made her debut with the Philadelphia Orchestra. Soon after, she was selected as one of three students to study with Rudolf Serkin at the Curtis Institute of Music. She has earned the acclaim of colleagues and critics as an exceptional talent. "A pianist with a bold interpretive personality and a powerful technique. She brought fire and originality to her program." -,Allan Kozinn, The New York Times Ms. Levin made her New York debut in 1982 at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Recitals at the Gardner Museum, Forum in North Carolina, the Dame Myra Hess Series in Chicago, Harvard University, Randolph Macon College, New York University, Williams College, the Brooklyn Museum, Merkin Hall and Weill Recital Hall followed. She has toured Europe with Trio Borealis and performed the "Emperor" Concerto with the Symphony Orchestra of Quito, Ecuador. Her live radio broadcasts have aired on National Public Radio, WGBH in Boston, WFMT in Chicago and WNYC, WNYE and WQXR in New York.

Composers Zack Browning is on faculty at the University of Illinois . His music reflects his interest in combining "the refined procedures of classical art with the raw power of popular culture." Browning often uses magic squares as a technique of composition. Using a square in which all the sides and diagonals sums are equal, the different numbers in the square represent particular styles, rhythms, densities, timbres, orchestration, etc., creating interest and variety within his music. Christian McLeer is currently in his 5th season as Artistic Director of Remarkable Theater Brigade, which he cofounded with Monica Harte and Dan Jeselsohn. They are producing their 6th major production, Glory Denied, an opera by Tom Cipullo, at Jan Hus Church in New York City June 5th & 7th. Christian is the artist-in-residence for the National Chorale at PS70, IS71, Brooklyn Tech HS and Fort Hamilton HS where he teaches chorus. He is also in his second year as the musical director for Jan Hus Church. He is the sound engineer for the TV show Nova Rock, currently being filmed and has just completed the original score for the short independent film in between written and produced by Gail Bell. Christian was musical director for the Natchez Opera Festival’s educational outreach tour in April, which will performed his opera SHOT. Robert Voisey is a composer and impresario of electroacoustic and chamber music. His aesthetic oscillates from the Ambient to the Romantic. Voisey embraces a variety of media for his compositions, and pioneers new venues to disseminate his music and reach audiences. Voisey's compositions have been performed at the A*Devantgarde festival, Electronic Music Midwest festival, the International Electroacoustic Festival at Brooklyn College, and the Spark Festival. Voisey is the Founder of Vox Novus, Vice President of programs at the Living Music Foundation, Artistic Director of the 60x60 project, Artistic Director of the Composer’s Voice Concert Series, and originator of the American Composer Timeline. His mission is the promotion and dissemination of contemporary new music.

Ghosts in the Machine refers to the individual and communal state of mind/being we as a people are succumbing to. The piece is in three movements: fragmentation, white noise, and dirge. Fragmentation is a cause, white noise is an effect, and dirge is a reaction. Dos Palabras is a song cycle based on the text of Alfonsina Storni. Dos Palabras means “two words” which refers to the words two Spanish words “Te amo” meaning “I love you” in English. Alfonsina Storni is considered is considered the Virginia Woolf of Argentina, who also met her end by drowning herself in the sea. Wander... is created with a piano and an 808 drum machine filtered through several different opposing and wandering reverb units. It imitates an old wooden sailing vessel freely wandering the sea. Secret Pulse, for flute, violin, cello, and computer-generated tape, was written for the NeXt Ensemble. The computer-generated part is produced by GACSS (Genetic Algorithms in Composition and Sound Synthesis), a program developed by Browning's colleague, Benjamin Grosser. The beat is always there, but Browning effectively masks it through changing time signatures and syncopations to create his "secret" pulse. This incessant yet variable pulse leaves one breathless at the end of the piece.

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