Composer's Voice featuring Zentripetal May 30, 2010 Jan Hus Church 351 East 74th Street New York, New York 10021

Zentripetal made it’s debut in 2006, when violinist Lynn Bechtold and cellist Jennifer DeVore decided to explore the violin/cello duo repertoire and to premiere new works for the combo. They have been playing together since they were students at the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston. To date, the duo has performed recitals and programs at Galapagos in DUMBO, the Goethe Institut NYC, the Roerich Museum, the Players Theatre, and the Renee Weiler Concert Hall at Greenwich House, as well as on series in New Jersey and Pennsylvania. They are finishing up their first CD which will be released in early fall. The Composer’s Voice Concert Series is an opportunity for contemporary composers to express their musical aesthetic and personal “voice” created in their compositions. Vox Novus collaborating with the Remarkable Theater Brigade and Jan Hus Church to produce a monthly concert series promoting the chamber works of contemporary composers.

Title Composer Performer Melodies Alone Can Proudly Carry Their Own Death Gene Pritsker Zentripetal Cumbia Dan Cooper /td> Lynn Bechtold-violin & electronics Chancy Eugene W. McBride Zentripetal Duo Die Lynn Bechtold Zentripetal & electronics Gobi Canticle Lei Liang/td> Zentripetal Bitstream & Berimbau Dan Cooper Lynn Bechtold-solo cello A Query of Intent Earl Maneein Zentripetal

Performers Zentripetal made it’s debut in 2006, when violinist Lynn Bechtold and cellist Jennifer DeVore decided to explore the violin/cello duo repertoire and to premiere new works for the combo. They have been playing together since they were students at the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston. To date, the duo has performed recitals and programs at Galapagos in DUMBO, the Goethe Institut NYC, the Roerich Museum, the Players Theatre, and the Renee Weiler Concert Hall at Greenwich House, as well as on series in New Jersey and Pennsylvania. They are finishing up their first CD which will be released in early fall. Violinist Lynn Bechtold has appeared in recital throughout the U.S., Canada, Holland, and Switzerland. An advocate of contemporary music, she has worked with composers such as Gloria Coates, George Crumb, John Harbison, and Morton Subotnick, and has premiered works on the Princeton Composers' Series and Composers Concordance. In 2001, she gave the premiere of "Violynn," a work for violin and electronics written for her by Alvin Lucier. As a member of the Lumina String Quartet, the East Village Opera Company (rock/opera band), the SEM Ensemble, and the New York Symphonic Ensemble, among others, Ms. Bechtold has performed around the world. Other programs have been with the Absolute Ensemble, North/South Consonance, Parsons Dance, the Paul Taylor Dance Company, the Vermont Symphony, and the VOX Opera Readings. In addition, she has performed with singers such as Boyz II Men, Sheryl Crow, Roberta Flack, Smokey Robinson, J-Pop band SMAP, and Donna Summer. She has performed at venues such as Alice Tully Hall, the Blue Note, the Frick Museum, the Harvard Club, Joe's Pub, the Kosciuszko Foundation, Merkin Hall, St John the Divine, and Zankel Hall. Ms. Bechtold received her Master's Degree from the Mannes College of Music where she was a student of Felix Galimir. She received a double-degree in Violin and English from the New England Conservatory of Music and Tufts University in Boston. In addition, she likes to compose works for strings and electronics. She is on the faculty of Greenwich House Music School in NYC, and the Norwalk Youth Symphony. Cellist Jennifer DeVore received her BA in Art History from Harvard University before earning her Masters degree from the New England Conservatory, where her teachers were Colin Carr and Laurence Lesser. An active chamber musician and soloist, she has appeared at Lincoln Center, Merkin Hall, Zankel Hall and Weill Hall and at the Musicorda, Yellow Barn and Spoleto festivals. Groups she has played with include the Brooklyn Philharmonic Orchestra, Ensemble Pi, the Jose Limon Dance Company, and the Metamorphosen Chamber Orchestra. She is also a member of the Harrisburg Symphony. As a member of the Lumina String Quartet, Ms. DeVore has toured Russia and the Ukraine. Travel with other chamber groups has included concerts throughout Southeast Asia, Europe, Israel and Costa Rica. A champion of contemporary music, Ms. DeVore has worked closely with composers John Cage, Ornette Coleman, and John Zorn, has premiered many solo and chamber works, played in the Bang-On-ACan Marathon and on WNYC’s “New Sounds,” and has recorded pieces by Cage and Xenakis, as well as pieces by many American composers. Her diverse interests have led to recordings and performances with artists such as Il Divo, DJ Spooky, East Village Opera Company, Josh Groban, Laura Brannigan, Suzanne Vega, the Trans-Siberian Orchestra and many independent bands in New York. Television appearances include spots on Good Morning America, Live with Regis and Kelly, and the CW11 Morning Show. She teaches at the Packer Institute in Brooklyn and privately.

Composers Dan Cooper has degrees from Columbia, The New England Conservatory, & Princeton. His teachers include John Heiss, Steve Mackey, Paul Lansky, & Otto Luening. As composer: 2000 Aaron Copland composition fellow - Tanglewood; original scores for Shakespeare & Company productions; plus awards, commissions & residencies from Albany Symphony, Artists International, ASCAP, Cary Trust, Empire State Youth Orchestra, Engine 27, Fontainebleau, Imani Winds, International Street Cannibals, NARAS, New York New Music Ensemble, & Palisades Virtuosi. Specializing in 7-string bass guitar & flute with electronics, Cooper has performed most notably as a member of singer Ute Lemper’s trio. Cooper endorses Overwater basses of Carlisle, U.K. He is currently a music professor at SUNY/FIT. The recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship & Aaron Copland Award, Lei Liang’s commissions have come from the New York Philharmonic, the Heidelberger Philharmonisches Orchester, the Taipei Chinese Orchestra, the Fromm Music Foundation, Meet the Composer, Chamber Music America, Mary Flagler Cary Charitable Trust, the Manhattan Sinfonietta, the Arditti, Ying and Shanghai Quartets, the Meridian Arts Ensemble, San Francisco Contemporary Music Players, New York New Music Ensemble, Wu Man, percussionist Steven Schick. Lei Liang’s music is recorded on Telarc, Mode, Innova, GM and New World Records. Lei Liang studied with Sir Harrison Birtwistle, Robert Cogan, Chaya Czernowin, and Mario Davidovsky, and has degrees from the New England Conservatory of Music and Harvard University. Earl Maneein is the founder and songwriter of the revolutionary violin-driven post-thrash metal band Resolution15. Earl was trained classically on violin since childhood, receiving a bachelor of music from Queens College and a master of music from Mannes College as a student of Daniel Phillips. Earl has long term working relationships with the metalcore band Blood Has Been Shed and retro indie rocker PT Walkley. As an active freelance violinist/violist in New York City, he has performed and recorded with such artists as the Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company, DBR and the Mission, Philip Glass, Savion Glover, Albert Hammond Jr., Jay-Z, Beyonce Knowles, Sean Lennon, Ryuichi Sakamoto, and Alan White. www.resolution15.com Eugene W. McBride’s studied at William Paterson University, Juilliard, and the Center for Media Arts. He studied with Stanley Wolfe, Hugh Aitken, Nahum Amir, and Stephen Wolrab. Mr. McBride is on staff at the New Music Connoisseur. His interest in new music was initiated when he performed with the NJ Percussion Ensemble during McBride’s college years. Recent performances of his music include David Holzman’s premiere of Intermezzo No. 4 for piano, at Bargemusic. The Players, for Violin - Piano, was premiered in a New York Composers Circle program. Mr. McBride is thrilled to have Zentripetal premiere Chancy on this program. Hearing them perform was the inspiration for the piece and is dedicated to them: www.eugenemcbride.com Composer/guitarist/rapper Gene Pritsker has written over three hundred fifty compositions, including chamber operas, orchestral and chamber works, electro-acoustic music, songs for hip-hop and rock ensembles. All of his compositions employ an eclectic spectrum of styles and are influenced by his studies of various musical cultures. He is the founder and leader of Sound Liberation, an eclectic hiphop-chamber-jazz-rock ensemble who have released a cd on Col Legno Records. Gene's music has been performed at various festivals and by many ensembles and performers, including the Adelaide Symphony, The Athens Camarata, Brooklyn, and Berlin Philharmonics. He has worked closely with Joe Zawinul and has orchestrated major Hollywood movies. The New York Times described him as "...audacious...multitalented."

Vox Novus collaborating with the Remarkable Theater Brigade and Jan Hus Church to produce a monthly concert series promoting the chamber works of contemporary composers. An opportunity for contemporary composers to express their musical aesthetic and personal “voice” created in their compositions. Vox Novus promotes contemporary music and its creators through concerts, recordings, publications, broadcasts, and online publicity. Vox Novus believes strongly in the intrinsic value of contemporary music, recognizing it as a force in the advancement of culture and art. Our goal is to keep music alive by strengthening the connection between composer and audience, providing greater exposure to new music. Vox Novus understands that without the creation of challenging, contemporary music there will be no future masterpieces to reflect our time. Exciting new music is being composed constantly and must be heard in order to complete the cycle of creativity. Vox Novus gets contemporary music heard: in concerts; over the radio; CD’s and on the Internet. While artists have always struggled to create and promote their art, one may argue that the situation is now more precarious than ever. Today's economic climate is competitive , and emerging composers inevitably act as their own writer, producer, publicist, agent, and sometimes performer. This daunting array of tasks overwhelms many composers. Vox Novus helps emerging composers face this challenge helping them to promote their music, expand their audience, and advance their career. Recognizing that a major obstacle for composers is finding performances, Vox Novus develops and produces concerts. These concerts expand the audience for new music beyond the established music community. Vox Novus concerts aim to build a new repertoire by creating friendly, approachable listening environments that integrate a growing body of contemporary composers. Remarkable Theater Brigade founded by Christian McLeer, Dan Jeselsohn and Monica Harte, creates and produces new operas and musicals and takes children’s versions out to special-needs and at-risk children free of charge. Remarkable Theater Brigade creates and produces new works including operas, orchestral pieces, ballets, musicals, and electro-acoustic works and co-produces the Composer’s Voice Concert Series concerts. Remarkable Theater Brigade was founded in 2002 by Christian McLeer, Monica Harte, and Dan Jeselsohn. This year we opened our 8th Season with Opera Shorts in Weill Hall at Carnegie Hall, October 1, 2009. Opera Shorts is Remarkable Theater Brigade’s set of 10 minute operas by composers Seymour Barab, Ben Bierman, George Brunner, Tom Cipullo, Anne Phillips, Patrick Soluri, Rob Voisey, and of course Christian McLeer. Support from the Puffin Foundation “…continuing the dialogue between art and the lives of ordinary people.”

The Composer’s Voice Concert Series is an opportunity for contemporary composers to express their musical aesthetic and personal “voice” created in their compositions. Vox Novus collaborating with the Remarkable Theater Brigade and Jan Hus Church to produce a monthly concert series promoting the chamber works of contemporary composers. Vox Novus is a collective of composers, musicians, and music enthusiasts collaborating together to create, produce, promote, and enjoy the new music of today. Our members are from a variety of composers committed to the creation and dissemination of new music. Their music is of a variety of styles, aesthetics, and ideologies. Vox Novus produces and promotes new music. They are dedicated to contemporary music, the musicians who perform, and the composers that write the music of today. Their mission is to cultivate a music community and make their work available to the greater public. Remarkable Theater Brigade founded by Christian McLeer, Dan Jeselsohn and Monica Harte, creates and produces new operas and musicals and takes children’s versions out to special-needs and at-risk children free of charge.

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Funding by Funding also provided by the Puffin Foundation, "...continuing the dialogue between art and lives of ordinary people."

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