[ Composer's Voice ]
Composer's Voice Concert
featuring Access Contemporary Music (ACM)
October 14, 2012
Jan Hus Church
351 East 74th Street
New York
,
New York
10021-3798

Program:

Fifteen Minutes of Fame: Beth Griffith
1. Daniel Goode

2. Koka Nikoladze

3. Justin Henry Rubin

4. Naftali Schindler

5. William Vollinger

6. Andrew Walters

7. Paolo Longo

8. Pamela Madsen

9. David Drexler

10. Brandon J Rolle

11. Christopher Danforth

12. Luis Menacho

13. Abraham Fabella

14. Pamela J. Marshall

15. Dennis Bathory-Kitsz

Beth Griffith, soprano

Machines
Troy Ramos

Shiau-uen Ding, piano


Variants
Malcolm Dedman

Sarah Carrier, flute


Numinous
Seth Boustead

Josh Henderson, violin

Yumi Suehiro, piano

Performers

Sarah Carrier

“Ms. Carrier combined thoughtful musicality with virtuosity in her alternately energetic and delicate account of a flute line laden with light multiphonics and unusual timbres.”-Allan Kozinn, New York Times.

Sarah Carrier, flutist, performs regularly in New York City as a soloist and chamber musician. She has performed in venues as varied as Walt Disney Hall, Sydney Opera House, Merkin Hall, the Orange County Performing Arts Center, Le Poisson Rouge, the Tank, and Issue Project Room. Ms. Carrier is a winner of numerous competitions such as the National Flute Association Masterclass Competition, Bob Cole Conservatory Scholarship Competition, La Primavera Symphony Orchestra Concerto Competition and is a recipient of the CSULB Dean’s List Award, University of Oregon Graduate Teaching Fellowship, and New York University Graduate Scholarship. A specialist in contemporary flute performance, Sarah Carrier is a frequent contributor to New York City’s vibrant new music scene. Ms. Carrier is a founding member of Syzygy New Music Collective, hailed as “one of 2009 most promising groups” by Sequenza21. As a member of Syzygy she has made numerous appearances on television and radio. While a graduate student at NYU Steinhardt, she commissioned the work Kill Switch for flute, cello, percussion, and laptop by Izzi Ramkissoon, which was premiered at her Masters Recital and has since been performed in venues throughout New York City. Also during her studies at NYU, she performed Luminosity for C Flute, Alto Flute, and Electronics by David Taddie as a Featured Soloist of the NYU New Music Soloists Concert, resulting in an invitation to perform at the “Cross Currents” Electro-Acoustic Music Festival at Penn State University, as well as the NYU Music Technology Open House. In the summer of 2010, she was a participant of the Institute and Festival for Contemporary Performance at Mannes. Sarah Carrier completed her M.M. in Flute Performance at New York University under the tutelage of Robert Dick. She earned her B.M. in Flute Performance at the Bob Cole Conservatory at California State University, Long Beach studying with John Barcellona. Sarah is currently a doctoral candidate at CUNY Graduate Center, where she continues her studies with Robert Dick. She performed for Jill Felber, William Bennett, Denis Bouriakov, Louise di Tullio, Rena Urso, Paula Robison, Ransom Wilson, Keith Underwood, and Bart Feller. Ms. Carrier has taught throughout Southern California, Oregon, and New York City, and has presented masterclasses to flute students in rural areas of Hokkaido, Japan.

Shiau-uen Ding

A native of Taiwan, pianist Shiau-uen Ding is a rising presence on the new and electro-acoustic music scenes, and an original and energetic performer of traditional solo and chamber repertoire. She studied piano with Eugene Pridonoff, Elizabeth Pridonoff, and Lina Yeh, computer music with Mara Helmuth and Christopher Bailey, and contemporary improvisation with Alan Bern at National Taiwan Normal University and University of Cincinnati, where she received her doctoral degree. She lives in New York City.
She has performed in France, Germany, Belgium, China, and throughout the US and Taiwan. Her virtuosic and sensitive interpretations have won standing ovations. She was called a "daredevil" by the New York Times for her performance at Bang on a Can Marathon and "a powerful force on the new music scene" by Array for her performance at Spark Festival in Minneapolis. She has collaborated with internationally renowned performers and composers, including Steve Reich, Michael Kugel, George Tsontakis, who refers to her performance of his Ghost Variations as a "monster performance," and Moritz Eggert, who dedicated his Hämmerklavier XIX: Hymnen der Welt (Afghanistan bis Zimbabwe) to her. She has recorded for Capstone, Centaur, Innova and Electric Music Collective.

Beth Griffith

"An extraordinary American soprano, Beth Griffith sang with a focus and presence (as she did everything) that held a listener at rapt attention. Griffith, a Texan, recently returned to the United States after a 20-year career in Germany. It is our good fortune" --Mark Swed Los Angeles Times

"A real highlight of the festival was the exceptional singer Beth Griffith... Her vocal artistry surpasses the conventional with an incredibly wide gamut of tonal and expressive articulation... All this seems to happen in a kind of mystical atmosphere brought about by the unique performance of Beth Griffith, as singer and as human being." --Suzana Martinakova Literarny Tyzdennik Bratislava:

"The piece that turned me to jelly, though, was A cappella, by John McGuire, recently resident in New York after decades in Cologne. With impassioned expressiveness, soprano Beth Griffith sang syncopated vowel sounds over a sparkling electronic background, medieval but vibrant in its contrapuntal austerity." --Kyle Gann The Village Voice

Beth Griffith (soprano) 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. Since her European debut in Mauricio Kagel's solo theater piece Phonophonie in 1978, the demand for Beth Griffth as soloist has taken her to such important music festivals as the Warsaw Autumn, Cologne Triennale, Wien Modern, Numus Festival, RIAC, Donaueschingen Musiktage, Darmstadt Summer Courses,Wittener Tage fur Neue Kammermusik, ISCM and New Music America. In addition, her acclaimed performance of Morton Feldman's Three Voices has been heard on numerous stages from Prague, Berlin, London, New York and in between. Recent invitations led her to Grahamstown, South Africa, Gent, s-Hertogenbosch, Cologne, Wiesbaden, Raleigh, North Carolina and here in New York with repertoire ranging from chamber works by Sorrell Hays, Dieter Schnebel, Wolfgang von Schweinitz, Manos Tsangaris, solo works by John Cage, Alvin Curran, Morton Feldman, Noah Creshevsky, John McGuire, Mattricio Kagel and Rodney Waschka.

Josh Henderson

The versatile violinist, Josh Henderson is gaining recognition as a musician for all seasons. He has performed classical music in venues all over the world including prestigious European concert halls such as The Gasteig in Munich, the Kennedy Center, Beijing's Forbidden City, as well as high energy electric violin performances in iconic venues of popular music such as Manhattan’s Highline and Hammerstein Ballrooms. As a soloist, he has performed with the Starling Chamber orchestra, Accent X Orchestra, CCM Showcase Orchestra, Cincinnati Chamber Orchestra, China-Performing-Arts-Broadcasting-Troupe-Orch. He has studied with Kurt Sassmannshaus in Cincinnati and studies with Naoko Tanaka at New York University.

Yumi Suehiro

Born in Osaka, Japan, Pianist Yumi Suehiro started piano at age 6, and started marimba a year later. Ms. Suehiro has won numerous national and international competitions, including the top prize at the KOBE International Competition in Japan as the youngest winner. In 2007 and 2008, she was invited to perform her debut at the Carnegie Weill recital hall as a winner of AMTL audition. In 2008, she performed at Steinway hall as an honorable student at Amati music festival, and was featured as a guest marimba player in Latin percussionist, Victor Rendon's recoding “Fiesta Percussiva. In 2010, Ms. Suehiro won the second prize at Dora Zaslavsky Koch piano concerto competition in Manhattan School of Music. In the following year, she was chosen to perform for the world famous pianist Pirre-Laurent Aimard. Ms. Suehiro graduated from Lehman College, received B.S. majoring music with honor Magma cum Laude, where she studied percussion with Mr. Morris Lang, who was the associated principal timpanist and percussionist in New York Philharmonic, and composition with Mr. John Corigliano, and had featured as a soloist as both pianist and marimba player (playing Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue and Nesauro's Marimba Concerto) in Lehman community band. Ms. Suehiro later received M.M. in classical piano performance where she studied with Mr. Zenon Fishbein and Dr. Peter Vinograde.

Composers

Seth Bousted

Seth Boustead received his Master of Music Composition degree from the Chicago College for the Performing Arts where he studied with Stacy Garrop, Patricia Morehead and Robert Lombardo. His music is regularly performed across the United States and in Europe and has been heard on radio and television stations in Chicago, San Francisco, New York and Paris among others. Recent commissions include music for Chicago Opera Vanguard, Bruce Mau Design and the Moving Architects. Seth is the co-founder and Executive Director of Access Contemporary Music, a Chicago based organization dedicated to the promotion of music by living composers. While under his leadership ACM started many of its signature programs such as Weekly Readings, Composer Alive, the ACM School of Music, and the High School Composer's Workshop, and he has been instrumental in growing the audience for ACM's live events. Seth has been interviewed by or had writings appear in a wide variety of publications including Chicago Magazine, Time Out Chicago, Composition Today, New Music Box of the American Music Center and Chamber Music Magazine. He currently lives with his wife in Chicago's uptown neighborhood and, when not playing, writing or thinking about music, he enjoys reading, doing the NY Times crossword puzzle, biking, and pretending that he actually knows something about wine.

Malcolm Dedman

Born in London in 1948, Malcolm Dedman was initially self-taught, having started to compose when he was 12. Although he later had formal violin and singing lessons, it was composition, arising out of improvising at the piano, that he was most interested in pursuing. His first formal lessons in composition were with Patric Standford at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in 1973-74, but he did not receive a formal musical qualification until 2005, when he passed with distinction his Masters Degree in Composing Concert Music at Thames Valley University. He considers his compositional style to be an individual one, benefitting from an in-depth understanding of twentieth century trends, ranging from serialism to quasi-aleatoric techniques. He now adopts an individual ‘post-modern’ idiom, based on original modes, that is very personal in approach. Although his music owes much to the music of Messiaen and Bartók, it also integrates music by many other composers as well as music from different cultures. He believes in writing music that speaks directly to the audience, conveying a purposeful message, in a style that is appropriate to this century and without compromising musical quality. He has received performances in various countries, including England, USA, New Zealand and South Africa. Many of these performances have been received well by audiences and critics, including two excellent reviews by Anthony Payne. He has also gained several composition awards; and he now self-publishes his music, along with two CDs, under the name Misty Mountain Music. Major first performances that have been received well by both audiences and critics include: Christmas Cantata– ‘TheWord was Made Flesh’ in 1975; Three Dance Episodes for oboe, guitar and piano at the Wigmore Hall in 1977; String Quartet at the Purcell Room in 1980; Piano Sonata No. 2 – ‘In Search’ at the Purcell Room in 1986 and Two Reflections for piano in 1988, also at the Purcell Room. Malcolm has also gained several composition awards, including: Brent Music and Dance Festival in 1969 for a movement from a piano sonata; Stroud International Composer’s Competition in 1974 for the song cycle To Lesbia for tenor and guitar; Recontres Internationales de Chant Choral in 1985 for an anthem Come Unto Me… and Thames Valley University composition prize in 2005 for Scherzo for piano quartet.

Troy Ramos

Troy RAMOS was born in BC, Michigan in 1975 and graduated from Western Michigan University in 2004. He continued his compositional studies at the University of York in England, receiving an MA in Music in 2008. While at York he studied with the distinguished composer and John Cage-scholar William Brooks. Recently his work "Le Mal" for soprano, violin and cello was premiered at Someday Lounge in Portland, Oregon on June 30, 2012. His piece for two alto flutes, "Shades of Light", had its world premiere in Portland in November 2011. His work "Connections No.2" for solo piano was also recently recorded in Portland. And his "Two Pieces", for bassoon and piano, received its premiere at Lewis and Clark College in June of 2011. Two of his piano works, "Work in Four Parts" and "Oeuvres pour Piano", were recorded at Portland State University by pianist Matt Grossman. His third song cycle, "Songs Three", was premiered at Curtiss Hall in Chicago on December 6, 2010 by Access Contemporary Music. This concert received fantastic reviews in the Chicago Classical Review. And in summer 2010, "Early-Spring Earth" was recorded at Portland State University by PSU Flute Professor Sydney Carlson and pianist Aliza Brinton In 2005 his work "Huron", from his Orchestral Set no. 1, was selected by ERM Media to appear on a future volume of its Masterworks of the New Era series, which features a recording by the Kiev Philharmonic under conductor Robert Ian Winstin. He is a member of Access Contemporary Music of Chicago and of Sound and Music UK. He is also the founder and choral director of Portland City Choir, and also the founder of New Music Michigan, a contemporary ensemble located in Battle Creek, Michigan.

15 one-minute selections for Beth Griffith

Program Notes

Presenters:

Access Contemporary Music

Access Contemporary Music is a non-profit organization based in Chicago, IL. It is our mission to promote the music of living composers through performance, education and advocacy. We seek to create a community of composers, performers, audience members and student centered around the music of our time. Our performance initiatives include a concert series by our resident ensemble Palomar, our Sound of Silent Film Festival and outreach performances in public schools and community centers. Our education initiatives include our ACM School of Music in Chicago's Ravenswood neighborhood, our High School Composer's workshop and outreach programs at schools and Boys and Girls Clubs. We advocate for composers through our Weekly Readings project, in which we read and record a different piece by a living composer every week during our concert season, our annual Composer Alive international commissioning project, our 60-minute documentary Composer Alive: Eastern Expressions, and our composer membership program. We seek to present contemporary music as a living and important part of the overall Classical music tradition.

Remarkable Theater Brigade

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.

Jan Hus Church

This is the place you were welcome, long before you arrived!
www.janhus.org

Vox Novus

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.