Anthony Cheung's "Dystemporal" CD Release at National Sawdust

by Ted Gordon on Nov. 11, 2016, 10:12 a.m.

Dystemporal is the title of a new album from WERGO of six premiere recordings of works by Anthony Cheung. Performed by the Talea Ensemble (which Cheung co-directs alongside percussionist Alex Lipowski) and Ensemble Intercontemporain, these works represent a formative period in Cheung's career, and this new recording presents a landmark document of Cheung's unique compositional voice. 

On November 11th, the Talea Ensemble celebrates this album with a CD release concert at National Sawdust in Brooklyn. The program features Centripedalocity (for ensemble), one of the highlights of the album, conducted by James Baker, as well as Character Studies, Refrain from Riffing (alto sax and harp), and Roundabouts (solo piano), performed by Cheung himself. Check out Ryan Muncy's recording of Refrain from Riffing below: 

Tim Munro's "Recounting" Features Soper, Cerrone

by Ted Gordon on Nov. 8, 2016, 5:02 p.m.

The flutist Tim Munro has recently described his work as an artist as storytelling: communicating from one person to another using the media of instrument, sound, and performance. After a long tenure with the Grammy-award-winning ensemble eighth blackbird, Munro has been developing a solo performance practice which explores the boundaries of his instruments—flute, breath, voice, speech. His upcoming solo performance at Columbia's Miller Theatre, entitled "Recounting", focuses on the moments between wakefulness and sleep, featuring works that weave between these two states. 

Christopher Cerrone's Liminal Highway, commissioned by Munro with assistance from New Music USA to be premeired on November 10th, is written for flute and four-channel electronics, and begins from the moment of "falling asleep in transit." This work serves as the impetus for the entire program, which includes five additional works—featuring appearances by soprano and composer Kate Soper, vocal ensemble Face the Music, and lighting designer Mary Ellen Stebbins. Soper and Munro will perform her 2011 work, Only the Words Themselves Mean What They Say, which sets text by Lydia Davis. Echoing Cerrone's evocation of an "altered state", Soper's work questions the one-ness of the performer, turning a single "instrument" into a site of multiplicity. 

Joan La Barbara Performances in Zurich and Montréal

by Ted Gordon on Nov. 1, 2016, 10:10 a.m.

(Joan La Barbara, photo: Aleksandar Kostic)

Joan La Barbara continues to be one of the busiest musicians working in the field of new music, both as a composer and a performer. And this work consists not only of commissions and performances, but also actively expanding the reach of her music to audiences around the globe. In October, La Barbara was involved with two festivals that emphasize the paths her work traces between seemingly different worlds. 

La Barbara's month kicked off with several performances and a master class at the Zürcher Hochschule der Kunste in Zurich, Switzerland, to celebrate the 85h birthday of her longtime friend and collaborator Alvin Lucier. Over the course of the four-day festival, La Barbara performed Morton Feldman's Only, Lucier's recent work Palimpsest (with text by Lydia Davis), and Double Rainbow, a new work for voice and oscillator. La Barbara also gave a master class and participated in a symposium with festival participants. Check out the full program here, and an excerpt of La Barbara performing Lucier's Palimpsest below: 

Across the Atlantic, La Barbara brought her mastery of the human voice to another venue: the Montreal Planetarium. La Barbara's pioneering compositional and performing voice has also reached new audiences in the electronic music community, including recognition from Red Bull Music Academy. RBMA, which has featured interviews with La Barbara and Morton Subotnick, presented a sold out concert featuring La Barbara, Pauline Oliveros, Lucrecia Dalt and Pan Daijing. La Barbara was also featured on RBMA's "Fireside Chat" radio interview series, with an episode airing on November 1, 2016 at 8pm CDT.