Karen Tanaka Joins PSNY

by Ted Gordon on May 31, 2014, 2:32 p.m.

We're thrilled to announce that PSNY is now representing three works by Karen Tanaka, who has one of the most unique compositional voices of her generation. Hailing from Japan, Tanaka has lived and worked in Tokyo, Paris, Florence, and Los Angeles, and the cultures and environments of each location have contributed to her compositional work. Since studying and working at IRCAM from the mid-1980s to the early 2000s, Tanaka has worked with computers to explore the beauty of sonic structure and tone colors, an inward journey that is always mediated by her consideration of the listener's experience in a concert hall. 

In 2012, Tanaka became a fellow at the Sundance Institute's Composers Lab, where she was introduced to the world of composition for film while studying under Hollywood's leading composers, editors, and sound designers. Blending natural and electronic sounds, Tanaka's current work even more powerfully evokes images of nature, and plays with the intricacies of natural sound.

Tanaka's instrumental work often explores the intertwining of sound and nature, with many compositions drawing on themes of the environment, landscapes, or natural phenomena. PSNY has made three of Tanaka's chamber works available, each involving the piano. 

For solo piano, Water Dance focuses on "texture and timbre in piano, in order to project images of fluid and elusive phenomenon, water and shimmering light. [...] The repetitive patterns gradually change just as the water flows continuously and never the same phase." In addition to this solo piano work, PSNY now offers Ocean for piano and violin, and Enchanted Forest for piano and horn. 

Check out some excerpts from Enchanted Forest here:

Tanaka's scoring for Acho on the Road, a 2013 animation, has been heard at over 20 film festivals internationally. Check out the full animation below. 

Yarn/Wire Records David Franzson for WERGO

by Ted Gordon on May 16, 2014, 4 p.m.

WERGO Records, one of the foremost international record labels for new music, has just released a new album of works by PSNY composer David Brynjar Franzson, performed by the New York-based ensemble Yarn/Wire. Recorded at the state-of-the-art Experimental Media and Performing Arts Center at the Renssalaer Polytechnic Institute, this album features three related compositions by Franzson under the title The Negotiation of Context. All three of the works of this series - parts A, B and C - are available through PSNY. These three independent works examine the topographies of musical contexts: the histories of instruments, the social dynamic between performers, and the negotiation of contextual meaning between performers and their audience. 

The CD also includes a performance video of Yarn/Wire in the process of recording—a document that adds to the contextual fabric of Franzson's meta-exploration.  

Check out an excerpt from The Negotiation of Context (A) here:

Argento Ensemble Features Hannah Lash and Erin Gee in New Series

by Ted Gordon on May 6, 2014, 12:26 p.m.

New York's Argento Chamber Ensemble, conducted by Michele Galante, is featuring works by Hannah Lash and Erin Gee in a new concert series at the Austrian Cultural Forum, alongside music by other American and Viennese composers. Running weekly on Fridays and Sundays, the new series kicked off on May 2nd with the world premiere of Erin Gee's Mouthpiece XIXb for solo voice and ensemble. 

Check out an excerpt from Erin Gee's Mouthpiece: Segment of the 4th Letter here: 

On May 9th, audiences will hear Hannah Lash's Friction, Pressure, Impact, for cello and piano, which was premiered by the duo TwoSense, with cellist Lisa Moore and cellist Ashley Bathgate. Through its three movements, Friction, Pressure, Impact explores the idea of musical metabolism. Have a listen to an excerpt below:



And if the music isn't incentive enough, custom ales and lagers will be provided by Brooklyn's BrewHeister after the performances, along with discussions with the performers and composers.