Seda Röder Plays Lei Liang & Ken Ueno at UC Davis

by Ted Gordon on Nov. 15, 2012, noon

West Coasters, it's your lucky day: Turkish pianist Seda Röder is performing an evening concert of works inspired by John Cage (who else?) on Friday, November 16th at UC Davis' Mondavi Center! The program includes Lei Liang's "Piano, Piano" and Ken Ueno's "Volcano", both of which Röder premiered at the Goethe-Institut Boston in April, alongside works by Cage, Morton Feldman, and Röder herself. 

"Piano, Piano" (slowly, gently, softly in Italian) was written during Liang's residency at the American Academy in Rome (where our composers Robert Beaser, Andrew Norman, and Anthony Cheung have also all been fellows). It is scored for an improvising pianist, and consists of two sets of sheet music: one printed, and one to be projected as a transparency. The work was written specifically for Röder as a part of her "Tales From the Silent Lands..." project.

For a taste of Liang's writing for solo piano, check out this video of Joanna Chao performing a movement from his 2007 work, "My Windows", available on PSNY:

Röder interviewed Liang about "Piano, Piano", and the video can be seen below:

We hope you all can be able to attend! Stay tuned for more upcoming news and interviews in the weeks ahead! 

Beyond Cage: Kate Soper, Alex Mincek, Morton Feldman, and More!

by Ted Gordon on Oct. 27, 2012, 1:49 p.m.

John Cage's name is plastered all over New York City right now, as it should be: this year, he would have turned 100 years old. And what better way to celebrate Cage's pioneering work than premiering new boundary-pushing compositions alongside mid-century works that inspired them? The S.E.M. Ensemble, as a part of their massive Beyond Cage Festival, is doing just that in concerts in several venues around New York, including premieres of new works by PSNY Composers Kate Soper and Alex Mincek, and performances of works by Morton Feldman, Luigi Nono, and Karlheinz Stockhausen, among many others. 

On October 28th, The S.E.M. Ensemble, joined by Ian Antonio of Yarn/Wire and Kate Soper of Wet Ink, premiere Soper's The Crito. and Mincek's V, both composed in 2012. 

For an idea of what these works could sound like, check out an earlier work by Soper for voice and flute: 

Be sure to attend the concert of major orchestral works by Morton Feldman on November 5th at Alice Tully Hall, which will include the American Premieres of Flute and Orchestra and Violin and Orchestra, as well as Piano and Orchestra and Structures for Orchestra! 

Fred Lerdahl's Complete String Quartets Performed in Boston

by Ted Gordon on Oct. 18, 2012, 2:06 p.m.

On October 18th, 2012, the Deadalus Quartet performs the complete String Quartet Cycle of Fred Lerdahl (Nos. 1, 2, & 3) at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, presented by Columbia University's Miller Theatre. This program is a touring composer portrait presented by the Miller Theatre, which presented the Deadalus Quartet performing Lerdahl's String Quartet No. 3 in 2010. Don't miss this concert!

Fred Lerdahl, who since 1991 has been the Fritz Reiner Professor of Music at Columbia University, began composing string quartets in 1978 with String Quartet No. 1, later returning to the form with his second quartet in 1982, and finally composing his latest quartet specifically for the Daedalus Quartet in 2008. Lerdahl writes,

"The Third Quartet is the finale of a large-scale work that begins with the First Quartet and continues with the Second. The First Quartet takes the form of 15 geometrically expanding variations, starting with a simple chord and elaborating gradually into a variation six minutes long. Its sequel, the Second Quartet, continues the expansion with two more variations of nine and 13 minutes. The Third Quartet constitutes in its entirety a last expanded variation. At the same time, it periodically interposes reminiscences from the two earlier quartets, progressing through the Second back to the First. The coda of Third Quartet comes full circle by stating in reverse order the brief opening variations of the First Quartet."

All three Quartets are available on a CD released by Bridge Records, performed by the Daedalus Quartet and released in 2008. Don't miss your chance to see these works performed live!