Alex Mincek Portrait Concert at Miller Theatre

by Ted Gordon on Feb. 18, 2016, 10:22 a.m.

Alex Mincek—the composer and performer dubbed "the new guard of the New York avant-garde" by the The New York Times—will see his music featured in a Composer Portrait Concert at Columbia University's Miller Theatre on February 25th. The portrait features the piano/percussion quartet Yarn/Wire and the Mivos Quartet in the premiere of two new works: Torrent, an octet for two pianos, percussion and string quartet, commissioned by the Miller Theatre, and Images of Duration (In homage to Ellsworth Kelly), for Yarn/Wire. To compliment these new works, Yarn/Wire will perform Mincek's Pendulum VI: Trigger, composed in 2010, and the Mivos Quartet will perform String Quartet No. 3 ("lift – tilt – filter – split"). 

Mincek's Images of Duration, for Yarn/Wire, references the sequence of images that Kelly planned as a book in 1951: Line Form Color. He elaborates:

"In Kelly's work a succession of images proceeds from one to many lines, then grids, then primary color fields, then mixed color fields, and finally shapes embedded in color. My own work follows roughly the same strategy, applied to sound, in various reorderings, and emphasizes, like the Kelly, the futility of fully separating the experience of color from that of shape/gesture and how the order, or 'form' of the successions can intensify or dilute the perception of each." 

Pendulum VI: Trigger is part of Mincek's Pendulum series of compositions, which deal with the constantly-changing nature of pendulum swings. Mincek writes, 

"As a pendulum swings, it repeatedly passes smoothly through all the space and time between extremes without becoming fixed on any single position. The 'Pendulum' series presents a catalog of musical extremes, but like a pendulum, does not become fixed on any one musical position. Instead, it represents a refusal to choose any one side. Both sides of multiple polemics are treated as equals and are mediated by alternating in constant succession from one to the other, in an attempt to represent the futile insistence of having both, many, and all at once."

Check out an excerpt from Pendulum VI below: 

String Quartet No. 3 ("lift – tilt – filter – split") also plays with constantly-changing musical flux, though more akin to a Foucault Pendulum, which shows both its own oscillations and that of the constantly-rotating earth. This piece allows multiple points of entry, using constantly-changing textures to represent dynamic systemic changes. Check out a preview of the Mivos Quartet performing Mincek's String Quartet No. 3: 

Party with Ensemble Dal Niente

by Ted Gordon on Nov. 18, 2014, 1:21 p.m.

On a blustery Chicago night, over a hundred people packed into the Jackson Junge Gallery in Wicker Park to attend a party—typical for an art opening on a Saturday night. But in addition to the art, food, beer, and craft cocktails, these partiers got to experience something extra: Ensemble Dal Niente, one of Chicago and the US' leading New Music ensembles, performing over 15 works, many of which were composed in the past decade.

The ensemble, conducted by Michael Lewanski, split the evening's performances into sets of two to three works, allowing for conversation, commentary, and mingling with the musicians in-between. From solo works to pieces for larger ensembles, Dal Niente executed each piece with precision and grace—from technically demanding pieces such as Ted Hearne's Crispy Gentlemen or Ashley Fure's something to hunt to simpler but more theoretically complex works such as Johannes Kreidler's Stil 1f. Beat Furrer's Aria, Alex Mincek's Nucleus, and Thomas Ades' Traced Overhead were standouts in a concert that the Chicago Classical Review called 'exhilarating' and 'wide-ranging'.

Check out a video preview for the Party below: 

The JACK Quartet in the PSNY Greenroom

by Ted Gordon on Nov. 10, 2014, 9:57 a.m.

It would be an understatement to say that the JACK Quartet is one of the most important string quartets today; they have commissioned and performed works by composers across genres, ages, and continents, all with virtuosic aplomb. We sat down with the quartet in our PSNY Greenroom, a special section on our website where performers have a chance to talk about the music that they love. (Check out our previous installments with Present Music and the Talea Ensemble.) 

From the thirty-six string quartets currently offered by PSNY, the JACK Quartet chose three that speak to them: Hannah Lash's Frayed, Alex Mincek's String Quartet No. 3 "lift - tilt - filter - split", and Gregory Spear's Buttonwood. All three of these works have been commissioned, premiered, or recorded by the JACK Quartet in the past five years. Check out recordings of JACK's picks in the playlist below, and hear more about their selections in JACK Quartet's Greenroom.