Ann Cleare's "eyam ii" Premiered by Argento Ensemble

by Ted Gordon on Oct. 25, 2016, 2:57 p.m.

Ann Cleare's eyam series consists of "five attacca pieces for clarinets and flutes, all of which deal with ideas of isolation and infiltration." Cleare's work explores the static and sculptural nature of sound, probing the space between composer, performer, and instrument with texture, noise, sound, and silence. The inspiration for the eyam series comes from the town of Eyam, in Derbyshire, England; it chose to cut itself off from the outisde world when the plague was discovered there in 1665. Positioning instrumentalist as "village", the eyam pieces tug at the differences between individual and multiple, safety and danger, the known and the unknown. 

eyam ii (taking apart your universe), for contrabass clarinet and ensemble, saw its world premiere on October 24th at St. Peter's Church in New York, performed by soloist Carol McGonnell; she will perform it again on October 29th in Washington, DC at the Library of Congress. Presented on a concert program by the Argento Ensemble, eyam ii is being paired Cleare's eyam i (it takes an ocean not to) for solo clarinet, along with Sciarrino's introduzione all'oscuro, a classic work of sculptural sound. Ireland's Contemporary Music Centre has recently featured Cleare's work in a video interview, shown above. Check out more of Cleare's works 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.