Christopher Cerrone in New York and Los Angeles, New Work from Kate Soper, and More!

by Ted Gordon on April 19, 2013, 2:15 p.m.

Christopher Cerrone's music has quickly become a staple of New Music ensembles' repertoire across the country. From electro-acoustic works commissioned and premiered by NYC's Red Light New Music, to chamber operas performed in Virginia, Connecticut, and Oklahoma, Cerrone has gained a huge presence in the past few years. Little wonder, then, that pianist Vicky Chow and percussionist Owen Weaver will be performing his piece for piano and electronics, Hoyt-Schermerhorn, and percussion and electronics, Memory Palace, alongside the New York premiere of John Luther Adams' 2010 work, Four Thousand Holes, on April 22nd at Le Poisson Rouge. Chow and Weaver have been performing Cerrone's works together since 2012's Fast Forward Austin festival; Weaver commissioned and premiered Memory Palace in that same year.

Weaver comments: “We think John Luther Adams’ and Chris Cerrone’s works both compliment and contrast each other. Chris's music focuses on color and simple, elegant forms that allow time and space for ideas to shift and grow. John's music often provides stasis through complex layers of rhythm--so much happening that things blur together to give a slow moving picture with a long-minded trajectory. In different ways, they both draw the listener into their world with a patient, yet focused approach.”

Listeners on the West coast also have an opportunity to hear Cerrone's works this weekend during the Los Angeles Philharmonic's "Brooklyn Festival." On April 18th, 20th, and 21st, Cerrone's Invisible Overture will be performed alongside Hannah Lash's Hush, a world premeire by Ted Hearne, and Aaron Copland's Symphony for Organ and Orchestra. Originally concieved as an overture for his opera, Invisible Cities, based on Italo Calvino's novel of the same name, Invisible Overture is a standalone piece, recalling the drama and interrogation of sonic experience which Cerrone explores in the opera. 

Cerrone writes, "My ideas for the overture began by listening to the resonance of decaying sounds on the piano. By holding down certain notes in the low register while playing, sympathetic vibrations create an unearthly halo of sound. The resonance is both beautiful and unstable, hovering just above silence." 

Check out recordings of these two works here:

 We at PSNY are also pleased to announce the availablity of Kate Soper's powerful work, Only The Words Themselves Mean What They Say. Soper's work, which often revolves around questions of expression, semiotics, vocality, and communication, sees its full manifestation in this work, for flute and voice, with a text by Lydia Davis. This is the first time that Soper's work is available to the public, and we don't doubt that it will hold an invaluable place in any contemporary singer's repertoire. 

And, last but not least, Katharina Rosenberger's Viva Voce project is finally completed! An interactive sound and video installation, Viva Voce involves compositions by Rosenberger for some of the most vital experimental vocal performers in the field, including Juliana Snapper, Shelley Hirsch, and Pamela Z. Keep your eyes out for more videos and documentation of this project at www.vivavoce.ch. 

Carrick & Rosenberger Performances This Week!

by Ted Gordon on Jan. 28, 2013, 1:31 p.m.

The new year is shaping up to be a busy time for our PSNY composers, with world premieres abounding! For New York audiences, the Woodwind Quartet DZ4  performs the World Premiere of Richard Carrick's "sub-merge" on January 28th at the Greenwich House Music School. 

And for those on the West Coast, be sure to catch Katharina Rosenberger's installation, "Viva Voce," at Human Resources Gallery in Los Angeles! This project, a collaboration with video artist Heiko Kalmback, features interactive video, audience-controlled playback, and performances by Juilana Snapper, Pamela Z, and Shelley Hirsch. Check out Katharina's Vimeo page for video excerpts of this piece. And while you're at it, spend some time with this excerpt from her work "Scatter 2.0", available from PSNY:

Katharina Rosenberger Earns Praise for "Texturen"

by Ted Gordon on Nov. 27, 2012, 1:55 p.m.

Katharina Rosenberger's latest album, "Texturen," performed by Wet Ink and released by Hat Hut, has just won the 2012 Deutsche Schallplattenkritik Preis (German Record Critics Prize)! We extend our warmest congratulations to Katharina, though we can't say we're surprised. Helmut Rohm, of the awarding jury, described her album thusly:

"Sinister force-fields rumble in Katharina Rosenberger's finely-worked 'Texturen'. Here blooms the poetry of magic sounds, overwhelmed by the tingling thrill of the numinous. The presence of the musical performers potentiates the tiniest spark of noise, and its echo of alien worlds: a psychedelic trip through a multimedia event space."

More Swiss press has heaped praise on the album, which features fellow PSNY composers Alex Mincek and Kate Soper as performers. For those in New York, be sure to attend the performance of "torsion", recorded on the album, on December 17th at the Austrian Cultural Forum performed by pianist Taka Kigawa. 

Katharina is hard at work on the culmination of her three-year project, "Viva Voce", an interactive sound and visual installation, which will premiere at the Human Resources gallery in Los Angeles in January. See a preview of what this project will look like here.

Texturen, for solo piano, is the central piece on Katharina's acclaimed album and will soon be available to purchase here on PSNY -- stay tuned for more information!