Innovative Canadian composer/performer Kyle Bobby Dunn and electric guitar quartet Dither will open the second season of new music series Music at First on Friday, September 10th, 2010 at 7:30pm. The Series is held at First Presbyterian Church of Brooklyn, located at 124 Henry Street in Brooklyn Heights. Tickets are $10 at the door. Contact [email protected] for more info. Directions are at www.fpcbrooklyn.org.

MUSIC AT FIRST, curated by Wil Smith (composer who also serves as organist at First Presbyterian), occurs monthly, featuring two performers or ensembles per evening. Smith describes Music at First as “a diverse mix of New York City’s best new music ensembles and performers, accessible to a wide audience of both community members and seasoned new music listeners.” Future performers in the fall series will include bassist Eleonore Oppenheim and special guest TBA on October 8th; pianist Isabelle O’Connell and Flutronix on November 5th; and a double bill of Phithia and Slow/Fast on December 3rd.

Originally from Ontario, Canada, now residing in Brooklyn, 24 year old KYLE BOBBY DUNN has premiered his highly specialized works in live settings, including exclusive outdoor and site specific environments, throughout North America for nearly a decade. His work has been described as “patience incarnate” – (Pitchfork Media) and walks a wide intersection between extended minimalist technique, neo-classicalism, textural processed drone, and post-romantic song crafting. His work examines the inner workings of the human condition in mostly large, emotionally charged and epic pieces for guitar, strings and piano that translate the beauty and horror of our time, memory, feeling, and actions. Dunn’s compositions are painterly, haunting, and wanderingly romantic, and can transport the listener to the furthest and most forgotten landscapes.

DITHER, a New York based electric guitar quartet featuring Taylor Levine, David Linaburg, Joshua Lopes, and James Moore, is dedicated to an eclectic mix of experimental repertoire which spans composed music, improvisation, and electronic manipulation. Formed in 2007, the quartet has performed in the US and abroad, presenting new commissions, original compositions, improvisations, multimedia works, and large guitar ensemble pieces. With sounds ranging from clean pop textures to heavily processed noise, from tight rhythmic unity to cacophonous sound mass, all of Dither’s music wholeheartedly embraces the beautiful, engulfing, and often gloriously loud sound of electric guitars. Dither’s recent collaborators include downtown bagpiper Matthew Welch, composers Eve Beglarian and David Lang, and guitarist/composers Bryce Dessner, Nick Didkovsky, Marco Cappelli, Elliott Sharp, and Mark Stewart. Recent performances in New York include the Performa Biennial, The MATA Festival Interval Series, and the Bang on a Can Marathon. Dither’s debut album was released by Henceforth Records in June 2010. For this concert, Dither will be playing music by composers Ted Hearne, Josh Lopes, Lisa Coons, and Wil Smith.

FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH OF BROOKLYN (FPC) is committed to supporting the arts in the community, and has been noted by Lucid Culture blog as as “doing double duty as comfortable neighborhood hang and avant garde central for the budget conscious.”  FPC is an open and intentionally diverse congregation, by race, culture, age, theology, and sexual orientation. #

“Piano Innovation,” pianist Matthew McCright’s upcoming solo concert consists of new, sophisticated art music by six compelling Minnesota composers.

Co-Sponsored by the Minnesota State Arts Board and the American Composers Forum, Piano Innovation will take place on Saturday, September 25th, 2010 at 8:00pm at Merkin Concert Hall in New York City. This special concert is held at Merkin Concert Hall at Kaufman Center, located at 129 West 67th Street in Manhattan. General admission tickets are $20 and can be purchased at www.kaufman-center.org or by calling 212.501.3303. $15 student tickets are available at the door only.

The American Composers Forum and the Minnesota State Arts Board are proud to present pianist Matthew McCright in a concert of new piano works from the Land of 10,000 Lakes.  Based in the Twin Cities, the Forum has a long history of  promoting new music throughout the country.  This concert will feature the New York premieres of pieces by young, emerging, and established composers of this cultural mecca of the Midwest. Works include James Marentic’s “Rothko”; Justin Rubin’s “Waltz through Vapor”; Adam Wernick’s “Dream/Play”; Paul Cantrell’s “Disembodied Dance”; Kirsten Broberg’s “echoes” and Daniel Nass’ “quatre etudes de fromage.” [PDF of complete composer bios]

American pianist Matthew McCright has performed extensively throughout the United States, Europe, and Asia as piano soloist and chamber musician. He has thrilled audiences and critics alike with an imaginative repertoire that spans both the traditional and a wide range of contemporary works. He has premiered numerous new pieces, many written for him, and has collaborated with such composers as Pauline Oliveros, Terry Riley, Augusta Read Thomas, Paul Dresher, Michael Gordon, Mary Ellen Childs, Julia Wolfe, Evan Ziporyn, Mark Anthony Turnage, Kirsten Broberg, Kamran Ince, Alvin Lucier, Linda Buckley and Judith Lang Zaimont among many others. McCright currently resides in Minneapolis, Minnesota and is a member of the piano faculty of Carleton College while maintaining an active freelance schedule as one of the most sought after pianists in contemporary music. Recent projects include the 2009 CD release of Second Childhood on innova Records and an upcoming disc of the piano works of Minnesota composer Gene Gutchë on Centaur Records. He is curator of the Open Doors music series, partnering performing artists with charitable causes and is housed at Saints Martha and Mary Episcopal Parish, where he is pianist-in-residence for the series. He created The Composer’s Project, a nationwide program featuring emerging composers. McCright completed his Doctor of Musical Arts Degree in Piano Performance from the University of Minnesota, under the tutelage of Lydia Artymiw. In addition to private study in New York City with Lisa Moore, he also holds a Master of Music Degree in Piano from the College-Conservatory of Music at the University of Cincinnati studying with Richard Morris and earned his Bachelor of Music Degree in Piano Performance, Magna Cum Laude, from Westminster College with Nancy Zipay DeSalvo.

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Grants from municipal or county arts agencies are a great way to fund community related arts projects by professionals. Artists and arts organizations (performing, visual, composers, etc) based in Brooklyn, Queens, Manhattan, and Rockland county, NY, should note these important upcoming grant deadlines. For most of these you MUST attend a workshop before applying – put these dates on your calendar.

1. Lower Manhattan Cultural Council (for all of Manhattan)
Grant due: SEPTEMBER 21
Remaining workshops

2. Brooklyn Arts Council
Grant due: SEPTEMBER 22
Remaining workshops

3. Queens Council on the Arts
Grant due: SEPTEMBER 30
FAQs

4. Arts Council of Rockland
Grant due: September 15/22 (depending on grant)
Remaining workshops

Peter McDowell Arts Consulting is available for questions or assistance with the application process. Contact us with any questions.

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The Sabrina Lastman Quartet is an innovative music project that brings together jazz, South American rhythms with African roots like Candombe (Afro Uruguayan Music), and contemporary music. The Quartet plays original compositions, and arrangements of music by Latin American composers like Egberto Gismonti, and Rubén Rada.

Featuring:
Sabrina Lastman – voice & compositions
Emilio Solla – piano
Pablo Aslán – double bass
David Silliman – drums & percussion
Special Guests TBA

Monday, September 6 | 7:30 PM (only one set)
JOE’S PUB | 425 Lafayette St. (bet. E4 & Astor Pl)
TICKET RESERVATIONS: 212 967 7555, www.joespub.com & in person at The Public Theatre Box Office or Joe’s
Pub

TABLE RESERVATIONS: 212 539 8778. Seating, as well as standing-room, is available only on a first-come, first-served basis for all shows without a dinner reservation.

6926_199231177208_74002797208_4254366_1936760_nVlada Tomova’s Balkan tales is featured at NJPAC Outdoors Festival: Sounds of the City on August 5th at 5pm.

Balkan Tales will feature Vlada Tomova (vocals), Raif Hyseni (accordion), Emi Simeonov (violin), Chris Rael (guitar), Mike Savino (bass), Mathias Kunzli (percussion)

New Jersey Performing Arts Center
One Center St, Newark, NJ

Full schedule of the evening and more information at www.njpac.org

Live stream available at www.livestream.com/njpac