Events

by on
Erica Mott in residency in Iceland

(NOTE FROM PETER: I am particularly excited about this program as it features three women I know well and respect immensely: Caitlin Strokosch, Julia Rhoads, and Erica Mott; and it is held at my old stomping grounds – the Chicago Cultural Center!)

Monday, July 18, 6–8 p.m. at the Chicago Cultural Center, 78 E. Washington – Be Our Guest: Finding Creative Time + Space for Artist Residencies, presented in partnership with the Alliance of Artist Communities

Think there aren’t many residency programs for dance? Think again! There are more than 160 residency programs in the U.S. and Canada open to dancemakers and dozens more around the world. Whether you’re a solo choreographer looking for a quiet place to conduct research or a dance company polishing the production of new work, there’s a residency program for you.

Find out what distinguishes these programs, the best way to apply, and how to maximize your experience. Ask questions, meet the directors, and pick up literature from artists’ residencies in your region and beyond.

Speakers:

Caitlin Strokosch | Alliance of Artists Communities (moderator)

Julia Rhoads | choreographer – Chicago; former artist-in-residence | Maggie Allesee National Center for Choreography – Tallahassee, FL

Jennifer Wright Cook | The Field – New York City

Erica Mott | Links Hall – Chicago

Regin Igloria | Ragdale Foundation – Lake Forest, IL

At Work Forums are free and open to the public. More info.

by on

Chicago’s Chinese Fine Arts Society Presents: RHYTHMS OF CHINA  on July 31, 2011.

Showcasing works by 2011 Pulitzer Prize for Music Winner Zhou Long (World Premiere), Neil Rolnick (Midwest Premiere), and Tan Dun.

Featuring performances by pipa master Yang Wei & members of Cheng Da Percussion Ensemble, Spektral Quartet, Dal Niente, Amethyst Quartet, and Third Coast Percussion.

Explore the world of Chinese music at Chicago’s architectural masterpiece! The Chinese Fine Arts Society presents its Rhythms of China at the Jay Pritzker Pavilion, Millennium Park, Chicago. This eclectic concert showcases lively contemporary chamber music for percussion, strings, traditional Chinese instruments, electronics, piano, saxophone, and chorus, and includes works by internationally acclaimed composers Tan Dun, Zhou Long (2011 Pulitzer Prize for Music Winner), and the Midwest premiere of Neil Rolnick’s “The Economic Engine,” scored for traditional Chinese quartet, string quartet, and electronics. This performance of The Economic Engine is sponsored by the American Composers Forum through its Encore program, supporting repeat performances of new works.

WHEN: Sunday, July 31 from 6:30 – 7:45 p.m.

VENUE: Jay Pritzker Pavilion, Millennium Park, 201 E. Randolph St. between Michigan Ave. and Columbus Ave., Chicago

INFO: Admission is free. Visit www.chinesefinearts.org or www.millenniumpark.org for more information

PROGRAM INCLUDES:

• Tan Dun: Elegy: Snow in June for four percussionists – Third Coast Percussion

• Neil Rolnick: The Economic Engine (Midwest Premiere) – Yang Wei, pipa; Alexander Li, erhu; Karen Hong, Yangqin; Claire Deng, Guzheng; String quartet – Andrew McCann, Dave Moss, Jeremy Ward and Austin Wulliman; Neil Rolnick, electronics; Michael Lewanski, Conductor

• Zhou Long: Rhyme of Taigu III (World Premiere of this adaptation) for Saxophone, Cello, and Two percussionists – special adaptation written for this concert – Masa Sugihara, Saxophone; Robert Dillon, Clay Condon percussion; Sophie Weber, cello

• Gu Guan Ren: Lady Hua Mulan for Pipa and Piano – Yang Wei, pipa; Katherine Jui Chang, piano

• Also featuring Cheng Da Percussion Ensemble and works by CFAS Chorus under the direction of Lori Ho.

This program was curated by violinist MingHuan Xu and pianist Winston Choi, who together form Duo Diorama, CFAS Artists in Residence for 2011-12. This concert is presented by the Chicago Fine Arts Society and the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events, in partnership with the Chicago Office of Tourism and Culture.

>> NOTE: A Preview of this concert will take place on 98.7 WFMT on July 18 at 4:00 PM.

>> NOTE: The Economic Engine will be previewed in Live from Chinatown Concert Series on July 23 at 1 PM in Ping Tom Park, 300 W. 19th St. in Chicago.

About the Chinese Fine Arts Society:

For 27 years, this professional, small, fully-independent arts organization has brought together people from diverse backgrounds over a common goal: to celebrate the beauty and majesty of traditional and contemporary Chinese music and art. CFAS is dedicated to promoting the appreciation of Chinese culture, enhancing cultural exchange and pursuing excellence in Chinese music, dance and visual arts. www.chinesefinearts.org

Funding for this concert is provided, in part, by the America Composers Forum’s Encore Grant Program, The Elizabeth F. Cheney Foundation, The Sara Lee Foundation, The Illinois Arts Council, City Arts Grants, and The Arts Work Fund and SMARTGrowth, initiatives of the Chicago Community Trust and Affiliates.

American Airlines is a proud sponsor of the Chinese Fine Arts Society.

 

 

by on

NYC based jazz pianist Steve Hudson teams up with jazz saxophonist Claire Daly for the World Premiere of “The Mary Joyce Project: Nothing to Lose” at Juneau Jazz & Classics 2011. The concert by the Claire Daly Quintet will take place on Friday, May 20 at McPhetres Hall in Juneau, Alaska. Tickets and more information here.

Award-winning baritone saxophonist Claire Daly is releasing a new CD, a musical homage to her father’s first cousin, Mary Joyce. A pioneer who made a 1,000 mile dogsled journey from Juneau to Fairbanks in 1935-36, Joyce and her three month journey tell an amazing tale of determination, adventure, risk-taking, and fortitude.

Claire Daly and pianist Steve Hudson have composed music inspired by Joyce’s written journal of the trip. They along with bassist Mary Ann McSweeney, drummer Peter Grant, and human beat box extraordinaire Napoleon Maddox, honor this legendary woman who lived life to the fullest. “Mary Joyce was a true free spirit and her life was a remarkable improvisation. The essense of her style and spirit compelled us to create these compositions. I met her as a child but only realized how amazing shewas when my cousin published her journal two years ago.” says Daly.

The CD will be available commercially in June. In conjunction with the CD release, the group will perform at Dizzy’s Club Coca-Cola, nightly from June 21st through the 25th at 11pm in New York City.

Six time winner of the Downbeat Critic’s Poll “Talent Deserving Wider Recognition” and winner of the Jazz Journalist Association “Baritone Sax of the Year ’05” category, Claire Daly travels worldwide, performing as a bandleader and sideperson. Steve Hudson is a pianist and composer based in New York City whose style embraces the history of jazz, blues, folk, and modern classical music, all with a free spirited love of improvisation. His latest release,“Galactic Diamonds,” features Hudson’s genre bending compositions for violin, cello, piano, and drums.

Full schedule of Steve Hudson/Claire Daly events at the Juneau Festival:

Sunday, May 15
2 pm- Family Concert
7:30 pm- Puttin’ on the Ritz- 2nd set of 2-set show. (1st will be classical)

Monday, May 16
7-8 pm- Lecture at City Museum (“Meet the Composers”)

Tuesday, May 17
10:30- Radio Interview- Capital Chat w/ Sharon Gaiptman- KINY Radio

Wed, May 18
8:30-10am – DZ Middle School Jazz Band

Friday, May 20
3pm- Radio Interview KTOO
8pm- “Mary Joyce Project: Nothing To Lose” at McPhetres Hall

 

by on


Pianist Chie Sato Roden & chamber jazz ensemble Fire in July announce the release of their CD “Streetcar Journey,” featuring the music of beloved American film composer Alex North (1910-1991) and his magnificent, jazz-inflected score to the 1951 classic “A Streetcar Named Desire.” The CD, released April 15, 2011 on the Married Fox Label and available on CDBaby, features Chie Sato Roden, piano, and Fire in July: (Jody Redhage cello, voice, compositions, arrangements; Alan Ferber trombone, compositions; Ken Thomson clarinet, bass clarinet; Tom Beckham vibraphone; Fred Kennedy drums & percussion). Roden and Fire in July aim to tour their multimedia performance supporting the album throughout the US in 2011-12.

Chie Sato Roden, a passionate proponent of new American and Japanese solo piano repertoire, was investigating potential new pieces to program when she happened upon a 30 minute suite of sequences from Alex North’s “Streetcar” film score, arranged for solo piano by North himself. Roden fell in love with the suite of nine sequences—this was moody and evocative music, in turn languid and gritty, and remarkable as the first major film music to pull heavily on the jazz sounds of the south. Roden formulated a vision to expand the 30-minute solo suite to an evening-length performance of varied textures and instrumental colors, by having arrangements of the solo piano sequences made for chamber ensemble, as well as commissioning original compositions inspired by North’s film score and Tennessee Williams’ play as interludes between the North movements. Roden, and composers Alan Ferber and Jody Redhage have worked together to collaboratively create the concert-length project Streetcar Journey, performed live as a multi-media event with projected still images from the classic movie starring Marlon Brando and Vivien Leigh. Evoking in turn lazy southern afternoons and languid romance, versus the grit, intensity, and struggle of urban and industrial life in the mid-twentieth century deep south, Streetcar Journey celebrates the genius of one of America’s most beloved playwrights and one of America’s most beloved film score composers, re-imagined through the lens of 21st century chamber jazz performance.

Roden, who “pushes contemporary music beyond the confines of a restricted genre” (Japanese music critic, Yuji Numata), received the Ibla Contemporary Performance Award in 1998 and she now serves as a member of the Board of Directors for the Ibla Foundation. She has issued two CDs, featuring the works of contemporary Japanese and American composers, under the ALM label in Japan.

Called an “adventurous cello songstress” by Time Out NY, and now a member of Grammy nominated Esperanza Spalding’s band, Jody Redhage (cellist, composer, and vocalist) has a passion for setting 20th and 21st century American poetry into art song, and she principally composes for her ensemble Fire in July.  Redhage’s compositions meld the detail and finesse of chamber music with the energy and drive of jazz improvisation and more popular genres. With tinges of Medieval chanson and hints of Weill, Redhage creates a captivating blend of genres that comes across as her unique voice.

Known internationally as a jazz trombonist and composer, Alan Ferber is a member of the Asphalt Orchestra and leads four of his own ensembles: the Nonet, Nonet with Strings, his Big Band, and a Quartet. His new recording, Chamber Songs, received four stars in Downbeat and was included in their “Best of 2010” list. Alan has recorded and toured with a vast array of artists including Charlie Hunter, Don Byron, Kenny Wheeler, Sufjan Stevens, and Toshiko Akiyoshi, and is on faculty at the Peabody Conservatory and Montclair State University.

by on
Pianist Jenny Lin

Greenwich House Music School (GHMS) is pleased to present a not to be missed all-Ligeti program by one of today’s most respected young pianists, Jenny Lin, on Thursday, March 31 at 8 p.m. Hailed as “brilliant” and “beautifully attentive” (Anthony Tommasini, The New York Times), Lin will perform ten of György Ligeti’s Études pour piano (1985-2001), as well as his Continuum for Harpsichord (1968), and Musica ricercata (1951-3).

The concert is presented as part of the 25th anniversary season of North River Music – one of New York City’s first concert series devoted to new and experimental music and founded by Frank Wigglesworth in 1985. The concert will be followed by a reception. The concert will be held at Renee Weiler Concert Hall, Greenwich House Music School, 46 Barrow Street (between Bedford St. & 7th Ave. S), NYC. Tickets are $15 General Admission/$10 Students/Seniors – all tickets are payable at the door from 7:30pm. More information is available at (212) 242-4770 or at  www.greenwichhouse.org/programs/arts/music

György Ligeti

Written between 1985 and 2001, Ligeti’s Études pour piano (Book I, 1985; Book II, 1988–94; Book III, 1995–2001) are considered by many as the best piano works of the last 50 years. Combining virtuoso technical problems with new ideas, they draw from such diverse sources as gamelan, one of his favorite jazz pianists, Thelonious Monk, African polyrhythms, Bartók, Conlon Nancarrow, and Bill Evans. Jenny Lin will perform Etudes No. 1,3,4,7,8,11,13,16,17, and 18.

Continuum for harpsichord (1968) was dedicated to the contemporary harpsichordist, Antoinette Vischer. Around the time of writing Continuum, Ligeti turned away from total chromaticism and began to concentrate on rhythm, and the work is described by the composer as “a series of sound impulses in rapid succession which create the impression of continuous sound.”

Musica ricercata (1951-1953) is a set of eleven pieces. Although the ricercata (or ricercar) is an established contrapuntal style (and the final movement of the work is in that form), Ligeti’s title can be interpreted literally as “researched music” or “sought music.” This work captures the essence of Ligeti’s search to construct his own compositional style, and as such foreshadows many of the more radical directions Ligeti would take in the future. Another important feature of the piece is that the composer confines himself to certain pitch classes in each movement, with each subsequent movement having exactly one more pitch class than the last.

Founded by Mary Kingsbury Simkhovitch in 1902, Greenwich House is a nonprofit settlement house which offers cultural and educational programs, social and health services and opportunities for civic involvement to New Yorkers of all ages and backgrounds – from any neighborhood. Greenwich House Music School, located in the historical West Village, provides a wide range of concerts and recitals as well as instructional classes and outreach in NYC’s public schools. With a faculty of about 50 instructors, its has 520 students ranging in ages from 3 years old to seniors — from beginner to advanced — in classes and private lessons, in piano, voice, violin and viola, cello, clarinet, flute, guitar, five-string banjo, saxophone, trumpet, trombone, harp and the Chinese qin, a seven-string plucked instrument. www.greenwichhouse.org

Funding for North River Music is provided, in part, by the New York State Council on the Arts, the Virgil Thomson Foundation, and the Aaron Copland Fund for Music.