Composers Concordance presents a marathon concert entitled ‘Composers Play Composers’
on Sun., Jan. 31, 2010 – 6PM doors, 7-10PM performance.
Drom
85 Avenue A (between 5th & 6th), New York, NY
212-777-1157.
Live visuals by Astrid Steiner (luma.launisch) and media by Carmen Kordas.

The 23 composers, chosen by a somewhat “random criterion” from an initial list of 150 are: Roger Blanc, Thomas Bo, Luis Andrei Cobo, Charles Coleman, Dan Cooper, Larry Goldman, David Gotay, Patrick Grant, Franz Hackl, Don Hagar, Arthur Kampela, Alon Nechushtan, Daniel Palkowski, Milica Paranosic, Akmal Parwez, Joseph Pehrson, Gene Pritsker, Paola Prestini, Jody Redhage, Kamala Sankaram, William Schimmel, Andrew Violette, and Theodore Wiprud.

This concert, in collaboration with VisionIntoArt, will consist of a 3 hour performance with 23 composers playing their own works. The marathon will have 3 sets with 2 short 10 minute breaks.

Each set will start off with a trio composed by Franz Hackl, trumpet, Charles Coleman, baritone voice and Gene Pritsker on electric guitar. Works and composers featured in the marathon include Arthur Kampela playing and strumming the cello like a guitar, Joseph Pehrson’s piece for piano based on a Beatles song, a composition by Dan Cooper for 7-string electric bass, piano and percussion, a piece for voice and berimbau by Milica Paranosic, a work for soprano sax and piano by Alon Nechushtan, a piece for voice and electronics by Kamala Sankaram and a piano piece by Luis Andrei Cobo.Gene Pritsker, Composers Concordance co-director talks about the concept for this presentation:

“We are exploring the relationship composers have with their instruments and how they go about writing music in which they know that they will be the performer. Dan Cooper and I talked about assembling a large group of composers and requesting a four minute composition from each. We are programming them back-to-back in a marathon setting and constructing a performance that highlights the composer as a performer: short compositions as vehicles for direct expression, from the composer’s mind to body to the audience.”

On the selection of composers: “We selected 150 composers and e-mailed them all on a secretly chosen day and time. The first 23 to respond to this e-mail were programmed for the event. We created a random criterion as opposed to a competition for choosing the participating composers, though all 150 candidates were composers whom we, the Composers Concordance directors, knew and respected.”

Tickets are $10 with a mandatory 2-drink minimum.