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From Portland Eye and Ear Control:

Tuesday, March 15, 2011: John Butcher (London; saxophones) and Gino Robair (San Francisco; percussion) at WorkSound (sliding scale – $5-15)
The Creative Music Guild is proud to present an evening of new music by world-class improvising musicians John Butcher (London; saxophones) and Gino Robair (San Francisco; percussion).

The Butcher/Robair duo is an established partnership of master musicians. These veteran improvisors play wildly creative music that runs the gamut from ecstatic to deadly serious, from contemplative to caustic. Butcher and Robair are visionaries in the innovative techniques and sheer musicality they bring to their instruments.

Image by andynew via Flickr

From Improvised Communications:

Guitarist/composer Mary Halvorson and her longstanding trio, featuring bassist John Hébert and drummer Ches Smith, will spend the first half of April on tour across Europe.

The group will be playing music from Ms. Halvorson’s two most recent releases, Dragon’s Head and Saturn Sings, both on Firehouse 12 Records, as well as previewing new music for her next record to be recorded in July.

Here’s the current itinerary:

01 April :: Stadthalle Germering (Germering, Germany)
02 April :: Birdland Neuberg (Neuberg, Germany)
03 April :: Galerie Maerz (Linz, Austria)
05 April :: Cankariev Dom (Ljubljana, Slovenia)
06 April :: Espace 1785 (Saint Ouen, France)
07 April :: Venue TBA (Geneva, Switzerland)
08 April :: Grand Theatre Groningen (Groningen, The Netherlands)
09 April :: Jazzkeller Sauschdall (Ulm, Germany)
10 April :: Jazzkeller-Hofheim (Hofheim, Germany)
14 April :: Teatro Fondamento Nuove (Venice, Italy)
15 April :: The Barge (Belfast, Northern Ireland)
16 April :: Rex Kulturni Centar (Belgrade, Serbia)

Related articles

• Mary Halvorson Trio To Tour Europe In April (improvisedcommunications.com)
• Mary Halvorson To Play Three NYC Shows With Ches Smith & These Arches (improvisedcommunications.com)
• At Length: Mary Halvorson Interview (improvisedcommunications.com)
• Mary Halvorson Featured At PopMatters.com (improvisedcommunications.com)

From the S.E.M. Ensemble:

The Orchestra of the S.E.M Ensemble and Ostravská banda join forces at Zankel Hall at Carnegie Hall, April 13, 2011

Works by John Cage, Petr Kotik, and György Ligeti
Premieres by Carolyn Chen, Luca Francesconi and Alex Mincek

Featuring violinist Hana Kotková and pianists
Daan Vandewalle and Joseph Kubera in their Zankel Hall debuts

Release party for Ostravská banda on Tour Double CD
with performance by Ostravská banda
at Bohemian National Hall on April 15

The Orchestra of the S.E.M. Ensemble and the international chamber orchestra Ostravská banda – both founded and directed by Petr Kotik – join forces for an evening of rarely performed classics and world premieres by emerging composers at Zankel Hall on Wednesday, April 13, 2011 (7:30 p.m.). Highlights include acclaimed Belgian pianist Daan Vandewalle in György Ligeti’s Concerto for Piano and Orchestra; award-winning Czech violinist Hana Kotková in the N.Y. premiere of Luca Francesconi’s Riti neurali; and long-time John Cage’s collaborator Joseph Kubera in Cage’s Concert for Piano and Orchestra. The program also features world premieres by two young and up-and-coming composers – Carolyn Chen’s Wilder Shores of Love and Alex Mincek’s Pendulum #7—and Kotik’s own In Four Parts, 3, 6 & 11 (for John Cage). Kotik will conduct The Orchestra of the S.E.M. Ensemble as well as Ostravská banda.

Related articles

• Music Review: A Work’s Long Road to New York (nytimes.com)