The Extended Piano Festival In New York

From EMF Productions:

THE EXTENDED PIANO FESTIVAL: WORKS FOR THE DISKLAVIER
April 1-3, 2011 at White Box, 329 Broome St., NYC

Performances by Luke DuBois (Premiere), Lukas Ligeti (Premiere), Veniero Rizzardi (U.S. Premiere), Miya Masaoka, And Elliott Sharp On April 1
Steve Horowitz’s Release Party For Stations of the Breath On April 2. Installations Of Works by Dan Becker, Anthony Coleman, Fred Frith, Annie Gosfield, Seth Horvitz, Dafna Natalli, Veniero Rizzardi, Frank Rothkamm, Carl Stone, Hans Tammen, And More On April 2 & 3

Presented by Electronic Music Foundation, The Extended Piano Festival presents a series of concerts and installations highlighting the unique and rarely composed-for Disklavier. A robotic, MIDI controlled, grand piano, the Disklavier allows composers to create works with techniques and dynamics beyond human capabilities and to be presented without a performer. These characteristics make it an instrument challenging for composers and particularly qualified for installed works.

On Friday, April 1 at 8 p.m., Elliott Sharp will curate an evening of old and new works for the Disklavier, displaying the instrument’s wide range of possibilities. The evening will feature:
* Luke DuBois: Equilibrium (Premiere). The work is an attempt to leverage the Disklavier to generate a visual language that corresponds to performative action.
* Lukas Ligeti: Premiere
* Stefano Bassanese’s Arbelos (U.S. Premiere), performed by Veniero Rizzardi with Jenny Lin on piano.
* Elliott Sharp: Nolnoc for bass clarinet, Disklavier, and electronics. Originally performed at the first Extended Piano Festival curated by Sharp at the Knitting Factory in 1996, the work is a tribute to Conlon Nancarrow, whose pioneering work on piano rolls paved the way for such instruments as the Disklavier.
* Miya Masaoka: Balls, an arrangement for Laser Koto, Disklavier and extra large Ping Pong balls. Originally commissioned by pianist Kathleen Supové in 2007, the work is based on the bouncing, rolling, and ricocheting of balls, both on a surface and inside the piano on the strings.

On Saturday, April 2nd at 8 p.m., Steve Horowitz will celebrate the release of Stations of the Breath: Music for Disklavier (2010) – a disc highlighting the composer’s activities on the Yamaha Disklavier, both in solo performance/composition and in duet settings. Live performers include Dave Eggar on cello, Elliott Sharp on guitar/bass clarinet, and Michael Evans on percussion. “The moods are straightforward, the ideas are right on the surface, and the execution is well worth experiencing” (Sequenza21).

In addition to the two nights of performances, Sharp and Horowitz will curate a body of installed works for the Disklavier to be presented for audiences to visit at their leisure during daytime hours, on April 2 & 3. These will include pieces by composers Dan Becker, Anthony Coleman, Fred Frith, Annie Gosfield, Seth Horvitz, Dafna Natalli, Veniero Rizzardi, Frank Rothkamm, Carl Stone, Hans Tammen, and more.

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