Many contemporary composers have been described as iconoclasts but few really are the rugged individualists they are often portrayed as being. Harry Partch(1901 – 1974) may be one of the rare exceptions. Influenced by his study and interpretation of ancient musical models, Partch decided to firmly break with the European musical tradition. He devised his own tuning system with a microtonal division of the octave into forty three notes and then designed and built a whole series of instruments to utilize his tuning. His music was influenced by ancient music, folk traditions from around the world and the dramatic inflections and gesturing of the human voice. His music does not have that “out of tune” quality that many often experience with microtonal music. This is largely due to Partch’s music being primarily based on rhythmic and melodic gestures rather than chord progressions surrounding a melody. Partch’s work was not just about his tuning system and his instruments, it was about his re-imagining of music itself.
Harry Partch commented that his work was like ancient ritual but in modern terms. He often used the word corporeal to describe his work and I have to admit that even after several decades of listening to his music that I didn’t really appreciate what that meant. It wasn’t until I watched a DVD of a performance of his piece “Delusion of Fury” that my appreciation of his work really started to click. For Partch, like many non-European cultures every aspect of the physical performance of his music was as important as the sonic result. I would recommend that readers take advantage of things like Vimeo and YouTube to see, as well as hear live staged performances of his work.
Partch wrote “The Bewitched”in the early 1950’s. He described it as a ballet satire. The piece has only been produced a few times. It is ten scenes based on everyday American life plus a prologue and epilogue. The story revolves around the idea that the world needs a serious dose of reality and that a witch goes around and appears in each of the scenes using her ancient magic to deliver a much needed bit of self-awareness to each of these everyday situations.
This recording of “The Bewitched” is a binaural recording from 1980 at the Berlin Festival. For full effect use your headphones or ear buds to get a sense of what it must have been like to be sitting in the audience for this performance. As you can see from the video clip from this performance, the ensemble, the soloists and the dancers are all together on the same stage, all completely engaged in Partch’s ritual. And as you can hear the ensemble gave quite a spirited performance!
In addition to releasing “The Bewitched” Nuema has re-released a very rare recording of Partch’s “U.S. Highball”. It is a work from 1943 and is the story of a transcontinental hobo trip set in Partch’s unique speech music style. It’s a story Partch knew well, as he lived the hobo lifestyle for many years. This recording of “U.S. Highball” is from 1946 and was originally released by Partch on his own label in an edition of 100 records on red vinyl. It’s a really interesting performance and a rare glimpse into one of Partch’s earliest works. Both recordings are highly recommended !
There have been many technical and technological innovations in music since 1945 but one of the most important aesthetic innovations has been in new ideas that focus on listening. Innovators like Pierre Schaeffer proposed the idea of reduced listening – an attitude in which sound is listened to for its own sake as a sound object, removed from its source. John Cage invited listeners to hear any sound as music. Pauline Oliveros encouraged listeners to actively experience all sounds through a practice she described as “deep listening”. These ideas all contributed to contemporary music’s focus on the experience of sound itself.
Alvin Lucier’s compositions and installations make use of sounds that are often the results of acoustic phenomena. His work focuses our attention and perception on the physical presence of sound interacting within a particular space. Performing Lucier’s compositions requires performers to learn to recognize, activate, play and interact with acoustic phenomena. The Quatuor Bozzini were clearly up for the challenge when they recorded “Alvin Lucier: Navigations”. The album opens with “Disappearances”, a piece that is a single note. That description may sound like it is minimalist to the extreme but to my ears it is a piece rich with development. You hear changes in weight and timbre as each string joins together in unison. The controlled motions of the string’s bows cause phasing and filtering of the sound. The tiny subtle changes in pitch causes beating which reveals pulsating difference tones. Each of these phenomena disappear into one another creating a feeling of movement and making the listener aware of the tiniest changes in pitch and timbre.
The album contains two realizations of “Group Tapper”, a piece that explores room acoustics by having the instrumentalists treat their instruments as percussion. The performers tap on their instruments in various places and reflect the sound coming from their instruments around the room. The recording engineer does a great job of making the room present on this album so that you can really hear how the group’s performance interacts with the room. Placed in between the two realizations of “Group Tapper” is for me the most striking piece on this recording, “Unamuno”. The piece was inspired by early twentieth century Spanish writer Miguel de Unamuno and it was originally written for voices. “Unamuno” is based around four pitches that are continuously arranged into different patterns. It has a probing and questioning kind of vibe to it. The Bozzini’s perform the piece with both strings and their voices. The result is absolutely stunning.
The album finishes with “Navigations for Strings”. At a high level “Navigations for Strings” and “Unamuno” share some of the same types of ingredients. Both pieces are based on four pitches and both make use of slowly changing combinations and difference tones. However, despite these high level similarities the two pieces sound very different. “Navigations for Strings” is a somewhat dark piece in which continuous changes in microtonality, dynamics and tempo create a sound mass that feels like it is becoming a stasis, but it’s continuous changes never allow it to rest. It is a very haunting piece.
With “Alvin Lucier: Naviagtions” the Quatuor Bozzini have gone well beyond the surface of Lucier’s scores and have totally embraced his challenge to performers to be sonic explorers. “Alvin Lucier: Naviagtions” is a wonderful album with captivating performances of one of the most original and innovative experimental composers of our time.
All that dust is a new independent label based in the UK that is dedicated to producing high quality releases of contemporary music. With the help of a Kickstarter campaign they have recently released five recordings. In this initial batch of recordings two of the five are high quality binaural recordings. Binaural recording is a recording technique that aims to create a 3-D stereo sound field that represents the listening experience of actually being in the room during the performance. It is best experienced with headphones or ear buds. Binaural recording is a very effective way of capturing the experience of a performance where there is a live performer(s) with multichannel tape/electronic accompaniment.
ATD4 is “Philomel” a serial composition from 1964 by Milton Babbitt that utilizes recorded synthesizer with both live and recorded soprano voice. The piece is one of the earliest works to use the synthesizer and is considered to be Babbitt’s best-known work. Its text is taken from a poem by John Hollander and its three sections are based on Ovid’s myth of Philomela. A tale of a women who is the sister in-law of a king whom rapes her. The king has her tongue cut out so that she cannot talk and then imprisons her. Her sister discovers the truth and helps Philomel escape. As they are pursued by the king the gods intervene and transform her sister Procne into a swallow, the king into a hoopoe and Philomel into a nightingale. The piece is a dramatic representation of Philomel’s transformation.
Babbitt used synthesizer and voices in a four-channel tape accompaniment to try and make the listener feel trapped in the music, as a way of conveying Philomela’s inability to escape her fate. The four channels act as a moving sound ensemble. The music is both very rhythmic and colorful with a great range of synthesized timbres and with a very demanding virtuoso part for soprano voice. The pieces mood is tentative and shattered but despite the stories horror the music is never sentimental in its anger or sorrow. As the piece progresses the mood shifts more to bewilderment at the transformation that is taking place.
On this recording “Philomel” is beautifully performed by soprano Juliet Fraser. Her voice is very expressive, with great tone and incredible control. She is not simply singing to a recording but is actively interacting with a four-channel ensemble. Fraser is able to make this performance feel as if she is driving this ensemble while bringing this piece to life. Juliet Fraser is an accomplished performer of early music and new music. She has performed with many ensembles and has recorded for Hat Hut, Neos, Kairos and many other labels. Fraser is also one of the principles of All that dust.
ATD5 is “La Fabbrica Illuminata” it is a powerful work for voice(mezzo-soprano) and four-channel tape from 1964 by Luigi Nono. This binaural recording captures a fantastic performance by mezzo-soprano Loré Lixenberg. Lixenberg is an accomplished voice in contemporary and experimental music giving more than a thousand performances around the globe. Her voice has a beautiful tone that is rich with both power and subtlety. Lixenberg has performed with many of the world’s leading ensembles including the Ensemble InterContemporain, BBC Symphony, Berlin Philharmonic and the Tokyo Philharmonic.
“La Fabbrica Illuminata” came out of Nono’s work on a large-scale musical theater project depicting the conditions of factory workers. It utilizes texts by Guilaino Scabia and a fragment of Cesare Pavese’s poem “Due poesie a T.” The mezzo-soprano voice sings a commentary on situations that are represented by the tape as it illuminates the conditions of factory work. The tape’s sound scenes are meant to represent the injustice and unfairness of capitalism to the working classes. While this description may make it sound like this piece is just some 60’s agitprop, it is not. It is much more than that. “La Fabbrica Illuminata” is a highly original piece that surrounds the listener with sonic scenes that can be dramatic, poignant and hopeful. Even if you do not understand the language of the voices or appreciate the sentiment of the texts, the drama and intensity of the piece is clear.
“La Fabbrica Illuminata” is structured in three sections. The first section slowly builds from fragments and chants with the soloist appearing and disappearing while singing fragments of the texts. The section slowly builds up to an industrial crescendo. The second section is more reflective, often mysterious or dream like. The live voice sings while surrounded primarily by electronically processed voices occasionally punctuated by echoes of the illuminated factory. In the final section the tape is silent and the solo voice sings and intones verses taken from Pavese’s poem. Leaving us with a little bit of hope for the future as she sings “ … it will not be so always you will find something “.
In “La Fabbrica Illuminata” the listener is surrounded by sonic scenes that move into and out of one another. At times it can be dramatic or mysterious or even surreal. The four-channel tape makes use of electronic sounds, concrete sounds of factory noises as well as voices that go through multiple transformations. Sounds move around the space to create distance and depth. As sound masses move into and out of one another it is as if we hearing sonic thoughts enter, unfold, transform and dissipate as another group appears. Nono wanted the listener to feel as if they were inside the sounds and to confuse them so that they are unsure of where the sounds are coming from. The experience of listening to this binaural recording on headphones achieves that. There is a wide dynamic range on this recording so don’t crank the volume up to much the first time you listen to it.
Binaural recordings are a unique way to present multi-channel works. In this time where so much music is listened to in the personal space of ear buds, binaural recordings provide the listener with a unique 3-D listening experience. For those of you that are afraid of Babbitt’s reputation as a serial composer of extreme mathematically based music, or Nono’s much maligned reputation as a composer of leftist agitprop, check your assumptions at the door and put on your ear buds and enjoy two of the twentieth century’s most spectacular sonic dramas.
Friday, March 23, 8:30pm
The supremely gifted cellist Frances-Marie Uitti makes a rare Los Angeles appearance for the debut of Michael Jon Fink’s new cello concerto, written especially for her pioneering technique of playing with two bows simultaneously, and chamber ensemble. Known for a prodigious career of dismantling longstanding musical boundaries, Uitti follows with another world premiere by Greg Moore, and works by Lisa Bielawa, Jonathan Harvey, Giacinto Scelsi, Karen Tanaka, and Ken Ueno, most written for Uitti’s incredible interpretations. REDCAT, Located in the Walt Disney Concert Hall complex, 631 West 2nd St., downtown Los Angeles | $20 / $16 students
Friday, March 23, 9pm
Beyond Baroque presents Beyond Music series with wildUP! – Brooklyn to LA. : New music from one coast to the other coast: Brooklyn/ LA featuring music by Timo Andres, Art Jarvinen, Chris Kallmyer, Missy Mazzoli, Andrew Norman, Andrew Tholl, and Frederic Rzewski. The music of right now, right this very moment, is being created in basements and recorded in living rooms in high definition. wildUP! : their music is raw, unabashed, and they made it themselves. wildUp! presents two concerts about the music being composed now in LA and Brooklyn. Beyond Baroque, 681 Venice Blvd., Venice | $15 advance / $20 door
Saturday, March 24, 3pm
Beyond Baroque presents Beyond Music series with wildUP! – Brooklyn to LA. : New music from one coast to the other coast: Brooklyn/ LA featuring music by Timo Andres, Art Jarvinen, Chris Kallmyer, Missy Mazzoli, Andrew Norman, Andrew Tholl, and Frederic Rzewski. The music of right now, right this very moment, is being created in basements and recorded in living rooms in high definition. wildUP! : their music is raw, unabashed, and they made it themselves. wildUp! presents two concerts about the music being composed now in LA and Brooklyn. Beyond Baroque, 681 Venice Blvd., Venice | $15 advance / $20 door
Saturday March 24, 7pm
Orange County Center for Contemporary Art presents the closing event of GOTHIC, with music by Trestles (electronics +), Toaster Music, and The League of Vampiric Bards. OCCCA, 117 N. Sycamore St., Santa Ana | Free
Saturday, March 24, 8pm (7:30pm pre-concert talk)
Southwest Chamber Music continues their Cage 2012 Celebration with a concert featuring John Cage works including Lecture on the Weather, Score (40 Drawings by Thoreau), and 23 Parts. Zipper Concert Hall at the Colburn School, 200 South Grand Ave., downtown Los Angeles | $38 / $28 seniors / $10 students
Saturday, March 24, 8pm
Music at Boston Court presents the Thies-Krajacic Project: Spontaneous Inventions. Featured performers of the TKP are Damjan Krajacic (flute), Robert Edward Thies (piano), Michael Valerio (bass), and Steven Schaeffer (drums). Boston Court Performing Arts Center, 70 North Mentor Ave., Pasadena | $25 / $20 seniors and students
Saturday, March 24, 8pm
Pomona College Faculty Chamber Music presents Annabel Guaita (piano) and Alfred Cramer (violin) in a concert of Music of Norway, selections by 20th-century atonal polyphonic composer Fartein Valen and others. Pomona College, Bridges Hall of Music, 150 E. 4th St., Claremont | Free
Saturday, March 24, 8:30pm
The Los Angeles new music high-fliers meet up with the godfather of techno Morton Subotnick for a live revisit to the electronic music pioneer’s iconic works, rendered with new technology. From the landmark Silver Apples of the Moon (1966) to A Sky of Cloudless Sulphur (1977), Subotnick worked with Buchla synthesizers and tape recorders to create new electronic works meant for the home environment—and later adapted his music for live performance. Now equipped with Ableton Live on his Mac and the new Buchla 200e, he performs with the California E.A.R. Unit—collaborators since 1980—and draws on elements of Silver Apples and Sky in an evening of “spontaneous performance and decision-making.” REDCAT, Located in the Walt Disney Concert Hall complex, 631 West 2nd St., downtown Los Angeles | $20 / $16 students
Sunday, March 25, 1pm (12:30 load in)
SASSAS and the Center for the Arts Eagle Rock present soundShoppe, a monthly unstructured sound workshop/noise jam for experimental musicians and sound artists. soundShoppe offers a means by which sound artists can hangout on a regular basis and informally explore their medium together. soundShoppe offers experienced sound musicians an opportunity experiment with different instrumentations and approaches and play outside of their comfort zone. soundShoppe also presents the opportunity for novice sound artists to interact with more experienced ones. Center for the Arts, Eagle Rock, 2225 Colorado Blvd., Eagle Rock | Free
Sunday, March 25, 8pm
the wulf presents Casey Anderson: Solo, Many, All – two new pieces (solo live electronics, the other participatory) concluding with an open discussion based on a prompt. The event will shift from an exclusive format (solo) to one in which everyone present is placed on an equal playing field (all). The live electronics piece is rooted around Anderson’s current interest in instrument design for/around chaotic data networks, while the participatory piece is based on a poem about a poem about a painting owned by a poet, and will feature something like writing, breathing, tearing paper (etc.). Concluding the event will be an open discussion on exclusivity. the wulf, 1026 South Santa Fe Ave. #203, downtown Los Angeles | donations accepted
Monday, March 26, 8pm
Monday Evening Concerts presents Jazz Encounters, music as extreme action; music rooted in popular styles. This concert will feature pieces by Stefan Wolpe (Quartet for Trumpet, Tenor Saxophone, Percussion and Piano)(Piece for Oboe, Cello, Percussion, and Piano), Evan Johnson (ground), Peter Ablinger (Parker Notch), Peter Ablinger (weiss/weisslich 4), and Evan Johnson (Supplement), performed by Daniel Rosenboom (trumpet), Eliot Gattegno (saxophone), Nicholas Terry (percussion), Vicki Ray (piano),
Gareth Davis (clarinet), Ariana Ghez (oboe), Jason Lippmann (cello), and Donald Crockett (conductor). Zipper Concert Hall at the Colburn School, 200 South Grand Ave., downtown Los Angeles | $27
Tuesday, March 27, 7pm
The Athenaeum Music & Arts Library and San Diego New Music present the Formalist Quartet in concert. This evening’s program will feature pieces by Harold Budd (String Quartet 2001), Toru Takemitsu (Landscape 1), Leos Janacek (String Quartet No. 1), and others. The Formalist Quartet is Andrew Tholl (violin), Mark Menzies (violin, viola), Andrew McIntosh (violin, viola), and Ashley Walters (cello), who will perform this evening with special guest Phoebe Jevtovic Rosquist (soprano). Athenaeum Music & Arts Library, 1008 Wall St., La Jolla | $25 members / $30 non-member, available here
Tuesday, March 27, 8pm
Keith Jarrett: An Evening of Solo Piano Improvisations. Experience the music of Keith Jarrett in the pristine acoustics of Walt Disney Concert Hall as he celebrates the release of Rio, one of the finest live solo recordings of his career. <a href=”Walt Disney Concert Hall, 111 South Grand Ave., downtown Los Angeles | $43 to $150, available here
Thursday, March 29, 7pm
The Last Bookstore presents the End of Quarter Blowout, A multi-level event in which performances flow through three conjoined floors of the Spring Arts Tower (The Crocker Club, The Last Bookstore (natch), and the Mezzanine. Featuring!: Double G and the daKAH Orchestra, NineNet, Killsonic, Poetry Noise Orchestra, and HMS Soundsystem with special guests Robert F. Leng and Tom Steck of Other Criteria, multiple smaller esnsembles, theater installation curated by Poor Dog Group, and a diverse collection of friends and contributors of The Last Bookstore. The Last Bookstore, 453 S. Spring St. (ground floor), downtown Los Angeles | Free
Thursday, March 29, 8pm
Giacomo Fiore will present a night of recent music for classical and just intonation guitar, with and without live electronics and other trickeries. Works by Lou Harrison, Larry Polansky, Ron Nagorcka, and Toshio Hosokawa. Born in Italy in 1983, Giacomo has been playing and studying music in the U.S. since 2003. He lives in San Francisco and looks forward to his debut at the wulf. the wulf, 1026 South Santa Fe Ave. #203, downtown Los Angeles | donations accepted
Thursday, March 22, 8pm OutSound presents the Luggage Store New Music Series, this week featuring a set at 8pm with Sarah Elena Palmer (vocals, processing), and at 9pm with Ann/Marianne, featuring Ann O’Rourke (cymbals, drums, found objects, effects) and Marianne Tomita McDonald (Scottish harp). Luggage Store Gallery, 1007 Market St. (@ 6th St.), San Francisco | $6-10
Thursday, March 22, 8pm
CNMAT presents pianist and Regent’s Lecturer Gloria Cheng in a performance, demonstration, and discussion of new works for piano and live electronics. The pieces have been composed for this occasion by UC Berkeley graduate composers Sivan Eldar, Dan Van Hassel, and Jen Wang. CNMAT, University of California Berkeley, 1750 Arch St., Berkeley | Free
Friday, March 23, 6:30pm
In 1975, California-based Dutch Conceptual artist Bas Jan Ader disappeared under mysterious circumstances at sea while attempting to cross the Atlantic in a small craft. Filmmaker Rene Daalder uses this story as the basis for a sweeping overview of contemporary art and an epic saga of the transformative powers of the ocean in his 2008 film Here is Always Somewhere Else: The Life of Bas Jan Ader. Before the screening, immerse yourself in a recording of ARP’s meditative electronic musical work Odyssey (For Bas Jan Ader). In conjunction with the exhibition State of Mind: New California Art circa 1970. Berkeley Art Museum, 2626 Bancroft Way, Berkeley | Free to $7
Friday, March 23, 8pm Artists’ Television Access presents an evening of electroacoustic audio-visual improvisation with Bill Hsu (electronics, interactive animation), Tony Dryer (contrabass), Jacob Felix Heule (percussion), and special guests from Norway. Artists’ Television Access, 992 Valencia St., San Francisco | $6-10
Friday, March 23, 8pm
Open Sound West at CNMAT presents Jacob Zimmerman’s Lawson and Zachary Watkins’ Positively Right On. The Lawson Ensemble, formed in the fall of 2009, features Jacob Zimmerman (alto sax), Theo Padouvas (trumpet), Rob Ewing (trombone), Michael Coleman and Dan VanHassel (keyboards), and Dan Good (electronics and trumpet). Positively Right On by Zachary James Watkins is a new work written for Ava Mendoza and John Shiurba who are also the performers (electric guitars). CNMAT, University of California Berkeley, 1750 Arch St., Berkeley | $10 / $5 UC Berkeley students
Friday, March 23, 9pm
Free Jazz/Free Punk band, LIBERTAS, will be performing live at The Starry Plough. Also performing will be THE ECONOMEN (MINUTEMAN tribute) and BRIAN KENNY FRESNO. Starry Plough, 3101 Shattuck Ave. (@ Prince), Berkeley |
Saturday, March 24, 1pm
Sculpting Air – Vocal Workshop: Theresa Wong will lead a workshop exploring the voice through raising awareness of the body. During the workshop, the following topics will be explored: using the breath, singing long tones, awareness of body tension, the location of vibration frequencies and creating sounds via focusing awareness on the body. Simple games of conducting via free movement gestures will be used to generate vocal sounds including textures, melodies, text and noises to allow the voice to take flight into its infinite expressive qualities. To reserve a spot, email tree_wong (at) yahoo.com. Berkeley Arts Festival, 2133 University Ave., Berkeley | $30-60 sliding
Saturday, March 24, 4pm Heavy Disciplne and Good Bellies Cafe present a double bill Saturday, with Aram Shelton (reeds) and Mark Clifford (vibes), along with Retro Blue, a new band with Jim Ryan (vocals, sax, flute) and Esten LIndgren (double bass). Good Bellies Cafe, 4659 Telegraph Ave. (@46th), Oakland | donations encouraged
Saturday, March 24, 8pm
The Swarm Gallery presents an evening with India Cooke (violin) and Cloud Shepherd – Andrew Joron (theremin), Brian Lucas (electric bass/tapes), Joseph Noble (flutes/reeds), Mark Pino (‘cloud kit’ percussion) share their experiences in sonic space travel. Swarm Gallery, 560 2nd Street (Jack London Sq. area), Oakland | sliding scale
Saturday, March 24, 8pm
Cal Performances, CNMAT and the Department of Music present the Eco Ensemble, UC Berkeley’s professional performance group dedicated to new music by established and emerging composers. Featured on this evening’s program is Martin Matalon (Tunneling), Liza Lim (Songs Found in Dream), Aaron Einbond (What the Blind See), and Nico Muhly (Clear Music). University of California Berkeley, Hertz Hall, Berkeley | tickets start at $30, available here
Saturday, March 24, 10:30pm
Yoshi’s San Francisco presents the Eric McFadden Trio, in concert. Thoughout his illustrious career, singer, songwriter and guitarist Eric McFadden has steadfastly rebuked the Sirens of commerce, instead heeding the fearless, uncompromising Muses inside his head. Yoshi’s San Francisco, 1330 Fillmore St., San Francisco | $18
Sunday, March 25, 4:30pm ODC Dance Commons will host San Francisco Contemporary Music Players: Contemporary Insights: Music and Conversation, as they perform Katharina Rosenberger’s scatter 2.0. Scored for flute, clarinet, violin, cello, piano and percussion, scatter 2.0 is the ensemble’s first performance of music by this innovative composer. Katharina Rosenberger will visit San Francisco to discuss her work with Steven Schick and the audience at this event, as well as at the pre-concert talk the following evening, Monday, March 26, 8:00 p.m. at Herbst Theatre. ODC Dance Commons, 351 Shotwell Street (between 17th and 18th Streets), San Francisco | $10
Sunday, March 25, 7:30pm OutSound presents the SIMM Series, featuring at 7:30, the duo of Kyle Bruckmann (oboe, English horn, electronics) and Lance Grabmiller. At 8:30pm, the Mirror Trio (sextet) will perform, featuring Jacob Felix Heule, Tony Dryer & Guro Skumsnes Moe (contrabass), and Håvard Skaset. Musicians Union Hall, 116 9th St. (@ Mission), San Francisco | $10 / $8
Monday, March 26, 7pm
Nebraska Mondays at Luna’s Cafe presents the Know Hassell Project with Foothill Jazz Trio. Nebraska Mondays is the weekly underground jazz/electronic/poetic/creative music spot, hosted by Ross Hammond. Luna’s Cafe, 1414 16th St., Sacramento | $5-20 sliding
Monday, March 26, 8pm The San Francisco Contemporary Music Players present Zone 4: in which momentum and position co-exist within the physicality of a musical performance. The San Francisco Contemporary Music Players, conducted by Artistic Director Steven Schick, will perform a concert of music by Katharina Rosenberger, Brian Ferneyhough, Olly Wilson, Geoffrey Gordon, and Heinz Holliger. Wilson and Rosenberger will participate in a pre-concert talk at 7:15 p.m., hosted by Schick. Herbst Theatre, 401 Van Ness, San Francisco | $30 / $25 seniors / $10 students box office info
Wednesday, March 28, 7:30pm Tuesdays at Tom’s Place will host the Barney Childs Festival, evening one of a two-day celebration of his music performed by his students and collaborators. Tuesdays at Tom’s Place, 3111 Deakin St., Berkeley | Free, donations requested
Friday, March 16, 9pm
Beyond Baroque presents a special evening of poetry and music, featuring Dottie Grossman (poetry) and Michael Vlatkovich (trombone), with special guest Rich West (drums, percussion). Beyond Baroque, 681 Venice Blvd., Venice | $7
Friday, March 16, 9pm
Angel City Arts and the blue whale present night two of the three-evening residency of Kneebody, featuring Adam Benjamin, Ben Wendel, Kaveh Rastegar, Nate Wood, and Shane Endsley. By combining sophisticated compositions and virtuosic improvising, the Grammy nominated group Kneebody has created a diverse, loyal fan base in the United States and Europe. Founded in 2001, Kneebody has built upon an impressive array of individual resumes and conservatory training to create a truly singular voice within the instrumental world. blue whale, Weller Court, 123 Astronaut E.S. Onizuka St. Ste. 301, downtown Los Angeles | General Admission: $15 / $25 (for 2 nights) $35 (for three nights).
Saturday, March 17, 7:30pm
Russian composer Alexander Scriabin caused a sensation in 1915, staging what was most likely the first multimedia concert in history. Designing a clavier à lumière to project colors onto the stage as it was played, this singular composer pioneered ideas relating colors and musical pitch. Now celebrated Georgian pianist Eteri Andjaparidze and MacArthur “genius” lighting designer Jennifer Tipton explore the legacy of this late Romantic composer through excerpts from his Poeme Languide in B Major and other works, including Feuillet d’Album in F-sharp Major, Opus Posthumous. A pre-concert lecture by Ryan Dudenbostel will be presented at 7:00 pm. The Broad Stage, Santa Monica College Performing Arts Center, 1310 11th St., Santa Monica | $75 / $60 / $47
Saturday, March 17, 8pm
the wulf presents music by Laurence Crane, Tim Parkinson and James Saunders, in a concert of five works by three composers, curated by Christine Tavolacci. The performers will include Eric km Clark, Rory Cowal, Corey Fogel, April Guthrie, Cassia Streb, Christine Tavolacci, Brian Walsh, Tara Boyle, Matt Barbier and Orin Hildestad. the wulf, 1026 South Santa Fe Ave. #203, downtown Los Angeles | donations accepted
Saturday, March 17, 8pm
A vaporous shot of dry ice across a raging inferno gives you a sense of the contrasts of this program, Chill Upon The Heat, presented by Jacaranda. Four highly inventive and utterly different American composers are convened here to make strange sense of the world. Featured on this program will be Christopher Rouse (String Qt. No. 2, No. 3), Leon Kirchner (Five Pieces for Piano), Richard Rodney Bennett (Six Tunes for the Instruction of Singing Birds), and William Schuman (In Sweet Music: Serenade on a setting of Shakespeare). Featured performers will be the Calder Quartet (Benjamin Jacobson, Andrew Bulbrook – violins, Jonathan Moerchel – viola, Eric Byers – cello), Maria Casale (harp), Victoria Miskolczy (viola), Steven Vanhauwaert (piano), Pamela Vliek Martchev (flute), and Suzanne Waters (soprano). First Pres of Santa Monica, 1220 Second St., Santa Monica | $35 general / $15 student
Saturday, March 17, 8:30pm
Now into its second decade of celebrating the beauty that lies “between the keys” of the piano, MicroFest 2012 is the world’s leading concert series devoted to the glorious universe of non-standard tunings. Founded by microtonal guitarist and radio personality JOHN SCHNEIDER in 1997, MicroFest has grown to a festival of eight separate events this year at various venues around Southern California. This evening’s concert will feature Wolfgang von Schweinitz‘s Raga, an exquisite gossamer web of harmonics and finely tuned harmonies for violin and bass, performed by Andrew McIntosh (violin) and Scott Worthington (contrabass). Boston Court Performing Arts Center, 70 North Mentor Ave., Pasadena |$25 advance / $30 door
Saturday, March 17, 9pm
Angel City Arts and the blue whale present night three of the three-evening residency of Kneebody, featuring Adam Benjamin, Ben Wendel, Kaveh Rastegar, Nate Wood, and Shane Endsley. By combining sophisticated compositions and virtuosic improvising, the Grammy nominated group Kneebody has created a diverse, loyal fan base in the United States and Europe. Founded in 2001, Kneebody has built upon an impressive array of individual resumes and conservatory training to create a truly singular voice within the instrumental world. blue whale, Weller Court, 123 Astronaut E.S. Onizuka St. Ste. 301, downtown Los Angeles | General Admission: $15 / $25 (for 2 nights) $35 (for three nights).
Sunday, March 18, 3pm
The Epicenter Music Performance Organization TEMPO presents the CSUN Faculty New Music Ensemble, performing pieces by Daniel Kessner, Roshanne Etezady, Hee Yun Kim, Joanna Bruzdowicz, and Joseph Eidson. The performing artists include David Shostac (flute), Julia Heinen (clarinet), Nancy Roth (violin), Matt Cooker (cello), Aaron Smith (percussion), Francoise Regnat and Dolly Eugenio Kessner (piano), and Daniel Kessner (conductor). Cal State University Northridge, Cypress Hall (Music Building), Recital Hall, 18111 Nordoff St., Northridge | $10 general / $7 faculty, staff, seniors / $5 students
Sunday, March 18, 6pm
A vaporous shot of dry ice across a raging inferno gives you a sense of the contrasts of this program, Chill Upon The Heat, presented by Jacaranda. Four highly inventive and utterly different American composers are convened here to make strange sense of the world. Featured on this program will be Christopher Rouse (String Qt. No. 2, No. 3), Leon Kirchner (Five Pieces for Piano), Richard Rodney Bennett (Six Tunes for the Instruction of Singing Birds), and William Schuman (In Sweet Music: Serenade on a setting of Shakespeare). Featured performers will be the Calder Quartet (Benjamin Jacobson, Andrew Bulbrook – violins, Jonathan Moerchel – viola, Eric Byers – cello), Maria Casale (harp), Victoria Miskolczy (viola), Steven Vanhauwaert (piano), Pamela Vliek Martchev (flute), and Suzanne Waters (soprano). First Pres of Santa Monica, 1220 Second St., Santa Monica | $35 general / $15 student
Sunday, March 18, 7:30pm
Resound! Concert Series presents Cheri Cole (trumpet) and friends, as they perform Terry Riley (In C) and other selections from the 20th and 21st centuries. This performance will have approximately 30 players, consisting of strings, woodwinds, brass, electric instruments, and percussion. Bethel Congregational Church, 536 North Euclid, Ontario | Free
Sunday, March 18, 8pm
Chapman University Faculty Recital series presents Kritina Driskill (soprano), performing a program of modern music, including pieces by Dominick Argento (The Diary of Virginia Woolf), Gary Schocker (Diary of an Urban Maiden), and Alva Henderson (various songs). Chapman University, Salmon Recital Hall, One University Drive, Orange | $10 general / $5 students and seniors
Monday, March 19, 2pm
The Herb Alpert School of Music at CalArts presents Visiting Artist, bassist Mark Dresser, as part of the Performer-Composer Forum. California Institute of the Arts, 24700 McBean Pkwy., Rm. A300, Valencia | Free
Thursday, March 22, 7pm
Rubix invites you to the debut of Culture + Music + Art + Talk, with hors d’oeurves, beer, wine and a special “rubix-tini”. Join LA-based photographer Dana Ross as he interviews prominent artists and musicians as they share their thoughts on the creative process. This evening’s featured artists include John Van Hamersveld (graphic design innovator and icon), Timur & the Dime Museum (avant-garde cabaret act performance), and Shana Nys Dambrot (well-known and respected art critic, curator and author). Rubix Hollywood, 1714 North McCadden Place, Hollywood | RSVP to rsvp (at) shinyobjectco.com
Thursday, March 15, 8pm OutSound presents the Luggage Store New Music Series, this week with Guest Curation by Greedmink in a triple bill featuring Rubber (() Cement, Bran…Pos, and Hora Flora. More information about these three acts is available here. Luggage Store Gallery, 1007 Market St. (@ 6th St.), San Francisco | $6-10 sliding
Thursday, March 15, 8:30pm
El Valenciano will host a three-band Ides Of March Concert, featuring The Tri-Cornered Tent Show, Forward Energy, and Green Alembic. The Tri-Cornered Tent Show is Philip Everett (electrified autoharp), Anthony Flores (drums), Ray Schaffer (electric bass), and Valentina O (voice). Forward Energy features Jim Ryan (flute, saxes, trumpet), Scott R. Looney (piano), Rent Romus (saxes), Eric Marshall (bass), Tim Orr (percussion), and C.J. Borosque (trumpet). Green Alembic is Amber Lamprecht (oboe, flute), Theo Padouvas (trumpet, violin), Jeff Hobbs (alto clarinet, violin, trumpet), Jim Ryan (amplified kalimba, flute, word & image), Bob Marsh (bass), and Sam Ospovat (percussion). El Valenciano Restaurant & Bar, 1153 Valencia St., San Francisco | donations encouraged
Friday, March 16, 6:30pm
Flash back to the early years of BAM/PFA at this celebration of California performance art, presented in conjunction with the exhibition State of Mind: New California Art circa 1970. Three important performance artists revisit works from the early 1970s: Linda Mary Montano meditates in a chicken bed, Jim Melchert does whatever the television tells him to do, and Adam II (the late Paul Cotton) presents “Mystical Body of The Astral-Naught Bride-Groom (Living Sculpture) in Her Present State of Herm-Aphroditic Metamorphosis,” which is exactly what it sounds like. Berkeley Art Museum, 2626 Bancroft Way, Berkeley | Free to $7
Friday, March 16, 7:30pm
SOUNDINGS AT THE INSTRUMENTARIUM: the first of two evenings of soundings and resoundings on an array of invented instruments, featuring: Bart Hopkin – a true guru and established authority on invented and homemade acoustic instruments; Todd Lerew (Friday the 16th ONLY) – on the Quartz Cantabile, a new instrument which uses a principle of thermoacoustics to convert heat into sound; David Samas – our host for the evening, and inventor of an array of instruments which utilize and appropriate natural and found objects. At these events he will be premiering several new instruments, including the Mbira Tree Harp, also with Grace Renaud and Ash Ritter playing the Glass Garden. Turquoise Yantra Grotto, email TurquoiseYantraGrotto@hotmail.com for reservations and address | $10-15 sliding
Friday, March 16, 8pm
Voces del Desierto is a multidisciplinary musical composition inspired by the journey of all those who dare to cross borders in search of a better life. This original and eclectic work merges video, performance art, and instruments made from migrants’ personal belongings found at the Mexico/US border with musical instruments of a traditional wind quintet. Voces del Desierto, an original concept and composition by Guillermo Galindo specifically created for Quinteto Latino, features Diane Grubbe (flutes), Kyle Bruckmann (oboe, English horn), Leslie Tagorda (clarinets), Armando Castellano (French horn), and Shawn Jones (bassoon). MACLA / Movimiento de Arte y Cultura Latino Americana, 510 South 1st St., San Jose | $12 advance / $15 door
Friday, March 16, 8pm
Light A Fire Special: Space in the Jazz Age…an evening of music exploring the DNA of jazz in a post-everything era, with Swarm Intelligence, Grex, and more, featuring Karl Evangelista (guitar,vox), Rei Scampavia (keys, vox), Jordan Glenn (drums), Phillip Greenlief (alto sax), Kasey Knudsen (tenor sax), and Dan Seamans (bass), with Sam Ospovat’s PIKI – a collection of solo pieces, sound tableaux and polyrhythmic songs. Viracocha, 998 Valencia St., San Francisco |
Friday, March 16, 8pm
This performance marks the first collaboration between Laetitia Sonami and James Fei. While the materials and techniques used by the two musicians are distinctly different, both employ tactile interface coupled with electronic systems that exhibit complex behavioral response. Sonami will introduce her new spring-based instrument (un-named and still in progress). She constructed this new “instrument” around a web of springs whose vibrations are analyzed by neural networks (Rebecca Fiebrink’s Wekinator). The results so far are particularly erratic…. Fei’s setup consists of a mix of vintage and self-constructed analog modules. The instrument is driven by multiple feedback loops, often on the brink of instability. Signals are recursively routed through microphones, spring reverb, and between audio and control voltages. Circuit elements are also modified by touch, integrating the non-linearities and the immediacy of the body with the electronic processes. UC Berkeley, Center for New Music and Audio Technologies, 1750 Arch St., Berkeley |
Saturday, March 17, 1pm
Sculpting Air – Vocal Workshop: Theresa Wong will lead a workshop exploring the voice through raising awareness of the body. During the workshop, the following topics will be explored: using the breath, singing long tones, awareness of body tension, the location of vibration frequencies and creating sounds via focusing awareness on the body. Simple games of conducting via free movement gestures will be used to generate vocal sounds including textures, melodies, text and noises to allow the voice to take flight into its infinite expressive qualities. Berkeley Arts Festival, 2133 University Ave., Berkeley | $30-60 sliding, reservations required – email tree_wong (at) yahoo.com
Saturday, March 17, 5pm Heavy Discipline Creative Music Series presents Tracy Hui & Company, bringing together a challenging and artistically stimulating combination of players in improvisational settings. Good Bellies Cafe, 4659 Telegraph Ave (@ 46th), Oakland | donations accepted
Saturday, March 17, 7:30pm
SOUNDINGS AT THE INSTRUMENTARIUM: the second evening of soundings and resoundings on an array of invented instruments, featuring: Bart Hopkin – a true guru and established authority on invented and homemade acoustic instruments; Todd Lerew (Friday the 16th ONLY) – on the Quartz Cantabile, a new instrument which uses a principle of thermoacoustics to convert heat into sound; David Samas – our host for the evening, and inventor of an array of instruments which utilize and appropriate natural and found objects. At these events he will be premiering several new instruments, including the Mbira Tree Harp, also with Grace Renaud and Ash Ritter playing the Glass Garden. Turquoise Yantra Grotto, email TurquoiseYantraGrotto@hotmail.com for reservations and address | $10-15 sliding
Saturday, March 17, 8pm
Saxophonist and composer Larry Ochs and Kihnoua perform music influenced heavily by “the blues” in general and the blues of Korea – an ancient form of music called p’ansori – in particular. BUT what “influence” means here is that you’ll feel the spirit of that music; the actual forms and some of the sounds Ochs and his ensemble ( Dohee Lee – voice, Trevor Dunn – bass, Scott Amendola – drum) use to realize the music are often contemporary in origin. Trinity Chapel, 2320 Dana St., Berkeley | $15 / $10
Saturday, March 17, 8pm
The Pacific Exchange brings composers and performers from diverse areas of the Pacific Rim together in order to exchange ideas and create music on a shared concert stage. Thingamajigs created this event to emphasize the commonalities of artists living on the Pacific Rim, as well as to showcase their diversity. Artists and groups involved in this year’s Pacific Exchange events include Paul Kikuchi (Seattle) and Tide Tables, Tatsuya Nakatani (Japan), Paul Stapleton (L.A.), Gretchen Jude (Oakland) and the Thingamajigs Performance Group (Oakland). Meridian Gallery, 535 Powell St., San Francisco | $10-15
Saturday, March 17, 8pm
Voces del Desierto is a multidisciplinary musical composition inspired by the journey of all those who dare to cross borders in search of a better life. This original and eclectic work merges video, performance art, and instruments made from migrants’ personal belongings found at the Mexico/US border with musical instruments of a traditional wind quintet. Voces del Desierto, an original concept and composition by Guillermo Galindo specifically created for Quinteto Latino, features Diane Grubbe (flutes), Kyle Bruckmann (oboe, English horn), Leslie Tagorda (clarinets), Armando Castellano (French horn), and Shawn Jones (bassoon). MACLA / Movimiento de Arte y Cultura Latino Americana, 510 South 1st St., San Jose | $12 advance / $15 door
Saturday, March 17, 8pm
The fifth installation of ongoing house concerts will feature the Marielle V. Jakobsons & Sarah E. Palmer Duo (synths, strings, vocal processing), along with Suit – Jacob Felix Heule (percussion),
Tony Dryer & Guro S. Moe (contrabass), and Håvard Skaset (guitar). 784 65th St., Oakland (2 blocks from Ashby BART) | $6-10 sliding
Sunday, March 18, 2pm
Voces del Desierto is a multidisciplinary musical composition inspired by the journey of all those who dare to cross borders in search of a better life. This original and eclectic work merges video, performance art, and instruments made from migrants’ personal belongings found at the Mexico/US border with musical instruments of a traditional wind quintet. Voces del Desierto, an original concept and composition by Guillermo Galindo specifically created for Quinteto Latino, features Diane Grubbe (flutes), Kyle Bruckmann (oboe, English horn), Leslie Tagorda (clarinets), Armando Castellano (French horn), and Shawn Jones (bassoon). MACLA / Movimiento de Arte y Cultura Latino Americana, 510 South 1st St., San Jose | $12 advance / $15 door
Sunday, March 18, 7:30pm OutSound presents the SIMM Series featuring, at 7:30, New Monsters CD release set featuring Dan Plonsey, Scott Looney, Steve Horowitz, and Steve Adams. At 8:30 Lords of the Outland (Rent Romus, C.J. Borosque, Ray Schaeffer, and Philip Everett) performs The Cloudknitters Suite, a live recording inspired by artist Leo Reijnders. Musicians Union Hall, 116 9th St. (@Mission), San Francisco | $8 / $10
Monday, March 19, 7pm
Nebraska Mondays at Luna’s Cafe presents Tatsuya Nakatani with the John Haynes / Steve Adams Duo. Nebraska Mondays is the weekly underground jazz/electronic/poetic/creative music spot, hosted by Ross Hammond. Luna’s Cafe, 1414 16th St., Sacramento | $5-20 sliding
Friday, March 9, 1pm
San Francisco State Univeristy presents Jaap Blonk, performing The Naked Voice, an on-the-spot choice from his huge repertoire: sound peotry and voice pieces from the tradition (from hugo ball to john cage) and his own work (experimental text, phonetic etudes, invented languages, improvisations). San Francisco State Univeristy, 1800 Holloway Ave., San Francisco | Free
Friday, March 9, 7:30pm The San Francisco Cinematheque in association with sfSoundSeries presents an evening with Jaap Blonk: Soundtracks, Scores, Interactive Animations. Blonk tonight presents a very rare performance/projection program including live presentations of original graphic scores (possibly to include Rhotic, Proxim and Homage to Antonin Artaud); live tracks to silent films Forest Views (1999, by Bart Vegter) and Emak-Bakia (Man Ray, 1926); an interpretation of Man Ray’s composition Lautgedicht (1924) and examples of Blonk’s solo videos and “interactive animations,” including Song for the Cubists, flababble 1, Traces of Speech and Viceregal Impressions. Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, 701 Mission St. (@ Third St.), San Francisco | members: $6 / non-members: $10
Friday, March 9, 9 pm
The blue whale hosts the Bay Area’s Scott Amendola Trio in an evening of music. Scott Amendola (drums), Jeff Parker (guitar), and John Shifflett (bass). blue whale, Weller Court, 123 Astronaut E.S. Onizuka St., Ste. 301, downtown Los Angeles | call 213-620-0908 for ticket prices
Saturday, March 10, 8pm
the wulf presents Omoi for Japan, “One for All”, a tribute concert dedicated to all the victims and sufferers of 3.11 earthquake/tsunami in Japan. Performed by: Michael Pisaro, Sara Roberts, Ulrich Krieger, Adam Overton, Mark So, Julia Holter, Alex Sramek, Christine Tavalocci, Ezra Buchla, Alan Nakagawa, Carmina Escober, Archie Carey, Paul Fraser, Colin Wambsgans, Chaz Underriner, Stephen Touchton, James Klopfleisch, Ingrid Lee, Donald Gialanella, Kristin Thora Haraldsdottir, Justin Asher, John Hagen-Brenner, Eric Mayron, Mari and more. the wulf, 1026 South Santa Fe Ave. #203, downtown Los Angeles | Free, donations accepted
Saturday, March 10, 8pm
Southwest Chamber Music continues its Cage 2012 Festival, celebrating the centenary of John Cage, concluding on the composer’s 100th birthday on September 5, 2012. This evening’s concert will include Cage works: Atlas Eclipticalis, Variations IV, and 0’00”. Art Center College of Design, 1700 Lida St., Pasadena | $38 / $28 seniors / $10 students
Sunday, March 11, 5pm
Southwest Chamber Music continues its Cage 2012 Festival, celebrating the centenary of John Cage, concluding on the composer’s 100th birthday on September 5, 2012. This late-afternoon concert will include Cage works: Branches, Music for Carillion No. 5, Radio Music, and Etudes Boreales I-IV. Pacific Asia Museum, 46 N. Los Robles Ave., Pasadena | $38 / $28 seniors / $10 students
Sunday, March 11, 7:30pm
Fearless San Francisco-based string quartet Kronos and L.A.’s own modern jazz pianist/composer Billy Childs each play their own sets and then collaborate on a piece written by Childs to stunning effect. “The most innovative and influential jazz guitarist of the past 25 years” (Wall Street Journal), Bill Frisell begins the evening with his spacious jazz & country-inflected drum/violin trio, featuring Eyvind Kang and Rudy Royston. Walt Disney Concert Hall, 111 South Grand Ave., downtown Los Angeles | $47-121, available here
Tuesday-Wednesday, March 13-14, 7:30pm / 9:30pm (two shows each night)
Anthology presents Béla Fleck & The Flecktones: The Original Line-Up, featuring Béla Fleck, Victor Wooten, Roy “Future Man” Wooten, and Howard Levy. “Béla Fleck and the Flecktones’ new CD Rocket Science reunites the highly eclectic group’s original personnel, and really re-ignites the musical chemistry of unlikely ingredients that made the group’s first two CDs so utterly distinctive.” (George Graham). Anthology, 1337 India St., San Diego | $19-99
Wednesday, March 14, 8pm
Graduate computer music students perform original works in a concert featuring experimental music, performance art, and visual music. Highlights include custom software for live performance, hand built electronics, sculptural sound objects, and a brainwave interface that controls sound by reading the performer’s mood. <a href=”University of California San Diego, CPMC Theatre, 9500 Gilman Dr., La Jolla | Free
Thursday – Friday – Saturday, March 15-16-17, 9pm
Angel City Arts and the blue whale present the three-evening residency of Kneebody, featuring Adam Benjamin, Ben Wendel, Kaveh Rastegar, Nate Wood, and Shane Endsley. By combining sophisticated compositions and virtuosic improvising, the Grammy nominated group Kneebody has created a diverse, loyal fan base in the United States and Europe. Founded in 2001, Kneebody has built upon an impressive array of individual resumes and conservatory training to create a truly singular voice within the instrumental world. blue whale, Weller Court, 123 Astronaut E.S. Onizuka St. Ste. 301, downtown Los Angeles | General Admission: $15 / $25 (for 2 nights) $35 (for three nights).
porter cracked refraction: Kyle Bruckmann (oboe, english horn), Tim Daisy (percussion), Anton Hatwich (bass), Jen Clare Paulson (viola), Jason Stein (bass clarinet).
Fast Talk: Kay Grant (voice, electronics), Alex Ward (clarinet).
andy haas ask the oracle: Andy Haas (soprano sax, flute, hojok), Colin Fisher (guitar), Aaron Lumley (bass), Brandon Valdivia (perc), Matthew “Doc” Dunn (perc).
multikulti nuntium: Robert Kusiolek (accordion, electronics), Anton Sjarov (violin, voice), Ksawery Wojcinski (double-bass0, Klaus Kugel (drums, percussion, sound-objects).
delmark sun rooms: Jason (vibraphone), Mike Reed (drums) and Nate McBride (bass).
the story this time: Joshua Abrams (bass), Frank Rosaly (drums), Keefe Jackson (tenor sax, contrabass clarinet).
edgetone records brains – unloaded: Drew Ceccato (tenor sax), Chris Golinski (drums).
turqoise sessions: Joe Lasqo (piano).
roguart records velvet songs: Ernest Dawkins (soprano, alto & tenor saxes), Harrison Bankhead (double bass, cello), Hamid Drake (drums, frame drum).
Avant Music News 