Composition and Theory

Pitt Arts Features IonSound Project for Arts Encounter Luncheon

IonSound Project will be guest artists at the next Pitt Arts Arts Encounter luncheon on Monday, March 2 from noon–1 p.m. in the William Pitt Union Assembly Room. The event includes free lunch and, of course, free music. IonSound will preview their upcoming Sunday concert, performing excerpts from music by John Adams, Patrick Burke, Eric Moe, Philip Thompson, and Roger Zahab.

Mary Rowell and Geoffrey Burleson on New Music and their Upcoming MOTE Performance

Violinist Mary Rowell and pianist Geoffrey Burleson perform for Music on the Edge at the Warhol on Saturday Night (details). Here's a recent e-mail interview with Mary and Geoff cross-posted from Pittsburgh New Music Net. PNMN: Your Music on the Edge program at the Warhol covers a really wide range of styles, from Vincent Persichetti to Arvo Pärt to Amy Kohn… those are three very different artists right there. Do you see any overarching theme for the program or was the goal more to represent the variety of contemporary music? MR: Our programming is based on our own current musical interests with an eye toward interesting juxtapositions that come about by creating a program from these interests. The obvious similarities of George Antheil, Vincent Perschetti and Julia Wolfe of a compositional order of energy and a certain type of urban-ness. Eve Beglarian's fascination with tone coloring and finding melody and harmony in what seems like noise is complimented by Arvo Pärt's chant-like Fratres .The whimsical music hall quality of Amy Kohn's music is touched with a wondrous quality yet can be tied with Antheil's popular song qualities. Jon Appleton, known for his innovative work and teaching in the electronic medium, is represented here with a new sonata that is reminiscent of Darius Milhaud; tonal, lush and evoking early swing music. I suppose all the program lacks is atonality... It certainly offers many different music voices GB: One by now very well-established 20th/21st-century musical genre is that of the wacky-stylistic-juxtaposition piece. George Antheil helped to codify this genre in his 1923 Sonata No. 2 for Violin, Piano and Drum, with which we open the program. Phrases of ragtime, stride, sentimental popular song, and grandiose romanticism collide with each other, but are linked by use of the same motifs, and are satirically charged via sudden, unexpected dissonances. Just when you expect a final cadence in F Major, the piano enters with industrial music, with clusters and single notes in rhythmic patterns evoking the music of factory machines. But the piece ends with a soft, plaintive duet between the violin and drums. The juxtapositions within this piece set up the myriad contrasts for the rest of our program, taken from the sublime crazy quilt of American Music: the beautifully crafted, distinctive classicism and romanticism of Persichetti; the intensely spiritual music of Pärt, with its allusions to both ancient chant and to the Baroque Chaconne; the avant-pop of Amy Kohn…

RATED X: Clarinetist Jean Kopperud and Pianist Stephen Gosling Push Contemporary Music to Extremes

Bellefield Hall Auditorium koppgoshigh1.jpg Music on the Edge presents clarinetists Jean Kopperud and pianist Stephen Gosling Tickets purchased in advance through ProArts: $10 for general admission and $5 for students and seniors, Call 412-394-3353 or visit www.proartstickets.org. Service fees apply. Tickets at the door: $15 and $8 Pitt students: Free with ID. Press Release Music on the Edge Presents RATED X: A Recital of Premieres with Clarinetist Jean Kopperud and Pianist Stephen Gosling “Ms. Kopperud has the technique and imagination to make nearly anything sound interesting…” Mr. Gosling’s playing is “luminous and poised” — The New York Times Music on the Edge continues a season of diverse and adventurous programming with RATED X: A Recital of Premieres presented by clarinetist Jeanne Kopperud and pianist Stephen Gosling, both outstanding proponents of the music of our time. Kopperud commissioned seven prominent composers to create works inspired by extreme circumstances or situations. The resulting program contains intense reflections on fear and aggression (Steve Ricks' Amygdala), torture (Jason Eckardt's Rendition), and current conflicts in the Middle East (Harvey Sollberger's Nemesis). Pitt composer Eric Moe's Grand Prismatic is an homage to the thermopiles (microorganisms that only thrive in extreme environments) that cause the brilliant colors in Yellowstone's Grand Prismatic Spring. In his notes to Grand Prismatic Moe invites the listener to "meditate on the similarities between thermopiles and other creators of breath-taking beauty who toil away in apparently hostile environments."

Music on the Edge and the Warhol present violinist Mary Rowell and pianist Geoffrey Burleson

At The Andy Warhol Museum rowellburl.jpg Music on the Edge and The Andy Warhol Museum present Mary Rowell and Geoffrey Burleson Performing music by George Antheil, Jon Appleton, Eve Beglarian, Amy Kohn, Vincert Persichetti, Julia Wolfe, and Arvo Pärt Tickets purchased in advance through ProArts: $10 for general admission and $5 for students and seniors, Call 412-394-3353 or visit www.proartstickets.org. Service fees apply. Tickets at the door: $15 and $8 Pitt students: Free with ID. Press Release: Music on the Edge and the Andy Warhol Museum follow up the highly successful launch of their collaboration with a concert by Violinist Mary Rowell and Pianist Geoffrey Burleson. Both prominent figures in New York's new music scene, Rowell and Burleson will present an eclectic program that ranges from the ethereal atmosphere of Arvo Pärts famous Fratres to the experimental pop of Amy Kohn's Snow to Cement. In between those poles Rowell and Burleson present works by Gerogre Antheil (Sonata for Violin, Piano and Drum), Bang on a Can co-founder Julia Wolfe (Mink Stole), and the Pittsburgh premiere of Jon Appleton's Sonata No. 2 for Violin and Piano. Burleson will add solo piano works by David Rakowski and Vincent Persichetti to round out the program.

IonSounds of the Season: Sacred Invocations

ionsound.jpg IonSound Project James Laughlin Music Center, Chatham University Tickets are $10 general admission, $5 for students and seniors, and can be purchased at the door. For more information please visit: www.ionsound.org. PITTSBURGH - With the holiday season comes a unique evening of spiritually inspired chamber music presented by the IonSound Project. IonSound Project members Peggy Yoo, Kathleen Costello, Laura Motchalov, Elisa Kohanski, Rob Frankenberry, and Eliseo Rael will be joined by Pittsburgh’s favorite vocalist Daphne Alderson on Monday December 15 from 7:00 -8:00 pm at the James Laughlin Music Center on the campus of Chatham University. The program will feature John Adams’ Christian Zeal and Activity, Zhou Long’s Secluded Orchid, Katherine Hoover’s Winter Spirits, and Pittsburgh area composer Daniel Perttu’s Elusive Unity. Also featured will be a world premiere of Nizan Leibovich’s Avaksha for clarinet, cello and violin. Tickets are $10 general admission, $5 for students and seniors, and can be purchased at the door. For more information please visit: www.ionsound.org.