“I earn my living as a sound recordist on TV programs,” Simon Reynell relates. “I don’t put creative energies into that, but it’s well paid, so I don’t have to work more than an average of six days a month, which allows me to spend most of my time on the label, doing the thingsContinue reading “Another Timbre’s Canadian Composers Series”
Genre Archives
Eyvind Kang / Jessika Kenney. Reverse Tree.
Singer Jessika Kenney and viola player Eyvind Kang have released albums of a decidedly austere beauty. Their music has tinges of early medieval ritualistic song and of classical repertoire from the Middle East. Its calm pace turns its gaze inward, hovering over a dusky stillness, over pellucid waters that barely move as a breeze ofContinue reading “Eyvind Kang / Jessika Kenney. Reverse Tree.”
Dario Calderone. James Tenney Bass Works.
In 1983, composer James Tenney posed the question: Why is a compound tone consisting of many harmonic partials perceived as a single tone? He apparently didn’t find a satisfactory answer, and surmised that the solution must reside in the listeners themselves. That is where the music is, states musicologist Eric Smigel in the liner notesContinue reading “Dario Calderone. James Tenney Bass Works.”
Bekah Simms’ Music of Discomfort
Bekah Simms likes music that challenges. “I don’t want to ever get too comfortable,” she tells me, as we sit down to talk about her work. “I don’t want it ever to be super easy to write a piece, because I feel like then I won’t be a better composer when I’m done it.” It’sContinue reading “Bekah Simms’ Music of Discomfort”
Vicky Chow Is Just Warming Up
Against a deep blue, backlit stage, Vicky Chow sat at the baby grand in the Scheuer Auditorium at the Jewish Museum on Manhattan’s Upper East Side in April 2017, flanked by forty speakers hanging from stands. For an uninterrupted hour, she played dizzying sequences of interlocking melodies against a latticework of pulse tones. The pieceContinue reading “Vicky Chow Is Just Warming Up”
Suoni per il Popolo Festival: 17th Edition.
With over 100 events across diverse musical categories, the Suoni per il Popolo Festival encompasses several thriving thematic series. While it is theoretically possible for fans of free improvisation, contemporary classical, noise, or alt-rock to attend a concert almost every evening and remain within their preferred genre, the quality Canadian and international performers entice mostContinue reading “Suoni per il Popolo Festival: 17th Edition.”
Lisa Cay Miller. 682/681
Recorded in one day-long session, this CD has Vancouver composer and pianist Lisa Cay Miller matching tones and techniques with ten Amsterdam-based improvisers in duo or trio configurations. Although the twenty-two [!] meetings confirm her ability and adaptability, the few extended tracks provide more musical nourishment than do the briefer foretastes. For instance, the concludingContinue reading “Lisa Cay Miller. 682/681”
Ensemble Paramirabo / Thin Edge New Music Collective. Raging Against the Machine.
Toronto’s Thin Edge New Music Collective joins forces with Montreal’s Ensemble Paramirabo for this double-sextet album that mixes two modern classics with three new Canadian works inspired by them. The more famous composers bookend the album. First up is Steve Reich’s palatable Pulitzer Prize-winning Double Sextet, originally commissioned by the Chicago ensemble Eighth Blackbird andContinue reading “Ensemble Paramirabo / Thin Edge New Music Collective. Raging Against the Machine.”
Eighty-five scores celebrate Pauline Oliveros
Still Listening: New Works in Honour of Pauline Oliveros (1932-2016) is a project initially conceived to mark Oliveros’ eighty-fifth birthday on May 30, 2017. Eighty-five artists were invited to create eighty-five new compositions, each with a duration of eighty-five seconds. Organized by trumpeter Eric Lewis and flutist Ellen Waterman, with help from McGill University studentsContinue reading “Eighty-five scores celebrate Pauline Oliveros”
Musicworks’ 2017 Summer Festival Preview
Some of my most cherished experiences happened at summer music festivals—from scanning the schedules and planning the road trips to meeting new friends and, of course, identifying new musicians and artists. Here at Musicworks, we’re discovering more must-see festivals and events every day, and are inspired by the organizations dedicated to bringing artists and listenersContinue reading “Musicworks’ 2017 Summer Festival Preview”