“Let’s begin with a short history of this instrument,” says Nicole Ge Li, in a video shot at the Vancouver offices of the Canadian Music Centre. She’s speaking to a roomful of composers, gathered there to learn more about writing for PEP (Piano and Erhu Project), her joint undertaking with the man who’s just introducedContinue reading “The Piano and Erhu Project Expands the Repertoire”
Genre Archives
The Astral Excursions of John Mills-Cockell
The imagination of electronic composer John Mills-Cockell exists in a liminal space. His music, with its neon-pastoral glow, feels neither jarringly futuristic nor soothingly nostalgic. Nevertheless, as the very first Canadian owner of a Moog synthesizer (purchased the same day Wendy Carlos bought hers from creator Robert Moog in Trumansburg, New York), Mills-Cockell is rightlyContinue reading “The Astral Excursions of John Mills-Cockell”
Thin Edge New Music Collective Joins the Circus
Last year, pianist Cheryl Duvall and violinist Ilana Waniuk joined the circus. This did not involve playing instruments while hanging from a trapeze, but like many big-top acts, it did require a certain amount of risk. Duvall and Waniuk are the artistic directors of Thin Edge New Music Collective, a Toronto chamber ensemble that hasContinue reading “Thin Edge New Music Collective Joins the Circus”
Mark Hannesson. Angels.
When one thinks of the work of the Wandelweiser label’s composers, one might imagine an ultrafragile, moment-to-moment formlessness that hovers indefinitely for a piece’s duration—any given sonority is somehow equivalent to any other. Mark Hannesson’s new disc of solo piano, Angels, is a reminder that Wandelweiser neither represents a school of thought nor a singularContinue reading “Mark Hannesson. Angels.”
Sixth Dither Extravaganza.
Despite its name, the guitar quartet Dither means business. The New York-based group made waves with the 2015 Tzadik release John Zorn’s Olympiad Vol 1: Dither Plays Zorn, with the foursome playing some of Zorn’s less-heard game pieces. But even before that, they were hosting an annual, daylong festival of spirited and eclectic music. TheContinue reading “Sixth Dither Extravaganza.”
Vancouver Symphony Orchestra New Music Festival.
LIKE A BENEVOLENT OCTOPUS, THE VANCOUVER SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA’S ANNUAL NEW MUSIC FESTIVAL HAS BEEN EXTENDING ITS TENTACLES in a variety of occasionally surprising directions since its inception four years ago. This year, for example, the event opened with a performance by avant-jazz big band the Hard Rubber Orchestra—not quite as shocking as it might seem, givenContinue reading “Vancouver Symphony Orchestra New Music Festival.”
Plumes Deconstructs Grimes
Many Visions: Plumes Deconstructs the Music of Grimes is a genre-spanning music collaboration that seeks to explore and ultimately blur the lines between classical and pop. Thirteen contemporary classical composers have been asked to reimagine and rework the thirteen tracks on Grimes’ 2012 album Visions in, as it were, their own vision. The new works—byContinue reading “Plumes Deconstructs Grimes”
Between Folklore and the Future: The Music of Heidi Chan
Heidi Chan began combining her passions for arranging, technology, and traditional instruments when her father gave her a demo version of the music software program Cakewalk. “Because it was a demo version, I couldn’t save anything,” she recalls. “So I had to leave the computer on for, like, months and months to keep working onContinue reading “Between Folklore and the Future: The Music of Heidi Chan”
Sound Symposium XVIII.
Audiences at Sound Symposium XVIII in St. John’s, Newfoundland were treated to a full spectrum of improvisation, including free improvisation, graphic scores, and directed improvisation. We heard a vast range of music for electroacoustic soundscapes, Javanese gamelan, contemporary art music, Balkan folk music, and even music made by 3-D printers amplified by CCRMA’s GRAIL (StanfordContinue reading “Sound Symposium XVIII.”
Benedict Schlepper-Connolly. The Weathered Stone.
At a time when rhythmic repetition in chamber music is so often co-morbid with cloyingly banal indie-isms, The Weathered Stone, from Irish composer Benedict Schlepper-Connolly, offers a rather bright glimmer of hope. From the outset, with its first and titular track (a piano trio), the sound is warm, but abstruse enough to engender curiosity. There’sContinue reading “Benedict Schlepper-Connolly. The Weathered Stone.”