“what I heard was a sublime expression of a living, struggling soul. It was utterly stirring” — Steven Pisano, Feast of Music
“[a] container of found sounds, which he gently, playfully prises out of their melodic textual context until all that remains are pure floating harmonic particles” — Corinna da Fonseca-Wollheim, New York Times
“pitch slowly curled into the air, each note taking minutes like skinny molasses as every musician joined with pristine control” — Lana Norris, I Care If You Listen
February 27 to March 7, 2015
8pm, unless otherwise noted
Wild Project
195 East 3rd Street
New York, NY 10009
February 27th – March 7th, 2015 at The Wild Project.
We are thrilled to be presenting the visions of two compelling and fiercely individualistic composers, Paula Matthusen and Imani Uzuri, along side the largest presentation of Randy Gibson’s work to date, and a day celebrating John Cage.
On Sat. afternoon (2/28) at 4PM, a free roundtable discussion will be held between Gibson, Matthusen, and Uzuri moderated by 2013 festival composer Nick Hallett
New and recent works investigating the acoustic facets of city sites of historical significance through live performance, field recordings, and explored resonance. This evening will include the World Premiere of new work for Mantra, Dither, and Philip White developed under Matthusen’s current fellowship with the American Academy in Rome.
Virtuosic vocal ensemble, and long-time festival favorite, Ekmeles sings 1979’s ethereal Hymns and Variations for twelve amplified voices and other choral works bridging John Cage’s chance techniques and subtractive harmonies, including ear for EAR (antiphonies), Four Solos for Voice, and FOUR2
Uzuri premieres a new cantata inspired by the eclectic composer’s rural Southen roots embodied within the coded, polyphonic and revelatory legacy of the Black American quilt making tradition.
Gibson’s continually evolving meditative drone-epic Apparitions of The Four Pillars in The Midwinter Starfield under The Astral 789 Duet reaches new heights of complexity and clarity in the longest and most detailed presentation of the work to date.
(please note, because of the duration of this work, the concert will begin at 7PM)
The Avant Music Festival is supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs and by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew Cuomo and the New York State Legislature.
