Concert 3 Program
Christopher Biggs : Decoherence
Sam Wells, trumpet
Eric Lagergren : Rain, Steam, and Speed
Lara Mitofsky Neuss, clarinet
Drew Smith : Repressed Memory
Henry Fernandez, tenor saxophone
Alexis Mitrushi, viola
Gavin VanWinkle-Bright, double bass
Intermission
Roger Reynolds : Sketchbook for the Unbearable Lightness of Being
Liz Pearse, voice & piano
Robert McClure : struggling in excess
Michele Fiala, oboe
Notes
Roger Reynolds : Sketchbook for the Unbearable Lightness of BeingSketchbook explores three of twelve texts which I drew from Milan Kundera's novel The Unbearable Lightness of Being. The themes treated are: I, The idea of eternal return; II, Seeing ones own I; and III, The unbearable lightness of being. Kunderas tone, his mode of address, is inventively varied. At certain times he gives the reader dialogue alone, at others narrative commentary, even informal philosophical discourse. These may alternate with surprising rapidity. Reflecting on Kundera's craft, it seemed to me that his ability to operate on several levels almost simultaneously (and to do so with such fluidity) would present a intriguing task for a vocalist. It suggested the sort of performance a gifted nightclub entertainer might achieve towards the close of an evening, when defenses are down, formalisms in retreat. What I have done is to conceive a framework within which something this flexible, but perhaps more dimensional, could take place. There is no conscious reference to balladry beyond the convention of the amplified vocalists and a piano at which she can accompany herself.
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Drew Smith : Repressed Memory
Repressed Memory is a piece that explores the process of remembering forgotten trauma using interactions between acoustic instruments and fixed media.
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Eric Lagergren : Rain, Steam, and Speed
Rain, Steam, and Speed serves as a musical representation of JMW Turner's famous work by the same name. This piece is divided into 5 very short movements. The first section constitute the main theme for the entire composition. The music present within this movement is a summation of many of the broad elements present throughout JMW Turner's. The second, third, and fourth movements take a more detailed look at JMW Turner's painting by audibly representing Rain, Steam, and Speed as individual components. The piece ends by taking a step back and returning to the broad strokes of the main theme.
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Christopher Biggs : Decoherence
Decoherence is dedicated to Samuel Wells and was commissioned by a consortium consisting of Samuel Wells, Aaron Hodgson, Scott Thornburg, and the UMKC Trumpet Studio. The work abstractly reflects on a phenomenon in quantum physics and a possible explanation for the phenomenon. Decoherence is a phenomenon whereby particles that have probable locations always take on a specific location when observed by a human. This is represented through the presentations of hundreds of possible ways to a play a single pitch on the trumpet followed by the performer’s decision to play the pitch in a specific manner. Also, when the performer is making a decision about what to play, he or she becomes part of the video. One possible explanation for how probable locations collapse into a specific location is that all probable locations come to exist in their own parallel universe upon observation. As the work progresses the trumpet player has less and less freedom as the specific universe he or she inhabits is increasingly defined by past decisions.
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Robert McClure : struggling in excess
struggling in excess explores the vast amounts of waste humans produce on a daily basis. This general observation was magnified during my time living/working in China. Excessive packaging accompanied nearly all products in a vain attempt to elicit a feeling of luxury in the consumer. This plastic packaging served as the primary sound producing material. Additional sounds were recorded from balloons as they interact with and echo multiphonic sounds produced in the oboe.
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Bios
"Finding joy in variety, Liz Pearse is a musician of many pursuits. After a childhood spent playing any instrument she could lay hands upon, Liz began exploring the endless possibilities of the voice. Hers is an instrument possessing an unusual range, color, and versatility, which has led to performances of music from medieval to modern on operatic, orchestra, chamber, and recital stages around the world. Liz has sung with the Lucerne Festival Academy, soundSCAPE, Omaha Under the Radar, newEar, KcEMA, BGSU New Music Festival, as well as Michigan and Toledo Opera Theatres. She studies at Bowling Green State University under the guidance of Jane Schoonmaker Rodgers. Liz is also one quarter of Quince Ensemble, a Midwestern vocal quartet dedicated to challenging and changing concepts of choral singing. Quince has commissioned and premiered dozens of works for unaccompanied singers, and are dedicated to building a diverse repertoire of 21st century vocal music. More information about Liz can be found at lizpearse.com.back to program
Drew Smith (b. 1999) is an American electroacoustic composer, musician, multimedia artist and engineer. From an early age, Smith taught himself to play instruments and began working with experimental music. In recent years, his musical work has revolved around explorations of the possibilities of combining analog synthesizers, digital processing, and acoustic instruments through recording and performance. He has begun to expand into multimedia work and instillation, incorporating circuit/instrument building, video, dance, and sculpture into his composition practice. As a musician, Smith prominently plays prepared electric guitar, modular synthesizer and various live electronics in his own pieces and with various ensembles. Smith is currently attending Oberlin Conservatory, working towards a BM in Technology in Music and Related Arts, where he studies with Tom Lopez, Peter Swendsen, and Aurie Hsu.
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Henry Fernandez (b. 1999) is a Saxophonist and Composer from Upstate New York. Henry currently attends Oberlin College and Conservatory where he is pursuing a BA in Jazz Studies, studying under the tutelage of Master Saxophonist Gary Bartz, and a BA in the Liberal Arts. While he is not at Oberlin, Henry is an active performer in the Capital Region of New York State. His musical accomplishments include a performance at the Newport Jazz Festival in 2016.
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Alexis Mitrushi (b. 2000) is a freshman at Oberlin Conservatory, where she studies viola performance. She is 18 years old and loves to perform and play in orchestras, quartets, chamber groups, as well as soloistic pieces.
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Christopher Biggs is a composer and multimedia artist residing in Kalamazoo, MI, where he is Associate Professor of Music Composition and Technology at Western Michigan University. Biggs’ recent projects focus on integrating live instrumental performance with interactive audiovisual media. Biggs is a co-founder and the director of SPLICE Institute, which is a weeklong intensive summer program for performers and composers to experience, explore, create, discuss, and learn techniques related to music for instruments and electronics. SPLICE takes place each June in Kalamazoo, MI.
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Sam Wells is a composer, performer, and music technologist based in New York City. As an advocate for new and exciting music, he actively commissions and performs contemporary works. Sam has performed throughout the North America, as well as in China and France. He has also been a guest artist/composer at universities throughout North America, including Western Michigan University, Western University of Ontario, and Northern Arizona University. He is a recipient of a 2016 Jerome Fund for New Music award, and his work, stringstrung, is the winner of the 2016 Miami International Guitar Festival Composition Competition. He has performed electroacoustic works for trumpet and presented his own music at the Bang on a Can Summer Festival, Chosen Vale International Trumpet Seminar, Electronic Music Midwest, Electroacoustic Barn Dance, NYCEMF, N_SEME, and SEAMUS festivals. Sam and his music have also been featured by the Kansas City Electronic Music and Arts Alliance (KcEMA) and Fulcrum Point Discoveries. Sam is a member of Arcus Collective, Kludge, and SPLICE Ensemble. Sam has performed with Contemporaneous, Metropolis Ensemble, TILT Brass, the Owensboro Symphony Orchestra, and the Colorado MahlerFest Orchestra. Sam has degrees in both performance and composition at the University of Missouri-Kansas City, and graduate degrees in Trumpet Performance and Computer Music Composition at Indiana University. He is on faculty at SPLICE Institute and Molloy College.
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Robert McClure’s music attempts to discover beauty in unconventional places using non-traditional means. Visual art, poetry, the natural world, neurological and mathematical concepts are elements that influence McClure’s works. His work has been featured at festivals including NYCEMF, the Sonorities Festival of Contemporary Music, the Toronto International Electroacoustic Symposium, SEAMUS, ISCM, and ICMC. His works may be found through ADJ•ective New Music LLC, Bachovich Music Publications, Imagine Music Publications, Innovative Percussion, Media Press, Inc., Resolute Music Publications, and Tapspace Publications as well as on the ABLAZE and Albany Record labels. Robert received his doctorate from the Shepherd School of Music at Rice University where his primary mentors were Shih-Hui Chen, Arthur Gottschalk, and Kurt Stallmann. Robert has previously held positions at the Shanghai Conservatory of Music and Soochow University in Suzhou, China. He currently serves as an Assistant Professor of Composition/Theory at Ohio University.
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Michele Fiala is the Associate Professor of Oboe at Ohio University and has performed throughout the United States, Italy, England, Germany, France, Japan and Canada. Her two CDs of contemporary oboe music - The Light Wraps You and Overheard - are on the MSR Classics label. Michele also appears on recordings on Naxos, Centaur and Equilibrium Records. Michele has performed on the Church of St. Martin in the Fields Concert Series (London), Festival Autour du Hautbois (Paris), Festival Fiati Novara (Italy), and the Banff Summer Music Festival (Banff, Alberta, Canada). Dr. Fiala's book, A Performer's Guide to Nineteenth-Century Italian Oboe Music is published by Trevco Music Publishing. She has written articles for The Double Reed and I Fiati and has edited music for Spartan Press (UK). She holds both a Doctor of Musical Arts degree and a Master of Music degree from Arizona State University, where she studied with Martin Schuring.
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Eric Lagergren (b. 1994) grew up in Colorado Springs, Colorado, where he developed a fascination for portraying the world around him through music. This interest has led him to study music composition at Colorado State University under the tutelage of Dr. James David. While at CSU, Lagergren has focused primarily on composing chamber music for various small ensembles. Additionally, he has completed commissions for the CSU Middle School Outreach Ensemble Concert Band and String Orchestra. Eric attended the Seattle Film Institute summer film scoring program in 2017 and will pursue his Master of Music at the Seattle Film Institute in the Fall of 2018.
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Lara Mitofsky Neuss is a clarinetist, educator, and administrator. Her work focuses on creating an innovative and engaging environment for the world of music, one that bridges the gap between classical music and other mainstream genres. She has organized and performed many exciting workshops and recitals, including “The 21st Century Clarinet,” a solo recital consisting of all music written in the past ten years, and a recital looking back on her time living in Colorado titled “Reflections.” She recently created a workshop titled “Electroacoustic Endeavors,” in which she brought in teachers and musicians to teach electroacoustic music at The Music District in Fort Collins, Colorado. In 2018, she was a chosen performer and educator for the Orford Contemporary Music and Improvisation Tour in Stockholm, Sweden with improviser Anders Ästrand. Mitofsky Neuss maintains a private teaching studio with dedication to mentoring the next generation of musicians and artists. As a clarinetist, she has performed as a member of a variety of ensembles and festivals including It Could Be Anything New Music Ensemble (co-founder), Bang on a Can Music Festival, Banff Center for the Arts, Orford Musique, Opera Parallele, New York Youth Symphony, Domaine Forget Music Academy, and Eastern Music Festival, among others. As a soloist, Mitofsky Neuss was the winner of the Eastern Music Festival Concerto Competition, and has been a finalist and semi-finalist in the San Francisco Conservatory of Music Concerto Competition and the William C. Byrd International Competition, respectively. She is currently pursuing her Doctor of Music degree at Florida State University as a graduate teaching assistant and she is a graduate of Colorado State University (MM) and the San Francisco Conservatory of Music (BM).
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