Program
Scott L. Miller : Katabasis #2 (arr. Keith Kirchoff)
special thanks to Alex Christie for supplying the lighting materials
Sam Wells : Leander's Swim
Charcoal scroll-theater by Sally B. Moore
Evan Williams : Pralaya
John Luther Adams : Red Arc/Blue Veil
with Matt Sharrock, percussion
Chen-Hui Jen : onto the silent peaks
Notes
Scott L. Miller :
Katabasis #2"Katabasis," an ancient Greek word meaning a descent, has been used throughout mythology to refer to descending to the underworld. Miller's original composition is for four unspecified instruments. For this performance, I am playing the work with two EBows and two transducers placed directly on the piano strings.
I begin my arrangement with 8:46 minutes of silence in honor of George Floyd, and I have added a lighting component that gives a visual representation of the sounds' emergence. Special thanks to Alex Christie who supplied the lighting system. (Notes by Keith Kirchoff)
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Sam Wells :
Leander's SwimLeander’s Swim, for piano and live electronics, is inspired by Cy Twombly’s 1984 painting
Hero and Leandro (A Painting in Four Parts), Part I. The Greek myth of Hero and Leander recounts the story of two lovers: a priestess of Aphrodite named Hero, and a young man named Leander. Nightly, Leander would swim across the Hellespont to be with Hero, whose lantern would safely guide his way. One night, Leander attempted the passage in a storm. The strong winds extinguished Hero’s light, and Leander perished at sea. Upon discovering Leander’s body, Hero jumped to her death to be with Leander. (Notes by Sam Wells)
Additional Notes: Continuing the theme of Greek mythology, I wanted this piece to further emerge out of darkness, and charcoal felt like the best medium with which to do so. Wells's piece is full of imagery that reminded me of Sally Moore's artwork, and she graciously agreed to draw the accompanying charcoal scroll theater. Furthermore, I wanted the first two pieces to flow right into each other, but I was limited by the need to un-prepare the piano after the first piece. With silence very much a theme of this program, I chose to open with silent scrolling visuals, affording me time to ready the instrument. (Notes by Keith Kirchoff)
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Evan Williams :
Pralaya“Pralaya” is a Hindu term meaning a period of dissolution or melting away. Although sometimes understood as “the end of the world,” pralaya actually describes one phase of the repeating cycles of life and destruction. Through music and video,
Pralaya explores the destruction of life by humans. The work is divided into four continuous movements:
I. Introduction – “Now I am Become Death”
In a 1965 interview about the creation and use of the atomic bomb, a clearly-emotional Dr. J. Robert Oppenheimer reflects on his thoughts following a successful test in 1945. He quotes Vishnu saying, “ ‘Now I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds.’ I suppose we all thought that, one way or another.”
Footage of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima is seen alongside this interview.
II. Naimittika – Destruction
Scenes of human destruction — warfare, violence, and pollution — are accompanied by a violent melody based on the Hindustani Todi raga.
III. Passacaglia for the Dissolution of All Things
The aftermaths of various destructions, including Hiroshima and the Gulf of Mexico, are accompanied by a mournful passacaglia.
IV. Hymn to the World Without End
A hopeful chaconne (based on the opening bars of Gustav Mahler’s “Urlicht” [“Primal Light”]) accompanies beautiful scenes of nature and the aurora borealis. While this movement expresses hope for the Earth, it is a reflection on a quote by celebrated astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson, who said of climate change “Earth will survive this. People say ‘Save the earth.’ No, don’t worry about earth. Earth will be here long after we render ourselves extinct.”
Pralaya employs stock video footage, along with archival and news videos and images used under fair use. The work also employs audio from freesound.org (attribution: xserra)
(Notes by Evan Williams)
Additional Notes: Pralaya marks the turning point of the program: beginning in darkness, we gradually begin to emerge into the light.
(Notes by Keith Kirchoff)
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John Luther Adams :
Red Arc/Blue VeilRed Arc/Blue Veil was the first of my “color field” pieces, exploring the geometry of what Kandinsky called “those inner sounds that are the life of the colors”. (John Luther Adams)
Additional Notes: Though this work is not explicitly about the Alaskan wilderness, so much of Adams's music is centered on the earth, nature, and climate justice. Red Arc/Blue Veil has always felt like a mountain to me, rising from the depths to the highest peaks, and back down to earth. This felt immediately relevant to the final imagery of Pralaya (a mountain image which I use as a backdrop for the Adams), and perfectly bridges to the final piece, which similarly focuses on the rise and fall of peaks. (Notes by Keith Kirchoff)
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Chen-Hui Jen :
onto the silent peaksThis is the newest piece on the program; Jen only just posted a recording of her performance of this piece on Soundcloud in April, calling it a "Quarantine Demo." The work was immediately impactful to me, as it seemed to speak to the uniqueness of that moment, as we were all bound to our homes, yearning to emerge. (And, as in evidenced by our online experience at SPLICE Institute this summer, to a large extent remain bound!)
The piece has a meditative quality and a repetitive nature that in some ways reminded me of the monotony of quarantine. Yet there is tremendous variety and shape to every gesture, with immense subtlety in every sound. The work asks us to hear, to focus, and to listen deeply. And unlike the Adams before, by this work's end, we have collectively reached the summit, changed, the shadows left behind. (Notes by Keith Kirchoff)
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Bios
Pianist and composer
Keith Kirchoff has performed throughout North America, Europe, and the Pacific Southwest. A strong advocate for modern music, Kirchoff is committed to fostering new audiences for contemporary music and giving a voice to emerging composers, and to that end has premiered over 100 new works and commissioned over two dozen compositions. Specializing in works which combine interactive electro-acoustics with solo piano, Kirchoff's Electroacoustic Piano Tour has been presented in ten countries, and has spawned three solo albums. Kirchoff is a co-founder and a director of SPLICE, and the founder and Artistic Director of Original Gravity Inc. Kirchoff has won awards from the Steinway Society, MetLife Meet the Composer, the Foundation for Contemporary Arts, and was named the 2011 Distinguished Scholar by the Seabee Memorial Scholarship Association. He has recorded on the New World, Kairos, New Focus, Tantara, Ravello, Thinking outLOUD, Zerx, and SEAMUS labels.
Follow Kirchoff on Twitter (@keithkirchoff) and Instagram (@8e8keys), and learn more at his website: keithkirchoff.com
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A composer described as “a true force on the avant-ambient scene” of ”high adventure avant garde music of the best sort” (Classical-Modern Music Review),
Scott Miller is best known for his electroacoustic chamber music and ecosystemic performance pieces. His music is characterized by collaborative approaches to composition and the use of electronics, exploring performer/computer improvisation, and re-imagining ancient compositional processes through the lens of 21st century technology. Inspired by the inner workings of sound and the microscopic in the natural and mechanical worlds, his music is the product of hands-on experimentation and collaboration with musicians and performers from across the spectrum of styles. His recent work experiments with virtual reality applications in live concerts, first realized in his composition Raba, created for Tallinn-based Ensemble U:.
Three time McKnight Composer Fellow, his work is frequently performed by soloists, ensembles, and at festivals throughout North America and Europe. Recordings of his music are available on New Focus Recordings, Innova, and other labels, many featuring his long-time collaborators, the new music ensemble Zeitgeist (whose albums he produces). His music is published by the American Composers Alliance, Tetractys, and Jeanné. Raba (NFR198) is his most recent album, a collection of audio-visual music drawn from collaborations with six film and video artists. Miller is a Professor of Music at St. Cloud State University, Minnesota, where he teaches composition, electroacoustic music, and theory. He is Past-President (2014-18) of the Society for Electro-Acoustic Music in the U.S. (SEAMUS) and presently Director of SEAMUS Records.
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Sam Wells is a trumpeter, composer, improvisor, and technologist based in Los Angeles. As an advocate for new and exciting music, he actively commissions and performs contemporary works. Sam has performed throughout North America and Europe, as well as in China. He is a recipient of a 2016 Jerome Fund for New Music award. 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 is a member of Arcus Collective, Kludge, and SPLICE Ensemble. Sam has recorded on the SEAMUS and Ravello Recordings labels. Sam is on faculty at SPLICE Institute, Molloy College, and the California Institute of the Arts.
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The music of
Evan Williams has been performed across the country and internationally by members of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, the Seattle Symphony Orchestra, the International Contemporary Ensemble, Quince Ensemble, Fifth House Ensemble, and at festivals such as SEAMUS, the New Music Gathering, the Electroacoustic Barn Dance, and the New York City Electronic Music Festival. He has been commissioned by notable performers and ensembles including the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra and the Urban Playground Chamber Orchestra. His work can be found on recordings by The Namaste Ensemble’s “No Borders Quartet” and Levels.
Williams has received a number of awards and honors, including serving as the Detroit Symphony Orchestra’s inaugural Classical Roots Composer-in-Residence in 2018. Williams holds a DMA in Composition with a cognate in Orchestral Conducting from the College-Conservatory of Music at the University of Cincinnati, where he also served as a teaching assistant in electronic music. He also holds degrees from Bowling Green State University and Lawrence University.
Williams serves as Assistant Professor of Music and Director of Instrumental Activities at Rhodes College, where he teaches composition, music technology, and leads the Rhodes Orchestra. He previously held teaching positions at Lawrence University, Bennington College, and at the Walden School.
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For
John Luther Adams, music is a lifelong search for home—an invitation to slow down, pay attention, and remember our place within the larger community of life on earth.
Living for almost 40 years in northern Alaska, JLA discovered a unique musical world grounded in space, stillness, and elemental forces. In the 1970s and into the ’80s, he worked full time as an environmental activist. But the time came when he felt compelled to dedicate himself entirely to music. He made this choice with the belief that, ultimately, music can do more than politics to change the world. Since that time, he has become one of the most widely admired composers in the world, receiving the Pulitzer Prize, a Grammy Award, and many other honors.
A deep concern for the state of the earth and the future of humanity drives Adams to continue composing. As he puts it: “If we can imagine a culture and a society in which we each feel more deeply responsible for our own place in the world, then we just may be able to bring that culture and that society into being.”
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Chen-Hui Jen is a composer, poet, and pianist, whose music presents an imaginative, spiritual, and poetic space with subtlety and sophistication. She writes music for orchestra, chorus, and chamber music for western and Asian instruments, with and without electronics. Chen-Hui Jen’s music reflects an angle of contemporary art music that integrates time, sound, color, and poetry. She earned a Ph.D. degree in music at the University of California, San Diego, and currently serves part time at the Florida International University as an instructor and as the pianist in the NODUS New Music Ensemble.
Chen-Hui Jen’s musical works have been performed at multiple prestigious new music festivals and concerts, including the ISCM World Music Days, SEAMUS, ICMC, Acanthes Music Festival, ACL Music Festival, EarShot San Diego, ISCM New Music Miami Season, People Inside Electronics series, Taipei International New Music Festival, WOCMAT, and Taiwan Contemporary Sizhu Music Festival. She has also received commissions by multiple ensembles including the League of American Orchestras Women Composers’ Reading and Commission Project, Ensemble 20° dans le Noir, Aurora Borealis Duo, Accordant Commons, Astralis Duo, The Living Earth Show, Palimpsest Ensemble, Ensemble ISCM-Taiwan, Little Giant Chinese Chamber Orchestra, Taipei Chamber Singers, Müller Chamber Choir, Ching-Yun Chorus, and Kaohsiung Chamber Choir, as well as multiple grants from the Taipei Department of Cultural Affairs, and the Taiwan National and Arts Foundation.
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