News
   

The Future of SofIA and Other Projects

After an eventful April, I find myself preparing for an even crazier May.  With the Principle Music Tour to Turkey on May 13th there is little room to catch my breath.  Two weeks later the Aspen Music Festival Master Class program....phew! Now the question remains: what  to do with the SofIA ensemble?  Juraj is in the midst of his dissertation defense and graduation, which leaves little room to work on new venues and opportunities.   Our concert on April 17th that was also my DMA recital went well though  we need to meet to work on  programs and rehearsals more frequently.   Two new pieces came out of that concert:Gut for baroque violin, and Cyclone's Needle for two percussionists, construction supplies, and live electronics.  

We also performed two new works by Zachary Wadsworth and Christopher Stark, two new graduate students in the DMA program at Cornell.  The pieces Memory  Etude by Zach, and Sonnet XVI by Chris,  were fun to play and provided a nice contrast on the program.  I hope that in subsequent programs we perform will include more music by other composers.  We are not quite at the point where we can commission yet, but hopefully that will be another avenue to receiving new music for live-electronics and chamber ensemble. 

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Our CCCP Concert on March 9th @ 8:00PM in Barnes Hall

Traditionally these concerts have a less than wonderful turnout. Now that I find myself playing not one but two pieces in this show, I feel the need to make a plug for it, if not for the great piece by Zachary Wadsworth entitled "Memory-Etude" for solo violin and electronics that I will be premiering. My own piece for Hulusi and electronics Ron Résonne will get a second performance as long as I can fix the instrument, which has a faulty seal that may require professional attention...(if I can't fix it with plumbing tape!)

added March 1st, 2008

  

no, cornell contemporary chamber players

No, not the former Soviet Union. It is an unfortunate acronym for the cumbersome name "Cornell Contemporary Chamber Players"...go figure.

 

  
   

 

An Awkward Situation...

So I found myself in a situation where I am trying to finish a late commission from Cornell (yikes!) and running the music for a cool new show at the Johnson Museum this Saturday. Amazingly enough, that project is coming along nicely. Even though the composers met briefly to discuss logistics, we have all created some exciting music for the show, which for no apparent reason works amazingly well together! If you happen to be around Ithaca this weekend, I would suggest going to this show. If nothing more to have a rare chance to experience Dewitt Cafe's catering: a phenomenon I didn't know existed. Hope to see you there.

added Feb. 21th, 2008

AWKWARD: the event @ THE JOHNSON MUSEUM OF ART

FEBRUARY 23RD, starts at 7PM, 8PM, 9PM, 10PM and 11PM

Cornell's top designers, local composers and CAFE DEWITT come together to premiere original designs in a single unprecedented event at which art is consumed through all senses. Borrowing the framework of a conventional fashion show, “AWKWARD: the event” elaborates on the spectacle of transient art to include culinary, auditory, choreographic, literary and cinematographic pleasures. 

For more information, please visit rso.cornell.edu/awkward or contact us at awkward@cornell.edu

TICKETS AVAILABLE @ WILLARD STRAIGHT HALL TICKET OFFICE and CAFE DEWITT.

Dining tickets: $20 student / $30 other

Non-dining tickets: $5 student / $15 other

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SofIA Performs in Miami

After a busy last semester for Juraj and me, finally there was time to do another concert featuring our newly formed duo SoFIA, which stands for "Sonorities of Interactive Acoustics". We hope the name is open-ended enough to eventually include many different artists and researchers. I appreciate Juraj's relaxed approach to music making and research. It was a pleasure to work with him in The Harold Golen Gallery space, though not the permanent gallery space due to a fire last month, it created the perfect ambiance for our music. We were able to attract the audience we had imagined (40 people or so) and their enthusiasm was exciting for both of us.

Feel free to check out the review, which is more like a narrative, and let us know what you think.

added Feb. 4th, 2008