Spencer Topel || Composer
Three Preludes Wins the American Modern Ensemble Composer Competition
I am delighted to find out today that the American Modern Ensemble selected my work Three Preludes for Violin and Cello (2007) for a performance next season at the Times Center (in the New York Times building designed by Renzo Piano). In addition to the concert they gave just a week ago, the roster of works by living composers speaks to their efforts and is among the most diverse list that I have recently seen. Their efforts to promote American Music are rare these days and much needed.
Anyhow, more info on this to come but in the meantime, you can checkout the post on their website:http://www.americanmodernensemble.org/competition.html
added January 30th, 2009
SofIA To Be Featured At New York City Electrouacoustic Music Festival 2009
SofIA planning resumes and we will be an ensemble featured at the NYCEMF Festival April 2-4 in 2009. I look forward to performing with Juraj at this event since it should be a well attended festival with good exposure. Because of his recent appointment at Yale, for the Post-Doctorate in electroacoustic music, we have had to shift our plans, though probably for the better. In addition to this project, we have begun to look at long term options, with the consideration of bringing new members into the group.
The newly formed ensemble "X-Band" led by the brother/sister duo Jason and Rachel Calloway commissioned me ffor a song cycle for their concerts next season. I enjoyed working with Rachel so much on the trip to Turkey that it would be a pleasure to write for her again. Now the challenge of finding the right text!
added November 10th, 2008
The Future of SofIA and Other Projects
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 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 for receiving new music for live-electronics and chamber ensemble.
added April 21st, 2008
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, 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, this 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. 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 |
