Program

Electro-acoustic compositions by

Saman Samadi

Ghorbat

Berceuses

Vāyu

Retroception

Hura

Compositions for String Quartet

Greg Bartholomew - One Thousand Dark Threads on Wet Pavement

One Thousand Dark Threads on Wet Pavement takes a lightheaded look at LETHAL,

viewing the concept through the lens of a TV detective drama:  It was a sunny afternoon

when the Inspector was called to the scene, but when he arrived he found only

One Thousand Dark Threads on Wet Pavement.

Rodrigo Batalha - Pulse

Pulse was composed with rhythmic/melodic themes and combinations in

harmony/counterpoint that were freely imagined and then written on the sheet

with support – sometimes a subversion – from traditional techniques, with a particular

use of tonal and modal elements. This title suggests simultaneously two most

fundamental features in music and life: heartbeat and temporality. However, when a beat

of a heart and a lifetime are interrupted by lethal behaviors from those who should give

his/her own life to save another one, it makes good hearts beat in a different rhythm, with

a feeling of loss and pain... but can music – with its beat and its time – bring us a new hope?

Perhaps, we only can know that music can take our feelings to move in new directions.

Lynn Bechtold - Projet Imaginaire

Projet Imaginare (2013-16) is about living in a 'bubble' or false reality when a loved one dies,

and what occurrences can trigger memories and be interpreted, potentially,

as messages from the beyond. The original version was written for dobro-uke

and pre-recorded electronics, and premiered at DROM. Subsequent versions have

added violin, cello, and viola. All are performed with pre-recorded electronics.

Craig Michael Davis - Innocent Bystander

The Jack String Quartet commissioned Innocent Bystander in 2015. It was inspired by

a vacation to Niagara Falls, Canada, where I met with a friend I hadn't seen for years.

In the two short movements of the string quartet, I tried to capture the awe-inspiring power

of the massive, half-frozen falls. Though it was freezing cold outside, the rushing waves

pushed on over the huge chunks of ice that had frozen months ago. The first movement

portrays the slow, calmness of the water as it pushes towards the falls, whereas the second movement depicts the quick, vertical descent towards the bottom of the falls.

Samuel Hoyland - Beacon

For Beacon (2016), I tried to write a bare chordal study in the style of

György Kurtág's, Ligatura – Message to Frances-Marie. The main theme is a

barely-changing melody over heavy, dissonant chords, giving the piece a slow,

solemn character. The name “beacon” itself comes from the way the repeated notes in the viola remind me of a lighthouse light blinking as it rotates, a lonely ray of light within the darkness.

Paul Kopetz - Adagio for the Fallen

This work is a composer’s reaction to the barbaric tragedy of the Paris bombings

hat shook the world on November 13, 2015. It was written in the week following

the attacks. It is dedicated to the innocent victims of this horrific event.

May compassion, tolerance and human values prevail!

Adagio for the Fallen will be preceded by a reading of a poem by Demetrios Trifiatis.

Simon Le Boggit - NameQuake (Loss of Innocents)

This is a hybrid piece which unites my NameQuake “tape” piece with my algorithmic

composition for string trio called The Loss Of Innocents. NameQuake expands upon work

done by artist Ai Weiwei after he and thousands of bloggers collected the names

of 5,196 children and young people who lost their lives during the Sichuan earthquake

in 2008 - crushed inside collapsing school buildings of questionable construction quality.

The intention was to pressure the Chinese government into acknowledging the possibility that the deaths may have been a product of corruption. In response, Ai Weiwei was incarcerated and discussion stifled. Since his release, Ai Weiwei has created many artworks relating to the

Sichuan earthquake and its aftermath. In 2014 he spent 3+ hours emphatically reading aloud

all the names of the 5,196 young victims, and made this recording available for other artists to interpret. By chopping Ai Weiwei's voice into two minute sections (the approximate length of

the Sichuan quake), and then having them all play simultaneously, I have attempted to illustrate

the enormity of loss of life. This experience is contextualized by the low rumble from a seismic recording of an actual earthquake. During NameQuake’s inclusion in the recent Where Is Your Humanity? exhibition in Bath, UK, listeners reported being moved to tears by the piece.

The Loss Of Innocents is a lament for string trio which, ironically, generates more empathy

and humanity from pure statistical / algorithmic chance than a Chinese government full

of human beings seemed capable of. When The Loss Of Innocents is played in conjunction

with the NameQuake sonic artwork, I feel both pieces are transformed into something rather

different - it strikes me as a sort of tug-o-war between unremitting immediate horror

(NameQuake) and distanced reflective sentiment (Loss Of Innocents).

Cullyn Murphy - IV Trajectories in Grief

I wrote this after my family has experienced many deaths within the past five years,

but also as a way for many people to relate to their own experiences with loss of life.

But even further, this piece can be applied to any form of life being taken as grief.

In this piece, I found it important to show that bereavement occurs in many different ways.

We lose something. Innocence, marriage, life, friends, isolation, etc.

We do not always lose something in a big way. Sometimes it occurs over a long period,

or is a subtle change. It may be hard to address. And what makes it so difficult to adjust

is that we will have always have the residual memory of our life context before any events that may alter our new lens. But, despite this difficulty, it is almost more important to note that

Dr. Bonanno discovered that the highest percentage of response in humans is resilience.

And that we will always have the potential to reach recovery.

Ann Warren - Waiting at the Gallows

Waiting at the Gallows is inspired by A Hanging by George Orwell.

(here is an excerpt, a longer one to be read before the performance)

It was a sodden morning of rain. We set out for the gallows. Till that moment

I had never realized what it means to destroy a healthy, conscious man.

The hangman climbed down and stood ready, holding the lever.

Minutes seemed to pass.

The steady, muffled crying from the prisoner went on and on.

We looked at the lashed, hooded man on the drop,

and listened to his cries - each cry another second of life.

There was a clanking noise, and then dead silence.

The prisoner had vanished, and the rope was twisting on itself.

Afterwards, we all had a drink together.

The dead man was a hundred yards away.

The Drawing Room, 56 Willoughby Street, Downtown Brooklyn, NY

Craig Michael Davis is an internationally known composer, conductor, and pianist from California who currently lives in Brooklyn, NY. He travels the world performing with 'Command-E,' which he founded in 2015. Receiving a Master's of Music in Theory and Composition from the New York University, Craig studied predominately with Michael Gordon and Julia Wolfe. Craig's most recent work Re-Creation, for String Orchestra, was premiered by the L'viv Philharmonic Orchestra in May 2015. For the theater, Craig is currently working on a piece entitled, “The Wife of a Terrorist,” portraying one woman's journey and life as the wife of the leader of a terrorist organization in Algeria.

Since 2009, Craig has conducted various full and scratch orchestra-type ensembles, including the Broadway Chamber Players, the New Music Ensemble at California State University, Fullerton; the Fullerton Choir; and The White Noise Contemporary Music Ensemble. These ensembles have curated music from the Renaissance through music of today including David Lang, Louis Andriessen, Terry Riley, Kyle Gann, Lloyd Rodgers, and Frederic Rzewski.

As a pianist, Craig has toured The United States and Europe giving performances of his original works. He often collaborates with painters and dancers to create new works that last anywhere from 5 minutes to 5 hours. Craig has become increasingly interested in writing and performing music in cross collaborative-genre venues that deal with multiple mediums simultaneously.

His writing has earned a number of awards and residencies, among which include Finalist in the 2015 Sacrarium International Composition Competition and Forum, The 2013 Alan A. Mannason Award for Composition, and The 2012 Henriquez Award for Composition. His music has been played in the United States as well as in Europe. Most recently, his works have been performed by the New York University Philharmonic Orchestra; the L'viv Philharmonic Orchestra in L'viv, Ukraine; the JACK Quartet, in New York; and at various new music performance spaces in and around New York City. Craig's music is published through Jack Harrison Publishing Inc.

Paul Kopetz is a graduate of the University of Melbourne, Monash University, The Victorian College of the Arts, the Rotterdam Conservatorium, and Monash University. Over the years he has worked as a free- lance bass clarinetist, composer/arranger, conductor and educator. His compositions and arrangements have been performed in the USA, Hong Kong, Japan, Holland, Italy, Netherlands, China, Ukraine, Singapore and Poland. One reviewer has described Paul’s music as “an eclectic and emotive mix of poly - stylistic story-telling where Contemporary Classical music forms and Pop Music idioms complement each other through the good old tradition of fine Classical craftsmanship”.

Since focusing on composition in 2009, Paul's music has been awarded numerous prizes in composition competitions all over the world. His works have been performed at festivals and in concert series by acclaimed Australian and international artists. His creative output includes music for chamber ensembles of various sizes and instrumentation, strings, choirs, wind orchestra, solo instruments, and voice.

Paul is currently working on the release of his first CD featuring compositions for wind quintet and voice. He is a dedicated and passionate music educator, working with students of all ages and abilities. He is a woodwind examiner with the Australian Music Examination Board and Composer-In-The-Classroom with Musica Viva Queensland. Paul is a represented artist with Australian Music Centre.

Cullyn D. Murphy is a composer, conductor, vocalist, and educator from Champaign, Illinois. Murphy received his B.M.E. in Music Education-Choral and his B.M. in Theory/Composition from Illinois State University where he was awarded the 2013-2014 Joshua Award Scholarship for excellence in music composition. He also won first place in the 2014 Illinois State University Wind Ensemble Composition Contest.

Currently he is pursuing his M.M. at the University of Louisville where he has received the Bomhard Fellowship. Murphy has been invited to lecture at Illinois State University and Parkland Community College, and has had pieces commissioned and played by Illinois State University's Symphonic Wind Ensemble, numerous high schools in Illinois, and many other performers and ensembles. His private studies inclue Roy Magnuson, Carl Schimmel, Martha C. Horst, and Leon Harrell.

Simon Le Boggit is a multimedia artist living and working in Lincolnshire, UK. Simon is currently focussing on the creation of emotional algorithmic music which spontaneously generates moments of “apparent intentionality”, statistically distilled from pure non-sentient chaos. Any emergent melody, harmony and syncopation in his compositions are a product of chance, and the human brain’s compulsion to identify patterns.

Simon’s algorithmic compositions have been performed live, and as acousmatic surround-sound recordings, at music and sonic art festivals in various parts of the world including London, Manchester, Athens, Barcelona and Vancouver. His ongoing ambition is to explore the possibilities of his compositions being played by soloists, ensembles and orchestras from the world’s vast array of musical cultures.

Email: simon.le.boggit@hotmail.com

http://quantumsouporchestra.weebly.com

In 1999, I founded Concrete Timbre as a studio performance group to create and record new music compositions, soundscapes, sound installations, and several theatrical sound designs. In 2005 we moved out of the studio and have produced contemporary music in a theatrical setting as well as theater performances that feature music and sound including:

4 Wars, Folie Pure, Coq tôt, Satie's Birthday Party, Un Lieu de Vie, Anna Strong's Laundry, Age of Pain(e), Voices of justice and consangunity..., and Dziewczyna. Each of these interdisciplinary productions featured the talents of more than 20 artists.

As a composer and sound designer, my compositions have been performed at many (many!) innovative performance spaces in New York, Paris, Baltimore, Buffalo, California, and Florida. I’ve been lucky to work with some really inspiring interdisciplinary artists with a flair for the contemporary (!)

So for now, I try to keep the music great, the story interesting, the visuals stimulating, and the movement fresh - and of course, then wind them into a spectacular melange. Merde! For more information, visit www.AnnWarren.net.

Ann Warren

Saman Samadi is a Persian avant-garde composer, performer, and multimedia artist residing in New York City. Samadi has written an extensive amount of repertoire including large scale orchestral works, chamber music for various combinations, solo instruments, and electro-acoustic music. Samadi attended NODET (National Organization for Development of Exceptional Talents) for middle school, high school and pre-university studies in Sari, Iran. He was awarded a diploma in Mathematics from this institution. Samadi holds a B.A. in Violin Performance and an M.A. in Composition from the University of Tehran. He was ranked 2nd nationally for the mandatory graduate entrance concours. During his M.A. he studied with Alireza Mashayekhi. Samadi was offered a full scholarship as well as a full teaching assistantship for the PhD program in composition at the State University of New York at Stony Brook. During his time there he studied with Daria Semegen.

Samadi has had various notable achievements over the years. He was awarded an Artist Diploma for the 2015 New York Foundation for the Arts (NYFA) Immigrant Artist Mentoring Program. His work was chosen to be performed at The New York City Electroacoustic Music Festival in June 2014. His composition “Paj” has won first prize for the 2012 Counterpoint-Italy International Composition Competition. In 2009 Samadi won an award for the 24th annual Fadjr International Music Festival. He was also the director and conductor of Concentus Orchestra from 2006-2009. The repertoire consisted of baroque and contemporary works which included some of his own compositions.

Samadi’s music has been influenced by the “New Complexity”. He developed his own unique style which entails a new system of pitch organization that uses microtones from traditional Persian music, improvisation, complex poly-rhythms, and heterophonic texture. In addition, Samadi improvises on the piano which has had a great impact on his compositions. He is also a Baritone and uses traditional Persian techniques in his singing. Samadi is also an artist who has used graphic design, oil painting and photography as his medium. Samadi is the director and co-founder of SAMADIS’ which organizes an annual international composition competition and concert series. Also, Samadis’ records is a contemporary classical music record label based in New York City.

Fedly Daniel

Fedly's studies in the Theatre started at Stony Brook University. It is there that he became a founding member of the student-run Stony Brook Actors Conservatory, where he starred in their productions of An Adult Evening of Shel Silverstein and Shakespeare's The Comedy of Errors.

Fedly also completed a 2 year Meisner Technique program at Ted Bardy Acting Studio, where he currently teaches an acting technique class.

He then took to the NYC Theatre scene in where he performed in Diffractions Theatre's very successful production of The Bald Soprano directed by Roxane Revon.

He continued on the same path with Ma's Playhouse's Home directed by Antonevia Ocho-Coultes, The WhiteListed Theatre Company's Lost in Space Directed by Petar Varbanov, Price of Silence Theatre Company’s Blurred Lines of Justice directed by Jason J., and White Sky, Black Sky directed by Mathilde Schennen.

Fedly was featured in the Concrete Timbre production of Un Lieu de Vie at Gallery MC, and in several of its salon concerts.

Sam Hoyland is a New York-based composer whose often fast-paced, often atonal music emphasizes texture and juxtaposition.

His music has been performed by PubliQuartet, InnoVox, Tajujon, Choral Chameleon, and Quartet Plus 1, among others.

Mr. Hoyland holds a Bachelor's degree in music and mathematics from Wesleyan University and a Master's degree in music composition from Queens College and has studied with Anthony Braxton, Jeff Nichols, and Bruce Saylor. He draws musical inspiration from the great Modernists of the first half of the 20th century and – most of all – from the music of György Ligeti.

Email me at samuel.hoyland@gmail.com