Saturday, March 9th at 7pm, ISSUE celebrates legendary pianist and composer Christian Wolff’s 90th birthday at Judson Memorial Church in Greenwich Village. The event will feature performances of chamber works spanning from 1950 to present day, plus a new world premiere by Wolff himself.
Ten “compositional ideas''–specifically referencing his multi-movement piece Burdocks (1970-71)–will be interpreted by the renowned String Noise Sounds quartet with Conrad Harris & Pauline Kim Harris (violin/objects), Jessie Cox (drums/cymbals), and Samuel Yulsman (piano/synths). Centering variant harmonic techniques in a collection of elusive and pervasive forms emblematic of Wolff’s compositional approach, the project brings together a younger generation of performers to synthesize these compositional methodologies, featuring guest musicians David Behrman (electronics/violin), Laura Cocks (flute), David Cossin (percussion), Felix Fan (cello), John King (guitar/electronics), Joseph Kubera (piano), Ikue Mori (electronics), Marilyn Nonken (piano), Kevin Ramsay (daxophone/electronics), and Lucie Vítková (accordion/harmonica).
PROGRAM:
7PM
Duo for Violins (1950)
For Piano I (1952)
Bread and Roses (1976) for Solo Violin
Death of Mother Jones (1977) for Solo Violin
Cello Cello Variations, "Hallelujah, I'm A Bum!" (1978) for Solo Cello
Stardust Piece 1 (1984) for Cello and Piano
Piano Trio (1985)
For Morty (1987) for Glockenspiel/Vibraphone and Piano
Duo 8 (2008) for Violin and Cello
Small Duos for Violinists (2021)
8:45PM Intermission
9PM
Cold Spring (1981) for 2 Violins and Vibraphone/Glockenspiel by Steven Swartz **
Ghost Swifts (2024) by String Noise Sounds *
What If? (2024) for 2-20 Musicians *
Improvisation by Christian Wolff & Ikue Mori
CW90 (2024) by David Behrman *
BURDOCKS (1970-71)
* World Premiere
** NYC Premiere
Conrad Harris, in partnership with Pauline Kim Harris (who perform as violin duo String Noise), have become closely acquainted with Wolff’s work through their collaboration on A Complete Anthology of Solo and Duo Violin Pieces. This intergenerational celebration provides ISSUE the unique opportunity to introduce historic work to new audiences and contexts.
Judson Memorial Church is deeply engaged with the local community, and in partnership with ISSUE, will plan a variety of outreach initiatives with the artists. With a commitment to accessibility, the organizations will coordinate outreach to students and other members of the congregation in order to engage with the artists around their work. More details to be announced.
Christian Wolff (born 1934, Nice, France) is a composer, teacher and sometime performer. Since 1941 he has lived in the United States. He studied piano with Grete Sultan and composition briefly with John Cage, in whose company, along with Morton Feldman, then David Tudor and Earle Brown, his work found encouragement and support, as it did subsequently from association with Frederic Rzewski and Cornelius Cardew, and with Merce Cunningham and his dance company. As an improviser he has played with the English group AMM, Christian Marclay, Takehisa Kosugi, Keith Rowe, Steve Lacy, Larry Polansky and Kui Dong. From 1971 to 1999 he taught classics, comparative literature and music at Dartmouth College.
String Noise Sounds is a performer-composers collective—a dream project which began as reinforcement to our violin duo String Noise (violinists Conrad Harris and Pauline Kim) with a percussive-based duo, comprised of Jessie Cox on drums/cymbals and Sam Yulsman on the piano/synths. Compositions are rooted in a kind of philosophical meditation, focusing on a mutual discovery of a sound—which is then dissected and reconstructed into a larger whole. Like-minded artists are asked to join in long duration improvisation sets—embarking on a sonic journey into the unfamiliar, emerging upon a new space we create together.
Jessie Cox is a composer, drummer, and scholar, currently in pursuit of his Doctorate degree at Columbia University. Growing up in Switzerland, and also having roots in Trinidad and Tobago, he is currently residing in NYC. He has written over 100 works for various musical ensembles including electroacoustic works, solo works, chamber- and orchestral works, works for jazz ensembles and choirs; including commissions and performances by LA Phil, Ensemble Modern, Heidi Duckler Dance, JACK Quartet, International Contemporary Ensemble, and more. As a performer he has played in Europe, Africa, the Caribbean and the USA; with musicians from all over the world. Jessie has participated at esteemed festivals all over the world and his music can be heard on Aztec Music’s Declic Jazz Label, Gold Bolus Recordings and Infrequent Seams, as well as others. His scholarly writing has been published in the journal Sound American, and Castle Of Our Skins’ blog, a publication is forthcoming in Critical Studies in Improvisation; and he has presented his work at numerous conferences and festivals. Jessie Cox graduated summa cum laude from the Berklee College of Music on esteemed scholarships in 2017 and presented The Sound of Listening, as part of Sami Hopkins’ Propositions from the deadWIP 2020 Suzanne Fiol Curatorial Fellowship series, in collaboration with Kathryn Schulmeister, Juliana Gaona-Villamizar, “Dac” Chang, and Douglas R. Ewart.
A violinist with “imposing technique,” (New York Times) Conrad Harris brings “fire and excitement, as well as a surprising amount of beauty” (New York Classical Review) in his approach to the contemporary music repertoire. He has performed new works for violin at Ostrava Days, Darmstadt Ferrienkürse für Neue Musik, Gulbenkian Encounters of New Music, Radio France, Warsaw Autumn, and New York's Sonic Boom Festival. In addition to being a member of the FLUX Quartet and violin duo String Noise, he is concertmaster/soloist with the S.E.M. Orchestra, Ostravská Banda, STX Ensemble and Ensemble LPR. He has performed and recorded with such artists as Elliott Sharp, Robert Ashley, Alvin Lucier, David Behrman "Blue" Gene Tyranny, Jean-Claude Risset, Rohan de Saram and Tiny Tim. His expansive repertoire includes premieres and works by George Lewis, Julio Estrada, Annie Gosfield, Christian Wolff, Michael Hersch, Isabel Mundy, Cassandra Miller, to name a few. His recordings of the Lejaren Hiller Violin Sonatas with pianist, Joseph Kubera was released in 2018 on New World Records and his extensive discography can be heard on Asphodel, Vandenburg, CRI, New Focus, Black Truffle, Astres’dOr, Cold Blue, Northern Spy, Infrequent Seams and Vinyl Retentive Records. Soon to be released is Conrad’s recording of the complete Freeman Etudes by John Cage as well as an album of works he commissioned from the composers of the Sonic Arts Union: Robert Ashely, David Behrman, Alvin Lucier and Gordon Mumma.
Violinist Pauline Kim Harris, aka PK or Pauline Kim, is a GRAMMY®-winning recording artist and composer. She has appeared throughout the US, Canada, Europe, Asia and Australia as soloist, collaborator and music director. Known for her work with classical avant-punk violin duo String Noise, she has also toured extensively with Orpheus Chamber Orchestra and continues to collaborate with leading new music ensembles in New York City. Active in the experimental music scene, Pauline’s work extends into interdisciplinary worlds, crossing boundaries and integrating visual art, electronics, media, film and dance to music. She has premiered and recorded works by Alvin Lucier, Christian Wolff, John Zorn, Philip Glass, Tyondai Braxton, Catherine Lamb, Steve Reich, George Lewis, David Lang, Du Yun, and more. Pauline’s debut album, Heroine — a reimagining of the Bach Chaconne and Ockeghem’s Deo Gratias was released in 2019 on Sono Luminus with worldwide distribution. Her second album, Wild at Heart, was released on Sono Luminus in 2021. Pauline has also recorded for Decca, Tzadik, Northern Spy, Nonesuch, New Focus Recordings, Infrequent Seams, New World Records, Chaikin Records, Unseen Worlds, and Cold Blue Music, and has been heard on PBS, BBC, NPR, WQXR, WNYC, WKCR and WFMU. Pauline Kim was the first Music Director for the Bill T. Jones/ Arnie Zane Dance Company and has been the featured solo artist for choreographers David Parker of The Bang Group and Pam Tanowitz. Most recently, she was an associate artist at the Atlantic Center for the Arts, had her debut residency at the Stone - New School, resident artist fellow at The Mabel Residency, and is the recipient of the EtM Con Edison Composer Residencies at Bloomingdale School of Music. She was commissioned to compose the soundtrack to Coco Fusco's "Your Eyes Will Be An Empty Word" for the 2021 Whitney Biennial and will premiere a new commissioned work by New York Theater Ballet in the Spring of 2024 in collaboration with Choreographer Gabrielle Lamb.
Sam Yulsman is a composer and pianist whose music spans a wide range of idioms. Yulsman’s compositions have been performed in North and South America, Europe, and Asia by ensembles and soloists including the Talea Ensemble, Ensemble Korea, Sun Ra Arkestra, JACK Quartet, Séverine Ballon, String Noise, Distractfold, Wet Ink Ensemble, Mivos Quartet, New York New Music Ensemble, Julia den Boer, Jeonghyeon Joo, loadbang, and Rage Thormbones. Collaborative works include Veiled Gazelle for large ensemble and electronics with composer Kevin Ramsay, Little Moments of Invisible Death for two pianos and electronics, composed and performed with Laure M. Hiendl, and Land Before Time III, a dance installation co-produced and -directed with dancer Justin Cabrillos and poet Gabrielle DaCosta. In 2021 Yulsman received a DMA in composition from Columbia University, where he studied with George E. Lewis, Zosha di Castri, and Georg Friedrich Haas. Recent honors and awards include a 2021 Charles S. Miller Award from Columbia University, 2020 Fromm Commission, 2019 Prix Langage Musical from the Conservatoire Américain, and a 2019 Copland House Cultivate Fellowship.
David Behrman is a composer and artist active since the 1960s. Over the years he has made sound and multimedia installations for gallery spaces as well as musical compositions for performance in concerts. Most of his pieces feature exible structures and the use of technology in personal ways; compositions rely on interactive real-time relationships with imaginative performers. Together with Robert Ashley, Alvin Lucier and Gordon Mumma, Behrman founded the Sonic Arts Union in 1966. He had a long association with the Merce Cunningham Dance Company as composer and performer, created music for several of the Company’s repertory pieces, and was a member of the Company’s Music Committee during its last years. Behrman has received grants from the NEA, NYSCA, NYFA, the Japan-United States Friendship Commission, the D.A.A.D., the Foundation for Contemporary Arts and the Henry Cowell Foundation. He was a fellow at the American Academy in Berlin in 2016. Audio recordings of his works are on the XI, Lovely Music, Pogus, New World, WERGO, and Alga Marghen labels.
Laura Cocks is a flutist with “febrile instrumental prowess” (The New York Times), who works in a wide array of environments as a performer of experimental music and “creates intricate, spellbinding works that have a visceral physicality to them” (Foxy Digitalis). Laura is the executive director and flutist of TAK ensemble, “one of the most prominent ensembles in the United States practicing truly experimental music” (I Care If You Listen). Laura is also a member of Talea Ensemble, and SUN HAN GUILD and performs regularly as a soloist, an improviser, and chamber musician with ensembles such as International Contemporary Ensemble, DeCapo Chamber Players, Third Sound, Wet Ink Ensemble, and many others in NYC and abroad.
David Cossin was born and raised in Queens, New York, and studied classical percussion at Manhattan School of Music. His interest in classical percussion, drum set, non-western hand drumming, composition, and improvisation has led to performances across a broad spectrum of musical and artistic forms to incorporate new media with percussion. He is also an active composer and has invented several new instruments that expand the limits of traditional percussion. David Cossin is the curator for the Sound Res Festival, an experimental music festival in southern Italy.
Felix Fan's versatility has made him one of the most sought after cellists of his generation. As a chamber musician, he has performed with Yo-Yo Ma, Gil Shaham and Janos Starker, in venues such as Carnegie Hall, The Kennedy Center, Musikverein and Royal Festival Hall. Fan's recent solo engagements include the San Diego and Pacific Symphonies, Hong Kong Philharmonic, Macau Symphony Orchestra and the Munich Chamber Orchestra. Appearances with the Bang on a Can All-Stars has allowed Fan to work with artists as diverse as Philip Glass, Meredith Monk, Terry Riley and Lee Ranaldo of Sonic Youth.
John King, composer, guitarist and violist, has received commissions from the Kronos Quartet; the Belgrade Philharmonic (co-commission with Aleksandra Vrebalov), Ethel; the Albany Symphony/“Dogs of Desire”, Bang On A Can All-Stars; Mannheim Ballet; New York City Ballet/Diamond Project, Stuttgart Ballet, Ballets de Monte Carlo; as well as the Merce Cunningham Dance Co. His string quartets have also been performed by the Eclipse Quartet (LA) and the Mondriaan Quartet (Amsterdam), in addition to the Secret Quartet which has premiered many of his compositions at The Stone (June 2007, May 2015), The Kitchen (April 2009), Lincoln Center Festival (July 2011); and Roulette (Oct. 2014).
Hailed by Village Voice critic Kyle Gann as one of “new music’s most valued performers,” Joseph Kubera has been recognized as a leading interpreter of contemporary music for the past 30 years. He has been soloist at such festivals as the Berlin Inventionen, the Warsaw Autumn and Prague Spring, Miami’s Subtropics Festival and Berkeley’s Edgefest. He has been pianist in residence at the Ostrava Days New Music Festival since its inception in 2001. Mr. Kubera has been awarded grants through the NEA Solo Recitalist Program and the Foundation for Contemporary Performance Arts, and was a Creative Associate with the Center for the Creative and Performing Arts at SUNY Buffalo in its heyday.
Ikue Mori is an electronic musician expanding the range of sonic and technical possibilities for experimental and improvisational music. She was born in Tokyo, Japan, and moved to New York in the late 1970s. She has composed soundtracks for filmmakers, received numerous commissions, and led workshops at institutions such as the New School, Stanford University, Dartmouth College, the New Music Conservatory at Mills College, the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, and the University of Gothenburg. She creates rhythmic and ambient soundscapes using digital processing techniques, a laptop computer, and repurposed elements of electronic drumming equipment. Over her five-decade career, Mori has transformed the use of percussion in improvised music and inspired generations of electronic musicians.
Marilyn Nonken is an Associate Professor of Music and Music Education at NYU Steinhardt. She is one of the most celebrated champions of the modern repertoire of her generation, known for performances that explore transcendent virtuosity and extremes of musical expression. Recognized as "one of the greatest interpreters of new music" (American Record Guide), she has been named "Best of the Year" by some of the nation's leading critics. Marilyn Nonken's performances have been presented at such venues as Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, Miller Theatre, the Guggenheim Museum, (Le) Poisson Rouge, IRCAM and the Theatre Bouffe du Nord (Paris), the ABC (Melbourne), Instituto-Norteamericano (Santiago), the Music Gallery (Toronto), the Phillips Collection, and the Menil Collection, as well as conservatories and universities around the world.
Kevin Ramsay is a composer, producer, recording/mixing/mastering/sound engineer, and musician on several critically acclaimed international albums. Brooklyn born and based, Ramsay’s work focuses primarily on theoretical, practical aspects of sound recording/reproduction with unpredictable pairings of acoustic and electronic instruments. Kevin’s current works explore new ways to capture, mix, and process immersive audio for playback, on multichannel sound systems. In addition to serving as the Lead Sound Engineer at Harvestworks Digital Media, he continues to collaborate with a variety of international artists committed to using sound as their main creative medium.
Lucie Vítková is a composer, improviser, and performer (accordion, hichiriki, synthesizer, harmonica, drums, voice, and dance) from the Czech Republic, living in New York. During their studies of composition at Janáček Academy of Music and Performing Arts in Brno (CZ), they have been visiting scholar at the Royal Conservatory in The Hague (NL), California Institute of the Arts in Valencia (USA), Universität der Künste in Berlin (D), Columbia University in New York (USA) and at New York University. Their compositions focus on sonification (compositions based on abstract models derived from physical objects), while in their improvisation practice, Lucie works with the characteristics of discrete spaces through the interaction between sound and movement. In Lucie’s recent work, they are interested in the social-political aspects of music in relation to everyday life and in reusing trash to build sonic costumes and instruments. In their dissertation, Lucie analyzed the compositional techniques of Christian Wolff and social aspects in music. The work was published as a book (JAMU 2021). They have been nominated for the 2017 Herb Alpert Awards in Arts in the category of Music, were commissioned by the Roulette Intermedium in 2017 and 2023 and have become Roulette resident artist in 2018. They have put together two ensembles – the NYC Constellation Ensemble (focused on musical behavior) and the OPERA Ensemble (for singing instrumentalists).
