Thursday, October 24th, 2019, New York’s long-running creative music ensemble Ne(x)tworks presents its final performance at ISSUE Project Room, taking place during the exhibition Suzanne Fiol: TEN YEARS ALIVE which presents visual works by ISSUE’S founder Suzanne Fiol. The career-spanning program nods in many of the directions explored since the group’s first concert in June 2003, showcasing graphic and hybrid scores that expose the conceptual root elements of the Ne(x)tworks project.
The October 24th program includes historical graphic works by John Cage (Selections from Song Books [1970]) and Cornelius Cardew (selections from Schooltime Compositions [1968]) and spatialized works by Netherlands-based Australian composer Kate Moore (Sensitive Spot [2005] for solo piano and multi-channel audio, featuring group co-founder Steven Gosling) and co-founder Chris McIntyre (Sigmar [from 0] [2004], re-sited for ISSUE’s Boerum Place location from the original E. 6th St. space). Developing work by its composer-performer membership has been a foundational idea for Ne(x)tworks from its inception. In addition to McIntyre’s piece this concert highlights work by long-time members Miguel Frasconi (selections from his photographic score series Ne(x)traits [2009, rev 2019]), Shelley Burgon (the free flowing, through-composed glass trees [2007]), and Words on Water (shimmer) by esteemed vocalist and co-founder Joan La Barbara, progenitor (with co-founder Cornelius Dufallo) of the composer-performer ensemble concept that became Ne(x)tworks.
Ne(x)tworks’ relationship with ISSUE Project Room began early in both organizations’ histories. A number of seminal concerts in the group’s development were staged at ISSUE’s original East 6th Street and subsequent Carroll Street silo locations, including a collaborative festival event (with Whitney Museum) in 2005 presenting the music of James Tenney that brought new attention to the still-fledgling presenter. A strong bond grew between these musicians and ISSUE Founder Suzanne Fiol. This creative and interpersonal energy led to ISSUE enlisting Ne(x)tworks as one of its first official Artists In Residence (AIR) during the first half of 2006. Taking place in and around the silo on the Gowanus Canal, the group’s four residency concerts were artistically and creatively pivotal and provided focus that led Ne(x)tworks toward much of the acclaimed work they have pursued to this day.
PERSONNEL:
Joan La Barbara - voice, Co-Founder
Shelley Burgon - harp/elec., Member since 2006
Yves Dharamraj - cello, Member since 2006
Cornelius Dufallo - violin, Co-Founder
Miguel Frasconi - glass/elec., Member since 2006
Stephen Gosling - piano/synth, Co-Founder
Stephanie Griffin - viola, long-time collaborator
Ariana Kim - violin, Member since 2006
Chris McIntyre - trombone/elec., Co-Founder
Danny Tunick - percussion, long-time collaboratorPROGRAM:
John Cage: Selections from Song Books (1970)
Song Books (1970) is a collection of 56 parts in Book I and 34 parts in Book II, consisting of graphic and traditionally notated Solos, some involving electronic modification of the sound, and theatrical pieces, which may be done alone or simultaneously with other Solos or with selections of Cage’s indeterminate music. Each performer chooses a number of Solos and puts together their own program independently. The event unfolds with performers doing their selections according to a personal timeline each has established, with Solos overlapping without predetermined outcome.The techniques Cage used in determining the pitches and durations in these Solos include tracings of star maps and distributing materials over page space by means of chance operations determined by the I Ching, The Chinese Book of Changes. -- Joan La Barbara
Kate Moore: Sensitive Spot (Music Out of The City) (2005)
For solo amplified piano, recordings
Sensitive Spot is about tempo, in particular the slight variations and gradations of one person's personal perception of metric timing. Many takes of the same piece are recorded and overlaid, pinpointing a musical phenomena that would normally be associated with error - the inability of any human to have an exact sense of metronomic timing. In this case it is used to create something that aspires toward beauty resulting in an intricate tapestry of interwoven rhythmic patterns. -- Kate MooreMiguel Frasconi: Ne(x)traits (2009, rev 2019)
Ne(x)traits (2009, rev 2019) is a collection of graphic scores that use arrangements of photographs whose subjects include closeups of everyday objects, lights in motion, and celestial bodies. Composed specifically for Ne(x)tworks, the performance is a combination of absolute freedom and exact direction. While each performer is free to progress through the images at their own pace, they must also adhere to instructions such as, "when arriving at a black and white image, read both black and white as silence and play the gradation between them as sound." This piece was premiered at ISSUE in 2009. The present version is a reworking of the original ideas specifically for this 2019 concert. -- Miguel FrasconiChris McIntyre: Sigmar [from 0] (2004/19)
Sigmar [from 0] (2004/19) was created for Ne(x)tworks and is inspired by the work of artist Sigmar Polke (and Malevich). Using site-determined staging and organized in clock time, ...[from 0] displays material in juxtaposition and flow. Its sonics include performed bits of appropriated material (Stravinsky, Riley, others), improvisatory interactions with given pitch sets, radio-transmitted drones; all sounds projected “from the periphery.” Pre-recorded soundtracks are heard from various playback devices and locations throughout the space, acting as a canvas on which ensemble material is applied. This piece was originally sited at ISSUE’s 619 E 6th St space on May 28, 2004. – Chris J McIntyreCornelius Cardew: Selections from Schooltime Compositions (1968)
Cardew’s “small opera book” of 1968 was premiered over two evenings in March on a program including the UK premiere of Ligeti’s Aventures & Nouvelles Aventure and Kagel’s Sur Scéne, with Christian Wolff performing throughout. The following quote is from a brief introductory essay written by Cardew:“Each of the Schooltime Compositions in the opera book is a matrix to draw out an interpreter’s feelings about certain topics or materials. These pieces plus their interpreters are the characters in the opera. They undergo no dramatic development in the book; in performance they may. The pieces and their interpreters will be the same in both Dayschool and Nightschool. The different matrices grew around such things as words, melody, vocal sounds, triangles, pleasure, noise, working-to-rule, will and desire, keyboard. My plan is based on the translation of the work ‘opera’ into ‘many people working.’” C. Cardew, from Sitting in the Dark, essay in The Musical Times (March ‘68)
Shelley Burgon: glass trees (2007)
For violin, cello, piano, harp
glass trees (2007) is a timed piece using organically composed material that has been formed and organized using a mathematical process. The calculations behind this piece have long been forgotten and the piece has returned to a more organic state with each performance by the addition of more instruments that are free of the mathematical process. This will be the third performance of the piece. The first for cello, harp and piano. The second adding glasses and this performance adding the violin. – Shelley BurgonJoan La Barbara: Words on Water (Shimmer) (2008/19)
Words on Water (shimmer) (2008, revised 2019) explores aspects of my compositional process including stream-of-consciousness word lists relating to the subject of the work. The overarching parameters of the piece include: embracing limitations; lifting the veils to reveal the place in the mind where art begins; exploring/revealing personal space/interior mind; the concept that creating art involves conflict and is a balancing act. Elements include “impossible sounds”, timelessness, inhales with no exhales filling inner space, the abyss of emptiness, “found sounds” explored and fragmented, melodic development, modular building and brush strokes of fragility. – Joan La Barbara
Ne(x)tworks is a collaborative ensemble of musicians creating and interpreting work that features a dynamic relationship between composition and improvisation. In performance and recordings, the group locates pathways into various types of notation systems and interfaces, striving for a meaningful dialogue with the past, present, and future of creative music. Formed in 2002 in New York City, Ne(x)tworks advances the tradition of the ‘performing composer’ ensemble by frequently presenting full programs of compositions created by its members. The group’s repertoire also extends beyond its ranks to encompass the open scores of New York School composers, work by their European counterparts, further experiments by the composer/performers of the AACM and SoHo Scene of the 1970′s, the “Downtown” composers of the 80′s, and commissioned works by like-minded contemporary colleagues. Ne(x)tworks released two full-length recordings; Earle Brown: Tracer (Mode Records) and a self-released live recording Ne(x)tworks Live Vol. 1: At The Stone, June 2007 (NxW Live). A full history of its performances from 2003 to today is available at https://nextworksmusic.net.
Joan La Barbara (Composer, Vocalist) renowned for developing a unique vocabulary of experimental and extended vocal techniques influencing generations of other composers and singers, received the Foundation for Contemporary Arts John Cage Award (2016). Numerous commissions for multiple voices, chamber ensemble, orchestra, interactive technology, and dance and film sound-scores include “Sesame Street Signing Alphabet” (voice w/live electronics) broadcast worldwide since 1977 and collaboration with Jóhann Jóhannsson for feature film score “Arrival” (2016). Her multi-layered textural compositions premiered at Brisbane Biennial, Festival d’Automne à Paris, Warsaw Autumn, MaerzMusik Berlin, among other international venues. Currently composing a new opera “Dreams of Water Beyond One’s Depth” inspired by the lives and work of Virginia Woolf and Joseph Cornell and a new chamber ensemble commission from New York Philharmonic for Project 19, commemorating the 19th Amendment giving U.S. women the right to vote. La Barbara serves on the Artist Faculties of NYU and Mannes/The New School. https://joanlabarbara.com
Shelley Burgon is a harpist, composer and sound artist living and working in both NYC and CA where she is currently a member in the chamber group Ne(x)tworks and Anthony Braxton’s Septet. As a soloist she performs ambient, ethereal, electronic music and enjoys making multichannel sound and light installations. https://shelleyburgon.com
A top-prize winner in the Ima Hogg, Irving M. Klein, Juilliard, and Florida Orchestra competitions, Franco-American cellist Yves Dharamraj enjoys an international career as a soloist, recitalist and chamber musician, including concerto performances with the Houston Symphony, the Green Bay Symphony, the Asian Artists and Concerts Orchestra, and the Juilliard Orchestra, among others. Dr. Dharamraj currently is an artist fellow in the Academy, a collaboration between Juilliard, Carnegie Hall, the Weill Institute of Music, and the NYC Department of Education that places emerging concert and teaching artists within public schools to nurture arts education and appreciation among younger audiences. He explores the rich chamber music repertoire as a founding member of the Moët Trio, and indulges in the improvisatory avant-garde with the group Ne(x)tworks. In 1998 following studies with Mussie Eidelman and Scott Kluksdahl, Dr. Dharamraj matriculated at Yale University where he graduated cum laude with a Bachelor of Arts degree in History, a Master of Music degree, and an Artist Diploma under the guidance of the renowned pedagogue Aldo Parisot. He has also studied with Paul Katz at the New England Conservatory, and at the Juilliard School with Darrett Adkins. https://www.yvesdharamraj.com/
Cornelius Dufallo is an innovative composer and violinist, and a dedicated advocate of contemporary music. For the past two decades Dufallo has performed and promoted new music, as a soloist and as a collaborator. Dufallo has been a member of several notable ensembles, including the Flux Quartet (1996-2001), Ne(x)tworks (2003-2011), and ETHEL (2005-2012). Currently he performs as a member of the Secret Quartet. In the performance of his own work, Dufallo was described as “an intensely introspective thinker who is committed to visual communication as he is to the purely musical” (Washington Post). His work with musical technology illustrates “how much amplification can expand the instrument’s palette. Far from robbing the violin of its beauty, electronics add textural elements and graduations of timbre that the acoustic instrument cannot approximate” (The New York Times). Cornelius Dufallo is also a psychoanalytic psychotherapist affiliated with the Contemporary Freudian Society. He has a private practice in New York City. https://www.newmusicusa.org/profile/corneliusdufallo/
Miguel Frasconi is a composer and improvisor specializing in the relationship between acoustic objects and musical form. His instrumentarium includes glass objects, analog electronics, and hybrid constructions of his own design. His glass instruments are struck, blown, stroked, smashed and otherwise coaxed into vibration, while his unique approach to modular synthesis takes a similar approach, yet solely in the sonic domain. He has composed chamber music, most recently for Ensemble IPSE; operas, most recently for Experiments in Opera; and numerous dance scores, most notably as music director for dance pioneer Anna Halprin. Over the years, Miguel has worked closely with composers John Cage, Morton Subotnick, Pauline Oliveros, James Tenney, Joan La Barbara, and Jon Hassell. He joined NxW in 2006 and has performed in every concert with them since then. Miguel’s music has been released on New Albion, Porter, Clang.cl, and can be streamed at soundcloud.com/frasconimusic. http://frasconimusic.com/
Pianist Stephen Gosling is a graduate of the Juilliard School, a member of New York New Music Ensemble and Talea Ensemble, and a frequent guest artist with a host of others, including the New York Philharmonic, St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, Ojai Festival and the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center. https://lpr.com/lpr_artists/stephen-gosling-piano/
Stephanie Griffin is an innovative violist, composer and recipient of the 2017 Emerging Composer and Sound Artist Fellowship from the Jerome Foundation, and 2016 composition fellowship from the New York Foundation for the Arts. Born in Canada and based in New York City, her musical adventures have taken her to Indonesia, Singapore, Japan, Hong Kong, England, Ireland, Germany, Belgium, Mexico and Mongolia, from large concert halls to the sand dunes of the Gobi desert. A founding member of the Momenta Quartet, she has given over 200 chamber concerts at such esteemed venues as the Library of Congress and the National Gallery. Ms. Griffin is now in her twelfth year as principal violist of the Princeton Symphony, a member of composer/improviser collective the Brooklyn Infinity Orchestra, and holds a Doctor of Musical Arts degree from The Juilliard School where she studied with Juilliard Quartet violist Samuel Rhodes. https://www.stephaniegriffinviola.com/
Noted by The New York Times for giving "the proceedings an invaluable central thread of integrity and stylishness" and having "played with soulful flair," violinist Ariana Kim made her New York recital debut at Carnegie's Weill Hall during her graduate studies at Juilliard and is now a tenured professor at Cornell University. Together with the Aizuri Quartet, she was awarded the Gold Medal at the 2017 Osaka International Competition, the 2018 M-Prize, and a 2019 Grammy nomination for their debut album, Blueprinting. At 16, Ariana made her debut with the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra and at 24 was appointed acting concertmaster of the Louisiana Philharmonic in New Orleans and has since become one of the most respected artists of her generation. A recipient of a Cornell University Affinito-Stewart Faculty Grant and a Society for the Humanities Grant, Ariana released her first solo album Routes of Evanescence in December of 2015 which features works for solo violin and violin + 1 written by American women composers including Ruth Crawford Seeger, Augusta Read Thomas, and Jennifer Curtis. While on sabbatical leave from Cornell in 2016, Ariana lived and worked in Italy, teaching at l'Istituto Stradivari, performing with Milano Classica, and curating a cultural diplomacy public art project. https://arianakim.com
Christopher McIntyre’s primary artistic activity is performing on trombone and electronics in various musical contexts (from improvisative to interpretive) within the protean NYC community. He also makes compositional work for various media and forces, experimenting with recorded and synthesized sound and using transformational structures to create a narrative of evolving sonic states. He is the Director of Brooklyn’s TILT Brass, curates programs for Either/Or Ensemble and ISSUE Project Room, teaches contemporary brass chamber music at Mannes School of Music at The New School, and frequently performs in groups such as TILT, Either/Or, SEM Ensemble, and Ne(x)tworks, among many others. https://cmcintyre.com
Danny Tunick is very active in both the classical and rock scenes in and around New York City, as conductor and percussionist. He has performed regularly with the Common Sense Composers Ensemble, the Princeton Composers Ensemble, and the Bang On A Can Festival, as well as being a member of Bang On A Can's Spit Orchestra. Within the rock music sphere, he drums for Randall Woolf's group 'Camp', Merge and Flying Nun recording artists The Mad Scene, and Merge and Wiiija Records recording artists Guv'ner, with whom he has just recorded his second full-length disk. M. Tunick can be heard on the CRI, Opus One, EMI Portugal, Point, Princeton, New Albion (Terry Riley 'In C - 25th Anniversary Recording'), Merge, Wiiija, Konkurrent, Mystic, Happy Squid, Tzadik,Gothic Gospel, Atomic, Spaced, and Rock Against Rock record labels. https://www.newmusicusa.org/profile/dannytunick/
