New Works by Elliott Sharp, John King, Eleonor Sandresky and More Set for IN (KEY) at Cornelia Street Cafe Today

By: Jun. 21, 2014
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Make Music New York, ComposersCollaborative Inc, Peppergreen Media & Cornelia Street Café present "IN (Key)," an extraordinary 50th anniversary celebration of Terry Riley's minimalist masterpiece "IN C" today, June 21st featuring eleven new works by leading composer-performers. The event will begin with a special performance of "IN C" itself, serving as a prelude to all that is to follow.

Completing the octave, on the program will be: "IN Db" by Eleonor Sandresky (keyboard), "IN D" by Lisa Maree Dowling (double bass), "IN Eb" by David Borden (keyboard), "IN E" by Gene Pritsker (electric guitar), "IN F" by Elliott Sharp (electric guitar), "IN Gb" by Adam Cuthbért (trumpet & laptop), "IN G" by Patrick Grant (electric guitar & keyboard), "IN Ab" by Brad Balliett (bassoon), "IN A" by John King (viola), "IN Bb" by Vasko Dukovski (clarinet), and "IN B" by Jed Distler (keyboard). Other special musical guests completing the performing ensemble TBA.

This free concert will take place from 1:00 to 4:00pm on the street outside the cafe at 29 Cornelia St. and is open to the public. At 6:00pm, there will be a separate event inside the café performed by members of the ensemble for a nominal charge TBD.

About "In C": In 1964, California Composer Terry Riley launched what is now known as the Minimalist movement with his revolutionary classic "IN C." This seminal work Provided a new concept in musical form based on interlocking repetitive patterns. Its impact was to change the course of 20th Century music and its influence has been heard in the works of prominent composers such as Steve Reich, Philip Glass and John Adams and in the music of Rock Groups such as The Who, The Soft Machine, Tangerine Dream, Curved Air and many others. Terry's hypnotic, multi-layered, polymetric, brightly orchestrated eastern flavored improvisations and compositions set the stage for the prevailing interest in a new tonality.

The concert is set for Saturday, June 21, 2014 1pm-4pm out front of Cornelia St. Café, 29 Cornelia Street, New York, NY 10014. For more information, visit www.peppergreenmedia.com/InKey.html.

Terry Riley, Composer: 50 years ago, California Composer Terry Riley launched what is now known as the Minimalist movement with his revolutionary classic "IN C". This seminal work Provided a new concept in musical form based on interlocking repetitive patterns. It's impact was to change the course of 20th Century music and it's influence has been heard in the works of prominent composers such as Steve Reich, Philip Glass and John Adams and in the music of Rock Groups such as The Who, The Soft Machine, Tangerine Dream, Curved Air and many others. Terry's hypnotic, multi-layered, polymetric, brightly orchestrated eastern flavored improvisations and compositions set the stage for the prevailing interest in a new tonality. www.terryriley.net Photo: Christopher Felver

Eleonor Sandresky, Composer/Pianist: Working at the forefront of avant-garde concert-as-theater, Eleonor Sandresky (IN Db) is the original Choreographic Pianist, exploring her deep interest in how motion translates to emotion through sound. One of New York's preeminent new-music pianists, she mines her experience as a performer for her compositions. Her award-winning music spans the spectrum, from solo-acoustic to evening-length electronic works. Since 2009, she has been working on the design of The Wonder Suit, a collection of wireless sensors that she straps onto her body to control things in her electronic pieces. Follow her on Twitter @esandresky. For more information visit: www.esandresky.com, www.facebook.com/ChoreographicPianist, www.youtube.com/user/chorpiano13/videos.

Lisa Maree Dowling, Composer/Bassist/Vocalist/Songwriter: Lisa Maree Dowling (IN D) is a bassist, vocalist and songwriter. Her playing has been described as 'energetic and precise' by the New York Times and her compositions have been celebrated for their 'sublime, lovely and exotic quality' (Downtown Music Gallery). Lisa enjoys exploiting the unconventional, surprising and lyrical nature of the bass and often experiments with weird scordaturas and extended techniques to create her version of pop music. Her solo project, "kills to kisses", was recently praised as 'Bjork-like' and 'innovative' by Steve Smith of the New York Times. She is currently recording her debut "kills to kisses" album with Ryan Streber of Okatven Audio. www.killstokisses.com

David Borden, Composer: A pioneering composer and performer on synthesizers, David Borden (IN Eb) is the retired founding director of the Cornell University Digital Music Program. He holds advanced degrees in music from the Eastman School of Music and Harvard University. After meeting Robert Moog in 1967 his entire concept of music composition and performance changed. The two became lifelong friends. Mr. Borden's music can be heard on the Cuneiform, Arbiter, FRKWYS, New World, and Fabric labels. In addition to his electronic and electroacoustic works, he has composed many pieces for two pianos. Writing in Chamber Music America, Kyle Gann describes Borden's work as "...music with a kind of joyful, bopping ecstasy." www.mothermallard.com

Gene Pritsker, Composer/Guitarist/Rapper/D.J.: Composer/guitarist/rapper/D.J. Gene Pritsker (IN E) has written over four hundred ninety compositions, including chamber operas, orchestral and chamber works, electro-acoustic music and songs for hip-hop and rock ensembles. All of his compositions employ an eclectic spectrum of styles and are influenced by his studies of various musical cultures. He is the founder and leader of the eclectic ensemble: Sound Liberation, as well as being the co-director of Composers Concordance. Gene's music has been performed all over the world at various festivals and by many ensembles and performers. The New York Times described him as "...audacious...multitalented." www.genepritsker.com

Elliott Sharp, Composer: Elliott Sharp (IN F) leads the projects SysOrk, Orchestra Carbon, Terraplane, and Tectonics. He is currently developing his opera Port Bou, to be premiered at Issue Project Room Nov. 2014. In March 2013, Sharp's Storm Of the Eye, commissioned by violin virtuoso Hilary Hahn, was premiered. He has been featured at New Music Stockholm, Donaueschingen, Darmstadt, and Au Printemps. In 2010, Sharp directed, wrote, and composed About Us, a science-fiction opera for all-teenage performers at the Bayerische Staatsoper in Munich. ?Sharp's work is the subject of the documentary "Doing The Don't" and he was featured on NPR All Things Considered October 2012. www.elliottsharp.com

Adam Cuthbért/Composer: A composer and Ableton Live practitioner, Adam Cuthbért (IN Gb) synthesizes sound environments from acoustic and digital instruments. Recent projects include 'universe explosion' for the Bang on a Can Summer Festival, with a double quartet version in the works for Friction Quartet, and 'zero...sixty', a multimedia dance project at Roulette with inmixedcompany. Co-founder of the slashsound label, Cuthbért released a chamber electronica album, 'dream world EP', three experimental ambient albums as KuuMA, and the forthcoming 'a utopian act', the first recording project by abstract electronica duo, ampersand. Cuthbért is the Sales Manager for Bang on a Can's Cantaloupe Music. www.adamcuthbert.com

Patrick Grant, Composer: Composer Patrick Grant (IN G) creates musical works that are a synthesis of classical, popular, and world musical styles that have found place in concert halls, film, theater, dance, and visual media. Over the last three decades, his music has moved from post-punk and classically bent post-minimal styles, through Balinese-inspired gamelan and microtonality, to ambient, electronic soundscapes involving many layers of acoustic and amplified instruments. His music has consistently contained a "...a driving and rather harsh energy redolent of rock, as well as a clean sense of melodicism...intricate cross-rhythms rarely let up..." He is the creator of International Strange Music Day (August 24) and the pioneer of the electric guitar procession Tilted Axes. www.peppergreenmedia.com

Brad Balliett, Composer/Bassoonist New York City-based bassoonist and composer Brad Balliett (IN Ab) is gaining a reputation for unusual and thought-provoking programming, performance and composition. As a bassoonist, Brad performs as a member of Decoda, Metropolis Ensemble, Signal, and Ensemble ACJW, as well as as principal bassoon of the Princeton Symphony. Brad's compositions have been performed around the country, including recent performances by Metropolis Ensemble, Cantori NY, and International Contemporary Ensemble (ICEtank series). Brad graduated summa cum laude from Harvard University in 2005, where he studied composition with Elliot Gyger and John Harbison. Brad's weekly new music radio show, 'The Brothers Balliett' can be heard on WQXR's Q2 Music channel. www.bradballiett.com

John King, Composer/Guitarist/Violist: John King (IN A), composer, guitarist and violist, has received commissions from Kronos Quartet; Ethel; Bang On A Can All-Stars; and the Merce Cunningham Dance Co. He has written 3 operas: herzstück/heartpiece, based on the text of Heiner Müller, la belle captive based on texts by Alain Robbe-Grillet, and Dice Thrown, based on the Stéphane Mallarmé poem. He has 3 recent CD releases of music for string quartet; 10 Mysteries and AllSteel (Tzadik); and Ethel (Cantaloupe). From 2002-2011 was a co-director of the Music Committee at MCDC. He received the Music/Sound Award for 2014 from the Foundation for Contemporary Arts as well as the 2009 Alpert Award in the Arts for Music. www.johnkingmusic.com

Vasko Dukovski, Composer/Clarinetist: Vasko Dukovski (IN Bb) is a New York based multidisciplinary artist and diverse stylistic performer of the highest caliber, one of the most-sought-after instrumentalists in his generation. Dukovski has collaborated with some of today's leading composers and has commissioned and inspired over a dozen new works written for him and premiered over one hundred new compositions with some of the worlds most respected ensembles for new music. Born in Ohrid, Macedonia, Dukovski began playing with sound at age five and started his musical education at the age of eight. His dedication to music and the clarinet earned him a Fine Arts Award from the Interlochen Arts Academy, before earning a Bachelors and a Masters at the Julliard School of Music. www.dukovski.com

Jed Distler, Composer/Pianist: Composer/pianist Jed Distler (IN B) is artistic director for ComposersCollaborative, inc. Called "an altogether extraordinary pianist" (Newark Star-Ledger) and "the Downtown Keyboard Magus" in the New Yorker, Jed created a unique recital program encompassing Thelonious Monk's complete songs. Formerly on the faculty at Sarah Lawrence College where he served as the theater department's musical director for more the two decades, Jed participated in recent composition teaching residencies at the University of Nevada in Las Vegas and Colorado College. Jed gained notoriety in 2007 for helping uncover the scandal exposing hundreds of recordings fraudulently credited to pianist Joyce Hatto. Visit www.composerscollab.org and www.jeddistler.org.

Photo Credit: Christopher Felver



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