The Orchestra of the S.E.M. Ensemble Returns to Bohemian National Hall

The Orchestra of the S.E.M. Ensemble will return to the Bohemian National Hall on October 25th for their first performance since May, 2019.

The orchestra will present a program of major, large-scale pieces by American composers that have been closely associated with the work that SEM and its Artistic Director Petr Kotik have done both in Europe and the U.S. On the program will be American premieres of Christian Wolff's Invisible Terrain, Petr Kotik's Wednesdays at RW on Spring Street and Phill Niblock's Exploratory, Rhine version "Looking for Daniel". There will also be performances of Five by John Cage, and From Unknown Silences by Pauline Oliveros, both of which were written for SEM. The violinist Hana Kotková and the composer and accordionist Lucie Vítková will join as soloists.

In 1998, when Kotik asked Phill Niblock to compose an orchestra piece for him, it marked the beginning of Niblock's work with orchestra. Exploratory, Rhine version "Looking for Daniel (2019) is his most recent such piece; it will be performed with full orchestra instrumentation for the first time in America.

In 1997, Petr Kotik curated the "Music of Extended Duration" festival in Prague. Kotik commissioned a new piece by Pauline Oliveros for the festival; the result was an hour-long composition entitled Four Meditations for Orchestra. It was premiered at the Prague Castle by the 101-piece Janáček Philharmonic, Pauline Oliveros as soloist on accordion, Petr Kotík conducting. The first part of the piece, entitled From Unknown Silences (1996) will be performed at this concert. The soloist Lucie Vítková will perform on a custom Titano acoustic accordion that belonged to Oliveros.

Similar to Phill Niblock, Chrisitan Wolff began to compose orchestra pieces in the mid-1990s at Petr Kotik's behest. After hearing Kotík's Wednesdays at RW on Spring Street in 2019 at Ostrava Days (for solo violin and orchestra), he decided to compose a piece for solo violin and orchestra as well. Invisible Terrain (2020-21) is dedicated to Hana Kotková and Petr Kotik, and was premiered this August at Ostrava Days 2021 by Kotková and Ostravská banda, Petr Kotik conductor.

Wednesdays at RW on Spring Street was composed for Hana Kotková and premiered at Ostrava Days 2019. Petr Kotik (born 1942) continued to work on the composition after its premiere, finishing it in March, 2020. On October 25th, the finished piece will be heard for the first time. Kotik lives and works in New York, where he directs the S.E.M. Ensemble. He is the founder and artistic director of Ostrava Days.

John Cage (1912-1992) composed Five in 1988 for the new music festival in Witten, Germany. Cage had SEM and Kotik in mind when composing the piece, as they were scheduled to perform at Witten as well. The S.E.M. Ensemble premiered Five at the Witten Festival in 1989. In 1997, Kotik created a version for orchestra for a concert in Tokyo. Petr Kotik first collaborated with John Cage in 1964, when they performed together in Vienna and Prague. Their last collaboration took place in 1992, working together to prepare the first complete performance of Cage's Atlas Eclipticalis at Carnegie Hall.

Founded in 1970 by Petr Kotik, the S.E.M. Ensemble is the oldest continuously performing American new music ensemble. In 1992, SEM expanded into The Orchestra of the S.E.M. Ensemble with a debut concert at Carnegie Hall. Throughout its existence, the S.E.M. Ensemble has been associated with composers such as John Cage, Pauline Oliveros, Julius Eastman, Morton Feldman, David Tudor, Christian Wolff, Roscoe Mitchell, Earle Brown, Maryanne Amacher, Alvin Lucier, La Monte Young, David Behrman, and Alex Mincek, as well as many young and emerging composers.

S.E.M. Ensemble champions music which is often called "experimental," music that is rarely heard in mainstream productions. The openness in programming that Petr Kotik brings to SEM concerts follows his lifelong pursuit of artistic and intellectual matters that are authentic and relevant. Since the mid-1970s, SEM has performed annually at the Paula Cooper Gallery in New York, in addition to concerts at its venue in Brooklyn (the Willow Place Auditorium), and other locations throughout New York, from alternative spaces to major concert halls (Zankel Hall, Alice Tully Hall, etc.). SEM regularly tours in Europe and has also performed in South America and Japan.

The October 25th performance will take place at Bohemian National Hall, located at 321 East 73rd St, NYC. Proof of vaccination required for entry. FREE/RSVP Required. To RSVP, visit https://www.eventbrite.com/e/the-american-avant-garde-three-czech-artists-tickets-181970156637.