An
evening of combined electronic media and acoustic instruments.
Featuring works written and performed by KU, WSU, and ESU students and faculty.
Saturday,
December 1, 7:30,
Fisch
Haus Studios
524 S. Commerce, Wichita
Friday, November. 30 7:30 pm
Kansas Room, Student Union
University of Kansas
Tuesday, Nov. 27 7:30 pm
Heath Recital Hall
Emporia State University
WSU:
Scott Oakes, bassoon, Phil Black, tuba,
Aleksander
Sternfeld-Dunn, composer
KU:
Susan Mayo, cello, Mary-Elizabeth Thompson, flute, John Brabant, bass
clarinet, Timothy Ray, piano,
Grant
Bingham, bassoon, Kip Haaheim, composer
ESU:
Susan Mayo, cello, Andrew Houchins, composer
I.
Stand Facing the Stove……………………………………………… Beth Weimann
John
Brabant - bass clarinet
II.
January Rain: ……………………………………………………… Kip Haaheim
Susan
Mayo/Kip Haaheim - cello/computer
III.
It Makes No Sound…………………………………………………Aleks
Sternfeld-Dunn
Scott
Oakes – bassoon
IV.
Tuba Concrete for Solo Tuba and Recorded Sounds (2002)……… Andrew Houchins
Phillip
C. Black - tuba
V.
Wunderkind (for toy piano, live processing, and fixed media)……..
Timothy Roy
Laura
Hrivnak - Schoenhut toy piano
VI.
Swamp Song……………………………………………………..
Michael J. Burns
Grant
Bingham – bassoon
VII.
Red Antisocial I……………………………………………….
Felipe Pérez Santiago (b. 1973)
Mary-Elizabeth
Thompson - C flute, Alto Flute, and Piccolo
I.
Stand Facing the Stove…………………………………………… Beth Weimann
John
Brabant - bass clarinet
performer
bio:
John
Brabant was born in Pennsylvania, but raised in the small Northern
Maine town of Presque Isle. He first picked up the clarinet at
age 8, and his primary teachers have been Dr. Beth Wiemann and Dr.
Stephanie Zelnick. At the University of Maine, Brabant was the
principal clarinet of the Symphonic Band, University Orchestra,
Chamber Orchestra, and Jazz Ensemble. In addition to many
significant performance in the New England region Brabant constantly
challenges himself by performing virtuosic Twentieth century works
for clarinet and bass clarinet. He graduated Summa Cum Laude
from the University of Maine in 2011 with degrees in Music Education
and Clarinet Performance, and was inducted to the Phi Beta Kappa and
Pi Kappa Lambda Honors Societies. He is now pursuing the
Masters of Music in Clarinet Performance degree at the University of
Kansas.
composer
bio:
Beth
Wiemann was raised in Burlington, VT and studied composition and
clarinet at Oberlin College and Princeton University. Her works have
been performed by the New York New Music Ensemble, Continuum,
Ensemble 21, Earplay, the Motion Ensemble, Opera Vista, saxophonist
John Sampen, singers Paul Hillier, Susan Narucki, pianist Marilyn
Nonken, and others. Her compositions have won awards from Copland
House, the Orvis Foundation,Colorado New Music Festival, American
Women Composers, and Marimolin as well as various arts councils, and
have been featured on the Capstone, Americus, innova and Albany
record labels. She teaches composition, music theory and clarinet at
the University of Maine.
program
notes:
Stand
Facing the Stove uses processed video of both public domain cooking
instruction footage and home movies of dinner preparations, with the
electronic sound and video accompanying a bass clarinet soloist. The
title, a beginning cooking
instruction
itself, was also used as the title of the biography of the Rombauer
cookbook authors by Anne Mendelson. The sounds of the electronic
accompaniment were made using SoundHack and Reason software.
II.
January Rain: ………………………………………………………… Kip Haaheim
Susan
Mayo/Kip Haaheim - cello/computer
performer
bio:
Susan
Mayo has been part of the Kansas musical landscape for over 30
years. She is the reigning Kansas Queen of Adjuncts:
currently teaching at Emporia State University, Friends University,
and Tabor College. She is a member of the Wichita Symphony and enjoys
performing with her friends in a variety of small groups including
ZHM, SPQ and the Great Plains Piano Trio. She is currently pursuing
her DMA at KU and has greatly enjoyed working Kip Haahiem in classes
and on this project.
composer
bio:
After
a spending many years as a freelance bassist, composer/arranger, and
music producer in the San Francisco Bay Area, Kip Haaheim received
his Bachelors degree from California State University, Hayward; his
Masters degree in Composition from the University of Minnesota; and
his Doctorate in Composition from the University of Arizona. He has
been on the faculty of the University of Kansas School of Music since
2001 where he teaches Composition, Computer Music, Multi-media, and
20th Century music theory.
Haaheim's
music is available on DVD and CD on the Summitt Records release
"Sacred and Profane" and on two CDs on the AUR label in
Tucson, AZ. The work Halo, recorded by the chamber group Allegresse
is available on CD through CD Baby or as a download through iTunes.
In addition to concert music and interactive installations he has
scored and produced the music for two critically acclaimed films
"Fall from Grace" (broadcast by the Showtime network) and
"The Only Good Indian" (premiered at the 2009 Sundance Film
Festival and screened at numerous other film festivals in Europe and
the US). Haaheim has had major works performed or installed in
San Francisco, Eugene, Houston, New York, Santa Fe, Kansas City,
Baltimore, Detroit, Chicago, Minneapolis, and Austin. And he has had
works performed internationally in Lubeck, Toronto, Mexico City,
Paris, Berlin and Tel Aviv.
program
notes:
The
work January Rain was written in collaboration with cellist Ed Laut.
His mother, acclaimed poet Norma Jean Laut wrote the text that is the
heart of the work. The poem is an unflinchingly dark meditation on
aging. To capture the tone of the poem the cello and voice are
blended together electronically to create a ghostly sonority
evocative of both the physical ravages of old age and the starkly
beautiful sense of peace and wisdom. All of the electronic sounds in
the piece are created from samples of rain, the cello, and my voice
as a whisper.
III.
It Makes No Sound…………………………………………………Aleks
Sternfeld-Dunn
Scott
Oakes - bassoon
performer
bio:
Scott
Charles Oakes recently returned from St. Petersburg, Russia, where he
performed with the Lieurance Woodwind Quintet at the Conservatory
Week Frestival at the Rimsky-Korsakov St. Petersburg State
Conservatory. He serves as Assistant Professor of Bassoon at Wichita
State University and Principal Bassoonist of the Wichita Symphony.
Previously, Mr. Oakes held positions of Principal Bassoon of the Quad
City Symphony (Davenport, IA), the Rockford Symphony (IL). Mr. Oakes
has performed with numerous orchestras throughout the upper Midwest,
including the Illinois Symphony, Illinois Philharmonic, Chicago
Chamber Orchestra, Elgin Symphony, and the Wisconsin Chamber
Orchestra. He has worked extensively in opera orchestras and is also
an avid chamber musician. Mr. Oakes holds a Master of Music degree
from DePaul University and a Bachelor of Music from the Pacific
Conservatory of Music. His principal teachers were William Buchman of
the Chicago Symphony and Dr. Donald DaGrade. Following his passion
for technology, Scott is working toward a Master of Science degree at
the DePaul University College of Computing and Digital Media.
composer
bio:
Aleksander
Sternfeld-Dunn grew up in the SanFrancisco Bay Area, was educated on
both coasts and now finds himself in the middle of the country. His
music combines a frenetic rhythmic language, lean textures and
lyrical sensitivity. His music has been recorded and performed
throughout the U.S., Europe, Canada, and Asia by ensembles and
organizations including the Kiev Philharmonic, The Contra Costa
Chamber Orchestra, Huntsville Alabama Army Band, Composers Inc,
Conundrum, The Yale Brass Trio, Scott/Garrison Duo, and Vox Novus.
Soloists like Richard Kriehn, Diane Maltester, Craig Hultgren, and
Robert Young have also been champions of his music. His works are
published by FJH Music, Dorn Publications, Trevco Music, Alry and
Boom Crash Music and can be heard on the ERM and Capstone
Labels. He serves on the faculty at Wichita State University where he
teaches composition, electronic music and music theory.
program
notes:
The
Moon is Round
The
Moon is Round
It
has Two Eyes
One
Nose
And
it Makes No Sound
IV.
Tuba Concrete for Solo Tuba and Recorded Sounds (2002)………… Andrew Houchins
1.
Perpetuality
2.
Veni Valse
3.
Soliloquy and finale
Phillip
C. Black - tuba
performer
bio:
Phillip
C. Black, Wichita State University Tuba/Euphonium Professor, was born
and raised in Columbia City, IN. He attended to Ball State University
and University of New Mexico for Undergrad and Masters degree work,
then spent six years in Ann Arbor,MI “Paying His Dues” playing in
the Galliard Brass Ensemble, the Flint,MI Symphony, and going to work
at 3AM as a baker to make the rent. In the summer of 1986, he got a
call from Wichita State University asking him to audition for a
Faculty position and position as Principal tubist with the Wichita
Symphony. Phillip has performed from coast to coast in Octubafests
and Regional Conferences, and has recorded for the Musical Heritage
Society label. Of his illustrious career Black states, “I began
playing the tuba in 7th grade under Mr. Fox, and haven’t stopped
since” - - boy are my lips tired!!!
composer
bio:Andrew
Houchins studied with John Baur and Donald Freund at the The
University of Memphis where he received his master’s degree in
composition and received a doctorate in composition from The Florida
State University studying with Ladislav Kubik. He also studied
in Prague at the Czech-American Summer Music Institute, where he
received a performance of Songs:
Four Haiku for Voice, Horn, and Piano,
at the Dvorak Museum. He has written for diverse ensembles including
solo, electronic, and small and large ensembles, and his compositions
have been played at numerous venues and conferences throughout the
United States. Fanfare
and Eulogy was
a finalist in the Lancaster Festival Chamber Orchestra Competition
and Andy’s commissions include Elements,
for flute, bassoon, piano, and percussion, written for the Kansas
Music Teachers Association, and Face
Off,
for percussion duo, written for the Conservatory at Lynn University.
Tracy Freeze with the University of Oregon Wind Ensemble, conducted
by Robert Ponto, premiered his percussion concerto, The
Big Bang.
Dr. Houchins teaches theory, composition, and technology at Emporia
State University in Emporia, KS, and is a member of the College Music
Society, the Society of Composers, Inc, and was
initiated as a Friend of the Arts by the Sigma Alpha Iota
international music fraternity in 2008.
program
notes:
Tuba
Concréte was
written for Jeff Hodapp. All the recorded sounds were derived
from sounds made by Dr. Hodapp. These include notes of various
lengths and articulations, tapping the mouthpiece, lightly tapping
the instrument with keys, slapping the instrument, blowing and
singing through the instrument, and in the final movement, a couple
of shouts. All of the recorded sounds were assembled and
manipulated using Digital
Performer.
The
first movement begins with a mouthpiece tap (mega-reverb and echo)
and before the tuba enters in the sixth bar, key taps on the
instrument (with chorus and flange) set the tempo. The
name perpetuality refers
to the circular motive that generates the material for the tuba in
this movement. The mouthpiece tap is featured in a different
guise in the middle when the movement modulates to compound meter.
By transposing the tap to different pitch levels, I was able to
create a persistent drum set rhythm against which the tuba
has espressivo
e legato lines.
Veni
Valse starts
with what seems to be an electronically generated collection of
rhythmic sounds. It was created by taking a staccato note and
time stretching it. The rhythm is actually the individual peaks
and valleys of the waveform. This movement is the vocal
premiere for Dr. Hodapp. He sings and whispers Veni
Creator Spiritus through
his tuba. Of course there is a little pitch manipulation and
some other effects like Reverse and eVerb applied.
The
last movement, soliloquy
and finale,
begins with an unmetered section before the recording is started.
The bell sounds were created by running staccato pitches through ring
modulation and adding echo and reverb. After a slow beginning,
this movement really gets moving at 192 beats a minute! Some of
the sounds from the first movement, like the sforzando chords and the
key taps, are brought back to support the other sounds featured in
this movement. The shouts, hey,
huh, and what,
are the only sounds that did not involve the tuba in their production
in one way or another.
I
wrote this composition as a personal challenge. While attending
a conference I was talking to a colleague about a performance I had
heard of a sonata for tuba and piano. My colleague’s reaction
was “What’s the point of solo tuba. Tubas just f--t.”
Shortly after this conversation Dr. Hodapp auditioned for the low
brass position at ESU. I thought anyone who played a solo funk
version of the Beatles’ Blackbird on
tuba for a job
interview would be up for trying just about anything.
V.
Wunderkind (for toy piano, live processing, and fixed media)…………….Timothy Roy
Laura
Hrivnak - Schoenhut toy piano
performer
bio:
Laura
Hrivnak is from Newport News, VA and is currently pursuing a Doctor
of Musical Arts degree in piano performance at the University of
Kansas. She holds a B.M. in piano from Belmont University as well as
a M.M. in piano from KU and has been an active member of the teaching
community in Lawrence, KS since 2006. She was the director of the KU
Community School for five years and has recently opened a private
piano studio. Along with enjoying her new venture, she currently
specializes in the piano music of Scriabin, Janacek, and the late
sonatas of Beethoven. She has also been an avid performer of new
music - premiering numerous works for solo piano and chamber
ensembles. Laura's toy piano, lovingly named "Lil' Guy,"
was received as a special gift two years ago and she is very
enthusiastic about sharing him with audiences. She hopes to
concertize with him much more in the future.
composer
bio:
Timothy
Roy (b. 1987) is a composer whose music seeks to illuminate both the
beautiful and sacred in the world. Timothy is a graduate of Southern
Methodist University, where he was both a President’s Scholar and
Theodore Presser Scholar, studying composition with Martin Sweidel,
Kevin Hanlon, and Simon Sargon, and piano with Alfred Mouledous. His
music has been selected for performance by Denison University's
“Tutti” New Music Festival, Heidelberg University's New Music
Festival, Electronic Music Midwest, the Electronic Music Studios
Concert Series at the University of Iowa, the Kansas City Electronic
Music & Arts Alliance (KcEMA), Stacey Barelos’ Missouri Piano
Project, and the International Electroacoustic Music Festival of
Chile, “Ai-maako.” He was recently a Finalist in the ninth
edition of the International Composition Competition "Città di
Udine,” and First Prize winner in the 9th International
Musicacoustica-Beijing Composition Competition. Timothy teaches
undergraduate courses in music theory at MidAmerica Nazarene
University in Olathe, Kansas, while completing a master’s degree in
composition at the University of Missouri-Kansas City, studying with
James Mobberley, Paul Rudy, and Chen Yi.
program
notes:
"Wunderkind"
is a well -known German term historically applied to a person who
possesses an extraordinary talent or brilliance (particularly
musical) at an early age. The creative impetus for this work was the
desire to explore the intellectual workings of a developing child
prodigy, the electronic component used to expand the palette of such
a restricted instrument while representing the mind's ear of the
child. The opening cadenza begins clumsily as the "child"
seemingly explores the instrument for the first time. Musical ideas
begin to mature, congeal, and find meaning. The fixed media playback
begins after two minutes of solo, and a complex and
harmonically-saturated sound world emerges from and interacts with
performed gestures, meant to be perceived as imagined musical
structures, astonishingly advanced for a mere child. All of the
sounds in the fixed media were created by recording and processing my
own toy piano. I did in fact sit on the six-inch-high bench while
doing so.
VI.
Swamp Song……………………………………………………..
Michael J. Burns
Grant
Bingham - bassoon
performer
bio:
Grant
Bingham (b. 1992) grew up in west Texas where he began studying music
at an early age, starting with Kindermusik through the local church.
When he was ten years old his family relocated to central
Oklahoma where he spent the rest of his grade school years in school
band, jazz, and orchestra programs. He is a two-time All State Band
member and a one-time Honor Band of America member. He is currently
studying bassoon performance and music composition at the University
of Kansas.
composer
bio:
Michael
Burns is Associate Professor of bassoon at the University of North
Carolina at Greensboro, and is a Yamaha Performing Artist. He has
recorded for the Centaur, CAP, Telarc, EMI, Klavier, and Mark labels
and has a new solo CD Primavera: Music for Bassoon and Piano by
Bassoonists which was released to critical acclaim in mid-2009 on the
Mark Masters label. Burns holds the B.M. degree from the Victoria
University of Wellington, New Zealand, the M.M. from the New England
Conservatory, and the D.M.A. from the University of Cincinnati
College-Conservatory of Music. He performs as principal bassoon with
the Asheville Symphony, the Opera Company of North Carolina, the
Fibonacci Chamber Orchestra, and the Carolina Ballet and as
bassoonist in the EastWind Ensemble, the Blue Mountain Ensemble, the
I-40 ensemble, and the Cascade Quintet. He also performs regularly
with the North Carolina, Greensboro, and Charlotte Symphonies and as
a guest with the Ciompi Quartet and Mallarme Chamber Players. Burns
is also an active composer with many of his pieces being published by
TrevCo Music, Potenza Music and Effiny Music and frequently performed
throughout the country as well as internationally.
program
notes:
Swamp
Song for bassoon and CD was originally composed at the Electronic
Music Studios at Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand in
1986. This work has been reedited and the accompaniment tape
transferred to compact disc for ease of use. It has been very popular
and is regularly performed throughout North America and beyond. This
work was recorded by Dr. William Dietz on his CD New Works for
Bassoon MJSD 144. All of the sounds on the tape part were originally
produced on the bassoon by various means and then electronically
filtered and altered. The goal was to blur the lines of separation
between the soloist and the accompaniment making it difficult at
times to determine which is which. There is a section that features a
duet between "normal bassoon sounds that have been
electronically altered, on the tape and live 'melodic' multiphonics
on the solo bassoon. The similarity of the two sound sources
intrigued me and, I believe, provides interest. The piece is also
supposed to be fairly light-hearted and fun.
VII.
Red Antisocial I……………………………………………….
Felipe Pérez Santiago (b. 1973)
Mary-Elizabeth
Thompson - C flute, Alto Flute, and Piccolo
performer
bio:
Flutist
Mary-Elizabeth Thompson performs frequently as a solo and chamber
music artist, with recent performances throughout México and the
United States. She is an advocate for new music and has commissioned
and premiered multiple works and has participated in festivals such
as the New York City Electroacoustic Festival, Puentes Festival, and
the Foro Internacional de Música Nueva Manuel Enríquez in Mexico
City. Thompson recently the flute chamber music of composer Gabriela
Ortiz for a CD entitled Denibe. Last year Thompson was located
in Mexico City as a Fulbright-García Robles Scholar engaging in
postdoctoral research in contemporary Mexican music for flute with
flutist Alejandro Escuer one of Mexico’s preeminent flute
performers. Thompson currently holds the position of Interim
Professor of Flute at the University of Kansas.
composer
bio:
Felipe
Pérez Santiago completed his undergraduate studies in Mexico before
moving to Holland for Masters studies at the Rotterdam Conservatory.
He has been a composer-in-residence in five countries and has worked
with numerous major ensembles such as the Rotterdam Philharmonic, the
Czech Nacional Symphony, and the Kronos Quartet. He is the founder
and artistic director of the rock-contemporary Mal'Akh Ensemble, a
multidisciplinary formation combining chamber music with free jazz,
rock, improvisation, multimedia and electronic music.
program
notes:
Of
Red Antisocial I the composer states, “The piece is a
reflection on today’s communications. The more we have access to
worldwide real-time information and interaction through internet, the
more we become isolated and unable to develop our social skills.”
Two particular relevant characteristics of this work are the
multi-layering of the flute tracks and the sections of improvisation
throughout, in which the performer interacts dynamically with the
fixed media. Pérez Santiago uses minimalist techniques frequently to
create the fixed media recording and then adds electronic sounds on
top of that. It is written for piccolo, C flute, and alto flute, with
all of those instruments appearing in the electronic track as well.
This piece was written as part of the grant given to the author by
the Mexican Fund for the Culture and Arts (FONCA) Mexico, as part of
the National System for Art Creators program.
