suube tube - out on edgetone records!
Recorded back in 2009 during a two day session at Sony Studios in Mexico City, this is a collaboration of Mexican and American improvisers, fearlessly led by pianist Thollem McDonas. The ensemble consists of: Thollem McDonas - Piano, Artistic Director, Carmina Escobar - Voice/Electronics, Alexander Bruck - Viola, Julián Martínez Vázquez - Violin, Milo Tamez - Drums/Percussion, Theresa Wong - Cello/Voice, Vinny Golia - Woodwinds, Marcus E. Webb - Guitar/Oud and Marko Novachcoff - Woodwinds. Available at: www.edgetonerecords.com
Interview in VAN Magazine
Following our performance of Harbors in Knoxville at the Sixth International Conference on Music & Minimalism., Rebecca Lentjes has written an insightful and thoughtful interview for VAN Magazine: https://van-us.atavist.com/alchemy
Residency at Lijiang Studios
I have just landed in the countryside of the Yunnan province in southwest China, where I'll be in residence for a month at Lijiang Studio - a unique artist residency embedded in village life of an area called Lashihai.
Harbors at Nief-Norf Summer Festival
The Nief Norf Summer Festival + 6th Annual Conference on Music and Minimalism- what an incredible experience! Getting to hear works by Julius Eastman, Mary Jane Leach, Michael Gordon, Louis Andriessen and many more. The highlight was being able to share and perform Harbors with Ellen Fullman to a full house at the University of Knoxville's Ewing Gallery. Deep thanks to Kerry O'Brien and the amazing team running the festival!
Last stop at The Stone...
A post thunderstorm blaze during a quick trip to New York to perform with Chris Brown and Kyle Bruckmann at The Stone. The visit was packed with a visit to Rei Kawakubo's exhibit at The Met, getting to hear/see The World Is Sound exhibit at The Rubin and not missing my favorite Georgian dumplings in the Lower East Side. It was a bit sad to say goodbye to The Stone, but I'm excited to see it's reincarnation at the New School!
Letters To A Friend at Switchboard Festival
Splinter Reeds gave its second performance of Letters To A Friend at Switchboard's 10th Annual Festival at Z Space in San Francisco. The finale to the 6 hour music marathon was none other than the legendary Kronos Quartet. Here's a link to a review in the San Francisco Classical Voice.
To Burst To Bloom - joining forces with Vajra Voices
I had the sheer pleasure of joining the magnificent singers of Vajra Voices in the premiere of To Burst To Bloom, three settings of poems by the 12th Century Taoist adept Sun Bu'Er. Three more pieces are forthcoming to finish off this collection. The songs were included in the program Remembered Migrations this past weekend at the Presidio Officer's Club (photo by Omid Zoufonoun) in SF and the Berkeley Jazz School.
Letters To A Friend premiere by Splinter Reeds
Huge thank you to Splinter Reeds for a superb performance of Letters To A Friend last night! Dedicated to my dearly departed friend, Alessia Pugliatti, the piece is a musical transmission of Augusto de Campos' poem O Pulsar. The evening's trailblazing program included Babbling by Ken Ueno and Tom Johnson's Narayana's Cows narrated by the one and only Pamela Z.
Remembered Migrations - an evening with Vajra Voices
Vajra Voices member Cheryl Moore said, 'if Hobbits went to church this is where they'd go' - - and truly it was a Hobbit-like evening in the Swedenborgian Church of San Francisco with a wonderful program by Vajra Voices, including the first part of To Burst To Bloom, a new work in the making setting the texts of 12th Century Chinese Female Adept, Sun Bu'er.
"The sun shines on the house of the recluse..."
I've been hiding away working on a piece for the 8 member women's vocal ensemble, Vajra Voices, setting a collection of texts by the 12th Century Taoist priestess and adept, Sun Bu'er. Stay tuned for upcoming performances of this piece to come in the Bay Area.
The Substation in Melbourne
Our setup for Harbors at The Substation in Melbourne, a former power plant in the district of Newport in Melbourne. Huge thanks to Liquid Architecture and Joel Stern for making this all happen!
Pre-artist talking at The Channel in downtown Melbourne.
With Ellen Fullman and Joel Stern
MOFO in Tasmania
We have entered the alternate reality of MOFO - an amazing festival of music at the MONA museum, curated by Brian Ritchie. On the frying pan peninsula of Moorilla near Hobart, Tasmania, Ellen has installed her Long String Instrument in the Nolan Gallery of the infamous MONA (Museum of Old and New Art) - my now new favorite art museum. We did multiple performances of Harbors during the 3 day festival and had the added bonus of visiting my Dad's old stomping grounds in Tazzie.
Nolan Gallery of MONA
On the Mona Roma, a catamaran between Hobart and Moorilla
Entrance to MONA designed by Nonda Katsalidis
View from kunanyi / Mt. Wellington, above Hobart.
Sidney Festival
First stop of a 3 week Australian tour with Ellen Fullman - Sidney Festival 2017! We had the enormous treat of performing at the Centennial Hall in downtown Sidney. Our evening bill included solo sets by the one and only Okkyung Lee on cello and Chris Abrahams playing the 9,000+ piped Grand Organ.
a quick jaunt to the Sidney Opera House on the night of a full moon...
Post concert with Terumi Narushima, Kraig Grady, Chris Abrahams and Lawrence English.
Lips of Lapis Lazuli
Workshop and performance of Lips of Lapis Lazuli - such a necessary sonic purge and collective sounding during the week of this year's in-credible and jolting election. The closing event of Songs for Women Living with War could not have been a more fitting gathering with performances by Rhodessa Jones, WigBand and Evelie Posch. Special thanks to my fearless core of singers: Karen Clark, Julia Dashe, Ghyslaine Gau, Jean-Philippe Derail, Anne Esmonde, Annie Hallet, Ellen Fullman, Aurora Josephson, Agnes Szelag, Celeste Winant and curator Johanna Poethig.
Autumn Light in Sainte-Chapelle
I made a couple of stops on a day off in Paris after performing an exhilarating duo set with violist Frantz Loriot. Autumn light here on the floor of Sainte-Chapelle and No. 12 Rue de l'Odéon - where Sylvia Beach ran the famed bookstore Shakespeare & Company, and where she first published James Joyce's Ulysses. Across the street at No.7 was Adrienne Monnier's bookstore La Maison des Amis des Livres. So much history from 1920's Paris to absorb on this street. Now off to some shows in Zürich, Basel and Lucerne with Frantz and saxophonist Christian Kobi.
The plaque reads: En 1922 dans cette maison M.elle Sylvia Beach publia "Ulysses" de James Joyce
Harbors at ARCOOP in Geneva
Performing Harbors at ARCOOP in Geneva and so thrilled to be working with Sound Vision and Ensemble Vide to transform the space of the loading dock to this artists' cooperative. Ellen Fullman's Long String Instrument was stunning to behold in this space.
Performance of Harbors in Bern
I couldn't resist the chance to float down the Aare River with our tech crew from Dampfzentrale in Bern Switzerland...
Setting up for a performance of Harbors in Dampfzentrale, a former power station.
Setting up shop at Moulin de Paillard, France
Ellen Fullman and I had the fantastic opportunity to spend two weeks in the former paper mill of Moulin de Paillard in Poncé-sur-le-Loir, a small town 200 km outside of Paris. The space had one of the best acoustics we've ever worked in! We had very valuable time and place to develop, perform, and record Harbors, a piece for Long String Instrument and cello. Gratitude to Shelly de Vito, James Porter and Maxime Guitton for making this all possible.
Photo by James Porter
Recording the music of Chris Brown
Back at my old stomping grounds at the Littlefield Concert Hall at Mills College to record the music of Chris Brown for justly tuned piano, electronics, oboe and cello with Chris, Kyle Bruckmann and engineer Phil Perkins at the helm.
LAYERED EVENTS with Søren Kjærgaard out on Cassauna
These duo improvisations with Danish keyboard maestro Søren Kjaergaard are now out on cassette from Important Records' CASSAUNA label. Bathe your ears in a melange of cello, voice, prepared piano, Hammond B3 organ and Rhodes piano.