Anna Clyne Ensemble Signal Brad Lubman, conductor

Transcription

1 Miller Theatre at Columbia University th Season Composer Portraits Anna Clyne Ensemble Signal Brad Lubman, conductor Thursday, April 23, 8:00 p.m.

2 From the Executive Director Tonight, we ll celebrate Anna Clyne in the final concert of this season s Composer Portraits series. Clyne is a dynamic composer who has been on my wish list (and many others, I m sure) for years. The works on the program span a decade, a fitting showcase of her riveting compositions. We kicked off April with a musical tour-de-force pairing Helmut Lachenmann and J.S. Bach. We challenged Ensemble Signal to perform repertoire that bridges the centuries. The soloists Lauren Radnofsky and Ari Streisfeld took the challenge to its most extreme; the result was stunning. We ll close the Bach, Revisited series and Miller s season with Sofia Gubaidulina + Bach on May 8. The pairing is a natural fit: Gubaidulina has expressed a devotion to Bach, and the music of both blends compositional rigor and emotional transcendence. I m delighted to say that our doors will stay open into June for our Pop-Up Concerts series. On June 2, the American Contemporary Music Ensemble will present works by fast-rising star Timo Andres, followed on June 3 by the long-awaited Pop-Up featuring piano trios by John Zorn. It s been an incredible season at Miller Theatre! Whether you joined us at the sold-out opening night with eight blackbird in September, a new work premiere during Composer Portraits, or a free Pop-Up concert, it has been a great pleasure sharing incredible music with you. Of course, I can t wait to share the season! We ll announce the news to our list very soon, so be sure to sign up on our website. Thank you for being part of our adventurous community. Melissa Smey Executive Director

3 Miller Theatre at Columbia University th Season Composer Portraits Thursday, April 23, 8:00 p.m. Anna Clyne Ensemble Signal Brad Lubman, conductor Fits + Starts (2003) Anna Clyne (b. 1980) Lauren Radnofsky, cello 1987 (2008) Rapture (2005) Kelli Kathman, bass flute; Olivia De Prato, violin Lauren Radnofsky, cello; Adrián Sandí, bass clarinet Adrián Sandí, clarinet INTERMISSION Onstage discussion with Anna Clyne and Brad Lubman As Sudden Shut (2012-present) 1. As Sudden Shut 2. The Lost Thought 3. Postponeless Creature Mellissa Hughes, Jamie Jordan, Kirsten Sollek, vocals This program runs approximately ninety minutes, including intermission. Major support for Composer Portraits is provided by the National Endowment for the Arts and the Francis Goelet Charitable Lead Trusts. Please note that photography and the use of recording devices are not permitted. Remember to turn off all cellular phones and pagers before tonight s performance begins. Miller Theatre is ADA accessible. Large print programs are available upon request. For more information or to arrange accommodations, please call

4 About the Program Introduction by Paul Griffiths My passion is collaborating with innovative and risk-taking musicians, film-makers, visual artists and, in particular, choreographers. Creating new works through a fluid artistic dialogue has consistently fueled my music from new perspectives and has maintained a fresh and exciting creative environment. Inspired by visual images and physical movement, my intention is to create music that complements and interacts with other art-forms, and that impacts performers and audiences alike. Anna Clyne It would be easy to think of a piece by Anna Clyne as a landscape with a strange machine in one corner, or perhaps as a strange machine generating a landscape. It is the immediate sense of a scene a scene of danger, perhaps, a scene of desire, a scene of memory. And it is how all these things, so human, are manifested by something manifestly artificial: a sound world aglow with electronics. And it is how that dichotomy, of human and artificial, is at once and constantly challenged. How can we think, in the twenty-first century, that circuits are different in kind from wooden boxes with strings stretched across them? Narrative force is a key point, too how the music tells a story, and takes us with it as it does so. This, as much as Clyne s collaborative disposition, is what has made her contacts so fruitful with artists in the domains of dance, theatre, and film though there is something also in her creative personality that inclines her music to spill over into other art forms. A fascinating clip posted by the Chicago Symphony shows her working on her orchestral piece Night Ferry with, tacked to the wall, a collage of her own making, in which a broad line snakes through color fields and Gustave Doré illustrations. Image is part of this music as well as narrative. And yet what she creates is, after all, music, and its stories and images are first and foremost musical: stories and images about the orchestra, about the violin (Prince of Clouds, her concerto for two solo violins and strings), about the string quartet (Primula vulgaris). And though a lot of her pieces involve electronics, a lot, too, are thoroughly traditional in their resources. Night Ferry, Prince of Clouds, and Primula vulgaris, all works of the last five years, are significant examples.

5 Born in London in 1980, Clyne has effectively been a U.S. composer since she moved to this country in 2002 to take a master s course at the Manhattan School, where her teachers were Julia Wolfe and Nils Vigeland. She found many of her early opportunities in downtown venues in New York, and has retained a foot there while, since 2011, pursuing an association with the Chicago Symphony, which next month gives the first performance of her violin concerto The Seamstress, with Jennifer Koh as soloist. A portrait CD on the Tzadik label includes several of the pieces on tonight s program. Program Notes by Anna Clyne Fits + Starts for amplified cello and tape (2003) Fits + Starts was commissioned by the Hysterica Dance Co. of Los Angeles. The original tape version was premiered at the DUMBO Dance Festival, New York, in 2003, and the live version was premiered by cellist Benjamin Elton Capps at Greenfield Hall, New York, in The tape part comprises acoustic recordings of harpsichord, cello, and viola, which have been layered, manipulated, and transformed to create a backdrop for the solo cellist for bass flute, bass clarinet, violin, cello, and tape (2008) Memories tucked away and tangled in threads of beads in the corner of her glass box. The tape part for 1987 comprises a melody and winding sounds from a music box that my father gave my mother in their early days of courting, and the sounds of the carousel and pebbles at Brighton Beach in the South of England a place of fond memories. The vocals were recorded by engineer Alan Labiner with vocalists Caleb Burhans and Martha Cluver at Carfax Abbey Studios, Brooklyn was commissioned and premiered by the Seattle Chamber Players at Ice Breaker IV: The American Future, a concert curated by Alex Ross at On the Boards, Seattle. Rapture for clarinet and tape (2005) Rapture was composed for Australian clarinetist Eileen Mack and was premiered at Symphony Space in New York City with live visuals created by Joshue Ott and his custom program, superdraw. In performance, the live clarinetist is processed in real time with a combination of effects often associated with electric guitars; namely distortion and reverb. The transformed sound of the clarinet is supported with an intense tape part that comprises vocal recordings and recordings of Mack playing sounds that range from sustained tones to multiphonics. In a similar process to painting, these recordings were then spliced, manipulated, and layered to create the music of the tape part. About the Program

6 from As Sudden Shut for three female voices and ensemble (2012-present) 1. As Sudden Shut 2. The Lost Thought 3. Postponeless Creature Set for three female voices and chamber ensemble, these are the first three of five poems by Emily Dickinson intended for a multi-disciplinary evening. The complete cycle is being created in collaboration with animators/visual artists, a choreographer, and a librettist. There are moments in the music where room is left for the other elements to be explored, and this balance will likely be further exaggerated as the work develops to completion. Through the settings of these poems, Dickinson is portrayed alone in her room; a confined space wherein magical worlds are imagined, remembered, and incarnated. They breathe into the space, and bleed through the walls and windows to the sky. The instrumentation was selected to create an intimate unveiling of, and window into, Dickinson s world. On the surface, the two opening movements are marked by simplicity and a sense of playfulness, through lilting melodic cells and buoyant rhythms, but with a sinister undertone always lurking and never too far away. At moments, the music fractures to reveal more chaotic passages or outbursts, guided by the text, both the image and the articulation and sound of the words. Pre-recorded electro-acoustic layers are eventually incorporated within the chamber ensemble, as the depths of the poet s psyche are unveiled. After writing her poem The Lost Thought, Dickinson revised it, capitalizing key words, adding her signature dashes, which would often indicate missing words or gasps, and even changing words, most notably replacing reach with Sound. These revisions dramatically alter the poem, both in meaning, and also in terms of how the poem appears visually on the page and how it is heard in recitation. Dickinson went on to write another, much more dramatically different version of this poem ten years later, at the request of her sister. It is the first two versions that are explored in this setting. The incredibly eerie poem Postponeless Creature is set sparsely to create space for the other visual and staging elements to be explored.

7 Texts and Translations by Emily Dickinson As Sudden Shut A door just opened on a street I, lost, was passing by An instant's width of warmth disclosed And wealth, and company. The door as sudden shut, and I, I, lost, was passing by, Lost doubly, but by contrast most, Enlightening misery. The Lost Thought (revised) I felt a Cleaving in my Mind As if my Brain had split I tried to match it Seam by Seam But could not make it fit. The thought behind, I strove to join Unto the thought before But Sequence ravelled out of Sound Like Balls upon a Floor. The Lost Thought (original) I felt a cleaving in my mind As if my brain had split; I tried to match it, seam by seam, But could not make them fit. The thought behind I strove to join Unto the thought before, But sequence ravelled out of reach Like balls upon a floor. It's coming the postponeless Creature It's coming the postponeless Creature It gains the Block and now it gains the Door Chooses its latch, from all the other fastenings Enters with a "You know Me Sir"? Simple Salute and certain Recognition Bold were it Enemy Brief were it friend Dresses each House in Crape, and Icicle And carries one out of it to God

8 About the Artists Lauren Radnofsky is founding cellist and co-artistic/executive director of Ensemble Signal. In this three-part role, she manages all aspects of Signal s varied season, including repertoire, program design, and project management, in addition to being a regular performer in the ensemble. With Signal, she has worked with composers including Helmut Lachenmann, Steve Reich, Oliver Knussen, Michael Gordon, David Lang, and Julia Wolfe and has appeared at venues and festivals including Lincoln Center Festival, Tanglewood, Ojai Music Festival, Carnegie Hall, (le) Poisson Rouge, and the Bang on a Can Marathon. As a soloist, she has appeared with the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra performing Kaija Saariaho s Amers and the Wordless Music Orchestra in Jonny Greenwood s Doghouse for string trio and orchestra. She can be heard with Signal on recordings issued by Harmonia Mundi, Cantaloupe, New Amsterdam, and Orange Mountain; she recently recorded Lachenman s Pression for Mode records. Born and raised in San José, Costa Rica, Adrián Sandí is a freelancer in the NYC metro area. He holds degrees from Eastman School of Music, DePaul University, and Virginia Commonwealth University. Adrián is a member of Ensemble Signal, loadbang, and Periapsis Music & Dance. An avid performer of new music, he regularly plays works by living composers and has had the opportunity to collaborate with Oliver Knussen, Tristan Murail, Steve Reich, John Zorn, Charles Wourinen and Hilda Paredes. As an active solo recitalist, Adrián has given numerous chamber music and solo performances throughout his musical career in different cities in Costa Rica, Panama, USA, Canada, and China. Brad Lubman, conductor/composer, is founding Co-Artistic Director and Music Director of Ensemble Signal. Conducting a broad range of repertoire from classical to contemporary works, Lubman has led major orchestras including the NDR Sinfonieorchester Hamburg, DSO Berlin, RSO Stuttgart, St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, and the National Symphony. He has worked with some of the most important ensembles for contemporary music, including Ensemble Modern, London Sinfonietta, Musik Fabrik, LA Phil New Music Group, Chicago Symphony MusicNOW, and Steve Reich and Musicians. Lubman has conducted at newmusic festivals across Europe, including those in Lucerne, Salzburg, Berlin, Paris, Cologne, Frankfurt, and Oslo. Lubman has

9 conducted numerous world premieres, including Steve Reich s Three Tales, Daniel Variations, Radio Rewrite, and Variations for Vibes, Pianos and Strings, Helmut Lachenmann s Concertini, Michael Gordon/David Lang/Julia Wolfe s Shelter, and works by Philip Glass, Charles Wuorinen, John Zorn, and Hilda Paredes. His own music has been performed in the USA and Europe, and can be heard on his CD, Insomniac, on Tzadik. Brad Lubman is on faculty at the Eastman School of Music and the Bang on a Can Summer Institute. Ensemble Signal, described by the New York Times as one of the most vital groups of its kind, is a New Yorkbased ensemble. Since its debut in 2008, the Ensemble has performed over 100 concerts and has given the New York, world, or U.S. premieres of over 20 works. Signal was founded by Co-Artistic/ Executive Director Lauren Radnofsky and Co-Artistic Director/Conductor Brad Lubman. A new music dream team (Time Out New York), Signal regularly performs with Lubman and features a supergroup of independent artists from the modern music scene. Signal has performed at Lincoln Center Festival, BIG EARS Festival, Carnegie Hall s Zankel Hall, Ojai Music Festival, Miller Theatre, Cleveland Museum of Art, and the Bang on a Can Marathon. Signal has worked with artists and composers including Steve Reich, Helmut Lachenmann, Irvine Arditti, Kristian Bezuidenhout, David Lang, Julia Wolfe, Oliver Knussen, Hilda Paredes, and Charles Wuorinen. Signal s recordings are available on Cantaloupe, Mode, Orange Mountain, and New Amsterdam Records. Upcoming highlights include the cocommission of a new work by Steve Reich; the performance of Reich s video opera Three Tales; and the performance of David Lang, Michael Gordon, and Julia Wolfe s video opera Shelter at Walt Disney Concert Hall in May Additionally, Signal makes its Harmonia Mundi debut in May 2015 with Music for 18 Musicians. Tonight s Performers: Mellissa Hughes, voice Jamie Jordan, voice Kirsten Sollek, voice Kelli Kathman, flutes Alice Teyssier, flute Katie Cox, flute Adrián Sandí, clarinets Brad Balliett, contrabassoon Bridget Kibbey, harp David Friend, harpsichord Bill Solomon, percussion Carson Moody, percussion Olivia De Prato, violin Will Knuth, violin Victor Lowrie, viola Lauren Radnofsky, cello Greg Chudzik, bass Paul Coleman, sound director Brad Lubman, conductor About the Artists

10 About Miller Theatre Miller Theatre at Columbia University is the leading presenter of new music in New York City and one of the most vital forces nationwide for innovative programming. In partnership with Columbia University School of the Arts, Miller is dedicated to producing and presenting unique events, with a focus on contemporary and early music, jazz, and multimedia. Founded in 1988, Miller has helped launch the careers of myriad composers and ensembles, serving as an incubator for emerging artists and a champion of those not yet well known in the U.S. A fourtime recipient of the ASCAP/Chamber Music America Award for Adventurous Programming, Miller continues to meet the high expectations set forth by its founders to present innovative programs, support new work, and connect creative artists with adventurous audiences. Advisory Committee Paul D. Carter Mary Sharp Cronson* Stephanie French* Marcella Tarozzi Goldsmith Karen Hagberg Columbia University Trustees Jonathan D. Schiller, Chair A Lelia Bundles, Vice Chair Noam Gottesman, Vice Chair Mark E. Kingdon, Vice Chair Esta Stecher, Vice Chair Rolando T. Acosta Armen A. Avanessians Andrew F. Barth Mark Jackson Eric Johnson Philip Mindlin Linda Nochlin Peter Pohly Lee C. Bollinger, President of the University William V. Campbell, Chair Emeritus Lisa Carnoy Kenneth Forde Joseph A. Greenaway, Jr. James Harden Marc Holliday Margo Viscusi* Mr. and Mrs. George Votis* Cecille Wasserman* Elke Weber I. Peter Wolff* * Miller Theatre Advisory Board member Benjamin Horowitz Ann F. Kaplan Jonathan Lavine Charles Li Paul J. Maddon Vikram Pandit Michael B. Rothfeld Claire Shipman Kyriakos Tsakopoulos Columbia University School of the Arts Carol Becker Dean of Faculty Jana Hart Wright Dean of Academic Administration Miller Theatre Staff Melissa Smey Executive Director Brenna St. George Jones Director of Production Nora Sørena Casey Marketing & Communications Associate Katherine Bergstrom Artistic Administrator Rhiannon McClintock Executive Assistant Charlotte Levitt Director of Marketing & Outreach James Hirschfeld Business Manager Megan Harrold Audience Services Manager Taylor Riccio Production Coordinator Aleba & Co. Public Relations The Heads of State Graphic Design

11 Thanks to Our Donors Miller Theatre acknowledges with deep appreciation and gratitude the following organizations, individuals, and government agencies whose extraordinary support makes our programming possible. $25,000 and above Francis Goelet Charitable Lead Trusts National Endowment for the Arts Dow Jones Foundation H. F. (Gerry) Lenfest $10,000 - $24,999 William V. Campbell The Aaron Copland Fund for Music Mary Sharp Cronson $5,000 - $9,999 The Amphion Foundation Ann and Gordon Getty Foundation Fritz Reiner Center for Contemporary Music at Columbia University The Gladys Krieble Delmas Foundation New York State Council on the Arts CLC Kramer Foundation The Fan Fox and Leslie R. Samuels Foundation The Evelyn Sharp Foundation Margo and Anthony Viscusi Craig Silverstein $1,000 - $4,999 Rima Ayas Barbara Batcheler Susan Boynton Paul D. Carter Hester Diamond R. H. Rackstraw Downes Marcella Tarozzi Goldsmith Christine and Thomas Griesa $500 - $999 Oliver Allen Regula Aregger Mercedes Armillas ASCAP Elaine S. Bernstein Cedomir Crnkovic / Cavali Foundation Kristine and Joseph Delfausse Carol Avery Haber / Haber Family Charitable Fund Karen Hagberg and Mark Jackson Donella and David Held Roger Lehecka Philip Mindlin Linda Nochlin Jeanine and Roland Plottel Stephanie French Claude Ghez Mary and Gordon Gould James P. Hanbury John Kander Mark Kempson and Janet Greenberg Paul J. Maddon Jessie and Charles Price Peter Pohly Christopher Rothko J. P. Sullivan Cecille Wasserman Janet C. Waterhouse Elke Weber and Eric Johnson Anonymous Marian M. Warden Fund of the Foundation for Enhancing Communities Katharina Pistor James Sharp Cia Toscanini Kathryn Yatrakis $100 - $499 Gail and James Addiss Edward Albee Roger Bagnall Sandra and Marc Bernstein Andrew Birsh Jim Boorstein Alexandra Bowie and Daniel Richman Elizabeth and Ralph Brown Caplan Family Foundation Richard Carrick and Nomi Levy-Carrick Rashmy Chatterjee Ginger Chinn and Reggie Spooner Gregory Cokorinos Merry Conway Norma Cote David Demnitz Vishakha Desai and Robert Oxnam Rosamund Else-Mitchell Peter and Joan Faber Ruth Gallo Marc Gilman June O. Goldberg Richard Gray Barbara Harris Frances and Raymond Hoobler Bernard Hoffer Alan Houston and Lisa DeLange Frank Immler and Andrew Tunick Sandra and Malcolm Jones William Josephson Rebecca Kennison L. Wilson Kidd, Jr. Sandra Kincaid Barbara and Kenneth Leish Arthur S. Leonard Richard H. Levy and Lorraine Gallard Peter C. Lincoln Patricia Lowy and Daniel Frank Caroline and Anthony Lukaszewski Marghretta McBean Gerald McGee Susan Narucki Mary and Andrew Pinkowitz Edmée B. Reit Monique Rinere in honor of James F. Rinere Carol Robbins Esther Rosenberg and Michael Ostroff William Ryall Mariam Said Eliisa Salmi-Saslaw James Schamus and Nancy Kricorian Elliot Schwartz Anita Shapolsky Timothy C. Shepard and Andra Georges Gilbert Spitzer and Janet Glaser Spitzer Peter Strauss Jim Strawhorn Larry Wehr Seymour Weingarten Ila and Dennis Weiss Elizabeth Wheeler Anonymous as of January 20, 2015

12 Upcoming Events Friday, May 8, 8:00 p.m. BACH, REVISITED Sofia Gubaidulina + Bach Tuesday, June 2 doors at 5:30 p.m., music at 6:00 p.m. POP-UP CONCERTS American Contemporary Music Ensemble Wednesday, June 3 doors at 5:30 p.m., music at 6:00 p.m. POP-UP CONCERTS Trios by Zorn Save the Date Tuesday, May 5, 7:00 p.m. SPRING SOIRÉE to benefit Miller Theatre Hosted by Jeanine & Roland Plottel The Cosmopolitan Club For more infomation rm3059@columbia.edu STAY TUNED IN Want to learn about new concerts, special announcements, and more? Join our mailing list at millertheatre.com or scan the QR code below on Twitter 2960 Broadway at 116th Street, MC 1801, New York, NY 10027