Rachel Matthews: New Chamber Music

Presented by Jack Straw Productions with assistance from 4Culture.

Long known to Seattle-area audiences as a pianist, Rachel Matthews presents an evening of her recent compositions. The program includes Voices of Trees for clarinet and piano, featuring clarinetist Laura DeLuca and the Seattle premiere of Piano Quintet, with violinists Mikhail Shmidt and Ingrid Matthews, violist Elizabeth Oakes, cellist Andrew Kolb, and Rachel Matthews on piano. Other works on the program include two world premieres: Partita for unaccompanied violin (inspired by the solo violin works of J.S. Bach), performed by Ingrid Matthews, for whom it was written, and Dreams for viola and piano, performed by internationally-acclaimed violist Helen Callus.

read more → Rachel Matthews: New Chamber Music

Peter Garland: Solo Piano Concert

Presented by Nonsequitur and Washington Composers Forum.

The reclusive Maine composer Peter Garland (see previous post for bio) performs his own works for solo piano spanning four decades: Three Dawns (1981-82), After the Wars (2007-08), Bush Radio Calling (1992), and The Days Run Away (1971).

read more → Peter Garland: Solo Piano Concert

Peter Garland: Music for Small Ensembles

Presented by Nonsequitur and Washington Composers Forum.

Peter Garland is one of the great heirs of the cranky American Experimental Tradition that includes composers such as Ives, Ruggles, Cowell, Cage, Harrison, Nancarrow, and Partch. Currently living in Maine, Garland spent many years living in the American Southwest and Mexico, studying and absorbing various indigenous folk musics. His mature music combines elements of minimalism with folky dance rhythms and gentle lyricism to stunningly beautiful effect. Tonight's program features some of Garland's works for chamber ensembles, performed by Seattle musicians: I Have Had to Learn the Simplest Things Last (Cristina Valdes, piano; Pacific Rims Percussion Quartet, vibraphone/marimba/claves/tambourine); Songs of Exile & Wine (Emily Greenleaf, mezzo soprano; Cristina Valdes, piano); Symphony No. 1: "New Chants" (Sarah Bassingthwaighte, flute/piccolo; Jesse Canterbury, clarinet; Chris Stover, trombone).

read more → Peter Garland: Music for Small Ensembles

Wally Shoup/Gust Burns/Mark Ostrowski Trio

Three of Seattle's most experienced free improvisers join forces to present an evening of "Heavy Chamber Jazz". Saxman Wally Shoup, pianist Gust Burns, and drummer Mark Ostrowski combine intuitive interaction, harmonic exploration and rhythmic propulsion to push jazz deeper into the 21st Century.

read more → Wally Shoup/Gust Burns/Mark Ostrowski Trio

Cuong Vu + Greg Sinibaldi & Goat

Presented by the Improvised Music Project and Earshot Jazz.

Join Cuong Vu’s internationally acclaimed quartet (with Stomu Takeishi, Ted Poor and Luke Bergman) for a live recording of Vu’s originals along with the group’s interpretations of a set of standards from the American Songbook. Sharing the evening are Greg Sinibaldi and Goat, a unique trio that utilizes an arsenal of loops and electronic gadgetry combined with woodwinds, electric guitar, and drumset. In addition to Sinibaldi, the members of Goat are guitarist Zach Stewart and drummer Denali Williams.

read more → Cuong Vu + Greg Sinibaldi & Goat

Cuong Vu + Bad Luck + Operation ID

Presented by the Improvised Music Project and Earshot Jazz.

Cuong Vu’s quartet teams up with Bad Luck and Operation ID. Bad Luck offers tightly-woven original compositions and is co-led by drummer Chris Icasiano and saxophonist Neil Welch (both UW Music grads). Operation ID plays original compositions influenced by rock, electronica, jazz and modern classical music and features free and group improvisation. Group members are Ivan Arteaga (sax), Jared Borkowski (guitar), David Balatero (bass), Rob Hanlon (keyboard/electronics), and Evan Woodle (drums). Arteaga and Woodle are current Jazz Studies students; Borkowski is a recent graduate.

read more → Cuong Vu + Bad Luck + Operation ID

Cuong Vu + Heatwarmer

Presented by the Improvised Music Project and Earshot Jazz.

Join Cuong Vu’s internationally acclaimed quartet (with Stomu Takeishi, Ted Poor and Luke Bergman) for a live recording of Vu’s originals along with the group’s interpretations of a set of standards from the American Songbook. Sharing the evening are Heatwarmer.

read more → Cuong Vu + Heatwarmer

Jay Hamilton: FRED

Composer Jay Hamilton and the Turtling Dithers (Maurice Colasurdo, guitars; Darryl Estes, winds; Gordon Frazier, other stuff) present Fred, a new work that is the sequel to Casserole.

read more → Jay Hamilton: FRED

Gebhard Ullman Trio + JA Deane

Presented by Earshot Jazz & Nonsequitur, with support from the Berlin Senate Cultural Affairs Department and the Goethe Institute.

German multi-reed virtuoso Gebhard Ullmann is considered one of the leading personalities in today's Berlin and international music scenes. His Clarinet Trio with Jurgen Kupke and Michael Thieke employs minimalistic techniques, overtones, and multiphonics to give the impression of more than three players. J.A. Deane (Dino) has performed with John Zorn, Jon Hassell, and Butch Morris, adapting Morris' conduction technique to his own Out of Context ensemble in New Mexico. Long known as a trombonist, he now plays a custom-made dulcimer/guqin, layering melodic cells, prickly harmonics, and lush, bowed backgrounds through his assortment of electronics.

read more → Gebhard Ullman Trio + JA Deane

Danse Perdue: "Atrocity Exhibition: Prequel"

Presented by Danse Perdu. This performance is an initial foray into explorations based on original writing by Alex Ruhe and inspired by the nakedly empathetic witnessing of everyday violence by artists and writers such as our teacher Atsushi Takenouchi, founder of Jinen butoh; William T. Vollman, J.G. Ballard, Kathe Kollwitz and Francis Bacon (to name a few). With dancers Alex Ruhe, Vanessa Skantze, Kaoru Okumura, Angela Martinelli, Katrina Ellison, Lugh, Richard Woods, Katrina Wolfe, Ben. Original sound by celadon, cursed chimera, sataray.

read more → Danse Perdue: "Atrocity Exhibition: Prequel"

Zachary Watkins & Tiffany Lin

Presented by Nonsequitur. Movable, long commutes between loved ones, music for motors and resonant strings is the elusive yet evocative title for the new composition by Bay Area composer Zachary James Watkins. This new evening length work, premiered by Seattle pianist Tiffany Lin, is scored for retuned piano and a new mechanical extension called the Piano Monster built by NYC artist Ranjit Bhatnagar that uses 16 MIDI triggered voltage controlled motors with attached objects that resonate piano strings. Zachary James Watkins received a Subito in California grant to assist in the production of this composition.

read more → Zachary Watkins & Tiffany Lin

Wayne Horvitz/Briggan Krauss/Lê Quan Ninh

Presented by Earshot Jazz, with support from the CMA/FACE French-American Jazz Exchange. Featuring keyboardist Wayne Horvitz, tenor saxophonist Briggan Krauss, and percussionist Lê Quan Ninh, this is a diverse and crackling trio. The band, of course, promises far more than the sum of its parts.

read more → Wayne Horvitz/Briggan Krauss/Lê Quan Ninh