Current Issue: Artvoice v7n48, week of Thursday November 27 » back issues
Music |
Well Machined Music: June in Buffalo Returns to UBby Jan Jezioro |
|
|
|
Lectures All lectures are in Baird Recital Hall, 10am-12pm, and are open to the public without charge. June 2: Morton Subotnick June 3: Charles Dodge June 4: Roberto Morales June 5: Hans Tutschku June 6: Ben Thigpen June 7: Cort Lippe
Afternoon concerts Afternoon concerts are open to the public without charge. June 2: Concert featuring the works of emerging composers. 4:30pm, Baird Recital Hall. June 3: Workshop with Miller Puckette. 3:30-5:30pm, Baird 211. June 4: Concert featuring the works of emerging composers. 4:30pm, Baird Recital Hall. June 5: Workshop with Miller Puckette. 3:30-5:30pm, Baird 211. June 6: Concert featuring the works of emerging composers. 4:30pm, Baird Recital Hall.
Evening concerts All concerts at 8pm. Tickets are $12 general admission, $9 UB staff & alumni, $5 students. Visit music.buffalo.edu/juneinbuffalo for more information. June 2: Concert featuring the works of Morton Subotnick and Charles Dodge. Lippes Concert Hall in Slee Hall. June 3: Concert featuring works of Cort Lippe and Roberto Morales. Center for the Arts Drama Theater June 4: Concert featuring Hans Tutschku and the Ensemble for Intuitive Music. Center for the Arts Black Box Theater. June 5: Concert featuring works by Ben Thigpen and David Felder. Lippes Concert Hall in Slee Hall June 6: Concert featuring Project Capricorn with Nicholas Isherwood and Gerard Pape with a special performance of Kontakte by Karlheinz Stockhausen. Lippes Concert Hall in Slee Hall. |
It is that time of year again. Presented by the UB Music Department and the Robert and Carol Morris Center for 21st Century Music, the annual June in Buffalo Festival for 2008 will take place on the UB Amherst Campus, from Monday, June 2, through Saturday, June 7. The long-running annual new music festival, now in its fifth decade, departs from its usual format every few years and explores an overarching theme. This year’s June in Buffalo festival will focus on “Music and Computers,” drawing in some of the world’s most illustrious and innovative composers, researchers, and teachers in the field. The different kinds of musical forms involving the use of computers being presented include algorithmic, interactive, multimedia, electroacoustic computer music, and acousmatic music, a form of electroacoustic music that is based on musique concrete, and that is composed for and exists only in a recorded format to be heard by an audience through loudspeakers.
The senior faculty at this year’s June in Buffalo represents a diverse and international group of composers and pedagogues, including Charles Dodge, Cort Lippe, Roberto Morales, Miller Puckette, Morton Subotnick, Ben Thigpen, and Hans Tutschku. Among the leading experts on computer music, their careers span the breadth of the ever-evolving genre, from its inception in the 1970s through to the present day.
David Felder, professor of composition at UB and director of the Center for 21st Century Music, has been the artistic director of June in Buffalo since 1985, when he resurrected the festival after a five-year hiatus. Since taking over the reins of June in Buffalo, Felder has emphasized the importance of meaningful interactions between the senior composers at each year’s event and the emerging composers, who are usually advanced graduate students who use the opportunity both to expand their knowledge and to have their compositions performed at an internationally recognized venue. The composition students who appear at June in Buffalo have undergone a rigorous application process—last year about 20 of the 100 plus applicants made the cut. Sometimes the results of this synergy can be gratifyingly surprising, as happened at last year’s event. Each of the half dozen or so works for percussion written by emerging composers and performed by the group known as the red fish blue fish Percussion Ensemble at a free afternoon performance, were less pretentious, more original, and more enjoyable to listen to than the works of a couple of well-known senior composers that had been performed the previous evening by the same group. Works by the emerging composers at June in Buffalo are usually presented at the free, afternoon events, and generally are not be missed.
Some of the world’s leading performers of contemporary and computer music are among this summer’s resident ensembles and soloists. From Europe comes the Ensemble for Intuitive Music, a German ensemble founded in 1980 in what was then East Germany, long known for the performance of music considered taboo by the former Communist government, as well as members of Germany’s acclaimed experimental chamber music group Ensemble SurPlus. Other featured groups include the members of the widely renowned New York New Music Ensemble and the Slee Sinfonietta, UB’s own professional chamber-orchestra-in-residence. Other distinguished performers will include bass-baritone Nicholas Isherwood, the Paris-based early music and new music specialist who impressed local audiences in several performances as a visiting professor some years back as well as at last year’s festival, and the Swedish classical guitarist and new music pioneer Magnus Andersson.
Among the senior composers at this year’s June in Buffalo, Morton Subotnick is probably the most recognizable. Subotnick, born in 1933, teaches at the Music School of the California Institute of Arts in Valencia, a suburb of LA, and is best known for his 1967 work, The Silver Apples of the Moon, the first work ever commissioned by a major record company, appearing on the Nonesuch label. Subotnick studied with the renowned French composer Darius Milhaud, and the American modernist composer Leon Kirchner at Mills College in Oakland, and has composed for acoustic instruments. When he started composing for electronic music, Subotnick went against the then prevalent, academic composers in the field, whose highly abstract electronic music concentrated on pitch and timbre, avoiding any audibly discernible patterns and ignoring rhythm almost completely. Subotnick’s Silver Apples of the Moon and his 1968 work, The Wild Bull, also released on the Nonesuch record label, were both written in a rhythmically vigorous structural mode that the traditional classical music audience could more easily relate to, while still utilizing manipulations of pitch and timbre that orchestral instruments were unable to create. The uses of these techniques allowed Subotnick to claim a much larger audience for his music than had generally been the case with other electronic music, and the strongly rhythmical nature of these two works in particular appealed to several modern dance companies who successfully choreographed them.
Subotnick has continued to compose electronic music that focuses on the live playing of the performers, maintaining an important link to the great tradition of classical music. His 2007 work, The Other Piano, dedicated to the late Morton Feldman, will be performed at this year’s festival. Feldman, a composer whose reputation has soared in recent years, founded June in Buffalo, and Subotnick’s The Other Piano is “other” to the 1977 work by Morton Feldman that is titled simply Piano, and which Subotnick heard at its premiere. Subotnick writes, “In creating The Other Piano, I tried to capture a sense of this pre-verbal embodied musical experience by staying close to basic musical qualities. The work unfolds slowly and with emphasis on the small changes in pitch, time and loudness that bring meaningfulness to our expression. The Other Piano is for piano with surround sound processing. It has four continuous sections: Within, Lullaby, Alone and Rocking. Each section has its own distinct character as well as a special approach to how the piano sound is processed throughout the space of the auditorium. For instance, Lullaby unfolds slowly with great care taken to the details of exact timing of each note as well as the subtle evolving changes of the melody. Individual notes are captured by the computer and form lingering chords that float through the auditorium.”
|
Issue Navigation> Issue Index > v7n22: Are Lunatics Running the Asylum? (5/29/08) > Well Machined Music: June in Buffalo Returns to UB This Week's Issue • Artvoice Daily • Events Calendar • Classifieds |
Artvoice Blog Headlines
West Side Neighborhood Housing Servicesposted November 28, 3:44 pm on Artvoice DailyAs promised in this article, the membership list for West Side Neighborhood Housing Services is right here. Highlighted in yellow are city employees who report to the mayor or their relatives; highlighted in pink are other city employees. Most of the highlighted names (though not all) are new members, who joined just in time to vote at last Thursday’s annual members meeting, when Harvey Garrett was voted off WSNHS’s board... (more) |
On the Waterfrontposted November 26, 2:00 pm on Artvoice DailySo you think Buffalo has a hard time figuring out what to do with its waterfront, do ya? Mad that we can’t just build a signature bridge, huh? Madder still that we can’t just knock the Skyway bridge down? Furious with obstructionists who don’t want a Bass Pro Shop? Livid about the ice boom? And don’t even get you started about all the blind, misguided fools who can’t see that a huge casino downtown will turn our city around? Yes, my friend, you do in fact have all the answers... (more) |
Chow Chocolat welcomes Denise Sperry’s Watercolor Exhibition…posted November 26, 12:46 pm on Chew on ThisWatercolor Painting by Denise Sperry Merging the fine arts with gastronomic art, Chow Chocolat (731 Main Street, Buffalo, 843.4388) is now featuring a watercolor exhibition by Denise Sperry. A reception commencing Sperry’s works will take place on December 5th, 2008 (6-9 PM)... (more) |
GRILLE 620 (Wine… Down the Weekend)posted November 26, 11:34 am on Chew on ThisIf you haven’t already checked out “Wine… Down the Weekend” at Grille 620, (620 Delaware Ave, Buffalo, 886.2121) GO! This has to be one of the best deals in the city of Buffalo. Every Friday & Saturday, patrons can choose a complimentary bottle from the bistro’s extensive wine list to accompany any 2 entrees... (more) |
Another Voiceposted November 26, 10:11 am on Artvoice DailyHere’s something that drives me crazy about the Buffalo News: the “Another Voice” column on the editorial page. It would be a nice idea, were it not that so often it is not given over to “another” voice. It is given, rather, to the same old voices: to people who are frequently quoted as sources in articles, who are in positions of political or economic power, to folks whose job is to push agendas—to people, in other words, who have no difficulty making their voices heard... (more) |
Who Goes Where When Hillary Goes to State?posted November 19, 12:04 pm on Artvoice DailyCity Hall News has flow_chart that tracks who might replace who, from Hillary’s Senate seat on down (click to expand or follow the link—it’s an awkward shape): |
It’s Robert Rich Sr. All High Stadiumposted November 14, 5:05 pm on Artvoice DailyThese new signs properly label the structure. We’ve been reading recent stories in the Buffalo News about sportswriter Tom Borrelli’s terrible fall last week at the old All High Stadium. He’s currently battling life-threatening injuries... (more) |
CWM Fined for Violationsposted November 14, 2:41 pm on Artvoice DailyThis week Chemical Waste Management was fined $175,000 by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation for violating its permits and the state’s hazardous waste laws. I don’t have much to say about that, except it doesn’t seem to me like too much money... (more) |
Musical Chairsposted November 14, 12:51 pm on Artvoice DailyThe AP reports that Hillary Clinton met with Barack Obama in Chicago yesterday, adding fuel to speculation that she might be Obama’s choice for secretary of state. If that happens, it has long been rumored that Brian Higgins would be appointed to her Senate seat... (more) |
Paint the Townposted November 14, 11:06 am on Artvoice DailyLate last night, at the tail end of one of the few weeks in the past year in which we did not publish anything snarky about anybody, someone threw two gallons of paint on our front doors. Seems a waste; we hadn’t even earned it. Nonetheless, we were cleaning up all morning... (more) |
Old Editions Book Shopposted November 13, 1:58 pm on Artvoice DailyAV videographer Matt Quinn tours Old Editions, an often overlooked treasure at the corner of Oak and Huron Streets downtown: show enclosure (video/x-flv; 21.29 MB) |
This Is Not Today’s Newsposted November 12, 9:37 am on Artvoice DailyBut it would be nice if it were. Via the Data Stream, by way of Jon Winet. |
This Just In…posted November 11, 3:28 pm on Artvoice DailyAlways in the vanguard, researchers of the University at Buffalo’s Center of Human Capital have reached a bold conclusion, according to a statement disseminated this afternoon: Although no official determination has been made about whether New York State or the U... (more) |
Silver Lining: Edwards Remains a Good Guyposted November 11, 11:17 am on Artvoice DailyMarshawn Lynch Amid the anguished finger-pointing, plaintive wailing and resigned head-shaking sweeping the region following the Buffalo Bills’ third straight defeat, Season Ticket would like to apportion a minute sliver of credit. Quarterback Trent Edwards, by most quantitative and qualitative standards, failed miserably at New England on Sunday (not coincidentally, this was also his third consecutive regressive outing)... (more) |
Artvoice TV: Latest Additions » more on AVTV
Peanut Brittle Satellite with Jeff Mcleod of Lazlo Holyfieldposted November 29, 1:44 pm on channel Music
|
Artisans Bazaar on Elmwoodposted November 29, 1:16 pm on channel Art
|
City Mission: Food for the Needyposted November 28, 08:47 am on channel Local Interest
|
Turkey Trot: Buffalo's 113thposted November 27, 5:57 pm on channel Events
|
Dr. Riyaz Hassanali: Talks about BOTOXposted November 26, 5:46 pm on channel Health
|
Viva Vivaldi Festival @ The First Presbyterian Churchposted November 23, 3:48 pm on channel Music
|
The Burchfield-Penney Opensposted November 23, 2:33 pm on channel Art
|
Synecdoche, New Yorkposted November 23, 12:24 am on channel Movie Trailers
|
One Day You'll Understandposted November 23, 12:12 am on channel Movie Trailers
|
Four Christmasesposted November 23, 11:53 am on channel Movie Trailers
|
Australiaposted November 23, 11:46 am on channel Movie Trailers
|
The Alphabet Killerposted November 23, 11:39 am on channel Movie Trailers
|
Nelson Starr Band w/Jeff Miersposted November 23, 09:49 am on channel Music
|
Bread Gone Wryposted November 23, 08:04 am on channel Music
|
Dr. Riyaz Hassanali: The effect Smoking has on your Skinposted November 21, 4:50 pm on channel Health
|
Subscribe 