November 19-20, 2009 | 7:30pm | Le Poisson Rouge | 158 Bleecker Street

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The Soloists


Erin Gee
Vocals
Jenny Lin
Piano
Britton Matthews
Percussion

Meia Noite
Percussion
Luke Rinderknecht
Percussion

The Performers


Andrew Cyr
Artistic Director / Conductor
Kristin Lee
Violin / Leader
Ying Xue
Violin

Maurycy Banaszek
Viola
Na-Young Baek
Cello
Rachel Calin
Contrabass

Lance Suzuki
Flute
James Austin Smith
Oboe
Bill Kalinkos
Clarinet

Adrian Morejon
Bassoon
Katie Miller
Trumpet
Alana Vegter
Horn

David Nelson
Trombone

The Composers


Jakub Ciupinkski
Composer
Vivian Fung
Composer
Erin Gee
Composer

Cristina Spinei
Composer

On the Program

A concert of commissions and premieres: works by four composers of the new generation each exploring a profoundly different source for composition and a different conception of the future of music.

Erin Gee and her propulsive, toccata-like work, Mouthpiece X, will feature the composer as solo vocalist. Mouthpiece X is one in a series of pieces bearing the title, each exploring aspects of speech and vocalization. The virtuosic solo part ventures far beyond traditional singing, incorporating whistles, clicks, groans, and other vocal gymnastics, set in a semi-improvised made up lexicography based on the International Phonetic Alphabet. This performance will be the U.S. premiere.

Vivian Fung will present a newly-commissioned piano concerto, subtitled Dreamscapes. Fung creates music for Western instruments that she says "reflects a non-Western dynamic between performer and audience." Dreamscapes is a riot of orchestral color, melding bird calls, wine glasses, and other unexpected noisemakers with extended piano techniques and more traditional, intensely contrapuntal orchestral writing. Star new-music pianist and Metropolis Ensemble collaborator Jenny Lin will perform the kaleidoscopic solo part.

Cristina Spinei brings a literal Jolt of energy to the program in a piece that, like much of the composer's work, shows the influence of traditional Brazilian music. This three-movement score is a concerto for three percussionists, filled with propulsive rhythms, ostinati, and playful hockets. Percussionist Meia Noite will play berimbau (an Afro-Brazilian stringed instrument), surdo and timbau (drums), and other traditional instruments, alongside Luke Rinderknecht and Britton Matthews playing Western percussion.

Jakub Ciupinski fuses his interests in pop music, electronica, and orchestral writing in Flashbacks for orchestra and electronics. The piece sets out to capture the sensation of very brief moments of recollection. These moments are expressed as short interruptions of the piece's narrative arc, as well as a stylistic contrast shifting between pointillistic and minimal textures.

 

Mouthpiece X

for piano and electronics — U.S. premiere

Composed by Erin Gee. Featuring Erin Gee on vocals. Learn more...

Piano Concerto: Dreamscapes

for piano and electronics — world premiere

Composed by Vivian Fung. Featuring Jenny Lin on piano. Learn more...

Jolt

for piano and electronics — world premiere

Composed by Cristina Spinei. Featuring Britton Matthews, Meia Noite, and Luke Rinderknecht on percussion. Learn more...

Flashbacks

for piano and electronics — world premiere

Composed by Jakub Ciupinski. Learn more...

 

Piano Concerto: Dreamscapes is a Metropolis Ensemble commission with funds generously provided by the De Rosa Foundation. Jolt is a Metropolis Ensemble commission with a grant provided by the New York State Council for the Arts. Flashbacks is a Metropolis Ensemble commission.