SEATTLE MODERN ORCHESTRA: REVIEWS & PREVIEWS

Posted on June 9, 2014 by maestrobeats

Seattle Modern Orchestra.

In just a few years, Seattle Modern Orchestra has transformed from a dream of co-Artistic Directors Julia Tai and Jeremy Jolley into a thriving, professional organization fulfilling its mission – to provide Seattle audiences with live performances of the best in contemporary chamber and orchestral music, music seldom if ever performed in Seattle until now. Attend an SMO concert and you’ll undoubtedly discover new music with unusual sounds, textures, forms, notation, and always with guidance and curation from Jeremy and Julia.

Seattle Modern Orchestra’s fourth season finale, Musical Commentaries, is this Friday, June 13, 8pm at the Good Shepherd Center Chapel Performance Space. Earle Brown’s Tracking Pierrot, Joël-François Durand’s Le Tombeau de Rameau II (featuring pianist Cristina Valdes), and Franco Donatoni’s Tema are all on the bill, all following theme “Music on Music” – compositions that were written in tribute to compositions and composers of the past.

An encore (outreach!) performance of the Donatoni, accompanied by music of John Cage and solo violin works by Durand will be performed at St. Columba’s Episcopal Church in Kent, WA on Sunday, June 15 at 2pm.

As we look ahead to Friday’s concert, let’s actually take a listen back at their February 21 performance, including music of Rebecca Saunders, Jonathan Harvey, Kaija Saariaho, and Jeremy Jolley, all featuring guest cellist Séverine Ballon.

Séverine also shared some insights about her love of music (new and old!), collaborating with composers on new works, searching for new sounds and experimenting and with the cello. She also filled us in on her experience premiering works and working with students in master classes at Harvard University (where she was composer-in-residence in March 2013), Stuttgart Hochschule, Huddersfield University, UC Berkeley University, National University Singapore.

Tickets for the performance on June 13 are available through Brown Paper Tickets. Don’t miss it!

ANDREW C. SMITH: TOPOLOGY

Posted on May 7, 2014 by maestrobeats

by Maggie Stapleton

Andrew C. Smith is a composer, pianist, and co-founder of Indexical, which is “dedicated to supporting music by composers who work outside of mainstream contemporary music institutions” through recording projects, live concerts, and publications.

Andrew’s currently living in Seattle and stopped by the studios recently to share a curated playlist with three selections from Index 0, the first record released on Indexical.

Among the pieces on the list is Topology (phases of this difference). A performance of his Topology recently shared the stage with John Teske’s topographies at the Good Shepherd Center. For a more in depth look at the piece and its location-based uniquity, I’ll leave that to Andrew!

Elizabeth Adams: CUSP
Beau Sievers: Distance Etude No. 1
Andrew C. Smith: Topology (phases of this difference)
James Tenney: Critical Band

Happy listening and we’ll keep you posted on Indexical’s projects!

TOM BAKER ON THE SEATTLE MUSIC SCENE

Posted on April 23, 2014 by maestrobeats

by Maggie Stapleton

Seattle composer Tom Baker (not to be confused with any other reputable Tom Bakers out there) is a crucial contributor to the new music scene in Seattle. He is the artistic director of the Seattle Composers’ Salon, the co-founder of the Seattle EXperimental Opera (SEXO), an instructor of Composition and Electronic Music at Cornish College of the Arts, and a performer alongside with many bands and ensembles, including the Tom Baker Quartet, Triptet, and Jesse Canterbury’s Vertigo.

He is also the founder of Present Sounds, a record label which celebrates new music by primarily Seattle-based composers and performers. You’ll certainly hear some of these tracks on our stream!

Tom stopped by the KING FM/Second Inversion studios recently to talk about some of his favorite tracks from a couple of these discs.

Stay tuned for more music and insights on our SoundCloud page from Tom! You can catch him live on May 2 at the Seattle Composers’ Salon, along with Seattle Composers William O. Smith, John Teske, and Keith Eisenbrey at 8pm at the Good Shepherd Center Chapel!

SPRING WITH NAT EVANS

Posted on March 11, 2014 by maestrobeats

by Maggie Stapleton

Second Inversion is very excited about a couple of projects Seattle composer Nat Evans has up his sleeve this Spring.

Nat and a Cat.

On Saturday, March 29, 8pm at the Good Shepherd Center Chapel Performance Space, The Box is Empty will present a concert on the Wayward Music Series featuring one of his works, More Comfort, which “explores the evolution of our relation to different screens in our lives, mobile devices and televisions as a hearth place, and the nature of our contemporary interactions and language.” The performance includes a video by Rodrigo Valenzuela showing of the use of our hands with the multitude of devices in our everyday lives. Three works for strings by New York-based composer Leaha Villarreal (and Artistic Director of Hotel Elefant are also slated, one of which features video by Seattle artist Erin Elyse Burns. I’m also told that alka seltzer tablets and compressed air will cameo as instruments, which on its own is enough to pique my interest in attending.

Then, in late April Nat is going to take a very long walk. A 2,600 mile journey from Mexico to Canada along the Pacific Crest Trail, to be exact. This is a compositional journey in which Nat will send 8 West Coast composers field recordings to use with newly composed material. In early 2015, all of these new works will be released on Quakebasket Records. I sincerely encourage you to find out more about “The Tortoise and His Raincoat” and we hope to give you some sneak peeks of Nat’s work as he checks in along the way!

PS If that’s not enough to put you in green spirits, here’s some music by Nat performed in Seattle’s Ravenna Park.

MUSIC ON THE MAP

Posted on March 6, 2014 by maestrobeats

by Maggie Stapleton

Seattle composer John Teske takes inspiration from nature and space in a lot of his compositions, including his upcoming premiere topographies (along with Andrew C. Smith’s Topology (A/∀)) to be performed on Saturday, March 22, 8pm at the Good Shepherd Center’s Chapel Performance Space. The work is composed as a set of graphic scores based on a topographical map and will be performed by 2 saxophones, cello, double bass, & percussion. This should be a great catalyst for musical discovery – John is curious to find how the performers carve their own path.. both alone and together.

Here’s a conversation between Second Inversion’s Maggie Stapleton and John Teske on the inspiration behind this piece (including which particular map inspired this piece), his approach to collaboration with performers, educational outreach, and his overarching love of space and seas in his compositions.