Tag Archives: Northwest

NUMUS Celebrates New Music in the Northwest

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by Maggie Molloy

Photo by Jim Holt.

You like new music? Then you’re going to love NUMUS Northwest.

Now in its second year, NUMUS Northwest is a day-long event dedicated to the creation, performance, and experience of new music in Seattle and beyond. Join us Saturday, January 20 from 8:30am-9:30pm at Cornish College of the Arts’ Kerry Hall for a full day of new and experimental music. Click here to RSVP.

NUMUS is created and curated under the direction of six new music luminaries: Kevin Clark (New Music USA), James Falzone (Cornish College of the Arts), Jim Holt, Shaya Lyon (Live Music Project), Kerry O’Brien (Cornish), and Maggie Stapleton (Jensen Artists). This year’s event features everything from workshops on audience cultivation to live performances of music for electric kitchen appliances. Plus, Second Inversion’s own Maggie Molloy and Seth Tompkins will lead a panel on new music in the media.

Check out the full schedule below:

8:30-9:00am: Registration, coffee, & bagels

9:00-9:15am: Welcome

9:30-10:30am: New Music Speed Dating

It’s the fastest way to meet everyone in the room! All NUMUS attendees are paired up in groups of two, switching partners every 60 seconds until everyone is acquainted.

11:00-11:50am: The Other Side of the Inbox: Media Perspectives on New Music

Leah Baltus, City Arts Magazine Editor-in-Chief
Maggie Molloy, Second Inversion Editor
 Sarah Zwinklis, Relevant Tones Producer (WFMT Radio)
Seth Tompkins, 98.1 Classical KING FM Program Director

Radio and print media professionals in Seattle and Chicago discuss the media’s perspective on new music and offer tips, tricks, and strategies for how to pitch new music to local and national media organizations.

12:00-12:50pm: Where the Wild Things Are: The New Age of Organizations and Audiences

Andrew Goldstein, Emerald City Music Executive Director

Emerald City Music Executive Director Andrew Goldstein explores methods for building an organization, attracting an audience, and elevating engagement in classical and new music, providing real-world examples from his experience co-founding Emerald City Music.

1:00-2:30: Lunch Break | Ask a Fundraiser | Piano in Perpetual Progress

A leisurely lunch break allows time to set up an appointment with professional fundraiser and musician Rose Bellini, or drop by Neal Kosaly-Meyer’s long-form piano improvisation which studies the very slow evolution from one note to two to three or more.

2:30-3:30pm: Afternoon Concert: Younge, Arias, Molk, Akiho

An afternoon of experimental percussion music featuring electric junk, spoken text, field recordings, digital playback, and more.

Program:
                                                               
Bethany Younge – Electric Speak! Junk for Me! (10′)
Melanie Sehman, voice and percussion

Spencer Arias – Other Cities (20’)
Chris Sies, percussion

David Molk – hope (6.5′)
Melanie Voytovich, glockenspiel

Andy Akiho – Stop Speaking (6’)
Storm Benjamin, percussion

4:00-4:50pm: Why Are Women Composers Stuck Talking About Being Women Composers?

Lily Shababi, Cornish music student

In this homage to Pauline Oliveros, third-year Cornish student Lily Shababi takes a look back on the historical lack of women composers on concert programs and a look forward toward how we can dismantle the patriarchal systems at play in classical music.

5:00-5:50pm: Funders on Funding

Irene Gómez, Office of Arts & Culture Project Manager
Charlie Rathbun, 4Culture Arts Program Manager
Kevin Clark, Moderator
Additional panelist(s) TBA

Leadership from 4Culture and the Seattle Office of Arts and Culture discuss the arts funding process in a session moderated by philanthropy consultant and composer Kevin Clark.

6:00-7:30pm: Dinner Break

8:00-9:30pm: Evening Concert: Eaton, Soper, Furrer, Lang, Mazzoli, Triptet

NUMUS Northwest ends with an evening concert of solo and chamber music that combines acoustic instruments and live electronics.

Program:

Kaley Lane Eaton – karma repair kit (6′)
Kate Soper – Only the words themselves mean what they say (12′)
Stack Effect Duo

Beat Furrer – Voicelessness, The Snow Has No Voice (11′)
David Lang – Cage (6′)
Missy Mazzoli – Orizzonte (5′)
Missy Mazzoli – Isabelle Eberhardt Dreams of Pianos
Jesse Myers, piano

Triptet – Slowly, Away (20′)
Triptet

NUMUS Northwest is Saturday, Jan. 20 from 8:30am-9:30pm at Cornish College of the Arts’ Kerry Hall. Click here for tickets and more information.

NUMUS Northwest 2018: Call for Submissions

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by Maggie Molloy

You like new music? Then you’re going to love NUMUS Northwest.

Now in its second year, NUMUS Northwest is a day-long event dedicated to the creation, performance, and experience of new music in Seattle and beyond—and YOU can be a part of it. Save the date for Saturday, January 20 at Cornish College of the Arts’ Kerry Hall, and click here to RSVP.

Photo by Jim Holt.

NUMUS Northwest is now accepting submissions for workshops, panels, and performances from the Seattle new music community. Submissions are due by Friday, November 3 at 5pm PST.

Last year’s NUMUS featured workshops ranging from finding your muse to funding your art, telling your story, composing, collaborating, and the art of improvising—plus performances featuring music for flower pots, piano musings with live electronics, interactive sonic meditations, and more.

This year’s workshops and performances depend on YOUR proposals. Help fill NUMUS 2018 with innovative programs to challenge, engage, and inspire Seattle’s new music community. Click here to submit a proposal (you may submit multiple proposals).

Photo by Jim Holt.

More about NUMUS Northwest:

Where: Cornish College of the Arts, Kerry Hall

When: Saturday, January 20, 2017 from 9am-10pm

Who: You! Students. Friends. Colleagues. Musicians. Artists. Creators. People who don’t know they like this kind of music (yet!).

Leadership:

  • Kevin Clark (New Music USA)
  • James Falzone (Cornish College of the Arts)
  • Jim Holt
  • Shaya Lyon (Live Music Project)
  • Kerry O’Brien (Cornish College of the Arts)
  • Maggie Stapleton (Jensen Artists)

Why: Inspired by the New Music Gathering, the NUMUS leadership team strives to recreate the community-building, collaborative-natured, and artistically stunning event with a focus on musicians and artists in the Northwest.

Have questions? E-mail numusnw@gmail.com. Plus, click here to subscribe for updates on the event.

A Mouthful of Forevers: An Interview with Gregg Kallor

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by Maggie Molloy

Composer and pianist Gregg Kallor is used to being on stage during the premiere of most of his compositions—but at the Town Music season finale last night, he watched from the audience as Joshua Roman led members of the Seattle Symphony and Seattle Youth Symphony Orchestras in the world premiere performance of his new string orchestral work, A Mouthful of Forevers.

Based in New York, Kallor’s music fuses elements of classical and jazz to create a deeply personal musical language. We caught up with him during the dress rehearsal of his new piece to talk about music, poetry, and his new world premiere.

 

Second Inversion: What was it like hearing A Mouthful of Forevers performed for the first time?

Gregg Kallor: Exhilarating, nerve-wracking, gratifying, exciting—it was amazing. This is actually the first piece of mine that I have not been a part of the premiere of (as a performer or conductor).  It’s a different experience to sit in the audience and listen to it—but I couldn’t ask for a better advocate than Joshua Roman. It was so beautiful to watch these musicians whom I’ve never met all digging into this piece that I wrote. They’re all bringing their experience and their ideas. They really took it on as their own, and there’s no greater feeling than that.

SI: How would you describe the sound of this piece?

GK: I wanted to write something both lithe and lush—evocative vignettes with the grooving rhythms and shifting moods that Joshua navigates so beautifully.

SI: What was the inspiration for this piece?

GK: There’s an incredible poet, her name is Clementine von Radics, and she wrote a poem called “Mouthful of Forevers”; it’s also the title of a collection of poems that she published. It’s exquisite—it’s this heartbreaking, beautiful love poem and it’s talking about how both people have come into it with baggage and scars, but that makes the miracle of them finding each other that much more potent. It’s just beautiful. Her language is so honest and direct—there are no filters. I’m struck by a lot of her poetry—I’ve read that book ten times, but that poem in particular just really got to me and it was the inspiration for this piece.

SI: What was it like collaborating with Joshua Roman on this premiere?

GK: Joshua is one of the best musicians I’ve ever met. He’s extraordinary as a player, he’s a fantastic composer—now I’m seeing him conducting and it’s amazing. He’s just an extraordinary musician and a great, great friend, and I’m so honored and lucky that he’s championing my music.

Westerlies Go West: Tonight at the Royal Room!

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by Maggie Molloy

Photo by Sasha Arutyunova.

The Westerlies are back in the Northwest this week, coming home with new sounds and brand new music to premiere tonight at the Royal Room in Columbia City.

Far from your typical brass band, the Seattle-bred, New York-based quartet is known on both coasts for their bold artistry, impeccable finesse, eclectic musical interpretations, and remarkable versatility. Together, they’ve cultivated an expansive brass quartet repertoire featuring over 50 original compositions as well as adaptations of composers as diverse and wide-ranging as Ives, Ellington, Bartók, Ligeti, and many more.

Comprised of Riley Mulherkar and Zubin Hensler on trumpet with Andy Clausen and Willem de Koch on trombone, the Westerlies grew up together playing music in Seattle under the mentorship of Wayne Horvitz—making their homecoming performance all the more special, as Horvitz is the co-founder and music programmer of the Royal Room.

The Westerlies performing with Wayne Horvitz at the Royal Room. Photo by Daniel Sheehan.

Tonight, you can expect to hear a little jazz, a little classical, some folk, roots, blues, and chamber influences—but no matter what the Westerlies play, the one element that remains constant across all of their music is the warmth, camaraderie, charisma, and humor of four longtime friends.

“Whatever ‘sound’ the Westerlies have stumbled upon is the result of four friends channeling these diverse interests through warm air, buzzing lips and conical brass tubes—with a lot of love and saliva in there too,” said Andy Clausen.

For a sneak preview, check out our in-studio videos of the guys performing works by Charles Ives, Andy Clausen, and Wayne Horvitz:

The Westerlies perform at the Royal Room Thursday, June 15 at 8pm. For tickets and additional information, please click here.

Second Inversion at the Northwest Folklife Festival

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by Maggie Molloy

For over 40 years the annual Northwest Folklife Festival has served as a community celebration of local music and art at Seattle Center. Second Inversion is proud to be a part of that community, and is committed to showcasing vibrant and adventurous new music landscapes from all over the Pacific Northwest and far beyond.

So this Friday, we’re teaming up with Classical KING FM to show off some of our favorite local new music talents in our third annual KING FM and Second Inversion Showcase at the Northwest Folklife Festival.

Join us at the Center Theatre on Friday, May 26 at 8pm for a triple billing featuring the Ecco Chamber Ensemble, TangleTown Trio, and the Skyros Quartet. Here’s a sneak peek of what’s in store:

The Ecco Chamber Ensemble builds concerts around the intersection of art and social change. Comprised of soprano Stacey Mastrian, flutist Sarah Bassingthwaighte, and guitarist Mark Hilliard Wilson, the group programs classical music from around the world and across history which sheds light on issues of our time and provokes us to consider our common humanity.

TangleTown Trio specializes in classical Americana; music inspired by the many unique genres of American music, including jazz, folk, and classic musical theatre. Comprised of mezzo-soprano Sarah Mattox, violinist Jo Nardolillo, and pianist Judith Cohen, TangleTown is the happy outgrowth of three friends, all enjoying successful solo careers, coming together to create something truly extraordinary.

The Skyros Quartet is known for their innovative and interactive approach to classical music both old and new. Comprised of violinists Sarah Pizzichemi and James Moat, violist Justin Kurys, and cellist Willie Braun, the quartet performs, teaches, and leads community events all over the U.S. and Canada. Passionate about the future of music, Skyros regularly performs new works by living composers, and is back by popular demand after having performed in our Second Inversion Showcase at the 2016 Folklife Festival.

KING FM and Second Inversion’s Folklife Showcase is Friday, May 26 at 8pm at the Center Theatre at Seattle Center. For more information on the festival, click here.