Dyspnoea
by Jeremy Wagner
Irvine Arditti, violin
About Jeremy: Jeremy Wagner is a composer living and working in the Twins Cities. On occasion he will play saxophone. He is also prone to nerding out on mathematics, physics and computer music.
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A Joan That Truly Cares About Y-O-U
by Nick Zielinski and Ingo Bethke
When I reflect on the best moments of my life, I am struck by the fact that not a single one of those moments occurred while I was alone. In all of them I had someone with which to share the joy. For this reason my primary focus as a composer is on writing music that brings people together. And when I say ‘together,’ I mean together not only in proximity, but in spirit. The togetherness that comes from true cooperation in working toward a common goal. To achieve this I construct musical frameworks where the performers are not only encouraged, but required to contribute, creatively, to the fabric of the music.
About Nick: Composer, drummer and improviser. Descendant of farmers and teachers and meat packers. Likes almonds, dislikes fish sticks.
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Germination Variations
by Brett Wartchow
stereo fixed media
I fondly recall moments of total wonderment while standing among the trees of Oregon’s old growth forests. Each tree within the forest is a unique ecosystem hosting a myriad of organisms–from the large to the mossy to the invisible–that share dynamic biological synergies. Yet, the true majesty of each tree is fully comprehended when experiencing them en masse as a vast and ancient botanical multiverse.
Germination Variations is a sonic meditation on this experience. As each subsequent section of the piece unfolds, the gestural contour of periodic rhythmic patterns and granular motivic textures become more and more tightly woven. The piece thus emerges as a flourishing sonic landscape comprised of lyric percussive lines braided in gestural polyphony.
About Brett: I like to make music and drink great coffee at the same time.
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Kado: The Way of Flowers
by Schuyler Tsuda
Schuyler Tsuda, cello
Ikebana, or Kado, is the Japanese art of flower arrangement. While on the surface an aesthetic art form, the practice of ikebana requires one to experience nature in a different way, from a new perspective. Beauty is found not only in the blossom but in the fragile, withering leaf. Asymmetry, so commonly found in nature, is valued over perfect symmetry. Empty space holds just as much importance as the plants themselves. Flowers are arranged not simply to create the beautiful but rather to place them in harmony with each other, in order to allow their natural beauty to emerge. The practice of ikebana opens a space for the practitioner and viewer to see and appreciate all the things in nature that we overlook and ignore in our daily lives.
About Schuyler: Schuyler Tsuda’s current musical interests involve creating new sound worlds through experimentation and discovery of unorthodox instrumental techniques, physical instrument extension, and instrument invention.
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HUES
by Joshua Musikantow
Whitney Noble (cl.), Dan Hedegard (gtr.), Scotty Horey (perc.), Baylen Wagner (vcl.), and Erik Rohde (cond.)
A hue is not properly a color but an equivalence class of colors. A single hue may occur at many different levels of brightness and saturation; nonetheless, it retains a certain nature. HUES coexists in a physical, associative, and sonic space. Specifically, each of its twelve miniatures explores a different physical interaction between players; a different set of subjective associations centered around a particular hue in the color wheel, moving from the warms to the cools (which, in our human perception, cycle back to the warms); and a different set of thematic and timbral materials. These three spaces all vie for control.
About Joshua: Chicago-born (but currently Minneapolis-based) composer, frame drummer, and poet with a special interest in microtones.
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A video of HUES can be seen here.
Obair Pháirce
by Michael Duffy
Joe Peters, oboe; Chris Raddatz, contrabass clarinet; Rebecca Wilson, contrabassoon; Clare Harmon, viola; Baylen Wagner, violoncello
The title Obair Pháirce comes from the Irish Gaelic and translates to “fieldwork.” Over the course of the piece the electronics subject each of the instruments to displacements in time and location. The lingua franca is repetition, often distorted and presented on the micro and macro levels. All of this has a variety of implications as to what it means to be both an American and an American composer.
About Michael: Michael is a composer, improviser, and sonic adventurer.
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Techno Sine NoMine
by Zachary Crockett
stereo fixed media
About Zac: This Minneapolis coder-composer believes that the creation of meaning is the most important human activity.
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It Plays You
by Colin Holter
John Cummins (alto saxes) and Scottie Wright (tenor saxes)
Two ideas informed the speculation that led to It Plays You: first, the somewhat mystical tradition of post-bop virtuosity in which the instrument may be said to be playing the performer rather than vice versa; second, the media furore that holds popular entertainment such as music, cinema, and video games responsible for the criminal behavior of children. The confluence of these ideas lies in the uncertain freedom of ostensibly free play.
About Colin: Colin is a composer and writer on music based in Minneapolis.
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by Richard Yates
Scotty Horey (perc.) and Clay Whitney (perc.)
About Richard: Richard is a master’s student at the University of Minnesota studying composition and recently finishing his degree in choral conducting.
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Don’t Call Me Norman
by James Holdman
Pat O’Keefe (cl.), Heather Barringer (perc.), Shannon Wettstein (pf.)
About James: musician/composer/improviser/educator.
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