Welcome! Dear
Friends:
Welcome to the 2015 Charlotte New Music Festival! What began approximately five years ago simply as an idea has blossomed into this three-week festival of new music and dance, attracting talented local artists, as well as an impressive group of visiting music composers, dance choreographers, and dancers, from across the United States and the globe. I invite you to check out our daily schedule printed in this program booklet and attend as many of these events as you would like. There are so many wonderful people to thank for helping to elevate this festival to soaring new heights: Adam Scott Neal (Program Director), David Schneider (Program Director), and Arlynn Zachary (Director of Dance) -- without their incredible work ethic, dedication, and teamwork, none of this would be possible; our illustrious guest composers, performers, and choreographers, who are supportive in sharing their time, talent, and expertise; our composer, choreographer, and dancer participants, who will be working hard over the next 2-3 weeks and producing some exciting new works; host families for guest artists; the staff and administration at Central Piedmont Community College and Queens University; other sponsors, who appear throughout this program, without whom this festival would not exist. Most importantly, we’d like to thank you for your attendance at these events and your support of new and innovative music and dance! We are thrilled to bring, once again, this unique annual event to the greater Charlotte region and are looking forward to many more successful years for the Charlotte New Music Festival! Sincerely, Elizabeth Kowalski Founder and Artistic Director
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Contents Performance Highlights ............................................................................... 3 Schedule Highlights ..................................................................................... 4 CNMF Staff .................................................................................................. 5 Sponsors ........................................................................................................ 6
Guest Artists Composers..................................................................................................... 7 Choreographers........................................................................................... 11 Dancers ........................................................................................................ 12
Ensembles & Musicians Beo Quartet ................................................................................................. 14 Great Noise Ensemble................................................................................ 14 loadbang ...................................................................................................... 15 Local Musicians and Performers .............................................................. 15
Participants Composers................................................................................................... 19 Choreographers........................................................................................... 23 Dancers ........................................................................................................ 24
Events Laptop Orchestra Concert.......................................................................... 27 New Music Open Mic Night..................................................................... 27 An Evening of Dance ................................................................................. 28 Beo String Quartet and Mixed Ensembles Concert #1........................... 29 Great Noise Ensemble Concert ................................................................. 31 loadbang Concert ........................................................................................ 33 Beo String Quartet and Mixed Ensembles Concert #2........................... 35 Great Noise Ensemble Composers Concert ............................................ 37 Contest in the "Concert of the Miniatures" .............................................. 39 Arts Align | Music & Dance Concert ....................................................... 40
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Performance Highlights Max Workshop Laptop Orchestra Concert Saturday, June 13: Arts Factory, 1545 W Trade St. An Evening of Dance Thursday, June 18: Northwest School for the Arts 1415 Beatties Ford Road Beo Quartet/Mixed Ensemble Concert #1 Friday, June 19: Suzanne Little Auditorium, Queen’s University 2319 Wellesley Avenue Great Noise Ensemble Concert Saturday, June 20: Suzanne Little Auditorium, Queen’s University 2319 Wellesley Avenue loadbang Concert Monday, June 22: New Gallery of Modern Art 435 South Tryon St., Unit #110 Beo Quartet /Mixed Ensemble Concert #2 Tuesday, June 23: Suzanne Little Auditorium, Queen’s University 2319 Wellesley Avenue Great Noise Ensemble Composers Concert Wednesday, June 24: Suzanne Little Auditorium, Queen’s University 2319 Wellesley Avenue Contest in the Concert of the Miniatures Friday, June 26: New Gallery of Modern Art Arts Align Music & Dance Concert Saturday, June 27: Dana Auditorium, Queen’s University 2319 Wellesley Avenue
Ticket prices: $15: General Admission $10: Student Admission, with valid Photo ID $5: CPCC Student Admission, with valid Photo ID Ticket Packages: $95 for all-access pass (10 concerts), $50 for 5-concert pass.
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Schedule Highlights June 13, 2015:
• Max Laptop Orchestra Concert: 7:30 PM
June 15, 2015:
• Presentation from the Beo String Quartet: 1:00 PM • Music and Dance Panel Discussion: 7:00 PM
June 16, 2015:
• Presentation from John Alleimeier: 1:00 PM • Concert by Fat Face Band – Artist social at Common Market
June 17, 2015:
• Presentation from Great Noise Ensemble: 1:00 PM • New Music Open Mic Night at Petra’s Piano Bar
June 18, 2015:
• Presentation from Marc Mellits: 1:00 PM • An Evening of Dance, 7:30 PM
June 19, 2015:
• Presentation from Armando Bayolo: 1:00 PM • Beo Quartet/Mixed Ensemble Concert: 7:30 PM
June 20, 2015:
* To find out more about Charlotte New Music & get email updates, please scan the following QR code!
• Presentation from loadbang: 1:00 PM • Great Noise Ensemble Concert: 7:30 PM
June 22, 2015:
• Presentation from John Fitz Rogers: 1:00 PM • loadbang Concert: 7:30 PM
June 23, 2015:
• Presentation from Lansing McLoskey: 1:00 PM • Beo/Mixed Ensemble Concert: 7:30 PM
June 24, 2015:
• Presentation from Great Noise Ensemble: 1:00 PM • Great Noise Ensemble Concert: 7:30 PM
June 25, 2015:
• Presentation from Lawrence Dillon: 1:00 PM
June 26, 2015:
• Contest in the “Concert of the Miniatures”: 7:30 PM
June 27, 2015:
• Arts Align Music & Dance Concert, featuring Great Noise Ensemble: 7:30 PM 4
CNMF Staff Elizabeth Kowalski Founder and Executive Artistic Director Elizabeth is the Founder and Executive Artistic Director for the international Charlotte New Music Festival which is held annually during the month of June. The festival is home to the Max/MSP Workshop (interactive electronics & music), Composers Workshop, and Dance CoLab. Elizabeth is an accomplished performer, teacher, and composer having played the piano for 23 years and the flute for 16 years. As a creator of music for concerts, film, & dance, she has a passion for creating electro-acoustic music paired with visual art. The influence of folk, jazz, and pop music from various areas of the world can also be heard in her music. Recently, "Moon Garden" received a national award in the MTNA Composition Competition. In May 2012, Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire won the national Dance Magazine Award and was performed at the Kennedy Center, Washington D.C.
David Schneider Program Director, Max Workshop I’m a musician with a wide range of interests. A composer by training, with degrees from Indiana University and the University of Southern California, I have also been active as a singer, pianist, teacher, and music copyist. Lately I’ve been immersing myself in the study of electronic music and alternative tunings and am working on incorporating them into my musical language. I recently moved to Seattle with my wife and two cats.
Adam Scott Neal Program Director, Composers’ Workshop Adam Scott Neal (b. 1981, Atlanta) is a composer, video artist, and improviser. He earned a PhD at the University of Florida and previous degrees at Queen's University Belfast and Georgia State University. Adam has enjoyed over 150 performances of his music in 26 states and 9 countries. He is Program Director for the Charlotte New Music Festival Composers Workshop and Artistic Director of Terminus Ensemble (Atlanta).
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Arlynn Zachary Director, Dance Co-Lab Arlynn Zachary, is a graduate from Goucher College with a degree in choreography, Magna Cum Laude, and has an Associate of Arts degree from Central Piedmont Community College. She has performed in works by Kim Robards, Charles Weidman, Doris Humphrey, Martha Graham, Sean Curran, and Jennifer Archibald. She was a Technical Stage Production Intern with Bates Dance Festival in 2011, where she was the Lighting Designer for both Jennifer Archibald and Lisa Race. Her choreography has been displayed at the American College Dance Festival, Goucher College’s Faculty and Guest-Artist Spring Concert, Columbia College's Alumnae Concert, North Carolina Dance Festival’s Audience Choice Show, Charlotte Dance Festival, re-occurring appearances at the Greensboro Fringe Festival, Charlotte New Music Festival and Charlotte's annual Wine & Dance concerts. She danced professionally in the Charlotte area from 2011-13 with The Wake Project, worked for Echo Contemporary Dance Company as their Assistant Rehearsal Director, Stage Manager, and Lighting Designer from 2011-13, taught modern dance for JCSU’s Outreach Program from 2012-13, and performed as an original cast member with Tap Root Ensemble in their production “Ophelos”. She is a recipient of the 2015 Regional Artist Project Grant from the Arts and Science Council. Currently she is the Director of Dance for the Charlotte New Music Festival; Board Chair for the Charlotte Dance Festival; Stage Manager for Moving Poets; teaches modern and hip-hop in the Charlotte area, and is the Founder and Artistic Director of THE MARK dance company.
Sponsors
Knight Foundation, Arts & Science Council, South Arts, & the National Endowment for the Arts Performances by the Great Noise Ensemble are funded in part by grants from the Knight Foundation, the Arts & Science Council of Charlotte, and South Arts in partnership with the National Endowment for the Arts and the North Carolina Arts Council. Special thanks to CPCC for their partnership and a place to call home for the workshops of CNMF.
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Guest Artists Composers John Allemeier The music of John Allemeier has been described as having a “sweet sense of mystery” by Fanfare and as being “rapturous” by the American Record Guide. His music has been programmed on international venues such as the Frankfurter Kunstlerclub (Germany), 3rd Rencontres Musiques Nouvelles (France), Festival Internacional de Percusiones (Mexico), Russia-America: Music of the XXI Century at the Moscow Conservatory, the Seoul International Computer Music Festival (South Korea), the Brazilian Symposium on Computer Music, the International Double Reed Society, ClarinetFest (International Clarinet Society), and the International Society of Bassist Convention; and on national festivals such as Piccolo Spoleto, the 5th Annual Festival of Contemporary Music in San Francisco, and the Spark Festival in Minneapolis; on national conferences of the Society of Composers, the Society for Electro Acoustic Music in the United States, National Association of Composers in the United States, and the College Music Society. Allemeier’s music has been performed throughout the United States and Europe by professional and collegiate ensembles such as Fresh Ink, Low and Lower, Madison Park String Quartet, Duo XXI, Due East, the Petrella Ensemble, the University of Iowa Center for New Music, the University of Iowa Graduate Chamber Orchestra, Oberlin Percussion Group, the Texas Christian University Percussion Ensemble, the University of Illinois Contemporary Chamber Singers, the UNC Charlotte Percussion Ensemble, and the UNC Charlotte University Chorale. He has composed pieces for professional performers such as Anthony Stoops, Scott Christian, Wolfgang David, David Gompper, Jeffery Lyman, Nick Petrella, Erin Lesser, Greg Beyer, Mira Frisch, and Paul Sharpe. Recordings of Allemeier’s music are available on the Albany, Capstone, and Vox Novus labels. His music is published by Carl Fischer Music Publishers, C. Alan Publications, and European American Music. He received his Ph.D. in Composition from the University of Iowa, his Master of Music in Composition from Northwestern University, and his Bachelor of Music in Performance from Augustana College. He has studied in Europe at the 41st and 42nd Internationalen Ferienkurse für Neue Musik in Darmstadt, Germany, and the 6th International Composition Course in Cesky Krumlov, Czech Republic. He currently teaches composition and music theory at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. More information is available at www.johnallemeier.com.
Armando Bayolo Born in 1973 in Santurce, Puerto Rico to Cuban parents, composer Armando Bayolo began musical studies at the age of twelve. At sixteen he went on to study at the prestigious Interlochen Arts Academy in Interlochen, Michigan, where he first began the serious study of composition. He holds degrees from the Eastman School of Music (B.M. 1995), where his teachers were Samuel Adler, Joseph Schwantner and Christopher Rouse; Yale University (M.M. 1997), where he studied with Roberto Sierra, Jacob Druckman, Ingram Marshall and Martin Bresnick; and the University of Michigan (D.M.A. 2001) where he studied with Michael Daugherty, Bright Sheng and Evan Chambers. Mr. Bayolo has been hailed for his “suggestive aural imagination” (El Nuevo Día) in works that are “full of lush ideas and a kind of fierce grandeur, (unfolding) with subtle, driving power” (The Washington Post). His “music combines the audacity of popular music, the verve-filled rhythmic language of Latin America, and the pugnacity of postmodern classicism into a heady, formidable concoction” (Sequenza21), and “deserves to be heard many more times, and in many more places. It is new, it is fresh, and it gets its message across” (The Charlotte Observer) “with quite a high degree of poetic expressiveness” (Music-Web International).
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Lawrence Dillon creates works that connect past and present in attractive and unexpected ways, provoking Gramophone to exclaim, "Each score is an arresting and appealing creation, full of fanciful and lyrical flourishes within traditional forms that are brightly tweaked." His music is characterized by a keen sensitivity to color, a mastery of form, and what the Louisville Courier-Journal has called a "compelling, innate soulfulness." Despite losing 50% of his hearing in a childhood illness, he began composing as soon as he started piano lessons at the age of seven. In 1985, he became the youngest composer to earn a doctorate at The Juilliard School, and was immediately appointed to the Juilliard faculty. Dillon is now Composer in Residence at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts, where he has served as Music Director of the Contemporary Ensemble, Assistant Dean of Performance, and Interim Dean of the School of Music. Dillon's music, in the words of American Record Guide, is "lovely...austere...vivid and impressive." Three recordings of his music were released in 2010-2011 on the Bridge, Albany and Naxos labels. His works have been commissioned and premiered in the last four seasons by the Emerson String Quartet, Le Train Bleu, the Ravinia Festival, the Daedalus String Quartet, the Lincoln Trio, the Seattle Chamber Music Society, the Cassatt String Quartet, the Mansfield Symphony, the Boise Philharmonic, Wintergreen Summer Arts Festival, the Salt Lake City Symphony, the Quartetto di Sassofoni d'Accademia, the University of Utah and the Idyllwild Symphony Orchestra. Lawrence Dillon is represented by Jeffrey James Arts Consulting.
Lansing McLoskey has been described as "a major talent and a deep thinker with a great ear" by the American Composers Orchestra, "an engaging, gifted composer writing smart, compelling and fascinating music" by Gramophone Magazine, and "a distinctive voice in American music.� His music has an emotional intensity that appeals to academic and amateur alike, defying traditional stylistic pigeonholes. McLoskey’s music has been performed in sixteen countries on six continents, and has won more than two dozen national and international awards, including the prestigious Goddard Lieberson Fellowship from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, the International Joint Wind Quintet Project Commission Competition, and most recently the 2014 Red Note Festival Composition Competition and a 2013 Aaron Copland Recording Grant. In 2009 he became the only composer in the 45 year history of the ISU New Music Festival to win both the chamber music and orchestral composition awards; both blind-juried national competitions with two independent panels. Recent performances include concerts in Berlin, Finland, Italy, Spain, Mexico, Colombia, the UK, Chicago, New York, Philadelphia, Cincinnati, Miami and performances at over a dozen music festivals in the past two years alone. Recent commissions include a concerto for Triton Brass and a consortium of wind ensembles, and new works for the Cincinnati Vocal Arts Ensemble, the newEar Ensemble for their 20th anniversary season, Chatham Baroque, the JWQP consortium of wind quintets, the soundSCAPE Festival in Maccagno, Italy, Ensemble Berlin PianoPercussion, and ensemberlino vocale in Berlin. He has been a Guest Composer or Composer-in-Residence at Aspen, the Tanglewood Institute, the soundSCAPE Festival, Missouri Chamber Music Festival, Carolina Chamber Music Festival, and the Charlotte New Music Festival (summer of 2015). Professor of Composition at the University of Miami, Frost School of Music, his music is released on Albany Records, Wergo Schallplatten, Capstone, Tantara, and Beauport Classics. 2013 saw the release of three critically acclaimed CDs, including Specific Gravity: Chamber Works by Lansing McLoskey and The Unheard Music, including his multi-award-winning concerto What We Do Is Secret for brass and wind ensemble. www.lansingmcloskey.com
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Marc Mellits is one of the leading American composers of his generation, enjoying hundreds of performances throughout the world every year, making him one of the most performed living composers in the United States. From Carnegie Hall and the Kennedy Center, to prestigious music festivals in Europe and the US, Mellits’ music is a constant mainstay on programs throughout the world. His unique musical style is an eclectic combination of driving rhythms, soaring lyricism, and colorful orchestrations that all combine to communicate directly with the listener. Mellits' music is often described as being visceral, making a deep connection with the audience. “This was music as sensual as it was intelligent; I saw audience members swaying, nodding, making little motions with their hands” (New York Press). He started composing very early, and was writing piano music long before he started formal piano lessons at age 6. He went on to study at the Eastman School of Music, Yale School of Music, Cornell University, and Tanglewood. Mellits often is a miniaturist, composing works that are comprised of short, contrasting movements or sections. His music is eclectic, all-encompassing, colourful, and always has a sense of forward motion. Mellits' music has been played by major ensembles across the globe and he has been commissioned by groups such as the Kronos Quartet, Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, Duo Assad, Bang On A Can All-Stars, Eliot Fisk, Canadian Brass, Nexus Percussion, Debussy Quartet, Real Quiet, New Music Detroit, Four-In-Correspondence (National Symphony Orchestra), Musique En Roue Libre (France), Fiarì Ensemble (Italy), Percussions Claviers de Lyon (France), Third Coast Percussion, Talujon, the Society for New Music, Syracuse Symphony Orchestra, and the Albany Symphony's Dog's Of Desire. Additionally, Mellits’ music has been performed, toured, and/or recorded by members of the Detroit Symphony, Atlanta Symphony, Boston Symphony, Chicago Symphony, Minneapolis Symhony, Brooklyn Philharmonic, eighth blackbird, Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, New Millenium Ensemble, Da Capo Chamber Players, and the American Modern Ensemble, among many others. On film, Mellits has composed numerous scores, including the PBS mini-series “Beyond The Light Switch” which won a 2012 Dupont-Columbia award, the most prestigious award in documentaries. Mellits also directs and plays keyboards in his own unique ensemble, the Mellits Consort. He was awarded the prestigious 2004 Foundation for Contemporary Arts Award. On CD, there are over 50 recorded works of Mellits' music that can be found on Black Box, Endeavour Classics, Cantaloupe, CRI/Emergency Music, Santa Fe New Music, Innova, & Dacia Music. Marc Mellits is on the music faculty of the University of Illinois-Chicago where he teaches Composition. He lives in Chicago with his wife and two daughters, and spends significant time in Romania.
Charles Nichols Composer, violinist, and computer music researcher, Charles Nichols explores the expressive potential of instrumental ensembles, computer music systems, and combinations of the two, for the concert stage, and collaborations with dance and video. He teaches Composition and Computer Music at Virginia Tech, and has earned degrees from Eastman, Yale, and Stanford. His work has received support from the NEA, NSF, New Music USA, and Prop Foundation, and recognition from the National Academy of Music, La Fundación Destellos, Bourges, ASCAP, and the Montana Arts Council. He has conducted research as a visiting scholar at the Sonic Arts Research Centre at Queen's University Belfast, Northern Ireland, collaborated as a visiting composer with the Namaste Ensemble in Città di Castello and Rome, Italy, and composed as a resident artist at the Ucross and Brush Creek Artist Retreats in Wyoming. His recent premieres include Nicolo, Jimi, and John, a three movement concerto, for amplified viola, interactive computer music, and orchestra, inspired by the virtuosity of Paganini, Hendrix, and Coltrane, and Sound of Rivers: Stone Drum, a multimedia collaboration, with sonified data, electric violin, and computer music, accompanying narrated poetry, dance, animation, and processed video, based on scientific research into the sound of rivers.
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Ronald Parks, born in Waynesville, North Carolina, USA, is an active composer of acoustic, electroacoustic and hybrid acoustic/electroacoustic music. His diverse output ranges from orchestral music to chamber works to interactive computer music. Recent commissions include 9 Dreams of Flying for the 2013 Charlotte New Music Festival, /// Elements for the Blue Ridge Chamber Players, Alhambra Tiles and Things Get Out of Hand… for the Out of Bounds Ensemble, Simple Things for the Charlotte Symphony’s Composer on Campus Project, A Matter of Perspective for Duo XXI, Off on a Tangent… for the Red Clay Saxophone Quartet, Torque, Wavelength and Afterimage 8 for the Charlotte Civic Orchestra, Afterimage 7 for the NeXT Ens, and …drift… for the Force of Nature artist exchange program. Parks has written for numerous prominent performers and ensembles including the Blue Ridge Chamber Players, Out of Bounds Ensemble, Duo XXI, Red Clay Saxophone Quartet, the Charlotte Civic Orchestra, the NeXT Ens, the North Carolina School of the Arts Orchestra, the International Music Program Chamber Ensemble, the North Carolina School of the Arts String Orchestra, The Georgia Contemporary Ensemble, the Sally Fouse Flute Quartet, the Winthrop Guitar Ensemble, pianist Tomoko Deguchi, the Bradner-Deguchi piano duo, the Winthrop Wind Symphony, guitarist L.H. Dickert, flutist Jill O’Neil, and many others. His honors and awards include the Aaron Copland Award, the Outstanding Junior Professor Award at Winthrop University, the South Carolina Music Teacher’s Association Commission, Honorable Mentions in the Truman State/MACRO Composition Contest, the Minnesota Composers Forum, and the Shepard Composer of the Year Award, two Giannini Scholarships for Music Composition plus the Chancellor’s Award for Excellence at the North Carolina School of the Arts, and three Graeffe Memorial Scholarships for Composition and the Presidential Recognition Award at the University of Florida. His flute quartet “Counterparts” was selected as the set piece for the 11th annual Australian Flute Festival quartet competition. He was commissioned by the North Carolina School of the Arts’ International Music Program to write a work for their European tour and was awarded a grant from the Semans Creative Arts Foundation for the composition of an orchestral work that was premiered by the North Carolina School of the Arts Orchestra. He has received a Meet the Composer grant and in was nominated and elected to the Gamma Zeta Chapter of Pi Kappa Lambda, a national honor society for musicians, and is an honorary member of Phi Mu Alpha. Dr. Parks earned the Bachelor of Music in composition from the North Carolina School of the Arts, an Masters of Music in composition from the University of Florida, and a Ph.D. in composition from the University at Buffalo. He is currently Associate Professor of Composition, Music Technology, and Theory and is the Director of the Winthrop Computer Music Labs at Winthrop University.
John Fitz Rogers Composer John Fitz Rogers's music has been performed by ensembles, festivals, and venues such as Carnegie Hall, Bang on a Can Marathon, Pittsburgh New Music Ensemble, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the Albany, Louisville, Charleston, and Tulsa Symphony Orchestras, New York Youth Symphony, Eastman Wind Ensemble, the MATA, Rockport, Bumbershoot, Bowling Green, and Keys To The Future festivals, the College Band Directors National Association national conference, the World Saxophone Congress, and by individuals and chamber ensembles such as Antares, New Century Saxophone Quartet, Capitol Quartet, Lionheart, Composers, Inc., and the Meehan/Perkins Duo. Recent premieres included Double Concerto for two pianos and orchestra, commissioned by the South Carolina Philharmonic, and Book of Concord, a string quartet commissioned by and premiered at the Chamber Music Conference and Composers Forum of the East in Bennington, VT. Rogers has received many commissions, fellowships, and awards, including those from ASCAP, the American Composers Forum, American Music Center, Music at the Anthology and the Mary Flagler Cary Trust, National Flute Association, MacDowell Colony, South Carolina Arts Commission, and the Massachusetts Cultural Council, as well as the Heckscher Foundation Composition Prize. A dedicated advocate for contemporary music, Rogers founded and directed the Southern Exposure New Music Series, which received the 2005-06 Chamber Music America / ASCAP Award for Adventurous Programming. He holds degrees in music from Cornell University, the Yale School of Music, and Oberlin College, and is currently Professor of Composition at the University of South Carolina School of Music and visiting faculty at the Vermont College of Fine Arts.
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DANCE E.E. Balcos, originally from Minneapolis, has been a professional dancer and
choreographer for nearly 30 years. At the age of 19, he began studying with modern dance pioneer Hanya Holm at the Colorado College in Colorado Springs. He has also been a practicing contact improviser since 1982. As a performer he toured nationally and internationally with Shapiro & Smith Dance (NYC), Demetrius Klein Dance Company (FL), Zenon Dance Company, (MPLS) and worked with renowned choreographers including Danny Buraczeski, Ping Chong, Sam Costa, Sean Curran, David Dorfman, Joe Goode, Dwight Rhoden, David Rousseve, Stephanie Skura, and Bill Young. He performed and presented work throughout the U.S. and in Italy, Uzbekistan, and the Philippines. For the stage, he has choreographed over 50 professional works and 30 works for dance students. From 2006 – 2013, his dance company, E.E.MOTION, was featured with North Carolina Dance Festival, Charlotte Dance Festival, ADF’s Acts to Follow Series, Piccolo Spoleto’s Dance at Noon Series in Charleston, SC, and the Minnesota Fringe Festival in Minneapolis. His choreographic works have also been presented in such well-known venues as Walker Art Center and Intermedia Arts in Minneapolis, Joyce/Soho and St. Mark’s Church in New York City, Folly Theatre in Kansas City, Lawrence Art Center, and at numerous dance festivals, and universities nationally. His collaboration with composer John Allemeier, Deep Water: The Murder Ballads, an evening-length dancetheatre work was premiered at the Knight Theatre in Charlotte in 2013. In 2014, Balcos and Allemeier began a professional artist collaborative, Deep Water Collaborations. Balcos received grants from Minnesota State Arts Board, Jerome Foundation, Asian American Renaissance, Missouri State University, COAS at UNCC, Mecklenburg County Arts & Science Council, and Faculty Research Grants from UNC Charlotte. He holds a BA in Music from The Colorado College and an MFA in Choreography from The University of Iowa. He is an Associate Professor teaching Modern technique, Choreography, Improvisation, and Contact Improvisation. He has been on faculty at Charlotte Ballet (formerly NCDT). He was also an Artist-in-Residence with Liz Lerman Dance Exchange in Washington, DC and at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts in 2009.
Ellen Brown has been a practicing professional massage therapist since
2011. She received her degree in massage from the Therapeutic Massage program at South Piedmont Community College, where she worked for two years as a Assistant Teacher upon graduation. She as worked on professional dancers, soccer players, swimmers, aerialists, body builders and other professional athletes. In January 2015, she will be attending a study abroad training program in Costa Rica, where she will be trained in the arts of Shiatsu, Cranial Sacral and Thai massage. Aside from massage, Ellen has been actively involved in the Charlotte dance community for several years. She is currently dancing for THE MARK dance company under Artistic Director, Arlynn Zachary. Dance and massage are two of Ellen’s greatest passions in life, and she is grateful for the opportunity to bring these two worlds together on a regular basis.
Janet Lilly is a former principal dancer and master teacher with the Bill T.
Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company, and the Head of the Department of Dance at the University of North Carolina-Greensboro School of Music, Theatre and Dance. Lilly joined UNCG after over 15 years at the Peck School of Arts Department of Dance at the University of Milwaukee-Wisconsin, where she was instrumental in creating a lowresidence MFA program for returning dance professionals. Awarded a 2008-09 Fulbright Lecturer Fellowship, Lilly has choreographed and taught as a guest artist and master teacher on college campuses in the United States and abroad.
Ashley Suttlar Martin is an Independent Artist, performing and
teaching throughout the country. She holds a MFA in Dance from Temple University and a BFA in Dance Performance and Choreography from Virginia Commonwealth University. She has served on faculty at Morehead State University (KY), Queensborough Community College – City University of New York, Central Piedmont Community College (NC), Coker College (SC), Queens University (NC) and the Governor’s School of Arts & Humanities (SC). Martin participated in the 20th Anniversary North Carolina Dance Festival as a Touring Artist, was Coordinator of the 48 Hour Project (Charlotte Dance Festival Board) and currently serves on the Education Committee at Charlotte Ballet. She is co-producer of FRESH, a performance series that tours major cities along the east coast and teaches Bokwa fitness. Currently, Martin is a Teaching Artist for Charlotte Ballet, serves on dance faculty at Winthrop University and teaches locally at MoveStudio.
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Bianca Morgan was born and raised in the Bronx, NY. She began her dance
training at Ruth Williams Dance Studio at a young age. She later trained with Mary Barnett, former associate artistic director of Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, in ballet, jazz, modern and African dance. Morgan has also studied under Melba Lucas, Aziza, Rae Ross Sandifer, Ann Vachon, Ruth Williams, Laura Williams, Bruce Hawkins, Kariamu Welsh, Chuck Davis and many others. Bianca holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Broadcasting, Telecommunications and Mass Media and a Master of Education degree in Dance from Temple University. Morgan served on faculty at Temple University in Philadelphia, PA. She has taught in various schools, studios and camps including The New Freedom Theatre and National Youth Sports Program. In 2000 Morgan co-directed an arts consortium that aimed to heighten appreciation and skilled development in dance called Cayenne Entertainment. Morgan has performed with Kariamu & Company Traditions and has received certification in the Umfundalai technique, a Pan-African contemporary technique developed Dr. Kariamu Welsh. She toured nationally and internationally with Chuck Davis and The African American Dance Ensemble, partaking in residencies, dance workshops, lecture demonstrations and outreach celebrating African dance through love, peace and respect. Morgan has served on the board of Charlotte Dance Festival and was named best choreography at the Charlotte Emerging Dance Awards in 2009. During that same year she received a choreography award from the North Carolina Theatre Conference for Studs Terkel’s Working. In 2012 she was awarded the John W. Parker Award for Excellence in Directing from the North Carolina Theatre Conference for Ntozake Shange’s For Colored Girls who Considered Suicide When the Rainbow is Enuf. For six years, Morgan has choreographed main stage theatre productions with the Union County Performance Ensemble under the direction of Larry Robinson. Morgan served as dance educator for seven years at Central Academy of Technology & Arts in Union County Public Schools. Morgan currently us an adjunct lecturer at University of North Carolina Charlotte. She resides in Monroe, NC with her husband Charles and daughter Chase.
Lauren Suflita Skrabalak graduated cum laude and earned her BFA
in Ballet (Performing and Teaching Emphases) from the University of Utah in 2002. While on scholarship, her undergraduate performing career included a guest artist role with Ballet West and dancing with the Utah Ballet. This allowed for an opportunity to travel abroad to Taipei, Taiwan performing a soloist role in Balanchine’s famed ballet Concerto Barocco. She also danced on the Medals Plaza stage during the 2002 Salt Lake Winter Olympics. After graduation, Skrabalak danced professionally, choreographed and taught for Bodiography Contemporary Ballet in Pittsburgh. As a principal dancer, she was privileged to have worked with choreographers like Ze’eva Cohen, Emeritus Chair of Princeton University’s Dance Department, Tony nominated Lynne Taylor-Corbett, and former principal dancer for the American Ballet Theatre Johan Renvall, amongst others. During her tenure with the company she held multiple roles as Rehearsal Director, and the Assistant Director of the conservatory. Her works have appeared at the Byham Theater, KellyStrayhorn Theater, as well as Johnson Theatre, and she has extended her teaching talents to the following schools: University of Utah, Point Park University, Carnegie Mellon University, West Virginia University, University of North Carolina at Charlotte, Washington & Jefferson College, McDaniel College, La Roche College, and now Winthrop University where she is an Adjunct Professor within the Department of Theatre and Dance. Skrabalak earned her MFA in Dance (Performing Arts) at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and graduated Spring 2013 with honors. She is a certified Pilates mat teacher and is currently working towards her apparatus certification as well. Presently, Skrabalak also sits on the Board for the Charlotte Dance Festival as Treasurer.
Vincent E. Thomas, dancer, choreographer and teacher, received his MFA in
Dance from Florida State University and a BME in Music from the University of South Carolina. He has danced with Dance Repertory Theatre (FSU), Randy James Dance Works (NY/NJ), EDGEWORKS Dance Theater (DC), and Liz Lerman Dance Exchange (MD). His choreography has been presented at various national and international venues including DUMBO Festival (NY), Velocity Festival (DC), Modern Moves Festival (DC), Philly Fringe (PA), Edinburgh Fringe Festival (UK-Scotland), Barcelona and Madrid, Spain, Avignon, France, Athens, Greece, and Bari, Italy. He was selected as one of eleven choreographers from around the world to convene for the 2005 Omi International Dance Collective and served as the guest mentor for the 2007 Dance Omi residents. Vincent is a recipient of a 2009 Best of Baltimore- Choreographer Award, 2009 Baker Artist Choice Award (B Grant), a 2009 Metro DC Dance Award for Outstanding Overall Production (for his new work “Witness”), several Maryland State Arts Council Individual Artist Dance Awards, a 2008 Kennedy Center Local Dance Commission Project Award, two 2006 Metro DC Dance Awards for Emerging Choreographer, and Outstanding New Work (for his evening length work the “Grandmother Project”). He received rave reviews for his performance of “Come Change” in the 2012 Edinburgh Fringe Festival in Scotland. His work “We Hold These Truths…” was selected for the 2012 National ACDFA Festival at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. He performed his solo “iWitness” at Dance Base in the 2014 Edinburgh Fringe Festival in Scotland. Vincent was awarded the 2011-2012 Towson University Student Government Association Faculty Member of the Year. Vincent is a 2012-13 American Dance Institute Incubator Artist (MD), an Urban Bush Women BOLD
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Facilitator, co-artistic director and faculty member for the UBW Summer Institutes (NY and LA), and an Associate Professor of Dance at Towson University (MD).
Rayni Leigh Collins, R-DMT, LPCA is a native of York, South Carolina.
In May of 2008, she graduated with her Bachelor of Fine Arts in Dance Performance and Choreography from Columbia College. For a few years post graduation, Rayni performed with various contemporary dance companies in Columbia, South Carolina such as the Power Company, Sapphire Moon, Eboni Dance Theatre and Core, and Unbound. During this time of choreographing and performing, she also worked as a dance specialist, receptionist, administrator, and served tables at local restaurants, but sensed that her artistic self could be used for a greater good. In June of 2013, Rayni graduated from Antioch University New England with her Master’s in Dance/Movement Therapy and Counseling. She is a Registered Dance/Movement Therapist (R-DMT-1880) under the American Dance Therapy Association and is a Licensed Professional Counselor Associate (LPCA A10817) in North Carolina. Currently, Rayni is serving as the Secretary/Treasurer for the Carolina Chapter of the American Dance Therapy Association, working at Center for Emotional Health as a Dance/Movement Therapist and Counselor, and is a member of The MARK Dance Company.
Freddie D. Rivera began drumming at the early age of five with the Cuban
Conga drum. He began studying the Djembe drum with lead musician of the Chuck Davis Dance Company, Mr. Ronald Love. Rivera has worked with Lee Strasberg School of Acting, Myers T’chaka Ensemble, Dance Africa New York, Stevie Wonder, Stacey Latersaw, National Ballet of Guinea West Africa, Chuck Davis and the African American Dance Ensemble. Freddie Rivera can be noted as one of the first musicians to perform Ballet Monsoka. In 1992 he was the first drummer to open the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre School to traditional Guinea style drumming. Rivera is currently working in the education and outreach department with Charlotte Ballet.
Amanda Rentschler is a Charlotte native and began her performance career as a 6-year-old actress at the Children’s Theater of Charlotte. She exclusively acted for 8 years until stumbling upon dance as a way to enhance her stage presence. She quickly fell in love with the art form. After graduating with a BFA in Contemporary Dance from the University of North Carolina School of the Arts, she worked with the Open Dream Ensemble revitalizing being onstage as an actress, before focusing entirely on dance performances. She has performed in Baltimore, New York City, and Portland Oregon with Chimera Physical Theater Company, tEEth, and Fayth Caruso Dance. She’s also performed Aerial Silk and Aerial Trapeze with Caroline Calouche and Co. in Charlotte. She still believes that acting and dance are tied together and every live performance is a careful balance between the two.
Alyce Cristina Vallejo began her training at North Carolina Dance Theater
and The Charlotte School of Ballet. In her senior year at Northwest School of the Arts, Alyce was an invited guest artist with the Moving Poets Theater of Dance; Providing her with the footing to guide her to a professional career in dance as she entered Florida State University. While at FSU she had the honor of working with and performing in original works by Alex Ketley, Alonzo King, Rick McCullough, and many more. Alyce’s favorite ballet’s performed were Pas de Quarte, restaged by Richard Sias and Balanchine’s Western Symphony, restaged by Suzanne Farrell. She was invited to dance with Suzanne Farrell at the Kennedy Center, Alonzo King LINES Ballet, and did a four month internship with Ballet Hispanico in NYC. Graduating Cum Laude in 2006 she moved to San Francisco to dance with the SF Conservatory of Dance. Upon moving back to Charlotte in 2007, Alyce joined Martha Connerton’s Kinetic Works Dance Company- just completing her eight season as soloist and acting as rehearsal assistant. Currently she is also in her second season with The Moving Poets Charlotte as a principal dancer. Alyce also performs as a guest artist with the Charlotte Youth Ballet in the Nutcracker since 2009, Cinderella (2012, 2015), and Alice in Wonderland (2014). She has also performed with CPCC Theater in: The Will Rogers Follies, Cabaret, Guys and Dolls and Legally Blonde. In December 2012, Alyce delivered her greatest ongoing role as mother to her baby girl, Amelia Jean. Her artistic journey is never ending and she looks forward to the adventures that await and couldn’t do it without the amazing love and support from her Family!
Alison Johnson is a 2011 graduate of the University of Georgia with a dual degree
in Dance (A.B) and Child and Family Development (B.S.). In 2011 Alison began dancing professionally with Advocate Arts Contemporary Dance with whom she danced for two seasons, performing around the greater Atlanta area in theatre and community outreach settings. Since relocating to Charlotte, Alison has danced with Martha Connerton Kinetic Works, and 4thrightdance. She is currently dancing and teaching with Caroline Calouche & Co.
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MUSICIANS & ENSEMBLES Beo Quartet Four musicians endlessly passionate about their art. A shared desire of making musical output the most important end is what inspired the formation of Beo String Quartet (Hannah Whitehead, Sandro Leal-Santiesteban, Jason Neukom, Sean Neukom). Whether playing canonized works, participating in a studio session for a local artist, or premiering a fresh work through a collaborative commission, the four individuals have introduced many audiences to music of both past and present and of varied genres. Now, as a collective unit, their mutual passion sets the stage for continued efforts to introduce music of today, while still paying homage to the masterpieces of the string quartet repertoire. The members of Beo String Quartet hold degrees from some of the country’s top conservatories including the Eastman School of Music, Cincinnati Conservatory of Music, the Cleveland Institute of Music, and Carnegie Mellon University. They have collectively studied chamber music with the Cavani Quartet, the Cuarteto Latinoamericano, the Miami String Quartet, the Ying Quartet, and members of the Cleveland and Guarneri Quartets. Beo believes that it’s most important role is to champion music of our time and to create a mutually inspirational relationship between living composers, modern audiences, and performers alike. Upcoming projects include Beo String Quartet’s debut recording on the innovative pop-art album, Dead Reckoning, and the commission of a large scale work for string quartet to be premiered in 2016, both by Beo violist and Pittsburgh composer Sean Neukom. The members of Beo eagerly await their residency with the Charlotte New Music Festival in the summer of 2015 and the opportunity to work with the fresh voices of blooming composers from around the world.
Great Noise Ensemble Among the most exciting and ambitious new music ensembles in Washington, D.C. (Kyle Gullings, A Composer’s Notebook), and perhaps the DC region’s most exciting professional group dedicated to performing new classical music (Jason McCool, The Pinkline Project), Great Noise Ensemble is a working embodiment of its mission to fight for the performance of new works and promote emerging talent in contemporary music. Born in 2005 when composer and conductor Armando Bayolo placed an ad on Craigslist.org seeking like-minded musicians passionate about contemporary music, Great Noise Ensemble has presented the world premieres of some 45 new compositions as well as regional premieres and rare performances of some of the major works of the last 25 years by composers like Steve Reich, John Luther Adams, Marc Mellits, Poul Ruders and Louis Andriessen. They have presented concerts in venues ranging from intimate community concert spaces like the Patricia M. Sitar Center and the Unitarian Universalist Church of Silver Spring to prestigious locales such as the National Gallery of Art, the Hirshhorn Gallery and Sculpture Garden and the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. Great Noise Ensemble was also recently named the New Music Ensemble in Residence at the Atlas Performing Arts Center in Washington, where headlined a new music series beginning in the 2012-13 concert season. Highlights of Great Noise Ensemble s 2013-2014 season include world premieres of works by up and coming composers Daniel Felsenfeld, Ryan Brown, Marc Mellits, and others in their season opener, The Sgt Pepper Project, performances at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Silver Spring, National Gallery of Art, the Atlas Performing Arts Center in Washington D.C., and the Bang On A Can Marathon in New York, as well as the release of their first commercial CD, Guerrilla New Music.
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Loadbang Adrián Sandi: Bass Clarinet, Andrew Kozar: Trumpet(s) Jeffrey Gavett: Baritone Voice, William Lang: Trombone New York-based new music chamber group loadbang is building a new kind of music for mixed ensemble. Since their founding in 2008, their unique lung-powered instrumentation (bass clarinet, trumpet, trombone, baritone voice) has provoked diverse responses from composers, resulting in a stylistic palette ranging from whistled Brazilian rhythms and microtonal jazz standards to the decoupled and deconstructed sounds of the second modernity. They have been praised as ‘cultivated’ by The New Yorker, ‘exhilarating’ by the Baltimore Sun, ‘inventive’ by the New York Times and called a 'formidable new-music force' by TimeOutNY. Symphony Space, Miller Theater, Da Camera of Houston, MATA, the Festival of New American Music at Sacramento State University and the Avant Music Festival are some of their recent presenters. loadbang has premiered more than 200 works, including many written by members of the ensemble. Other composers who have written originals and new arrangements for loadbang include Pulitzer Prize winners Charles Wuorinen and David Lang, Guggenheim Fellowship winner Alex Mincek, Eve Beglarian, Nick Didkovsky, Reiko Füting, and Andy Akiho and Alexandre Lunsqui, who were both recently commissioned by the New York Philharmonic. Not content to dwell solely in the realm of notated music, loadbang is known for its searing and unpredictable improvisations, exploring the edges of instrumental and vocal timbre and technique, and blurring the line between composed and extemporaneous music. To this end, they have embarked on a project to record improvisations and works written by members of the ensemble. These recordings are designed, fabricated, and released in hand-made limited editions. They can also be heard on a 2012 release of the music by John Cage on Avant Media Records, a 2013 release of the music of loadbang member Andy Kozar on ANALOG Arts Records which was called ‘virtuosic’ by The New Yorker, and a 2014 release on ANALOG Arts Records titled Monodramas. loadbang is dedicated to education and cultivation of an enthusiasm for new music. They have worked with students ranging from elementary schoolers in the New York Philharmonic's Very Young Composers program and the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra’s OrchKids Program to college aged student composers at institutions including Princeton University, Cornell University, New York University, Yale University, Peabody Conservatory, and the Manhattan School of Music. They are in residence at the Greenwich House Music School in New York City and the Charlotte New Music Festival.
Paul Bowman (classical & electric guitar) is one of today's passionate
avatars of new music for the guitar. Over 50 works have been written for him by composers such as John Eaton, Ursula Mamlok, Charles Norman Mason, Craig First, Alain-Michel Riou, Dorothy Hindman, Keith Carpenter, Easley Blackwood and Yehuda Yannay. Recent new works for either solo or in chamber settings include from composers Aaron Gervais, Nicholas Deyoe, Paolo Cavallone, Kirsten Broberg, Yehuda Yannay, Alessandra Ciccaglioni, Yotam Haber, C.P. First, Harvey Sollberger, Andrew Mead, Charles N. Mason, Katerina Stamatelos, Gregory Robin, William Neil and Jeff Nichols. Upcoming in 2016 includes the US Premiere of a solo work by Dorothy Hindman at Carnegie Hall.
Dr. Bowman won 1st Prize at the VIth International Competition for Classical Guitar ("Casa España") in San Juan, Puerto Rico, and was a Finalist at the Guitar Foundation of America Competition in Milwaukee. Solo concert appearances include in such cities as New York, Chicago, Boston, Birmingham, Cleveland, San Diego, Durham, Champaign-Urbana, Raleigh, Milwaukee, Berlin, Darmstadt, Dresden, Cologne, Giessen, Marburg, Offenburg, Paris, Orléans, Rome, Brindisi, Geneva, Cyprus, Tokyo and Singapore, among others. He has also collaborated with esteemed conductors Stefan Asbury, Heinz Holliger, Harvey Sollberger, Steven Schick and Jeffrey Milarsky. Currently, he has joined forces with flutist and new music-guru Harvey Sollberger in ensemble “3 for 2” with performances at the Institute for Advanced Italian Studies at Columbia University New York, the Villa Aurelia at The Rome Academy and the "Midamerica Center for Contemporary Music" at Bowling Green State University. Also, he has engaged in highly productive collaborations with virtuoso violinist/violist Karen Bentely Pollick, and new music-mandolinist Dimitris Marinos. He has B.M and M.M. degrees in Classical Guitar Performance from the Manhattan School of Music in New York, and a D.M.A. in Contemporary Performance from the University of California San Diego. He has studied classical guitar with Sharon Isbin and Carlos Barbosa-Lima, among others. Dr. Bowman has given masterclasses in classical guitar at exotic location's such as Eastern Mediterranean University in Northern Cyprus and, at the
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not-so exotic such as Birmingham-Southern College. His published recordings are found on SEAMUS, Albany, Vienna Modern Masters, Capstone, Hungaroton, Innova (Spring 2013), Univ. Illinois Experimental Music and Mode Records. To date, he has produced a 13 C.D. box set of published and unpublished studio recordings.
Orlando Cela (flute) Venezuelan born flutist Orlando Cela is known for his engaging performances using imaginative programming of diverse repertoire. His eclectic recitals regularly include contemporary works using extended techniques and electronics, programmed alongside his own arrangements of rarely heard 19th century works or traditional folk music from China and beyond.
Mr. Cela’s collaborations with composers have led to his premiering over 100 works, including pieces by Jean-Claude Risset, Tony DeRitis, Maxwell Dulaney, and Benoit Granier. Orlando recently released “Project Extended,” an album of works written for him, each requiring extended techniques. To help expand the flute repertoire further, Orlando recently launched FluteLab, an online forum in which he answers composers’ questions about writing for the flute, posting answers and commentaries in engaging video clips to help the entire field and share the latest approaches and extended techniques. A dedicated music educator, Orlando is known for his dynamic workshops and lecture demonstrations. He has been a guest lecturer and clinician on contemporary music topics at Tulane University, Berklee College of Music, and Brandeis University, as well as at the Central Conservatory of Music in China, the Staatliche Hochschule für Musik und Darstellende Kunst Stuttgart (Germany), and the Charlotte New Music Festival. Orlando received his undergraduate degree from DePauw University, and holds two master’s degrees (flute and conducting) from New England Conservatory. His teachers include Glenn Michael Egner, Anne Reynolds, and Paula Robison, and he has performed in master classes for Raymond Guiot, Alan Marion, Shigenori Kudo, Leone Buyse, and Trevor Wye.
Tomoko Deguchi (piano), a native of Kobe, Japan, teaches
courses in music theory and aural skills at Winthrop. Her research interests include the music of Toru Takemitsu and other Japanese composers, musical form in the 20th-century music, music narrative, American composers, film music, and intersections between music theory and culture and aesthetics. Her articles appear in the Journal of Film Music and Indiana Theory Review, and she contributed two chapters in a Japanese publication on the current trends in music theory in the U.S. (forthcoming). She has presented papers at Society for Music Theory, American Musicological Society, Music Theory Society of New York State, Music Theory South East, Music Theory Midwest, Music Theory Society of Mid-Atlantic, Rocky Mountain Society for Music Theory, Semiotic Society of America, and national and regional conferences of College Music Society. She was invited as a guest speaker for the symposium in the 2007 conference of International Society of Contemporary Music held in Hong Kong, which she discussed Japanese composer Toru Takemitsu’s music and its relationship to the musical canon. She also has been invited as a guest speaker at regional universities. Deguchi also is active as a member of professional organizations where she has served as session chair (Society for Music Theory, Music Theory Southeast, Music Theory Society of Mid-Atlantic), on the diversity committee (Society for Music Theory), program committee (Music Theory Southeast, Music Theory Society of Mid-Atlantic, College Music Society Mid-Atlantic Chapter), advisory board (College Music Society: Music Theory), and editorial board (peer-review journal Mosaic). She also remains active as a pianist, specializing in contemporary music. She has been a soloist and featured performer at numerous concerts including the 20th-Century Piano Music series, the Young Artist Concert series, Kobe Art Conference Competition concert, and the Buffalo Contemporary Ensemble Concert series. She was selected as one of the six finalists in the Crane Festival of New Music, National Student Performers Competition. She was the 1998 Concerto Competition winner at the University of Wyoming. In the same year, she was invited as a guest performer at the Northern Illinois University, where she did a recording for her first solo piano album Syncopated Lady, featuring works of members of the American Composers Forum (1999, Capstone Records). Her recording is included in the Music of Laurel Firant (2006, Capstone Records). She continues to perform in composer's conferences and contemporary concerts. In 2008, she founded a new music ensemble, Out of Bounds, which she performs with other featured professional performers from the Charlotte region. She is a regular performer for the Providence United Methodist Church Ensemble Series Concert.
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Andrew Fierova (horn) is a native of Spartanburg, SC, where he began his horn studies in the Spartanburg District 6 public school system. He is currently studying at the University of South Carolina with Robert Pruzin. Other teachers have included Richard Deane and Dr. John Ericson at the Brevard Summer Institute, Eli Epstein at the Boston Conservatory, and Anneka Zuehlke, principal horn of the Greenville Symphony and Spartanburg Philharmonic. At the USC School of Music, he is the current principal horn in the Symphony Orchestra and the Wind Ensemble, a member of the MTNA award winning Syzygy Wind Quintet, and a member of both the Sinfonia and Carolina Horn Quartets. In January of 2010, he was selected as a winner of the USC School of Music Concerto/Aria Competition. Mr. Fierova currently performs with the South Carolina Philharmonic, Symphony Orchestra Augusta, Spartanburg Philharmonic, Beaufort Orchestra, and the Piccolo Spoleto Festival Orchestra. He has performed with the Converse College Wind Ensemble, Symphony, and Opera Company and the Columbia College Wind Ensemble. Throughout his college career he has had the privilege to be a private lesson instructor and marching band technician at Sumter High School and has enjoyed teaching the promising students from across the state of South Carolina.
Erinn Frechette (flute) joined the Charlotte Symphony as Piccolo/Third Flute in June 2002. Previously she has been a member of the Civic Orchestra of Chicago (an affiliate of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra), the Kentucky Symphony Orchestra, and the Sorg Opera Company Orchestra. As a chamber musician she has performed as Principal Flutist of the Ethos Chamber Orchestra and Queen City Virtuosi, with Piccolo Spoleto Festival, Suzuki and Friends Chamber Music Series (with former Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra Concertmaster Hidetaro Suzuki), Fresh Ink, the Charlotte New Music Festival, Providence Chamber Music Series, and as a featured recitalist with the Myers Park Baptist Church’s Friends of Music Series. In addition to her orchestral duties, she maintains an active teaching schedule. Erinn is Adjunct Professor of Flute at Wingate University, and her reputation as an informative, engaging, and entertaining pedagogue has led to appearances as a Master Class Clinician and Recitalist at East Carolina University's 2009 Flute Symposium, the Raleigh Area Flute Association, The University of South Carolina, The University of North Carolina at Wilmington and Pembroke, Frostburg State University, Charleston Southern University, the South Carolina Flute Society's Spring Flute Festival and Fall Seminar, and the 2006 Eastern Iowa Flute Association’s High School Flute Day. Appearances include performances at the National Flute Association’s 2006, 2008, and 2011 Annual Conventions, Northwestern University's Tribute to Walfrid Kujala Concert, and the Florida Flute Association’s 2007 Annual Flute Fair and Convention. Erinn has also served as an adjudicator for the 2006 NFA High School Soloist Competition and the 2008 and 2011 NFA Orchestral Audition Competition. In 2014 Erinn was appointed by the National Flute Association to coordinate the Orchestral Audition and Masterclass Competition. Information my be found at www.nfaonline.org. Erinn has been a prize winner in numerous competitions including first place in both the National Flute Association’s Young Artist and Piccolo Artist Competitions. She holds degrees from Northwestern University and the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music where she is a Doctoral Degree Candidate. She is currently completing her dissertation titled The Pedagogy of Walfrid Kujala: The American Flute School and its Roots in the French Flute School of the Late Nineteenth Century. Primary teachers include Walfrid Kujala, Jack Wellbaum and Bradley Garner. Erinn is proud to perform on a Burkart Silver Flute (M2/Gold Riser Head), a Brannen Cocus Wood and Keefe Grenadilla Wood Piccolos, and a Trevor James Alto Flute.
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William Fried (piano) is internationally recognized as an interpreter of contemporary French repertoire. “Poised and remarkably dexterous” (The Boston Globe) “in possession of an incredible technique” (Vancouver Classical Music), his playing is “hypnotic” (The Boston Globe), “subtly shaded” (SanDiego.com), and “utterly engrossing” (I Care If You Listen). His performance of Tristan Murail’s Terrritoires de l’oubli at last year’s Vancouver New Music Festival was described as “awe inspiring” by Portland’s Beacon Sound, and listed in their 2014 top ten live performances in the Pacific Northwest. An exponent of new music, Fried has performed and recorded numerous premieres by living composers both established and emerging. He has recorded for Mode, Carrier, and various independent releases, and his writing been published in Perspectives of New Music. Fried has an undergraduate degree in mathematics from Brown University and graduate degrees in music from the New England Conservatory (MM) and University of California, San Diego (DMA), where his teachers were, respectively Stephen Drury and Aleck Karis. He is Artist Associate in Piano at Davidson College.
Xin Gao (saxophone) currently serve as a part-time instructor of saxophone at Georgia State University. He hails from Chengdu City, People’s Republic of China. He began his musical studies on clarinet at the age of eight, studying with Professor Zhenglong Xiang at the Sichuan Conservatory of Music. In 1997, at the age of 13, Xin enrolled in the pre-college program at the Sichuan Conservatory and decided to change his major to classical saxophone performance, a major created by Yusheng Li, who was also new to the Conservatory that year. His studies at the Sichuan Conservatory also afforded him the chance to play on several important masterclasses led by internationally acclaimed saxophonists Claude Delangle, of the Paris Conservatory, and James Houlik, of Duquesne University in Pittsburgh, PA. The introduction to American saxophonist James Houlik changed his life completely as he chose to pursue his undergraduate musical training in the United States under the tutelage of Mr. Houlik. The highlight of Xin Gao’s competition experience began in 2010. The new quartet that formed after Xin came back to Duquesne University, QuadraATOMIC saxophone quartet, reached the finals of both the Fischoff and Coleman competitions, and the group was awarded the Coleman-Saunderson Prize. In that same year, Xin won 3rd place in the National level of the MTNA Young Artist Woodwind competition. In 2010 Xin moved to Greensboro and started his D.M.A. studies at University of North Carolina Greensboro, receiving a full graduated assistantship and fellowship. Under the guidance of Dr. Steve Stusek, Xin reached the highest point so far on his road of competitions. In March 2011, he won 1st place in the National level of the MTNA Young Artist Woodwind competition. At the same time, his quartet, the Minerva Saxophone Quartet, also made it to the final round of MTNA Chamber music competition. In October 2012, he was one of the finalists in the first ISSAC (International Saxophone Symposium and Conference) competition. In the same year, Xin became the one of the founding members of Quintet Sirocco.
Reese Manceaux (clarinet, saxophone) holds a Master Degree in Woodwind Performance (sax, clarinet, flute, oboe) from Winthrop University. He obtained his Bachelor of Music degree from Louisiana State University and UNC-Charlotte. He is principal clarinetist with the Charlotte Civic Orchestra and performs extensively throughout the region with such organizations as the Blumenthal Broadway Lights Series, Charlotte Symphony Orchestra, Greenville (SC) Symphony Orchestra, Piedmont Players (Salisbury), CPCC Summer Theatre, and CPCC Opera Company.
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Chris Miele (bass clarinet, flute)
Stephanie Wilson (percussion) is a lifelong musician. She began studying piano at a young age before pursuing percussion studies while in public school. Ms. Wilson flourished through high school winning many piano competitions, and playing percussion in several ensembles including marching and concert band, percussion ensemble, and numerous honors bands. She continued her career into college leading the percussion studio at Appalachian State University where she holds a Bachelors degree in percussion performance. She has studied in the studios of Mr. Rick Dior and Dr. Rob Falvo. Since graduating from Appalachian State University Stephanie has been busy building her private percussion and piano studios. She also regularly works with many schools in and around the Charlotte area teaching in-school group percussion lessons. She performs occasionally with the Western Piedmont Symphony, Union Symphony and Asheville Symphony. Stephanie regularly tours with the Pan Jive Steel Drum Band in North Carolina and surrounding areas, is the principal percussionist and on the board of directors with the Carolinas Wind Orchestra and is in frequent demand for numerous churches in and around the Charlotte and Hickory area. Stephanie enjoys working with students of every age and performing with a wide range of musical groups.
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Participants
Composers John Clay Allen Originally from Ruidoso, New Mexico, Clay Allen is an American composer and pianist. Clay has studied composition at the University of North Texas with Kirsten Broberg and Andrew May, and Joseph Klein and at West Texas A&M University with BJ Brooks. His compositions have been performed across the United States and internationally at festivals including SEAMUS, CICTeM in Buenos Aires, the Cortona Sessions in Italy, and the New York City Electroacoustic Music Festival.
Richard An (b.1995) was born and raised in Los Angeles. He began piano lessons when he was four, and began composing about ten years later. Richard has been part of the LA Philharmonic's Composer Fellowship Program '11-'13, The Walden School's Young Musician Program '12, soundSCAPE festival '14 and CVHS Symphony Orchestra '11-'13, has had many premieres thanks to these programs. Richard is now attending the University of Southern California Thornton School of Music, BM in Composition '17.
Andrew Binder (b.1993) is currently pursuing his Undergraduate degrees in Composition, Jazz Studies and Double Bass Performance at Bowling Green State University. His most recent piece "Boshomengro" was selected to be read by the Toledo Symphony Orchestra String Quartet.
Cody Brookshire Cody Brookshire's music has been performed in America, England, Spain, Ireland, and China. He has composed for So Percussion, the Athens Guitar Duo, and the University of Georgia Bands. Recent awards include 1st place in the 2014 SECL Competition with "Shrapnel" and Finalist in the 2015 ElectroBrass Composition Competition with “From Afar, Drawing Near”. His "Harmonic Meditation, No. 1" appears on the SEAMUS album "Transients", and "M3TA11UR6Y" appears on the compilation album "Sonic Flux".
Daniel J. Choi, a recent graduate from the University of Miami, continues to establish himself as an emerging composer. His music has been read by The Cleveland Orchestra in three annual workshop residencies, and has been performed by the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra, Pulse Chamber Ensemble, Borup-Ernst Duo, MiamiClarinet, and members of the soundSCAPE festival. Choi’s past teachers include Lansing McLoskey and Robert Gower, and is currently studying under Andy Vores at The Boston Conservatory.
Luciano Correa is a Brazilian composer who, besides being classic trained, is proficient in improvisation, as well as in arranging and composing combining diverse genres and styles. He holds a bachelor’s degree in Cello performance and a post-baccalaureate certificate in Music Composition for Cinema and Television. Luciano has composed soundtracks for films, theatre, dance, circus, and has performed music ranging from Brazilian music to electronic music and beyond.
Lydia Dempsey A composer and oboist, Lydia Dempsey is passionate about introducing audiences to contemporary music. She recently completed her third year studying Music Composition and Oboe Performance at Bowling Green State University. She has studied composition with Marilyn Shrude, Mikel Kuehn, Christopher Dietz, and Andrew Martin Smith. In summer 2015, Dempsey will also attend the soundSCAPE festival and begin a collaborative children’s ballet project.
Marissa DiPronio Dike (b.1989) is a Cincinnati-based composer of new music. She recently received her Master of Music degree from the Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music and is pursuing her doctorate. Her compositions have been recorded and performed across the U.S. and internationally by notable soloists and chamber groups.
Michael Goodman received his Master of Music degree and his Bachelor of Music degree in music composition at Michigan State University while studying under Ricardo Lorenz, Jere Hutcheson, Charles Ruggiero, and Mark Sullivan. In addition, Goodman has studied under Joel Hoffman and euphonium under Philip Sinder. Starting this fall, Goodman will be attending Florida State University to work on a Master of Arts degree in arts administration.
Ian Evans Guthrie (b. 1992) has received many awards from ASCAP, SCI, the Webster Community Music School, and other organizations, and his music has been played throughout the United States by groups such as the Northwest Symphony Orchestra, the Moore Philharmonic Orchestra, and fEARnoMUSIC. He completed his B. Mus. at Marylhurst University – where he studied with John Paul – and is pursuing his M. M. at Texas Christian University – where he studies with Till Meyn and Martin Blessinger.
Niki Harlafti is a Greek composer based in Boston, born in1987. Her works have been performed by leading young artists in New York, Boston, Greece and Germany. Ms.Harlafti holds a Master's Degree in
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Composition from the New England Conservatory of Music, where she studied with Efstratios Minakakis and Anthony Coleman. Her most recent collaborations include June in Buffalo, the Loadbang Ensemble and Etchings Ensemble.
William (Bill) Heinze
is a Chicago based composer born in West Chicago, Illinois in 1990. He completed his undergraduate degree in 2013 at Ripon College, and his masters degree from Illinois State University, where he studied with Martha Horst and Roy Magnuson. His compositions span many genres including a chamber symphony performed by the Illinois State University chamber orchestra in the spring of 2015. He is currently a doctoral candidate at the University of Minnesota where he studies with Alex Lubet.
Calvin Hitchcock is a composer/pianist from Pittsburgh, PA. In 2014, the Pittsburgh New Music Ensemble (PNME) performed his piece Water: Phase II. He received a 2015 Kennedy Center (KC/ACTF) Certificate of Merit in Composition for scoring Doubt: A Parable. In March, his Rhapsody for Clarinet was selected for Denison’s TUTTI 2015 Music Festival. He will be interning with the PNME for their upcoming July season. Calvin currently studies composition with Austin Jaquith at Cedarville University, OH.
Dana Kaufman
Dana Kaufman’s works have been performed throughout North America, and in Estonia, the Czech Republic and Italy. After returning from Estonia as an ethnomusicology/composition 20122013 Fulbright Fellow, Ms. Kaufman completed her MM in Composition at New England Conservatory (Academic Honors; Pi Kappa Lambda nominee). She will begin her DMA this fall at the University of Miami Frost School of Music, where she is the first Frost School of Music student to be awarded a Dean’s Fellowship.
Olivia Kieffer (b. 1980) is a composer, percussionist, and educator based in Atlanta. She is bandleader and drummer for the 7-piece chamber rock band, Clibber Jones Ensemble. At Reinhardt University, Olivia teaches Applied Lessons, World Music, and Critical Thinking, and directs the Percussion Ensemble. She has degrees from the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, and Georgia State University. Her music has been described as "honest, to the point, and joyful!"
Chih-Liang Lin is a Taiwanese composer. Her compositional interests include expressive power of sound, and aesthetic and musical application of noise. She recently finished her Doctorate of Music Arts at Ohio State University in composition, studying under Jan Radzynski. Ms. Lin received her MM degree from Boston University, where she studied with Joshua Fineberg and Richard Cornell. She received her Bachelor of Music from National Taiwan Normal University, where she worked with Ching-Yu Hsiau.
Trey Makler
The music of composer Trey Makler (b. 1994) explores vibrant colors and the organic development of sound and texture through blurred rhythms, lush harmonies, and angular gestures. Makler has received commissions from the Sheldon Concert Hall, Charlotte New Music Festival, and the Mizzou New Music Initiative. Trey Makler is currently a student at the University of Missouri where he studies composition with Dr. W. Thomas McKenney and Dr. Stefan Freund, and oboe with Dan Willett.
Matt Magerkurth is a composer and cellist currently based in Tulsa, Oklahoma. In addition to writing, he is an avid performer and concert organizer, having put together numerous concerts of new music including an extensive collaboration with the Gilcrease Museum of American Art. An enthusiastic collaborator and traveler, his music has been performed in such diverse locales as New York and Croatia. In addition to classical music, he is an active film score composer and jazz and bluegrass bassist.
Rachel E. Matthews is a composer from Atlanta, Georgia.
She studies music composition at the University of Georgia (UGA) with Dr. Natalie Williams. She has had her works performed publicly by various ensembles in the Dancz Center for New Music at UGA. As an instrumentalist, she began studying violin at age five and has performed various solo recitals. She has been a member of the Emory Youth Symphony Orchestra, the University of Georgia Symphony Orchestra and the Haydn Fifths Quartet.
Zack Merritt
Rooted in performance, Zack Merritt creates surrealistic, temporal vignettes that encourage audience participation and interpretation.
Marc Migó Cortés (b. 1993) is studying piano with Liliana Sainz and Composition with Salvador Brotons at ESMUC ( Superior School of Music of Catalonia) in Barcelona. Currently he is doing his last year of bachelor there. His music has been performed in Spain, Germany, Italy, Ukraine and America. Last year he participated in June in Buffalo Festival 2014.
Scott Miller II - CNMF 2015 Intern is a composer, educator, double bassist, and electric bassist living in Baltimore. Scott studied with Kevin Puts while earning Masters Degrees in Composition and in Music Theory Pedagogy at The Peabody Conservatory of the Johns Hopkins University. Scott received a BM in
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Composition from SUNY Fredonia where he served on the executive board for Ethos New Music Society. In May 2013, Scott was awarded the Ethos Laureate Prize in Composition for his chamber opera Randall’s Leaf.
Shawn Milloway - CNMF 2015 Intern is a composer from Greensboro, NC.
He received his BM in Composition from Appalachian State University where he studied with Dr. Scott Meister. After spending this past year studying composition with Dr. Oscar Bettison at the Peabody Conservatory, he will be studying with Dr. Mark Engebretson at UNCG for an MM.
Jonathan Newmark, composition graduate student at the University of Cincinnati CollegeConservatory, studied piano and viola at Juilliard, Louisville, and Maryland, and has participated at the Bennington chamber music conference since 1981. His String Trio co-won the SE Composers Competition in 2000; his orchestral Trinity Overture was premiered in Washington DC in June 2015. Trained as a neurologist, he retired in 2013 after 24 years from the US Army Medical Corps.
Jeffrey Nicholas (b. 1989) is a composer and pianist currently pursuing a MM in composition at Bowling Green State University. He studied composition with Anthony Iannaccone at Eastern Michigan University, graduating in December 2013 with a bachelor's degree in music. He was recently selected to have a work read by the Toledo Symphony String Quartet.
Jeremy Parel (b. 1994) is a young composer currently residing in Winchester, Virginia.
An incoming senior at Shenandoah Conservatory, Jeremy has studied composition with Charles Stier, David T. Little, and Ruby Fulton. Additional music studies include flute with Karen Johnson and Jonathan Snowden and piano with Molly Stier and Elizabeth Caluda. He founded and led the Shenandoah New Music Collective at Shenandoah and is invested to the creation of new music.
Zack Pentecost (1990) is a composer and sound designer originally from Springfield, Tennessee, now based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Lately, much of his focus has been on creating new works for various chamber ensembles, classical guitar, and electronics. Currently, Zack is pursuing a PhD in Music Composition at the University of Minnesota –Twin Cities, where he is a student of Alex Lubet.
Lydia Jane Pugh (b. 1986) hails from the island of Guernsey. She has a BA in Music from The Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts and an MA in Composition from Leeds College of Music. She was a finalist for the NCEM Young Composer Award 2012 and the Australian Boys Choir Choral Composition Competition 2014, and her work has been performed in the UK, Australia and USA. Lydia also works as a singer with her Jazz band 'Stormy Monday', and as head of voice for the Guernsey School of Popular Music.
Carter John Rice, a native of Minot, North Dakota, is a composer of new music currently pursuing a Doctor of Arts (D.A.) in music theory/composition at Ball State University. Carter received his Master’s degree from Bowling Green State University where he studied with Elainie Lillios and Christopher Dietz. He currently studies with Michael Pounds, Keith Kothman, and Jody Nagel at Ball State University. Carter also serves as the national student representative for The Society of Composers Inc.
Jacob Sandridge is currently in the master's program at Bowling Green State University for music composition, where he studies with Christopher Dietz. He received his bachelor's degree in music composition and piano performance from West Virginia University. He was recently selected as the overall winner for the Warren County Music School Composition Competition. Upcoming performances include the Charlotte New Music Festival, the Root Signals Music Festival, and a micro-opera in the fall.
Benjamin Stevenson A Native of Kansas, Ben Stevenson’s earliest musical memory is of pretending to write music as the congregation at his church sang. As far back as he can remember, music has been his main obsession. This has manifested itself in many ways, from studying classical guitar to playing in cover bands to composing music for films and theater, and now for the concert hall. He is a graduate of the University of Tennessee-Knoxville and is now pursuing a Master's degree at UMKC.
Cassie Wieland is currently a senior at Illinois State University pursuing her B.A. in music composition. She has been studying composition with Martha Horst and Roy Magnuson for the past 3 years, as well as clarinet with David Gresham. She is particularly interested in scoring for short films in the future, as well as pursuing her graduate degrees in composition.
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Choreographers Lauren Bickerstaff is a Pittsburgh native, the daughter of two professional
musicians, who has studied and loved music and dance since childhood. Her parents' influence most definitely shows itself in her work through an innate musicality and obsession with dynamics. Lauren was an honors graduate of the University of North Carolina Wilmington, where her degree focused more on her love of writing, but her time in Wilmington was still spent dancing for with the UNCW Dance Dept, Forward Motion Dance company, the NC Dance Festival and Dance-a-Lorus (an annual dance + film showcase as part of the lauded Cucalorus film festival). Since moving to Charlotte, Lauren is an eternally grateful member of Baran Dance and has performed with the Charlotte Dance Festival, NC Dance Festival and Triptych Collective and has had the opportunity to teach young dancers all over the city. Her choreography has ranged from swing to hip-hop to ballet (life is so short! have fun!) but her signature is an elegant contemporary style with evocative, rhythmic elements. Lauren is so happy to be involved in this collaborative process that combines her parents' love with her own.
Larissa Bodnar is an emerging choreographer and performance artist based
in Chicago, IL. She holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Dance from Columbia College Chicago, where she had the priviledge to study under esteemed artists such as Peter Carpenter, Margi Cole, Paige Cunningham, Carrie Hanson, Darrell Jones, Doron Raz, and Richard Woodbury, as well as perform in works by renowned choreographers Victor Alexander, Kristina Isabelle, and Erika Randall. Her formal education also includes the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where she trained under other distinguished professionals such as Jan Erkert, Rebecca Nettl-Fiol, Philip Johnston, Linda Lehovec, and Kirstie Simpson. Larissa created a number of works during her undergraduate career, including three which were presented on The Dance Center of Columbia College Chicago's stage. Her work has additionally been showcased throughout the Chicago area, most notably at Stage 773 and the Den Theatre. In 2013, she served as choreographer for Chicago's Awkward Pause Theater's production of Little Shop of Horrors and produced a dance flash mob for the Wizard World Chicago Comic Con. Larissa has also worked as a scare-actor at Six Flags Great America's annual Fright Fest in Gurnee, IL and the Dungeon of Doom Haunted House in Zion, IL from 2010 to 2013. A trained circus artist, Larissa regularly performs side show contortion within the Chicago community and is currently expanding her circus background to include aerial silks and hooping.
Breanne Horne grew up performing with The Columbia City Ballet while
studying at the adjunct conservatory. In 2001 she began training at the North Carolina School of the Arts focusing on classical ballet. In 2004 her interests shifted to contemporary dance, and in 2008 she graduated from the Contemporary Dance program at UNCSA, earning her BFA later in 2013. Since graduating in 2008, she has performed for several alumnae run companies including “ALBAN ELVED DANCE CO,” “87 Dance Productions/ Cara Hagan,” and “Helen Simoneau Danse.” She has also been fortunate enough to choreograph for community events such as the Wake County EMS Survivalist Ceremony in May of 2014, and through the Greensboro Ballet’s outreach program, “BuildA-Ballet,” which Breanne headed at Dudley High School. Her most exciting choreographic adventures include choreographing a collaborative work with weapons of Mass Projection for the 20th Anniversary of the Cucalorus Film Festival and SARUS Festival is Wilmington, and with the Triptych Collective in Charlotte. While in Charlotte she has performed with PLEXUS Dance Company/ Juliana Tilbury, Caroline Calouche, and the Triptych Collective. She loves creating and performing equally, and is starting to experiment with dance video making. Community outreach and art education are important to her, and her theories remain simple, while challenging the student/artist/dancer to fulfill the movement with genuine understanding of placement, awareness of its efficiency and, of course, joy of movement. She currently performs and creates throughout North Carolina with several exciting upcoming projects, so stay tuned.
Alexis Nicole Lucena was born in Brentwood, New York and began her
first steps into dance training at the age of two. At six she went on to train with Mme. Valia Seiskaya at Seiskaya Ballet Academy. She continued her ballet training with Seiskaya and under her direction performed many of the classics including La Esmeralda Pas De Deux, Paquita Grand Pas De Deux and the Bluebird Pas De Deux from Sleeping Beauty all alongside Principles from companies such as Boston Ballet, Washington Ballet and Milwaukee Ballet. As her focus started to shift to other forms of
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dance, she took a chance and auditioned for SUNY Purchase’s Conservatory of Dance. While at Purchase she performed solo and group works by Stephanie Tooman, Adam Barruch, Sarah Mettin and Gregory Dolbashian. During her time in the conservatory she grew a passion for choreography, and under the guidance of her mentors Sue Bernhard and Doug Varone, she was able to hone in on her own creative process and movement vocabulary. This past December she premiered her first full length work, all that we see or seem, to rave reviews. Drawing inspiration from literature and relevant current issues, she strives to make each work a significant journey for both herself and the dancers. A fresh graduate of the BFA program at Purchase, she is ready to create new work and share her passion with all of those who come her way.
Allie Nunweiler is from Greenville, South Carolina and began her dance career under
the direction of her mother. She received her B.A. in Dance from Winthrop University in 2014 and has called Charlotte home ever since. During her time at Winthrop, she performed in many faculty and student showcases along with the American College Dance Festival Gala in Tampa, Florida, the Atlanta Fringe Festival, and Hairspray! the musical. She has also studied and performed with Staibdance in Sorrento, Italy. Alexandria has presented work on the dance collaboration process at Winthrop's CVPA Emerging Scholar's Program and the SOURCE Symposium. Most recently her work has been featured in the adjudicated concert of the American College Dance Festival Southeast and Charlotte's Loose Leaves Showcase. Alexandria is currently performing with Martha Connerton's Kinetic Works Dance Company and choreographing musical theatre productions at OnStage School of Performing Arts.
Isador Snapp is a dance teacher, choreographer and performer from Waitsfield,
Vermont. Growing up she studied dance under the direction of Lorraine Neal at Contemporary Dance and Fitness Studio. During and after high school she continued her training at Bates Dance Festival, Alvin Ailey Summer Program, Dance New Amsterdam and New York University, Tisch School of the Arts. In 2008 she returned to Vermont to teach and has been teaching at her home studio and Stowe Dance Academy since that time. She co-founded Montpelier Movement Collective in 2010 along with three other Vermont dancers: Ame LePage, Avi Warring and Willow Wonder. Since then she has had the pleasure to dance for and work with Paul Besaw, Kiera Sauter and Hanna Satterlee. In addition to performing she is always working on her own choreographic projects, the most recent being With Women. With Women is an evening length work that is based on her experiences with birth trauma and post partum depression. She currently lives in Barre, Vermont with her husband and two kids.
Dancers Yemi Awoyera was born in Washington DC and began her training at Briggs Chaney Dance Studio. She later attended Hammond High School where she trained under the direction of Brooke Kuhl-Mcclelland in the Hammond Dance Company and Camille Washington as captain of the Hammond Poms Squad. She has performed at several regional events, festivals, as well as performed in Walt Disney World, and Times Square in New York City. Upon graduation she went onto receive her B. A. in dance from the University of Maryland Baltimore County (UMBC) where she has also performed as a member of the UMBC Dance Team, produced several student choreographed works, was selected to participate in American College Dance Festival and performed in studentfaculty choreographed works. She continues to teach and perform her work in the Maryland, DC area and has plans pursue a life in the performing arts.
Amil Brothers began dancing at the age of two at Miss Donna's School of Dance in Charlotte, NC. She moved to BB Dance Productions, where she studied ballet, tap, jazz, and gymnastics and danced competitively for ten years. While dancing competitively, Amil traveled to various regional and national competitions, where she and her teammates received accolades for their impressive skill and showmanship. Amil is now studying Ballet, Contemporary Ballet, and Modern dance at the Northwest School of the Arts (NWSA) in Charlotte, NC. As a middle school dance student, she has been invited to participate in the Charlotte Mecklenburg Schools Honors Dance, NWSA Senior Dance Showcase, NWSA High School Winter Concerts, and the NWSA Middle School Spring Concerts. Amil has participated in master classes and conventions throughout North Carolina, and has performed locally at the Knight Theater, Ovens Auditorium, and Spirit Square. Amil is thrilled to be a part of the Charlotte New Music Festival's Dance Co-Lab and is looking forward to adding wonderful new experiences to her dance background!
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Malanah Hobgood has been dancing for 11 yrs. During these 11 years she has trained with Charlotte Ballet, Lake Norman Performing Arts and Queen City Youth Ballet. She has performed roles in the Nutcracker, Peter and the Wolf, Four Seasons, Little Red Riding Hood and Sorcerers Apprentice. She was able to be an apprentice at Baran Dance 2 and various lead roles in school performances. Malanah has been rewarded full scholarship to North Carolina Dance Theatre, a scholarship to Lake Norman Performing Arts, accepted into Joffey's Jazz/ Contemporary summer intensive and Atlanta Ballet summer intensive. She attended Northwest School of the Arts and will be attending La Roche College in Pittsburgh, PA.
Sarah Howe
began her dance training at the age of three at Miller Street Dance Academy, and continued dancing there until the age of thirteen. She began dancing at Northwest School of the Arts during her freshman year, and plans on continuing her dance training there through the remaining two years of her high school career. She was a participant of CMS honors dance in both 2013 and 2015, and is thrilled to have the opportunity to participate in this incredible experience.
Claire Nagy-Kato is a Tallahassee, FL raised rebel, a trait that prominently contributed to her 20 year evolution of dance. Starting at the age of 3, she trained at Tallahassee Dance Academy in ballet, jazz, modern, and tap. In middle and high school she danced competitively in all of these genres except tap, which she gave up when she didn't like the shower caps required to be worn for a tap dance titled "Rub a Dub Dub". While silly, this began Claire's journey of stripping away her ideas of standardized forms of movement, which played a role in the interpretative and theatrical style she embodies now. She is most fond of the styles contemporary, hip hop, improvisation, and contact work. She moved to North Carolina to attend undergraduate and graduate degrees in Chemistry and Sustainability at Wake Forest University, with small litters of dance classes, choreography, and performances along the way. Claire is a new resident of Charlotte to pursue her specialization in sustainable and regional food systems as a researcher, business consultant, and volunteer. That being said, she knows her most sustainable state of mind and body is one that is dancing so she is incredibly grateful for the opportunity to be dancing with the Charlotte New Music Festival!
Stephanie Kawesch began her dance training in the NYC metropolitan area studying jazz, tap, hip-hop and modern. She performed at several charity events including Dancer’s Responding to AIDS (DRA), as well as performances at Madison Square Garden for the New York Knicks basketball games. While receiving her undergraduate degree at Towson University she took dance classes in modern, jazz and composition. In addition, she performed and competed as a member of the Towson University Pom Squad. She continued to her dance studies at University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC) studying under Doug Hamby, Elizabeth Walton, Sandra Lacy and Alison Crosby. She performed in student and faculty-choreographed work at UMBC’s Dance Department Showcases. She continues to perform and share her choreography in the Maryland and DC area. She graduates from UMBC this May 2015 with her Masters of Arts in Teaching for dance.
Jordan Medley is currently a student at the University Of North Carolina School of the Arts, majoring in Contemporary Dance. He began his training in musical theater and jazz at the age of 16. He has danced in many local and non local performances at Central Piedmont Community College, Thalian Hall in Wilmington NC, Stevens Center in WinstonSalem NC, Belk theater, Duke Energy theater, and Northwest School of the Arts, where he attended high school. Locally he has also trained at Open Door Studios, Charlotte School of Ballet, Northwest School of the Arts, and Mufuka Works, and Afro Russe company here in Charlotte. " I would love to thank my friends and family for their support and continued encouragement for me pursuing my dreams”
April Newkirk
is a junior at Northwest School of the Arts. She has been dancing at NWSA since the 8th grade, and is majoring in modern dance.
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Jasmine Taylor has danced for five years, training in ballet, tap, modern, and hip-hop. Currently she is studying dance full-time at Northwest School of the Arts (NWSA). Her passion for dance at NWSA came from her instructor Ms. Mccloud, who has encouraged her to always be “bigger and better” in her training.
La’Raine Turlington is a Junior at Winthrop University. She is studying for a BA in Dance. During her time at Winthrop she has performed in several pieces in the Student Choreography Showcase, Winthrop Dance Theatre, Winthrop Dance Repertoire, and Senior Choreography Showcase. Outside of school she has participated in Take the Stand I and II, as well as, the Fresh Dance Series.
Brandon Woods (pilgrim, dancer) is currently a candidate for the BFA program for UNC School of the Arts where he has been featured in performances by Eric Oberdorff, Sean Sullivan, Trish Casey, Zane Booker, Juel Lane and many others. He teaches dance for Reynolds, and Atkins High School. He has performed “Vital Grace”; “The Black Male Dancer”, and “House of Sky" with the Cyrus Arts Productions. He has appeared in NCBRC’s D on’t Bother Me, I Can't Cope and B lack Nativity. Brandon performed one season with the Theatre of West Virginia in Hatfields and McCoys, Honey in the Rock, Wizard of Oz, and Rocket Boys. To add to his stage credits, he performed with the West Virginia Dance Company featuring works by Donald Laney, Toneta AkersToler, “Chapters of a Broken Novel” by Doug Varone. Woods has taught jazzy hip hop for the Academy of Arts in Charleston, WV.
Samantha Willins is from Charlotte, NC and has been dancing since the age of 3. She started out with Dance Productions studios and then later moved to taking classes with NCDT. She will be graduating high school from Northwest School of the Arts and is majoring in dance. Her main focus is modern dance but she has also trained in tap, jazz, ballet and some hip hop. Samantha would like to be a professional dancer when she graduates from college and eventually join a company and further train and perform. She also has an interest in becoming a physical therapist.
Artie Lieberman (704-807-0813) malletinstrumentservice@windstream.net
Irina Toshkova 430 S Tryon St., Suite 110 704.373.1464
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Events Laptop Orchestra Concert Saturday, June 13, 2015, 8:00 PM Arts Factory – 1545 W. Trade St. Featuring works studied and composed during the Max/MSP Workshop (June 8-13)
Performance to include: Community Trust ......................................... Charles Nichols Germs................................................................... David Schneider Laptop Artists: David DeVasto Paul Dickinson Kevin Garlow Chen Jiang HanNa Kim Trey Makler
Lauren McCall James Ricci Kyle Shaw Brennan Stokes Chris Weise
Program Note Community Trust (Charles Nichols) In Community Trust, the laptop ensemble controls looping drum beats, pulsing bass lines, and synth melodies and harmonies, with computer music and game controllers.
New Music Open Mic Night Wednesday, June 17, 2015, 7:00 PM Petra’s Piano Bar, 1919 Commonwealth Ave. Join us as the community shares their compositional and performance talents on this free-form, unscripted, informal event.
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An Evening of Dance Thursday, June 18, 2015, 7:30 PM Northwest School of the Arts 1415 Beatties Ford Rd.
Figure 8 ..................................................... Arlynn Zachary THE MARK dance company: Nicola Arielle, Ellen Brown, Arlynn Zachary Music by Bach
With Eyes to the Earth ...................................... Sarah Emery Music by Danielle Roccato
Biting Down .................................................. Kate Micham Dancers: Bianca Abarca, Melissa Jesse, Paige Keller, Kate Micham, Anna Reese Music by Lorde
Pluck (revival) .............................................. Breanne Horne Music by Imogen Heap
Valhallveien ........................................ Alexandria Nunweiler Dancers: Savannah Schoenborn, Alexandria Nunweiler, and Amanda Floyd Music by Max Richter
on being ........................................................ Kate Micham Dancer: Bianca Abarca Music by Ennio Morricone & Moby
Axiom ....................................................... Arlynn Zachary THE MARK dance company Dancers: Nicola Arielle, Ellen Brown, Rayni Collins, and Arlynn Zachary Music by Olafur Arnalds & Mr. Fijiwiji
In the Moment ............... CNMF Composers & Co-Lab Dancers * Everything you see and hear is improvised in the moment, nothing pre-planned.
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Beo String Quartet & Mixed Ensembles (pt.1) Friday, June 19, 2015, 7:30 PM Suzanne Little Auditorium, Queen’s University 2319 Wellesley Ave. Performers: Orlando Cela (flute), Chris Miele (bass clarinet), Tomoko Deguchi (piano) Beo String Quartet: Jason Neukom (violin), Sandro Leal-Snatiesteban (violin), Sean Neukom (viola), Hannah Whitehead (cello)
Whitewater ........................................... Elizabeth Kowlaski Beo String Quartet
Two Horn Unicorn ........................................ Olivia Kieffer Flute, Viola
Secret atop the bluff ................................ Jonathan Newmark Violin, Bass Clarinet, Piano
Virulent Strain ..................................... Benjamin Stevenson Violin, Cello, Piano
~ Intermission ~
Saturn Dreams of Mercury ......................... Lawrence Dillon Violin, Viola, Cello
A Turn Inwards ....................................... Maxwell Dulaney Orlando Cela, Flute
Machines .................................................. David Schneider Movement 3: Clockwork Tomoko Deguchi, Piano
Those Voices ............................................... John Allemeier Flute, Bass Clarinet, Violin, Viola, Cello, Piano
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Program Notes Whitewater (Elizabeth Kowalski) Designed to take the listener on the same whitewater
rafting experience I had one summer, the piece combines elements of the actual river and physical rafting experience. This is pieced together with feelings of adventure, fear, and glory. Motives in the beginning represent rocks, eddies, and rapids. The next section of the river is smoother, looking deceptively calm on the top, but right under the surface is a fast-moving current over the solid riverbed and rocks at the bottom. The third section begins to pick up out of the calmness and you, the rafter, get an eerie feeling. Waves pick up velocity and strength rhythmically pounding and throwing the raft. You even go airborne at times. Suspense builds. You spot a waterfall and your internal alarm is screaming in the midst of all of the action. Finally after a point of mid-air suspension, you plunge down the waterfall.......
Two Horn Unicorn (Olivia Kieffer) Though the forest of the mind remains enchanted, the
creatures within are born, come together, separate, and die. "The loneliness of Unicorn has made him grow a second horn, and he hasn't found singing to undo it."
Secret atop the bluff (Jonathan Newmark) 260 feet above the Little Miami River rises Fort Ancient, the largest pre-Columbian earthwork in America and a UNESCO World Heritage nomination, built over centuries between AD 50-400. Its builders' descendants still lived in the area in historic times but were exiled by European settlers in the 1830's. The middle section of this trio evokes their 150-year absence, while the faster outer sections evoke the frenetic activity that must have been required to build this massive ceremonial center.
Virulent Strain (Benjamin Stevenson) The idea for Virulent Strain arose from the desire to
see how many musical ideas could be generated from one pitch, in this case a high E. The players all deviate away from this pitch, but it keeps pulling them back. Virulent Strain was initially planned as the closing movement of a larger work for Piano Trio, but has taken on a life of its own, and is now a standalone piece.
Saturn Dreams of Mercury (Lawrence Dillon) In outlining his second artistic principle – Quickness – Italo Calvino describes himself as “a Saturn who dreams of being a Mercury,” an older man predisposed to introversion and melancholy who nonetheless aspires to the speed and agility of the young god in winged sandals.
Machines (David Schneider) "clockwork," initially conceived for harp, I like to describe as
continuous variations on a single measure of music. My goal was to focus the listenerąs attention on the minute changes that occur from one moment to the next and to keep the ear always in suspense, so that the changes are never predictable. The piece is divided into several sections, each with its own diatonic set and modal configuration, each slightly lower in register than the last. At the very end, the music ascends once more to the register in which it began.
Those Voices (John Allemeier) Those Voices was written for members of the Charlotte
Symphony to perform as part of the “Changing Places” collaboration with the Levine Museum of the New South and a number of local colleges and universities. The instrumentation for this composition is flute, bass clarinet, violin, viola and cello. As I toured the “Changing Places” exhibit at the Levine Museum, I was struck by the convergence of such vastly different people and cultures. The presence of such diversity suggests moments where one culture may develop in isolation from its surroundings and other moments where multiple cultures intersect. As part of the musical process, there are moments when the instruments are grouped into certain demographics, like strings and woodwinds, which progress independently of one another. At other times, all of the instruments combine to contribute to the musical shape. The first section of the piece focuses on the separation of the strings and the woodwinds. While they share some material, the gestures are independent from one another. The second section progresses from a point of isolation for each group toward a point where all of the instruments are intermingled within the texture. All of the instruments come together in the middle section to create a single shimmering texture. In final section of the piece the instruments begin to slowly diverge from one another back into the texture of the opening section.
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Great Noise Ensemble Repertoire Favorites Saturday, June 20, 2015, 7:30 PM Suzanne Little Auditorium, Queen’s University 2319 Wellesley Ave.
Music for Five Musicians ................................. Marc Mellits Little Eye ......................................................... David Lang Elegy: Sandy Hook .................................... Armando Bayolo ~ Intermission ~
Semblance of a Sonata ............................... Armando Bayolo I. Interruptions (al unisono) II. Aires Stick Figure ..................................................... David Lang Five Machines ................................................ Marc Mellits Machine I Machine II Machine III Machine IV Machine V Program Notes Music for Five Musicians (Marc Mellits) In “Music for 5 Musicians,” I wanted to write a music that was pure and direct, and one that continually looked back at itself to find new ideas. Everything in the work stems from the opening shifting movement of chords presented by the piano and marimba. This overall harmonic structure of the opening expands to inform the harmonic movement throughout the work. As subset of this harmonic motion is the 4-note figure that we hear in the upper register of the piano. Every time the figure appears, the music is ready to move on to a new section. “Music for 5 Musicians” was commissioned by the Office of the Chancellor at the University of Illinois at Chicago, in celebration of the new School of Theatre & Music.
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Little Eye (David Lang) Small children get bored easily when traveling long distances by car. One way to distract them is to play the game I spy with my little eye, in which you look out the window and describe something you have noticed. In my experience this does work, not in a very subdued way—it is not the most exciting way to pass the time. Eventually, however, time does pass.
Elegy: Sandy Hook (Armando Bayolo) On Friday, December 14, 2012, 20 year old Adam Lanza entered Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut armed with assault rifles and body armor which he took from his mother's home after murdering her and proceeded to murder 27 other people, 20 of them small children, before taking his own life. Like many Americans, I was greatly shaken by the news of this horrifying event, particularly as my own two children were either not much older or slightly younger than the victims of this terrible massacre. Elegy: Sandy Hook, while begun before these horrific events, was transformed by my inescapable need to react to the terrible news from Newtown and is meant as a small gesture of solidarity to the parents of Lanza's small victims. Elegy: Sandy Hook was written for cellist Natalie Spehar.
Semblance of a Sonata (Armando Bayolo) Like many people, and for a long time, I've been obsessed with Beethoven's last piano sonata (op. 111, in c minor). It is a highly unusual work in just two movements, one fast and the other slow, in which the second movement is at least twice as long as the first. These unusual proportions have fascinated me ever since I first got to know the sonata as a student, and I've always wanted to replicate them in a piece of my own. Semblance of a Sonata aims to replicate the proportions of Beethoven's Op. 111 without alluding to Classical structures of any kind. Neither of the piece's movements are in sonata form with an introduction nor in a theme and variations scheme. The first movement, "Interruptions (al unisono)”, is a jaunty piece in which the clarinet and piano play in unison for the entirety of the movement. Its suggestions of a fast dance are rudely interrupted by an increasing number of static notes in the lower register, and these gestures bring the movement to what appears to a premature end. In the second movement, "Aires," the very closing gesture becomes the catalyst for the melody that drives the entire movement. Semblance of a Sonata was commissioned by Katherine Kellert, whom I’ve known now for close to a decade as a compatriot, colleague and, most importantly, friend.
Stick Figure (David Lang) A child learns to draw by drawing lines. In the hands of a child a person is a stick figure, a skeletal intersection of stark lines, stripped of flesh, without subtle details. Only later does a child learn to add things—some hair, a dress, some shoes. Watching my children go through this stage has made me realize that my music is moving in the opposite direction. With every piece a little bit of flesh is removed, a little more skeleton is uncovered.
Five Machines (Marc Mellits) “5 Machines” was written for the Bang On a Can All-Stars, as part of the Bang On A Can’s People’s Commissioning Fund. The five movements are built more like machines, than musical movements. The players work together in tight formation, creating musical lines by close interaction with each other. Each musician plays a fundamental role with the others. The Cello line might have notes that turn a wheel that connects to the Marimba, which in turn provides a springboard for the Piano and Bass Clarinet, which then triggers the Electric Guitar and Bass to alternate notes in between. All the musicians fit together very closely in this fashion, and each only play a role in the larger machine that they all form together. The parts themselves do not reveal this overall musical structure; only when combined does the musical architecture come forth.
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Monday, June 22, 2015, 7:30 PM New Gallery of Modern Art 435 S Tryon St. #110, Charlotte, NC 28202
Adventure Fantastical ................................ Ian Evans Guthrie The man sits, waiting .......................................... Zack Merrit WHATGOESUP ......................................... Matt Magerkurth Pale ................................................................ Daniel Choi …on an endless sky ....................................... Zack Pentecost ~ Intermission ~
Two Flies ........................................................ Niki Harlafti Vocalis ..................................................... Carter John Rice Semantics is for Poets ......................................... Scott Miller Last Breaths ............................................... Armando Bayolo I. Eric Garner, July 12, 2014 II. John Crawford, August 5, 2014 III. Trayvon Martin, February 26, 2012 (attacca) IV. Eric Garner, July 12, 2014 (reprise) V. Sean Bell, November 25, 2006 VI. Kimani Gray, March 9, 2013 (attacca) VII. Jonathan Ferrell, September 13, 2013 Program Notes Adventure Fantastical (Ian Evans Guthrie), which sets William Edward Bowling's poem “The
Climber's Adventure,” depicts an amateur climber's extreme ascent of Mount Everest (although the original poem instead references the lesser-known “Eiger” in the Alps). Throughout the poem, this character bluntly describes his wild experience up and down the mountain, including the violent storm on the summit, the glissade down the notoriously steep cliffs. He even provides some details of his normal life at home.
The man sits, waiting (Zack Merrit)
7:00 AM - Alarm Rings. 7:07 AM - Shower. 7:24 AM - Shave. 7:28 AM - Coffee. 7:55 AM - Carpool. 8:30 AM - On Clock. Summoning up all of my courage I brewed a pot of tea and lit the incense; my manger's pointed tone still ringing in my ear. White walls of my one bedroom apartment. Trying to find my center.
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WHATGOESUP (Matt Magerkurth), in many ways, was a completely new experience for me as
a composer. Being a cellist, I'm still wrapping my head around the idea of breathing. At any rate, I was thrilled at the notion of writing for the world-class loadbang ensemble. The piece centers around three large sections, each in the form of a parabola, giving the piece its name. Overall, the piece focuses very heavily on the flow of energy within each section, and it should be quite exciting when it revs up...and down.
Pale (Daniel Choi) for bass clarinet, trumpet, trombone, and baritone (Loadbang) is a selectively
limited adapation of Gertrude Stein’s Sacred Emily. In particular, the baritone stubbornly focuses on the word “pale” and other similar sounding words to convey a sense of verbal cohesion in a non sequitur presentation. The remaining instruments complement the singer’s paradox with similarly illogical, ephemeral interjections while portraying a semblance of musical interconnection between the entire ensemble.
…on an endless sky (Zack Pentecost) uses text from Dante Alighieri’s Paradiso, not for its
fascinating story, but for the way in which events are described. At certain parts, I imagined traveling over a large body of water heading towards a setting sun, never quite being able to fully reach it. This is not to say the journey was “endless,” as in perpetually moving forward, but through its repetition of events. This created a strange form of stasis and stillness in my mind, despite constant motion.
Two Flies (Niki Harlafti) Inspired by Bukowski's poem, Two Flies summarizes the poet's
annoyance at these two "angry bits of life" that will not let him read his newspaper, finally raising existential questions. The irony of a naive, buzzing, lively choir of flies in contrast to the pessimistic, tired and lonely poet, is expressed by explosive extended techniques in the realm of fast rhythms, dissonant counterpoint and extreme dynamic envelopes, interacting with the lost, angry or contemplative voice of the poet.
Vocalis (Carter John Rice) was written for the loadbang ensemble as a commission from the
Charlotte New Music Festival. The piece is rather quirky and light-hearted (I’m hoping you might chuckle while listening). It has no narrative so to speak. Rather, it is a series of characterdriven vignettes that build to a moment of existential awareness. We’re left to wonder why we’ve just heard what we’ve heard, and what it might mean.
Semantics is for Poets (Scott Miller) This largely aleatoric work was inspired by the comic
absurdity of using elevated language to describe the most basic elements of language’s construction. I came up with some sarcastic lines that captured something of this idea: “All language is systematic; syntax is for scientists; semantics is for sculptors; syntax is for scholars; semantics is for poets; all languages change.” The score indicates the inflection for the delivery of the text and develops speech-sounds independently.
Last Breaths (Armando Bayolo) In December, 2014, a grand jury in New York declared police
officer Daniel Pantaleo not liable in the choking death of Eric Garner, a street vendor of "loosey" cigarettes who posed no violent threat to officer Pantaleo or those around him and was killed in a display of police arrogance and brutality that is sadly all too common (especially against African Americans) in the United States of America in the 21st century. A month before, the town of Ferguson, Missouri, a subdivision of St. Louis, where I spend a great deal of time, exploded in sometimes violent demonstrations when another grand jury acquitted police officer Darren Wilson in the shooting death of Michael Brown, who was unarmed. The Ferguson riots were not only an explosion of rage from an increasingly marginalized community, but also proved a demonstration of the increased militarization of police forces in the United States. I do not tend to write a lot of specifically political pieces, but the events above are merely a drop in an increasingly bloody bucket, and angered a lot of people, including myself. In Last Breaths, I join my voice in the outcry against these growing injustices. The piece began as a much more straightforward set of songs for Loadbang, with whom I'd been trying to find a collaborative project for some time, but by December, 2014, after the Ferguson riots and the Eric Garner decision, I needed to join my voice to the growing outcry, however humbly. This piece is the result. Last Breaths sets the last words of six young men killed by police in the last ten years. I hope it honors their memories in some small way, and it is to those memories, along with countless others', that this work is dedicated.
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Beo String Quartet & Mixed Ensembles (pt.2) Tuesday, June 23, 2015, 7:30 PM Suzanne Little Auditorium, Queen’s University 2319 Wellesley Ave. Performers: Erinn Frechette, Flute; Reese Manceaux, Clarinet; Chris Miele, Bass Clarinet; Stephanie Wilson, Percussion; Andrew Fierova, Horn; William Fried, Piano Beo String Quartet: Jason Neukom, Violin; Sean Neukom, Viola; Sandro Leal-Santiesteban, Violin; Hannah Whitehead, Cello;
Yellow ................................................... Lansing McLoskey 1. Dancing with no head 2. Yellow Whitewater ........................................... Elizabeth Kowlaski again: again ...................................... Marissa DiPronio Dike We should never know ................................ Lydia Dempsey Contemplative Space.................................... Chih-Liang Lin ~ Intermission ~
Fumus .............................................................. Clay Allen Tèarmunn ................................................ Adam Scott Neal Ballyhoo ..................................................... Andrew Binder Book of Concord ....................................... John Fitz Rogers 1. Distant Airs 4. Grace by Degrees 5. Fireflies Program Notes Yellow (Lansing McLoskey) was written for Xanthos Ensemble. Following an age-old tradition of
incorporating dedicatee’s names into musical compositions, all the melodies, harmonies, and motives in the entire piece are based on a musical transliteration of "Xanthos," as follows: X=B, A=a, N=d, T="ti"=b, H=b (in German), O="sol"=g, S="Es" (in German)=E. The first movement, "Dancing with no head," is inspired by the headless statues from Xanthos, the capitol of ancient Lycia, in the British Museum. In the 1840's the British excavated numerous Greek ruins and statues from Xanthos (in modern Turkey) and shipped them to the
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British Museum; among them is a series of statues with the heads and various other limbs broken off. Most are in various active poses, and at first glance they appear to be a line of people (mostly women) dancing...with no heads. Thus the character of the movement is rhythmic and dance-like, but in an apoplectic, chicken-with- it's-head-cut-off sort of way. The Xanthos River – also in Turkey - is so called due to it's yellow hue, xanthos being the Greek word for yellow. Hence the title of the piece, and the title and flowing yet somewhat nebulous character of the 2nd movement.
again: again (Marissa DiPronio Dike) This piece began its life as a vibraphone solo, simply
entitled Again. After working on it for a time and unable to discover the proper way to finish it, I put the sketches away, and forgot about it. Revisiting the piece sometime later, I felt the material was all there; it just needed different instruments. Thus, again: again was born, exploring a range of techniques for each individual instrument as well as the harmonic possibilities for the entire ensemble.
We should never know (Lydia Dempsey) In the spring of 2015, I came across a quotation from
one of my favorite writers C. S. Lewis: “If the whole universe has no meaning, we should never have found out that it has no meaning; just as, if there were no light in the universe and therefore no creatures with eyes, we should never know it was dark. Dark would be without meaning.” This made me consider how humans find meaning through contrast. In the trio, this is exemplified by emphasizing the differences between the three instruments.
Contemplative Space (Chih-Liang Lin) (2015) for flute, alto saxophone, violin, viola, cello and
piano. The river never stops running like I never stop chasing the beautiful dream. I contemplated the river’s journey and found that the beautiful dream is just in front of me. The music begins with a series of chaotic and fast figures with irregular durations to create the aperiodic pulses. The middle section consists of the non-pitched noisy sounds and the third section develops a variety of glissando sounds.
Fumus (Clay Allen) Translated literally as smoke, Fumus is a multifaceted exploration of a single harmonic spectrum. Throughout the piece the same harmonic material is repeatedly investigated as timbre and texture constantly fluctuate.
Tèarmunn (Adam Scott Neal) Tèarmunn is Scots-Gaelic for 'sanctuary.' Ballyhoo (Andrew Binder) Extravagant publicity or fuss. Book of Concord (John Fitz Rogers) As a composer, I am sometimes asked what inspires a
particular piece, a question for which I usually have no clear answer. A single chord or a harmonic progression; a melodic fragment; a sound or texture or shape; an abstract concept or a vague feeling – any or all of these might form the kernel of a new work. In the case of Book of Concord, I started by considering the instrumentation of a string quartet: two treble voices, an alto, and a baritone. From there it wasn't much of a leap to consider my own family (my three sisters and me). I thought about our collective childhood, and also about the composer Robert Schumann's wonderful collection of short piano pieces, Kinderszenen (“Scenes from Childhood”), a work I learned as a budding piano student growing up in rural Wisconsin. Schumann's collection is deceptively simple, and while the work is mostly gentle and sometimes idyllic, it is the composition of an adult looking back on childhood rather than a piece written for children. Like much of Schumann's music, there is an undercurrent of melancholy and instability. In composing my own work, I considered general (if somewhat more contemporary) notions of childhood, but I also reflected on specific experiences my sisters and I shared. The title, Book of Concord, is taken from a 16th century compendium of Lutheran theology usually known by its Latin name, Concordia. Having been raised in a Lutheran household and required to memorize parts of Concordia for confirmation class, the word concord carries various associations for me, musical and otherwise. Certainly one prominent connection is to Concord, Massachusetts and to the music of composer Charles Ives, whose work was influenced strongly by the Transcendentalist movement that thrived in Concord. So, my own Book of Concord isn't inspired by one particular thing; rather, it's a tangle of associations, a fabric woven from different threads. The individual movements are themselves made from different but often interconnected ideas: a distorted hymn tune; rhythmic textures inspired by West African music; motoric, driving lines; a bluesy harmonic progression; and other ideas half-remembered.
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Great Noise Ensemble Composers Concert Wednesday, June 24, 2015, 7:30 PM Suzanne Little Auditorium, Queen’s University 2319 Wellesley Ave.
Things Get Out of Hand ...................................... Ron Parks III. Ripple Effects IV. The Importance of Momentum Gesture/Index ........................................... Shawn Milloway Voul-ous enne p’tite goute? (Would you like a little tipple?) ................ Lydia Jane Pugh Guatelmanian Divertimento...................... Marc Migo Cortes Tsunami Warning ..................................... Rodrigo Navarro ~ Intermission ~
Proofs ............................................................. Bill Heinze Among Inchlings ........................................ Jeffrey Nicholas Ausência ..................................................... Luciano Correa Thought Blurbs ..................................... Rachel E. Matthews I. Melancholy II. Pondering III. Anxiety Green Cleaver .................................................. Richard An
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Program Notes Things Get Out of Hand (Ron Parks) … a five-movement, trio for violin, cello, and piano.
The third and fourth movements included on today's concert are process-oriented explorations of material first presented in the first movement. Things Get Out of Hand… continues my exploration of a style of writing I refer to a contemporary fusion. My musical experiences and influences are numerous and varied and contemporary fusion is my attempt to acknowledge, embrace, and reflect the diverse musical environment we find ourselves surrounded by as the 21st century unfolds.
Gesture/Index (Shawn Milloway) Gesture/Index uses a rising and falling gesture that punctuates sections of the piece. Rhythmic interplay between the members of the ensemble plays a predominant role in the piece as well.
Voul-ous enne p’tite goute? (Would you like a little tipple?) (Lydia Jane Pugh) The
title, in Guernesais (a local dialect of Guernsey) literally translates as, "Would you like a little tipple?" - Using modal jazz harmony and sultry latin rhythms in the bass, the imagery of the piece reflects a couple enjoying a drink on a lazy summers day, which perhaps gets a little more raucous than expected (as is often the case with wine). Inevitably the festivities slowly wind back down and they are left happy in each others company as the night draws to a close.
Guatelmanian Divertimento (Marc Migo Cortes) Guadelanian Divertimento takes its
name from no real place or term. So what does it mean? Nothing actually. This is intended to make you ask what it means. However, the same frivolous and joking spirit of "Guadelanian" is reflected into this single movement divertimento for flute, chello and piano.
Tsunami Warning (Rodrigo Navarro) 津波警報 This piece is titled tsunami warning due to the fact that it was written during a tsunami warning happened in Iquique, a city at north of Chile. That experience was decisive in several decisions took throughout the piece. The idea of the sudden attacks represents the force of the sea and the possibility of an unexpected giant wave. Also there are several moments in the piece that refer to different moments of peace in the ocean, which is always interrupted.
Proofs (Bill Heinze) Proofs is a piece about my time spent analyzing particularly charming
mathematical proofs.These proofs, which frequently prove known theorems in unique ways, often involve using different branches of mathematical thought in unique synthesis. While my mathematical knowledge is limited, the piece uses quotation of different works in order to combine them into a unique working whole. The quotations are from Satie Gymnopedie No. 1 and the Brahms Waltz in A-flat op. 39. No. 1.
Among Inchlings (Jeffrey Nicholas) A musical corollary to the Wallace Stevens poem, "Bantams in Pine Woods," which is often interpreted as the poet's statement of artistic independence.
Ausência (Luciano Correa) His works, Ausência, was composed specially for the Great Noise Ensemble to be premiered at the Charlotte New Music Festival. Ausência means absence in Portuguese and is inspired by the feeling of loneliness in today’s society. The interaction between the instruments is non-linearly within the structure of the measure, as if they were together and apart at the same time, generating new sensations of sound color by the overlapping of harmonics.
Thought Blurbs (Rachel E. Matthews) Thought Blurbs is an expansion of a piece for violin
named Self Portraits. The first movement Melancholy uses the violin melody from Self Portraits. Pursuing the violin influence, the second movement Pondering was written as a reflection of the successful completion of my violin recital. The third movement Anxiety was written in my angst leading up to my recital. Thought Blurbs proved to be a challenging piece to write, having never written for saxophone, electric guitar, or contrabass before.
Green Cleaver (Richard An) "green cleaver" is a piece that dives into unfamiliar
instrumentation and uncharacteristically bubbly harmony, in an attempt to broaden my musical horizons and to provide the talented Great Noise Ensemble something fun to play. This piece was written in 2015 for the Charlotte New Music Festival 2015.
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Contest in the
Concert of the Miniatures Friday, June 26, 2015, 7:30 PM New Gallery of Modern Art 435 S Tryon St. #110, Charlotte, NC 28202 Featuring works composed by participating composers while in residence at the Charlotte New Music Festival. All works will be reflective of the rich folk song history of Charlotte, Mecklenburg County, and/or North Carolina.
Performers Adam Scott Neal, Toy Piano Members of the Beo String Quartet: Jason Neukom, Violin Sandro Leal-Santiesteban, Violin Sean Neukom, Viola Hannah Whitehead, Cello
Composers: Clay Allen Richard An Andrew Binder Cody Brookshire Niki Charlafti Daniel Choi Luciano Correa Marc Migó Cortés Lydia Dempsey Marissa DiPronio Dike
Ian Evans Guthrie Calvin Hitchcock William Heinze Chen Jiang Dana Kaufman Olivia Kieffer Trey Makler Matt Magerkurth Rachel Matthews Scott Miller
Shawn Milloway Jonathan Newmark Jeffrey Nicholas Jeremy Parel Zack Pentecost Lydia Jane Pugh Carter Rice Jacob Sandridge Benjamin Stevenson Cassie Wieland
At the conclusion of the program, one of the composers will receive a “Best in Show” award for their composition presented on this program. 39
Arts Align Music & Dance Concert Saturday, June 27, 2015, 7:30 PM Dana Auditorium, Queen’s University 2319 Wellesley Ave. Featuring collaborative works composed by the composers and choreographers in residence at the 2015 Charlotte New Music Festival.
Performers: Great Noise Ensemble Collaboration Partners: Cody Brookshire, Composer Arlynn Zachary, Choreographer Michael Goodman, Composer Breanne Horne, Choreographer Calvin Hitchcock, Composer Alexis Lucena, Choreographer Dana Kaufman, Composer Isadora Snapp, Choreographer Trey Makler, Composer Lauren Bickerstaff, Choreographer Jeremy Parel, Composer Allie Nunweiler, Choreographer Jacob Sandridge, Composer Jackie O’Toole, Choreographer Cassie Wieland, Composer Larissa Bodnar, Choreographer
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INFO: 704-961-5910 | info@charlottenewmusic.org | charlottenewmusic.org
Venues
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