A Present for You, Unhidden

Composer/Bassoonist/Improviser Katherine Young is a good friend to the quartet, having written a suite of four ringtones for our Mobile Miniatures project and a fascinating arrangement of an Arthur Russell tune for our Chambers album release party this fall.  The arrangement of the coy "Hiding Your Present From You" is a joy to perform, both for its easy groove and satisfying sonic detail.  So, we're releasing it in a home-made recording on Soundcloud - a little mid-winter single for you.

We hope you enjoy the tune. If you want to learn more and hear the original Katherine has some great things to say about the song and her work in an interview from this fall.

Clarion Call: World Premiere by Augusta Read Thomas

This Sunday, our concert at Constellation will begin with the resonance of a harp.  Not a usual occurrence for one of our Sampler Packs, but we're all the happier that the incredibly talented and gracious Ben Melsky was willing to step in and join Russ as a part of our effort to make good out of a bad situation.  Even better still, those resonating tones are the initials of Mary Louise Gorno transformed into music for cello and harp by the infinitely skillful and energetic Augusta Read Thomas.

This performance will mark public premiere of "Clarion".  Just weeks ago, it was dedicated to Gorno at a private celebration in the home of University of Chicago president Robert Zimmer.  It's a true testament to the importance of the arts at U of C (to which we can attest by our weekly visits to Hyde Park) that this work was commissioned by and performed in the president's home.  In fact, much of the history of music is music written in just such a way: to celebrate weddings, coronations, beloved colleagues…the list goes on and on.  Augusta says, regarding the traits of this work inspired by Gorno "This short work is very soulful, and graceful, like her."

At just three minutes, it is a poetic feat that Augusta has captured so many sides of this prismatic character in such a short span of time.  Her collaborative spirit as a composer, and sensitivity to what performers can achieve and capture live, allows her such striking stylistic virtuosity.  Rehearsals and composition classes with her are imbued with the bubbling energies of her music and the more we've worked with her (whether at the University or on our Ringtones project), the more her passion for exploring musical characters has inspired us.  

You can hear the public premiere of "Clarion" in all its brilliantly clear lyricism and elegant optimism this Sunday on the Frequency Series.

Ringmasters: Collin J Rae

Collin J Rae is one of the most multi-faceted artists I know. We met, virtually-speaking, when Collin was working for Naxos Records where among his many responsibilities, he was creating box sets and collections of some of the weirder (translation: more compelling) music at the label. Rather than the usual Beethoven sonata or Mahler symphony release, Collin was championing new-music talent like Gloria Coates, Nicholas Repac and Frank Bretschneider. Needless to say, we became fast friends and colleagues.

Collin is also one of the world's most highly-regarded foot fetish photographers. Bet you didn't see that one coming.

Spektral recently partnered with this boundary-hopping composer for his F O N E (an un-performable symphony) project. Like the other collaborators, we left Collin a voicemail, playing one of the gnarlier passages of Elliott Carter's Quartet No. 2. All of these voicemails will be mined and restructured to create a brand-new work. It sounds fantastic and bizarre, right?

We are really lucky to have Collin on board for Mobile Miniatures, and can't wait to hear what shenanigans and tomfoolery he gets up to with his ringtone!

Ringmasters: Nomi Epstein

I met Nomi Epstein while she was curating Chicago's John Cage festival in the spring of 2012.  At the end of each day's events, she somehow still had the energy to indulge me on all things Cage (try putting on Variations V, I dare you).  Our mutual admiration for the composer seems to find its way in nearly ever conversation we've had since the festival, whether it's talking about the most recent Cage conference she attended or geeking out over the latest staging of HPSCHD that we heard about that is obviously in New York and why is it not in Chicago HEY WE SHOULD BRING THIS TO CHICAGO.

I have a feeling Nomi thinks about Cage just as much when she's composing.  Her works run the notational gamut, from traditional scores to interpreted spatial scenarios, yet each set of means searches for the same ideal: to let sounds be themselves.  There is an objectivity in her music that can be comforting to an audience; there's nothing to "get," there's only something to listen to.  And that's okay.

Ringmasters: Shulamit Ran

Shulamit Ran is one of the most artistically generous composers I know. While preparing her Perfect Storm (for solo viola) for a performance at University of Chicago last year, she invited me to her home for a coaching. What took me by surprise that day is Shulamit's deftness in verbally articulating what she's after, gesturally and emotionally, in her music. Composing a brilliant and virtuosic passage is one thing, but guiding the performer there expediently, getting him to "hear" exactly what you "hear" is something else entirely.

 

Shulamit's music is expertly crafted, demonstrative and poignant. She's also in high demand around the world, so we were delighted when she came on board for Mobile Miniatures. One of her reasons, she explained, is that the challenge of "saying something" in 3-30 seconds was too perplexing to pass up. 

 

It should tell you all you need to know about Shulamit's work ethic and drive as a composer that in a recent correspondence, she informed us that she had written not one, but an ENTIRE SUITE of ringtones! I feel like we just won the composer commission lottery!

Ringmasters: Erin Gee

Erin Gee is a unique composer and performer...not to mention a truly bold collaborator. Her work represents a striking deconstruction of the sounds of language alongside a luminous harmonic language.  Plus, her vocal performances are unlike anything I've ever seen.  Watching her manipulate the elements of human speech and vocal technique in such seamless and nuanced ways as you'll see below is truly unparalleled.

The striking sonorities of this piece shimmer on the edge of the borders of society and history.  Where are we in our travels that finds us in this strange place?  Allow your mind to delve into the depths of its associations along with this music:

What might such a virtuosic vocal performer and composer do with your text message alert or ringtone?

Ringmasters: Marc Mellits

Marc Mellits is a force to be reckoned with in the contemporary music world, having composed a huge number of works for the full range of classical ensembles.  He's frequently commissioned for major works by orchestras and top chamber groups, including Kronos Quartet, Orpheus Chamber Orchestra and the Bang on a Can All-Stars just to name a few.

His style is marked by a driving rhythmic style that still has no shortage of soaring melodies and arrestingly intimate moments.  But, he describes himself as frequently a "miniaturist" so he seemed like a perfect fit for our Mobile Miniatures project.  We couldn't be happier to have him on board.

His energetic style and puckish spirit are on full display here:

Ringmasters: Nathan Davis

My first introduction to Nathan Davis' music was ICE's performance of his piece Bells at Chicago's Museum of Contemporary Art.  Performers, dispersed around the museum's lobby and atrium, played material that was manipulated electronically while the audience processed around, cell phones in hand.  We were asked to call various numbers which would receive those same electronic manipulations being sent from a ring modulator that Nathan was operating in the museum, creating a sort of ambulatory speaker system.  The hazy textures from wandering phones superimposed onto the live instruments was fascinating.

Nathan's penchant for electronics is undeniable; I think I've yet to see a work of his that was strictly acoustic.  Yet he does such an amazing job of tricking the listener into believing there are no computers present; instruments are electronically processed only to highlight their idiosyncrasies, to accentuate themselves with themselves.  Nathan is able to find the little quirks that define an instrument and develop them organically through digital means.  The result is at times corporeal and human, at other times meditative and spiritual.  His work for bassoonist Rebekah Heller, On Speaking One Hundred Names, seems to demonstrate both: 

Ringmasters: Matt Marks

Matt Marks is one of my favorite composers on Twitter. To give you a taste of his particular brand of humor, his 2010 debut album is titled, The Little Death, Vol. 1. Feel free to go look that phrase up, if you aren't already chuckling.

Little Death is emblematic of why I am drawn in by Matt's music. Sugary pop sequences intermingle with praise music, gospel and hip-hop in a subversive narrative about (among other things) navigating sexual tension in a fundamentalist community. Matt is skilled at holding up that proverbial mirror, and nails it with an ecstatic and charming aural delivery system. Give "He Touched Me" a listen and get a taste...

 

Matt is particularly suited to writing a ringtone for Mobile Miniatures, and based on our email correspondence, his will inevitably cause spontaneous eruptions of smiles when your phone goes off in the elevator.

Ringmasters: David Lang

I first fell in love with the music of David Lang while reviewing his Little Match Girl Passion, and have been a fan ever since. David has a way of instantly depositing you into a space both enigmatic and at the same time uncannily familiar. Those lucky enough to have caught his Whisper Opera at MCA last year will remember how transportive was the multi-dimensional treatment of sound...while the traveling proximity of vocalist Tony Arnold created an intimacy usually reserved for secretive exchanges between confidants.

 

 

I'll be honest, we figured David for a long shot when we approached him about Mobile Miniatures, so it was thrilling to get a "yes" in response. He is one of the busiest composers in the biz, and yet this project seems particularly suited to his borderless approach to music. My favorite example, and one that literally sends chills down my spine every time I think of it, is his Départs project for a hospital morgue in Garches, France. David developed this piece to sonically accompany grieving families about to view their departed loved one. Imagine the artistic responsibility involved in taking on such a delicate moment...perhaps the most difficult of anyone's life. If you'd like to know more, RadioLab covered the project.

Ringmasters: Dominic Johnson

I remember meeting Dominic Johnson when I was 14 years old. We are both from the Pacific Northwest, you see, and wound up at the same summer chamber music camp, the Olympic Music Festival. Run by former members of the Philadelphia String Quartet on a farm on the Olympic Peninsula of Washington State, it was a magical, unforgettable summer for me in which I experienced all those wonderful, cringy "band camp" moments you see in the movies (well, maybe not all...) and, more importantly, where I first really fell in love with playing string quartets.

Dom was 17 at the time - a few years older, a hotshot violist, and therefore, in my mind, the coolest kid in school. I recall losing miserably to him in ping-pong matches, following along in late night boys-cabin-vs-girls-cabin practical jokes, and (ok now this is a little embarrassing) even trying to glean whatever adolescent wisdom I could from his suave interactions with the ladies.

Flash forward almost 20 years and I am in Chicago looking for a good violist for a banquet gig. Someone recommended this guy Dom Johnson. "Wait... that Dominic Johnson?!?"

It's been great to be running in the same musical circles as Dom for these past 5 years. In addition to his sensitive and dynamic viola playing, he is the executive director of the innovative New Millennium Orchestra, and performs regularly as a DJ as Dojo. Check out his 2010 collaborative album with Abominable Twitch here: Dojo vs. Twitch

And for more recent music, check out this set with Searchl1te for the MusicNOW series:

With his vast experience as a string player and a DJ, I am particularly excited to see what he comes up with for this project!

Ringmasters: Mason Bates

Mason Bates is just starting his fifth year of residency with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, "the Ferrari of orchestras" in his words.  This is no faint praise from someone whose work is performed constantly by some of the top ensembles in the world, and is in constant demand both as a composer and in his alter-ego form, DJ Masonic.

Make sure to check out his website for his regularly updated blog and his Facebook page for tons of interesting updates about his high-flying musical activities.  He's been a driving force behind "Mercury Soul" which has brought some tradition-breaking genre-crossing to the Chicago Symphony's season.  The high-energy evenings of Mercury Soul have some of the same sense for freeing up audience expectations for contemporary classical music and bringing a level of familiarity to peoples' surroundings that we aim for in our Sampler Packs, so we hope to count Mason as a kindred spirit in his aims to open up the possibilities and venues for new music.

If you're looking to energize your day, check out his orchestral lift-off, Mothership:

Ringmasters: Nico Muhly

I remember my first encounter with Nico Muhly mostly because it coincides with the beginning of my torrid love affair with new music. I had recently been added to the Chicago Symphony's MusicNow roster and the series had the good sense to program Nico's Step Team for its 2007 season. I remember being sucked in by the magnetic groove of the piece, with its metric expansions and contractions providing a steady dose of adrenaline during late-night rehearsals. What I remember even more vividly, though, is how gracious Nico was throughout the process.

Also, that he had a better haircut than me.

If you've perhaps been living in a WiFi-less dirigible for the past seven years or so, and haven't heard his music, check out Mother Tongue or I Drink the Air Before Me or 2012's Drones and get ready for some gorgeously sculpted sound.

Nico has a new opera, Two Boys, going up at the Met next month, so Spektral is especially grateful and excited that he's making the time to pen us a ringtone for Mobile Miniatures. Prepare to be the envy of the subway the next time your phone rings with a swanky Nico jam. Prepare to be John the Baptist, Salome-style if you neglect to silence it before heading into your local opera house...

Ringmasters: Jenna Lyle

Jenna Lyle's inventiveness never ceases to stun me.  The last time she collaborated with Spektral, she strapped a mic'ed stethoscope to Austin's chest, using his heartbeat as an amplified guide for the quartet.  The result was her strange and visceral miniature Inkblot.

Not only does Jenna have a knack for intriguing musical gestures, she's aware of how those gestures will be embodied by a player.  It's what makes the realization of her compositions so enthralling; you don't know exactly what you're hearing and you can't stop watching.

She's also really good at making diagrams in Microsoft Paint:

Ringmasters: Ben Hjertmann

Ben Hjertmann is no newcomer to writing for Spektral.  In fact, his electrifying second String Quartet No. 2, "Étude" will be featured on the quartet's debut album! The composer also  just released an epic album of his own, howling his fair share of angular melodies and doling out some unexpected rhythmic jabs.  You can listen to the whole thing below:

Ben is in a variety of "avant-pop" projects which no doubt contribute to his intriguing voice as a composer of chamber music.  He continues to find ways to merge his craft of composition and songwriting, creating unusual results both on the record and in the concert hall.