Random Access Music Hosts Queens New Music Festival, Now thru 5/13

The New York-based composers’ group, Random Access Music, presents the first Queens New Music Festival from today May 10 through May 13, 2012 at the Little Secret Theatre (Studio 104, 44-02 23rd Street, Long Island City, Queens). This "trailblazing festival seeks to highlight and promote composers, musicians, and ensembles living and creating new music in the borough of Queens."

Following a call for proposals, over 40 applications for programs were submitted for consideration. Random Access Music selected 9 diverse programs for the first of what is planned as an annual event, including several world, US, or New York premieres by both well-established and emerging composers.

All-access festival passes will be sold for $50; Saturday or Sunday one-day passes will be $30; single tickets purchased online in advance will be $15; single tickets will be $20 at the door. To purchase or seek more information, visit http://www.queensnewmusicfestival.org.

Today, May 10, 7:30 pm; Lucky Number Generator: Random Access Music and Cadillac Moon Ensemble

The festival opens with a program featuring five world premieres by Random Access Music composers B. Allen Schulz, Wang Jie, David Fetherolf, Manly Romero, and Gilbert Galindo, featuring the emerging Cadillac Moon Ensemble. [Titles of works to be announced.]

Formed in 2007, Cadillac Moon Ensemble has commissioned and premiered over two-dozen works from talented emerging composers. With its unique combination of flute, violin, cello, and percussion, Cadillac Moon Ensemble is dedicated to retaining the intimacy and artistry of traditional chamber music, while expanding its palette of sonic possibilities.

Friday, May 11, 7:30 pm; Narkissos; Daniel Neer and Alysa Reit

Versatile writer, actor, and tenor Daniel Neer and harpist Alyssa Reit, present Narkissos, a 90-minute staged recital with multimedia design and direction by Ted Gorodetzky. Narkissos combines art song, spoken word and inventive staging to explore the multi-layered themes of narcissism and self-entitlement in contemporary America.

This program also highlights six newly commissioned works, which include Personal Helicon by Chandler Carter; Pride and First Monday in November by Martha Sullivan; Metamorphosis by Scott Gendel; Gitchee Gumee by Jonathan David; and Among All Creatures by Lauren Bernofsky. Additional works are Bare Ruined Choirs by Jason Robert Taylor; The Gyre by Robinson McClellan; Eleonor Sandresky’s Someone Comes By; Susan Botti’s The Exchange, and Benjamin Britten’s The Death of Saint Narcissus.

Saturday, May 12, 1pm; Big Idea for One Man to Handle: Tignor, Britt, and Mazzariello

Christopher Tignor, Cameron Britt, and Andrea Mazzariello rewire both their bodies and their instruments to explore and expand the possibilities of composition and performance through technology. The program includes two world premieres of EMvibe Etudes by Cameron Britt and Big Idea for One Man to Handle by Christopher Tignor, plus The Exchange by Andrea Mazzariello.

Saturday, May 12, 3 pm; Poétique: Lost Dog New Music Ensemble

The Queens-based Lost Dog New Music Ensemble performs two works by Philippe Bodin: Mynah Games and Poétique des Fluides; Sofia Gubaidulina’s Dancer on a Tightrope (1993); and Mark Phillips’ Rain Dance.

Founded in 1995, Lost Dog New Music Ensemble is dedicated to the advancement of contemporary music by providing performance opportunities both for emerging and under-represented mid-career composers, commissioning and premiering new works, exploring the relationship between music and the other performing arts through innovative and daring programming.

Saturday, May 12, 5 pm; The Cosmos – Nature and Spirit: Quintet of the Americas

The Quintet of the Americas presents a multimedia program that will feature projections from the Hubble Telescope, paintings by Queens artists Karen Fitzgerald and Ken Cro-Ken. Highlights include four world premieres: Daniel Binelli’s Espacial for woodwind quintet, bandoneon and piano; Neil Rolnick’s Ambos mundos for woodwind quintet and computer; Carl Maultsby’s Kum-Ba-Ya Marcus for quintet and narrator; and Matt Sullivan’s Multiple Oneness for electronically-processed oboe and quintet improvisations with Ken Cro-Ken’s real-time painting. The program also features wind quintets: The Stuff of Comets by Dylan Glatthorn, Winter Music by Adam Shoenberg, Sfumato by Yao Chen, Mo Suo's Burial Ceremony by Xinyan Li, and Short Winds by Sean Friar.

Founded in Bogotá, Colombia in 1976, the Quintet of the Americas has specialized in bringing new music from the Western hemisphere to audiences in the United States since its arrival in New York in 1979.

Saturday, May 12, 8 pm; Since 2000: New Works for Cello: Kate Dillingham

Cellist Kate Dillingham explores the diverse styles of contemporary composers in expanding the repertoire for cello. Her program includes works by Random Access Music composers David Fetherolf (Somerville Sonata), Wang Jie (Duo for Cello and Piano), and Andrew McKenna Lee (Duet for Electric Guitar and Cello). The program features three solo cello works: Chant by Augusta Read Thomas, The Great Unconformity Laura Kaminsky, and Behold the Lamb of God by Jorge Muñiz. Hannah Lash’s Insides for Cello and Piano completes the program. Ms. Dillingham will be joined by Emi Kagawa, piano; and Andrew McKenna Lee, electric guitar.

Kate Dillingham enjoys an active career in the United States and abroad. Her contemporary music discography includes the works of Arthur Honegger, Witold Lutoslawski, and Jennifer Higdon, among others. The New York Concert Review praised her as “An adventurous, dedicated champion of contemporary music, she performed with admirable control, conviction, and authority.”

Sunday, May 13, 1 pm; Todd Reynolds and Friends

Long Island City resident and Bang On A Can All-Star violinist Todd Reynolds, will perform with Carlos Cardeiro, clarinet; and Kevin Baldwin, saxophone. This program will be announced from the stage.

Todd Reynolds, violinist, composer, educator and technologist is known as one of the founding fathers of the hybrid-musician movement and one of the most active and versatile proponents of what he calls ‘present music’. The violinist of choice for Steve Reich, Meredith Monk, Bang on a Can, and a founder of the string quartet known as Ethel, his compositional and performance style is a hybrid of old and new technology, multi-disciplinary aesthetic and pan-genre composition and improvisation.

Sunday, May 13, 3 pm; The Links

United by their commitment to performing music beyond traditional styles, The Links features violinist Yuki Numata, clarinetist Bill Kalinkos, cellist Joshua Roman, and S? Percussion member Jason Treuting. Since their debut concert in 2009 featuring six world premiere pieces commissioned by Town Hall Seattle, The Links have also championed rarely performed mature works for various combinations of unusual instrumentation. Its repertoire is a stunning variety of sound worlds that range from art song to pure rock 'n roll.

Their eclectic program includes the world premiere of Evan Hause’s Tiki all turca; three New York premieres, including Quartet by Chuck Krenner, High Fructose by Matt Marks, and The Project of Collecting Clouds by Lisa Bielawa. The ensemble will also include RockBand by Stefan Freund; and There is a Reason Why by Alexandra Gardner.

Sunday, May 13, 5 pm; Night Visions: New Works for Viol Consort: Parthenia

Parthenia is a quartet of viols dedicated to the performance of ancient and contemporary repertoires. It has been hailed by The New Yorker as "one of the brightest lights in New York's early-music scene.” They conclude the Queens New Music Festival with a program in which Renaissance instruments meet the post-modern age. This viol consort performs works written specifically for their ensemble along with tape, electronics, and real-time music visualization.

The program includes A Flower on the Farther Side/Traces on the Farther Side, by Frances White, for viol quartet and electronics, inspired by a chant theme by 12th century mystic and composer Hildegard von Bingen, with real-time music visualization by Andrew Lucia and Wendy Steiner; Night Voices by Max Lifchitz; Variations on La Follia by Richard Einhorn; Cry Out by Eleonor Sandresky; and Old Roads by Nicholas Patterson.

ABOUT RANDOM ACCESS MUSIC AND THE LITTLE SECRET THEATRE

Random Access Music was founded in 2005 to help composers establish fuller collaborative experiences, long-term relationships amongst artists, and the support and interaction among fellow composers. The composer/members include Allen Schulz (President), Manly Romero (Artistic Director), Andrew McKenna Lee, David Fetherolf, Gilbert Galindo, Jonathan Pieslak, Stefan Weisman, and Wang Jie.

Little Secret Theatre, Studio 104, 44-02 23rd Street, Long Island City, NY. The Secret Theatre performance space is located just 3 blocks from the PS1 art museum and just a 4 block walk (or less) from the N, Q, R, E, V, G and 7 trains. Long Island City has a burgeoning arts scene, with the Fisher Landau Center for Art, the Dorsky Gallery, the Noguchi Museum, the SculptureCenter, the Flux Factory, the Secret Theatre Main Stage, and a dozen other flourishing arts groups and venues all located nearby.