Scott Wollschleger's Complete Piano Works to be Performed by Karl Larson at Spectrum, 11/20

=On Monday, November 20, 2017 at 8:30pm at Spectrum in Brooklyn (70 Flushing Ave, Garage A), pianist Karl Larson performs Part I of the complete piano works of Scott Wollschleger, a composer whose distinct musical language has been described as "evocative" and "kaleidoscopic" by The New York Times. Part II takes place on Friday, February 2, 2018 at 8:30pm at Spectrum.

Larson's November 20 program will feature the world premiere of Wollschleger's For Nils, the New York premiere of his Gas Station Canon Song, plus performances of Wollschleger's Secret Machine No. 4, In Search of Lost Color, Dark Days, and Tiny Oblivion. The February 2 program includes the world premiere of a new piano work by Wollschleger, as well as his Blue Inscription, Brontal No.2, Brontal No.6, Chaos Analog, November 29th, Secret Machine No.6, and Music Without Metaphor.

Wollschleger's music explores themes of art in dystopia, the conceptualization of silence, synesthesia, and creative repetition, explored through his particular connection with the piano. He says, "My piano is my personal diary. Each piece is a world of its own and this concert is a collection of short stories that arch into my larger aesthetic and personal story." Through five years of intense collaboration and friendship, Larson has developed what Wollschleger calls "a definitive interpretation of my work, with an acutely sensitive approach to color and voicing" Larson is featured on Wollschleger's forthcoming debut portrait album, Soft Aberration, out October 20, 2017 on New Focus Recordings. (Review copies available upon request.)

About Scott Wollschleger
Scott Wollschleger (b. 1980) is a composer who grew up in Erie, Pennsylvania and now lives in Brooklyn, New York. Much of Wollschleger's music features a sense of "timeless lyricism," something that avant-garde jazz pianist and blogger Ethan Iverson (Do the Math Blog) described as "the highlight of the disc" in his enthusiastic review of Wollschleger's Brontal No. 3, on Barbary Coast, a 2014 New Focus Recordings release. His concert works can be heard across the US and the world, most recently featured at MATA Festival Interval Series, the International Music Institute at Darmstadt, and the Festival of New American Music in Sacramento. His critically acclaimed piano concerto, Meditation on Dust, was recently performed with pianist Karl Larson alongside Bang on a Can Festival fellows at the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art. His apocalyptic monodrama, We Have Taken and Eaten, was recently featured on NPR's Arts & Letters. Upcoming projects include commissions from Metropolis Ensemble with violinist Rachel Lee Priday in collaboration with the String Orchestra of Brooklyn, and Third Angle Music.

Following lightly in the footsteps of the New York School, Wollschleger received his Masters of Music in composition from Manhattan School of Music in 2005, where he studied with Nils Vigeland. Wollschleger's work is published by Project Schott New York. Read more at www.scottwollschleger.com.

About Karl Larson
Brooklyn based pianist Karl Larson, praised for his "thoughtful" and "fervent" performances by The New York Times, is a sought after musician dedicated to the performance and cultivation of contemporary music. He has premiered many solo piano and chamber pieces, including works by David Rakowski, Ken Thomson, Robert Honstein, Chris Cerrone, and David Lang. Larson has worked with many notable musicians and ensembles including the Bang on a Can All-Stars, Ensemble Signal, the American Composers Orchestra, Ashley Bathgate, Vicky Chow, Erik Carlson, Mantra Percussion, the Eco Ensemble, the Sleeping Giant Composer Collective, and Contemporaneous.

Larson is a founding member of Bearthoven, a piano, bass, and percussion trio dedicated to the frequent promotion and performance of brand new works. Since the group's formation in 2013, Bearthoven has commissioned dozens of new works from a wide variety of composers. The trio recently released their debut album, Trios, on Cantaloupe Music.

Larson received a Doctor of Musical Arts in Contemporary Music and a Master of Music in Piano Performance at Bowling Green State University, where he studied with Dr. Laura Melton. Larson completed his undergraduate degree at Luther College in Decorah Iowa as a pupil of Dr. John Strauss. Read more at https://karllarsonpiano.com.