The Miller Theatre Continues the 2014-15 Composer Portraits Series with STEFANO GERVASONI, 2/19

Miller Theatre at Columbia University School of the Arts continues its 2014-15 Composer Portraits series with STEFANO GERVASONI. A rare hearing of the Italian star's "delirious" music featuring Yarn/Wire, Mivos Quartet, and Ekmeles. On Thursday, February 19, 2015, 8:00 p.m. at the Miller Theatre at Columbia University (2960 Broadway at 116th Street)

Tickets: $20-$30 • Students with valid ID: $15-$21

COMPOSER PORTRAITS

"Miller Theater's invaluable marquee series of deep dives,
a single living composer at a time." - The New York Times

One of New York City's "strongest new-music series" (The New Yorker),Composer Portraits at Miller Theatre allow audiences to become immersed in one composer's singular style, as well as hear from them in-person during an onstage discussion. The 2014-15 season includes a wealth of world premieres and performances from cutting-edge artists such as the JACK Quartet, ICE, Third Coast Percussion, the Brentano String Quartet, and countertenor Anthony Roth Costanzo.

Composer Portraits

Thursday, February 19, 2015, 8:00 p.m.
Stefano Gervasoni

Miller Theatre (2960 Broadway at 116th Street)
Italian composer Stefano Gervasoni studied composition with European masters such as Luigi Nono, Helmut Lachenmann, Brian Ferneyhough, and György Ligeti; his work reflects these influences, as well as his time spent at IRCAM. "Yet despite this range of international influences, something identifiably Italianate has persisted in his music," claims The Guardian's Andrew Clements, "whether in its moments of playful allusion or expansive lyricism, its disorienting changes of direction or its Sciarrino-like scurries and whispering asides."

PROGRAM:
Sviete tihi (2005-06)
Six lettres à l'obscurité (und zwei Nachrichten) (2005-06)
In dir (2003-04)

ARTISTS:
Stefano Gervasoni, composer
Yarn/Wire
Mivos Quartet
Ekmeles

Stefano Gervasoni

www.stefanogervasoni.net

Stefano Gervasoni was born in Bergamo in 1962. He began studying composition in 1980 on the advice of Luigi Nono and, after attending the Conservatorio Giuseppe Verdi in Milan, went on to study with György Ligeti in Hungary in 1990. In 1992, he attended the Course in Composition and in Computer Music organized by IRCAM in Paris. Gervasoni's first three years in France laid the foundations for an international career that eventually led him to a residency at Villa Medici in 1995-1996.

With commissions from such prestigious institutions as the WDR, the SWR, the Orchestra Nazionale della RAI, the Festival d'Automne in Paris, Radio France, IRCAM, the Divertimento Ensemble in Milan, the Ensemble Intercontemporain, the Ensemble Modern, the French Ministry of Culture, Milan Teatro alla Scala, and Suntory Hall in Tokyo, Gervasoni has established himself as one of the most important Italian composers of his generation. His catalogue-which includes chamber and vocal music, concertos, works for orchestra, for ensemble and an opera (Limbus-Limbo), commissioned for the 50th anniversary of the Percussions de Strasbourg (2012)-was first published by Ricordi, from 1987, and then, from 2000, by Suvini Zerboni.

A monographic CD entitled Antiterra, was recently released in France by Aeon and bears witness to "a sonic world of great wealth, subtlety, refinement, expressive but also organic, that immediately captures one's attention" (Philippe Albèra). Other monographic recordings include the Harmonia Mundi CD in the series Musique Française d'Aujourd'hui(Ensemble Contrechamps), the Stradivarius CD by Divertimento Ensemble, and the CDDir-in dir released in Germany by Winter und Winter.

Winner of numerous prizes, including the recent Premio della Critica Musicale "Franco Abbiati" (2010), Gervasoni's work has earned him grants from the Fondation des Treilles in Paris (1994) and the DAAD in Berlin (2006) and he was the composer-in-residence at the Domaine de Kerguéhennec during the period 2008-2010. His teaching engagements include at the Darmstadt Ferienkurse, on the courses organized by the Fondazione Royaumont (Paris), at Toho University (Tokyo), at Columbia University (New York), and at Harvard University (Boston). He was a composer-in-residence at Lausanne Conservatoire in 2005 and, since 2006, has held a regular teaching post as professor of composition at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse in Paris.

Yarn/Wire

www.yarnwire.org

Yarn/Wire is a chamber quartet that specializes in the performance of 20th and 21st century music. The unique instrumental combination of two percussionists and two pianists allows the ensemble to interface with both traditional performance practice and emergent stylistic trends with ease. Founded in 2005, Yarn/Wire is admired for the energy and precision they bring to vital performances of today's most adventurous music. The results of Yarn/Wire's collaborative initiatives are pointing towards the development of a new and lasting repertoire, and partnerships with genre-bending artists such as Theatre of a Two-Headed Calf and David Bithell have led to the creation of work that is "spare and strange and very, very new" (Time Out New York).

Yarn/Wire's 2010 debut release of Tone Builders, recorded during a residency at EMPAC, showcases the ensemble's impressive versatility and documents a large and diverse portion of the ensemble's commissioning activities. In addition to the numerous world premieres of music written specifically for the ensemble, Yarn/Wire has presented a number of U.S. premieres by many of Europe's leading composers. Based in New York City, Yarn/Wire maintains an active performing and teaching schedule at festivals, chamber music series, universities and colleges across the country. Highlights of recent seasons include appearances at Make Music NYC, the Ontological-Hysteric Theater, Unruly Music Festival, "April in Santa Cruz" Festival of Contemporary Music, Pixilerations Festival, North River Concert Series, Southampton Chamber Music Series, University of Notre Dame, Stony Brook University, Columbia University, Dartmouth College, Goucher College, and Rutgers University.

Mivos Quartet

www.mivosquartet.com

The Mivos Quartet, an "accomplished, admirably broad-minded young string quartet" (New York Times), is devoted to performing the works of contemporary composers, presenting new music to diverse audiences. Since the quartet's beginnings in 2008 they have performed, commissioned and closely collaborated with an ever-expanding group of international composers who represent multiple aesthetics of contemporary classical composition. The quartet's international performing schedule has included appearances at the Darmstadt Summer Courses for New Music (Darmstadt, Germany), Wien Modern (Vienna, Austria), Asphalt Festival (Düsseldorf, Germany), Concerti Aperitivo (Udine, Italy), HellHOT! New Music Festival (Hong Kong), Edgefest (Ann Arbor, MI), and Aldeburgh Music (UK). Beyond expanding the string quartet repertoire, Mivos is committed to working with guest artists, collaborating on multi-media projects, exploring group improvisation, and supporting young musicians through educational activities. Mivos' forthcoming album (Spring 2013) on Carrier Records will feature works by Alex Mincek, David Franzson, Felipe Lara, and Wolfgang Rihm.

Ekmeles

ekmeles.com

Ekmeles-praised for their "extraordinary sense of pitch" by The New York Times, and called a "promising addition to the New York scene" by The New Yorker's Alex Ross-is dedicated to the performance of new and rarely-heard works, and gems of the historical avant garde. New York is home to a vibrant instrumental New Music scene, with a relative paucity of vocal music. Ekmeles was founded to fill the gap by presenting new a cappella repertoire for solo voices, and by collaborating with these instrumental ensembles.

Their recent concert performances include a program of premieres by Columbia University composers, and a concert of American works including world and U.S. premieres by Taylor Brook, Aaron Cassidy, and Zosha Di Castri. Recent collaborations with instrumental ensembles include the U.S. premieres of Beat Furrer's FAMA with Talea Ensemble, and Luigi Nono's Quando Stanno Morendowith AMP New Music.

Director Jeffrey Gavett brings a hybrid vision to the group: he is an accomplished ensemble singer and performer of new works, and holds degrees from Westminster Choir College and Manhattan School of Music's Contemporary Performance Program. He has assembled a virtuoso group of colleagues with diverse backgrounds, ranging from the operatic stages of Europe to Anglican choirs of men and boys, which they bring to the unique challenges of this essential and neglected repertoire.

Photo Courtesy of the Miller Theatre

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