Pianist Jacob Greenberg Releases BRIGHT CODES

Pianist Jacob Greenberg today released his first solo disc, Bright Codes, on TUNDRA via New Focus Recordings. The album features exciting commissions for piano and harmonium written for Greenberg between 2013 and 2021 that premiered at venues such as Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts and Miller Theatre. Composers Dai Fujikura, Amy Williams, IONE, and Nathan Davis all crafted works tailored to Greenberg's technique and imagination as a multi-keyboard player. The album also features soprano Tony Arnold in two works by Amy Williams.

Of the use of harmonium and its history, Jacob Greenberg says, "The small portable variety of harmonium is a core element of Indian classical music and is a modification of the large European instrument invented in the 1820s. The foot pedal bellows of the European model became a hand pump for the instrument that was imported to the Indian subcontinent; the internal brass reeds that receive air are the same in both versions. Two models of harmonium are used for this recording: a Delhi-style twin-reed instrument (male, bass) and a Kolkata-style triple-reed instrument (female, male, bass). Though notated Western music for the Indian instrument is rare, the harmonium shows an unquestionable affinity for the avant-garde, and is a rich medium for experimentation by today's composers."

Dai Fujikura says that composing for Jacob Greenberg allowed him to go somewhere within himself he had not visited before. His seven-minute White Rainbow (2016) for harmonium is the result of mutual exploration of the instrument by composer and performer. Equally expansive and sensitive to nuances of color, the piece is inspired by the natural phenomenon of a white rainbow-also called a fogbow-that is caused by the small droplets inside a cloud. These droplets are small, and the bows have only weak colors or are colorless. The novel harmonium techniques like sudden changes of registers, use of the ghostly octave coupler, and rhythmic pulsing with the jaali mute evoke the piece's atmospheric subject. Fujikura's Bright Codes (2015/2016) for piano took shape over four years, with each quiet miniature composed individually, yet intended to be played continuously with the others, without pause, in any order. Randy Ezratty and James Rosenfield provided essential funding for Bright Codes.

Amy Williams' Fünf Worte (2017) for harmonium and voice, featuring the soprano Tony Arnold, is a set of five intimate miniatures, each of which explores one-and only one-German word: I. Frühjahrsmüdigkeit, II. Fingerspitzengefühl, III. Verschlimmbessern, IV. Kuddelmuddel, and V. Sehnsucht. Williams' Cineshape 4 (2003) for piano explores virtuosic perpetual movement and repetition. It is directly modeled on the structure and certain narrative elements of the 1998 film Run Lola Run. Like the film, the piece starts in exactly the same way three times, but develops in starkly different ways. Cineshape 4 was co-commissioned by the International Contemporary Ensemble for the 50th anniversary of Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts.

The author and poet IONE's The Memory of Now (2021), for harmonium with sonic vocals performed by the composer, is a text score that invites musical improvisation in a ritual manner. As the voice intones directions for interior reflection, it reacts spontaneously to the resulting sounds that portray states of memory. The effect is a unique chamber music partnership. IONE says, "The player or players are invited to listen to external and internal sounds without judgment, while allowing momentary states of being to flow freely."

Ghostlight (2013) by Nathan Davis evokes a small, single bulb that shines on the dark stage when a theater is closed and unoccupied. In this ten-minute piece, the piano's light preparation is with objects on or between the strings of certain notes to create microtonal beatings and gong-like sounds. The piece's journey generally descends from the highest register to the lowest, a measured crescendo. A free section is followed by a stately chorale; then a rhythmic groove climaxes with thunderous bass rattlings. Davis' fourteen-minute Seedling (2019), for harmonium and electronics, explores the ability of the instrument to seamlessly blend with shimmering electronic sounds, especially with its quivering tremolo mode of playing. Davis says that the harmonium's brass reeds conjure "the sonic baggage of pasts both real and imagined." Seedling was commissioned by Winsome Brown and Claude Arpels in honor of Covell Dorn Brown, through the International Contemporary Ensemble's First Page initiative.

About Jacob Greenberg

Pianist Jacob Greenberg's work as a soloist and chamber musician has received worldwide acclaim. A longtime member of the International Contemporary Ensemble, he has performed throughout the Americas and Europe. His solo concert series, Music at Close Range, shows his equal commitment to classics of the repertoire.

Recent highlights include a guest performance of works of György Kurtág at the International Summer Courses in Darmstadt, Germany, under the composer's guidance; concerts at the Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival; Boulez's Sur Incises with the Seattle Symphony; and solo and concerto appearances with the International Contemporary Ensemble at Lincoln Center's Mostly Mozart Festival. Live performances have been heard on WQXR New York, BBC Radio 3, WFMT Chicago and Radio Netherlands.

As an orchestral player, Mr. Greenberg has appeared with the New York Philharmonic, Israel Philharmonic, and Australian Chamber Orchestra. He performs often with the Chicago Symphony's MusicNOW. A leading pianist of modern song, he has toured extensively with soprano Tony Arnold; their 2013 recording of Olivier Messiaen's Harawi has been singled out by critics. Mr. Greenberg is also recognized as a coach for contemporary opera.

In addition to his solo albums for New Focus Recordings, which feature works from the Baroque to many new commissions, he has recorded for the Nonesuch, Sony, Bridge, Naxos, Mode, Kairos, Centaur, Tzadik, and New Amsterdam labels. Mr. Greenberg is an award-winning record producer, and has completed discs for major domestic and international labels. He is the director of the International Contemporary Ensemble's in-house TUNDRA imprint. As a composer, he makes recorded pieces with spoken and sung texts. His podcast, Intégrales, explores meaningful intersections of music and daily city life.

Mr. Greenberg is on the faculty of the Tanglewood Music Center, and has taught at Hunter College, City University of New York, The Juilliard School, and the State University of New York at Buffalo. He is a graduate of Oberlin College, where he earned degrees in music and religion, and he completed his master's and doctoral degrees at Northwestern University, where he studied with Ursula Oppens. Learn more at jacobgreenberg.net.

Bright Codes Tracklist
1. Dai Fujikura - White Rainbow (2016) [11:02]
2. Dai Fujikura - Bright Codes: Code C (2015/2016) [2:24]
3. Dai Fujikura - Bright Codes: Code B (2015/2016) [4:02]
4. Dai Fujikura - Bright Codes: Code D (2015/2016) [3:28]
5. Dai Fujikura - Bright Codes: Code A (2015/2016) [3:39]
Amy Williams - Fünf Worte (2017)
6. I. Frühjahrsmüdigkeit [01:55]
7. II. Fingerspitzengefühl [1:36]
8. II. Verschlimmbessern [2:08]
9. IV. Kuddelmuddel [1:04]
10. V. Sehnsucht [2:32]
11. Amy Williams - Cineshape 4 (2003) [12:16]
12. IONE - The Memory of Now (2021) [9:48]
13. Nathan Davis - Ghostlight (2013) [10:27]
14. Nathan Davis - Seedling (2019) [13:32]

Total time: 79:54

Produced by Jacob Greenberg
Recording Engineer, Session Producer, Digital Editing, Mexing, Mastering: Ryan Streber
Assistant Editor: Charles Mueller
Supplemental recording by Ralph Loza at Experimental Sound Studios, Chicago, IL
Design: Jessica Slaven
Recorded at Oktaven Audio, Mt. Vernon, NY, between January 2017 and August 2021

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