Hello, my name's Ryan. I'm a senior in music composition and technology at Penn State. I like doing random stuff.
Last week, I went to see the Pittsburgh New Music Ensemble perform downtown in the South Side. I'd never seen them before, and to my slight disappointment, they had a couple of guest artists there that night performing solo. However, the main performer was percussionist Steven Schick. Schick, a member of the Bang On a Can All-Stars, is noted as one of the BEST performers of contemporary percussion music in the world. He performed a variety of pieces, ranging from the complex modernism of Ferneyhough's "Bone Alphabet" to the dadaism of Lachenmun's "Interiur I." Pieces that really stood out, though, were Kurt Schwitter's "Ursonate", sonata in German for voice and 4-channel electronic audio (yes, it was that awesome); Alvin Lucier's "Silver Streetcar for the Orchestra", a solo triangle piece that consisted of banging away at the poor thing for ten minutes while gradually changing the way the instrument is muted; and his specialty, Iannis Xenakis' "Psappha." "Psappha" is definitely one of the coolest Xenakis pieces I've ever heard, Schick's performance was engaging and powerful.
You can see him perform Psappha here:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=Yge7GNl5p_k&feature=related
Speaking of percussion, here's an interesting piece I found on youtube for Marimba and electronic tape...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Be87GyQgzNE
On a more personal note, I've finished the 'physical' portion of my senior honors thesis, "SadoMasochism." It'll be performed this coming semester at my senior recital, so keep your eyes peeled...
Until later,
- Ryan
Last week, I went to see the Pittsburgh New Music Ensemble perform downtown in the South Side. I'd never seen them before, and to my slight disappointment, they had a couple of guest artists there that night performing solo. However, the main performer was percussionist Steven Schick. Schick, a member of the Bang On a Can All-Stars, is noted as one of the BEST performers of contemporary percussion music in the world. He performed a variety of pieces, ranging from the complex modernism of Ferneyhough's "Bone Alphabet" to the dadaism of Lachenmun's "Interiur I." Pieces that really stood out, though, were Kurt Schwitter's "Ursonate", sonata in German for voice and 4-channel electronic audio (yes, it was that awesome); Alvin Lucier's "Silver Streetcar for the Orchestra", a solo triangle piece that consisted of banging away at the poor thing for ten minutes while gradually changing the way the instrument is muted; and his specialty, Iannis Xenakis' "Psappha." "Psappha" is definitely one of the coolest Xenakis pieces I've ever heard, Schick's performance was engaging and powerful.
You can see him perform Psappha here:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=Yge7GNl5p_k&feature=related
Speaking of percussion, here's an interesting piece I found on youtube for Marimba and electronic tape...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Be87GyQgzNE
On a more personal note, I've finished the 'physical' portion of my senior honors thesis, "SadoMasochism." It'll be performed this coming semester at my senior recital, so keep your eyes peeled...
Until later,
- Ryan
Recent Comments