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Playback March 2003
The ASCAP Foundation kicked off the second season of Thru the Walls, a new music performance showcase series, at the Cutting Room in Manhattan on November 25, 2002.
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| Pictured (back row, l-r) Martha Mooke, Rubin Kodheli, Gregg Bendian, Kenji Bunch, ASCAP's Fran Richard, The Cutting Room's Steve Walter, Frank Oteri and Tina Weymouth and Chris Frantz; and (front row, l-r) ASCAP's Cia Toscanini, Tim Kiah, Cornelius Dufallo, Jim Pugliese, Annie Gosfield and Roger Kleier. |
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| Sponsored in part by Sibelius |
Thru the Walls was conceived and produced by ASCAP composer/performer Martha Mooke. Sponsored in part by Sibelius, the music notation software company, Thru the Walls is designed to showcase the work of composer/performers whose concert music defies boundaries and genres.
Serving as special guest hosts for the evening were ASCAP members and former Talking Heads Chris Frantz and Tina Weymouth, the husband and wife leaders of the Tom Tom Club. Frank J. Oteri (composer and editor of New Music Box) was on hand to emcee the event.
Featured Composers
Annie Gosfield
The downtown New York composer, keyboardist and improvisational artist Annie Gosfield performs with her own group when not composing for chamber music ensembles. The music she creates for her own group relies on unusual sampling methods with electric guitar and percussion to create music that incorporates samples of factory noise, detuned instruments, and a wealth of unrecognizably altered sounds. Gosfield’s chamber music, characterized by elements of improvisation, microtonal scordatura and invented tunings, has been performed and commissioned by such ensembles as: the Bang on a Can All Stars, Rova Sax Quartet, Newband/Harry Partch instruments, The West Australia Symphony Orchestra New Music Group, Agon Orchestra, Zeitgeist, Relache, and many others; and at such festivals as Warsaw Autumn, Wien Modern and John Zorn’s Festival of Radical Jewish Culture, among many others.
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| Annie Gosfield |
Her music has been issued on numerous labels, including Tzadik, Sony Classical, CRI, Wergo, Harmonia Mundi, Staalplaat, Atavistic, and EMF. Gosfield’s latest recording is Flying Sparks & Heavy Machinery (Tzadik). Recent projects include performances of EWA7 in factories in Warsaw, Nuremberg, and the Anchorage under the Brooklyn Bridge, and commissions from the Miami String Quartet, Joan Jeanrenaud, and the Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival.
Gosfield and her group (guitarist-composer Roger Kleier and drummer-composer Jim Pugliese) will perform two works from the recent album, "Ewa7" and "Flying Sparks and Heavy Machinery."
Photo © Nola Lopez
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| Gregg Bendian |
Gregg Bendian
Composer/percussionist Gregg Bendian is known as a pioneer in the development of new and extended playing techniques for traditional percussion instruments and his performances as soloist, ensemble leader and collaborator have received critical acclaim worldwide. Bendian has collaborated with some of the most notable personalities in contemporary music, including Cecil Taylor, John Zorn, Gavin Bryars, George Lewis, William Parker, Tom Cora, Leo Smith, Pat Metheny, Roscoe Mitchell, Joe Lovano, Derek Bailey and Evan Parker. Recently Gregg was timpani soloist for Ornette Coleman's Harmelodic Chamber Players at New York's Bell Atlantic Jazz Festival.
As a composer, Bendian leads the ensembles Interzone, Trio Pianissimo and The Mahavishnu Project, and is a founding member of the Open Aspects Ensemble. He was curator of "The Composer Series", a monthly contemporary classical series at the Knitting Factory from 1996-98. He has appeared as composer-in-residence and performed master classes at California Institute for the Arts, Occidental College, University of Michigan, Berklee College of Music, Peabody Conservatory, Rutgers University, University of Wisconsin, University of Chicago, The Governor's School of New Jersey, William Paterson University, Hartt College of Music and UC San Diego. Bendian’s compositions have been performed by The New Jersey Percussion Ensemble, Relache, Robert Dick, Mark Dresser, Bertram Turetsky, THUMP, Dorothy Martirano, Paul Carroll, The Flux Quartet and the Creative Arts Orchestra.
Percussionist Bendian will be joined by members of the Kaya String Quartet for his performance. (www.greggbendian.com).
Photo © Peter Gravina
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| Kenji Bunch |
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| Nurse Kaya String Quartet |
Kenji Bunch with Nurse Kaya String Quartet
The deceptively named Nurse Kaya String Quartet actually has six members (a drummer and bassist added to the traditional string quartet): violist Kenji Bunch, violinist Cornelius Dufallo, bassist Tim Kiah, cellist Rubin Kodheli, violinist Jesse Mills and drummer Chris Vatalaro. The group, whose name was suggested by Tim Kiah’s parallel job as a registered nurse, melds influences from jazz, rock, folk, classical and the avant-. Nurse Kaya String QuartetTheir brand of acoustic music is based on both free and structured improvisation, experiments in notation and what they call "indeterminate procedures." Like a nurse, the Nurse Kaya String Quartet is concerned with healing – healing with music those on the peripheries of society. They have put that philosophy to work by performing for audiences in correctional facilities, homeless shelters Indian reservations and other unorthodox venues where live music is rarely heard. Each member of the Quartet has participated in diverse ensembles and projects, bringing with them a wealth of experience. These include bands led by Ornette Coleman, Oliver Lake, Bobby McFerrin and Michael Cain; the Open Aspects Ensemble, Flux Quartet, Citigrass, Jerse y Band, and Orpheus Chamber Orchestra. The group’s individual composer members have had their works issued on such labels as EMI Classics and RCA, and performed at the Library of Congress, Lincoln Center and the Knitting Factory.
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