COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY
DEPARTMENT OF MUSIC
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Anthony
Cheung
(415) 939-8045
www.music.columbia.edu/ircam2006/
IRCAM@Columbia
May 2-7, 2006
France's IRCAM (Institute of Research and Coordination of Acoustics and Music) has been the world leader at producing and performing works for ensembles and electronics for nearly three decades, but rarely have they come to America.
The Columbia Sinfonietta and Argento New Music Project are pleased
to present a musical and pedagogical event that will allow the engineers and
pedagogues of IRCAM to interact with American students, performers, composers
and audiences during a week-long series of concerts, lectures and workshops.
These events mark the beginning of a cutting-edge technological and musical
trans-Atlantic exchange. IRCAM has already committed to producing a pair of
concerts in December 2006, which will include several of the works performed in
these concerts. Leading new music conductor Jeffrey Milarsky will also be
invited to France to conduct one of these exchange concerts.
The event we
are planning will have several aspects:
Concerts on
May 6th and May 7th 2006 in Miller Theatre
The Columbia Sinfonietta and Argento Chamber Ensemble will perform pieces from the IRCAM repertoire, written by both French and American composers, which all explore instrumental timbre. The Columbia Sinfonietta's concert will focus on large ensemble works that are almost impossible to perform in America because of their combination of large instrumental forces, extreme virtuosity and complex technological demands, and Argento's concert will focus on works for medium-sized groups with high levels of real-time interactive electronics.
The concerts feature a world premiere by American composer Joshua
Fineberg, and American premieres of works by French composer Tristan Murail and
Swiss composer and French resident Michael Jarrell, and New York premieres by
French composer Philippe Leroux and American composer Rand Steiger.
A team of engineers from IRCAM will direct the electronics and install Harvard University's HYDRA multi-channel speaker orchestra for sound reproduction in Miller Theatre for a seven-day period. Collaborators include Columbia University's Computer Music Center (CMC) Harvard University's HUSEAC.
Free
Conference Open to the Public
On Friday May 5, 2006 we will hold a free series of lectures and
demonstrations, ending with a round-table discussion and question panel.
The two guest composers (Philippe Leroux and Rand Steiger) will
present their pieces and discuss the way technology impacted the works. The two
hosting composers Tristan Murail of Columbia University and Joshua Fineberg of
Harvard University will also offer presentations on their works and participate
in the roundtable discussions. IRCAM participants Eric Daubresse and Olivier
Pasquet will present technological demonstrations aimed at a general public.
The day will conclude with a round-table of issues concerning the mixture of
live instruments and electronics.
Open
Rehearsals with Composer/Musical-Assistant Demonstrations and Seminars in
Miller Theatre
All rehearsals will be open to any composition students or
performers. The four composers will hold seminar sessions along with one of the
IRCAM technicians. These seminars will present a detailed look at how the
pieces work both musically and technologically and will be intended for smaller
groups allowing a substantive exchange among the composers, technicians and
students. A group of Harvard graduate students will be spending the week in New
York with their Columbia counterparts. For more information please contact
Anthony Cheung or visit www.music.columbia.edu/ircam2006/.
Concert Programs:
Both concerts will take place in Miller Theatre and will include pre-concert talks with the composers and conductors.
Saturday Night May 6, 2005: 8pm (pre-concert talk at
7:30)
Columbia Sinfonietta with Jeffrey Milarsky
Rand Steiger (USA) - Ecosphere for 16 instruments and electronics
Joshua Fineberg (USA)- Empreintes for 14 instruments and electronics
Tristan Murail (France) - Pour adoucir le cours du temps for 19 instruments and electronics
US Premiere
_______________________________________
Sunday Afternoon May 7, 2006 6pm (pre-concert talk
at 5:30)
Argento Chamber Ensemble with Michel Galante
Michael Jarrell (Swiss/French resident) - ...more leaves... for viola, sextet and electronics
US Premiere
Philippe Leroux (France) - Voi(rex) for soprano, 6 instruments and electronics
Tristan Murail (France) - Winter Fragments for 5 instruments
Joshua Fineberg (USA) - Lolita (part I) for 10 instruments, narrator and electronics
World Premiere