NYC Calendar December 2015

FRIDAY, December 4
8:30PM Snakeoil
Tim Berne – Saxophone
Oscar Noriega – Clarinets
Matt Mitchell – Piano
Ches Smith – Drums
VENUE: Ibeam
ADMISSION: $15 Suggested Donation

FRIDAY, December 4
8PM PROOFReaders: The Music of Ornette Coleman
Trevor Dunn (bass) Darius Jones (alto sax) Nate Wooley (trumpet) Ryan Sawyer (drums)
VENUE: The Stone
ADMISSION: $15

SATURDAY, December 5
8PM and 10PM trio-convulsant avec des cordes
Trevor Dunn (bass) Mary Halvorson (guitar) Ches Smith (drums) Secret Quartet: Jennifer Choi, Cornelius Dufallo (violins) Lev Zhurbin (viola) Jeffrey Zeigler (cello)
VENUE: The Stone
ADMISSION: $20

SUNDAY, December 6
3 PM John Zorn’s Bagatelles: Jamie Saft Trio
Jamie Saft (piano) Brad Jones (bass) Kenny Wollesen (drums)
VENUE: The Stone
ADMISSION: $20

MONDAY December 7– SATURDAY December 19
7:00 PM/8:00 PM/3:00 PM Goldberg
Piano: Igor Levit
Visual Artist: Marina Abramović
Igor Levit interprets J.S. Bach’s Goldberg Variations in an installation created by seminal artist Marina Abramović.
http://www.armoryonpark.org/programs_events/detail/Goldberg
VENUE: Park Avenue Armory, Wade Thompson Drill Hall
ADMISSION: $65

TUESDAY, December 8
8PM beyond: a video and sound performance by Ursula Scherrer with MV Carbon and Shelley Hirsch
Ursula Scherrer – live video, MV Carbon – cello, synthesizer, Shelley Hirsch – voice
http://roulette.org/events/beyond-a-video-and-sound-performance-by-ursula-scherrer-with-mv-carbon-and-shelley-hirsch/
VENUE: Roulette
ADMISSION: $15-$25

THURSDAY, December 10
8PM Interpretations presents AACM50: Wadada Leo Smith // Douglas Ewart & Quasar
http://roulette.org/events/interpretations-presents-aacm50-wadada-leo-smith-douglas-ewart/
VENUE: Roulette
ADMISSION: $15-$20

FRIDAY, December 11
7 PM Women, Music, Power: a concert by the International Contemporary Ensemble
Music of David Adamcyk & Zosha Di Castri, Natacha Diels, Maria Stankova
http://italianacademy.columbia.edu/event/women-music-power-concert-by-international-contemporary-ensemble

VENUE: The Italian Academy
ADMISSION: Free

TUESDAY, December 15 and WEDNESDAY, December 16
7.30PM and 9.30PM Mary Halvorson Octet
Mary Halvorson – guitar
Jonathan Finlayson – trumpet
Jon Irabagon – alto saxophone
Ingrid Laubrock – tenor saxophone
Jacob Garchik – trombone
Susan Alcorn – pedal steel guitar
John Hebert – bass
Ches Smith – drums
VENUE: Jazz Gallery
ADMISSION: $15/$10

FRIDAY, December 18
8 PM Ned Rothenberg’s Inner Diaspora Quintet
Ned Rothenberg, woodwinds; Mark Feldman,violin; Erik Friedlander, cello; Satoshi Takeishi, percussion; Jerome Harris, guitar and bass
https://www.facebook.com/events/1010222839029111/

VENUE: Greenwich House Music School

FRIDAY, December 18
8 PM Sylvie Courvoisier, Ikue Mori, Chuck Bettis
Sylvie Courvoisier (piano) Ikue Mori (electronics) Chuck Bettis (electronics)
VENUE: The Stone
ADMISSION: $15

SATURDAY, December 19
8 PM Music Four Pianos Festival
Ron Stabinsky, Sylvie Courvoisier, Cory Smythe & Craig Taborn
http://www.jackny.org/four-pianos-festival.html
VENUE: Jack
ADMISSION: $20

TUESDAY, December 29 – THURSDAY, December 31
8 PM John Zorn Improv Night—A Stone Benefit
John Zorn (sax) and friends (check with the venue)
VENUE: The Stone
ADMISSION: $20

WEDNESDAY, December 30
8:30PM Tom Rainey Trio
Mary Halvorson, guitar; Ingrid Laubrock, tenor saxophone; Tom Rainey, drums

VENUE: Cornelia Street Cafe
ADMISSION: $10 cover plus $10 minimum

NYC Calendar November 2015

Highlights of the month:
John Zorn at The Vanguard, November 3 – November 8
Zeena Parkins residency at The Stone, November 17-22

MONDAY, November 2
8PM Eric Wubbels & Mivos Quartet: “being time”
VENUE: Roulette
ADMISSION: $15/$25

MONDAY, November 2
8PM Nikolaj Hess, piano
Reflecting on the silence, beauty, simplicity and magic of Vilhelm Hammershøi’s poetic universe http://www.scandinaviahouse.org/events/impressions-of-hammershoi-the-poetry-of-silence-with-pianist-nikolaj-hess/
VENUE: Scandinavia House
ADMISSION: $15/$20

November 5 – December 3
Lulu, Alban Berg
production: William Kentridge
http://www.metopera.org/Season/2015-16-Season/lulu-berg-tickets/
VENUE: Metropolitan Opera
ADMISSION: $27-460

FRIDAY, November 6
7PM Atonal Hits (Katha Zinn, violin, and Illya Filshtinskiy, piano)

PROGRAM:
Nikolai Roslavets: Sonata No. 2 for Violin and Piano
Sergei Prokofiev: Sonata No. 2 for Violin and Piano
Galina Ustvolskaya: Sonata for Violin and Piano
VENUE: Spectrum
ADMISSION: $15

TUESDAY, November 10
8PM Den Svarta Fanan
Joe Merolla (bass) Nonoko Yoshida, special guest Chris Pitsiokos (saxes) Ron Anderson (guitar) Weasel Walter (drums)
Noise punk free improvisation.

VENUE: The Stone
ADMISSION: $10

TUESDAY, November 10
6 PM Pierrot Lunaire, Arnold Schoenberg
http://www.millertheatre.com/events/pierrot-lunaire-curtis

VENUE: Miller Theatre at Columbia University
ADMISSION: FREE

SUNDAY, November 15
3PM John Zorn’s Bagatelles: Uri Caine/John Medeski
VENUE: The Stone
ADMISSION: $20

SUNDAY, November 15
12PM – 6:00PM 1+2+3: Solos, Duos, and Trios for Greater New York
Keith Fullerton Whitman (electronics), David Grubbs (guitar), Eli Keszler (drums, percussion, and electronics), Okkyung Lee (cello), Nate Wooley trumpet) and C. Spencer Yeh (violin and voice).
https://www.facebook.com/events/1139630012732106/
VENUE: MoMA PS1
ADMISSION: $15

SUNDAY, November 15
10PM Ned Rothenberg (reeds) Nonoko Yoshida (sax)
VENUE: The Stone
ADMISSION: $10

TUESDAY, November 17
10PM Zeena Parkins/White Out: Tom Surgal/Lin Culbertson
VENUE: The Stone
ADMISSION: $15

WEDNESDAY, November 18
8, 10 PM Phantom Orchard: Zeena Parkins/Ikue Mori with guests (10PM) Erik Friedlander, Cyro Baptista
VENUE: The Stone
ADMISSION: $15

FRIDAY, November 20
8PM Topos Kolektiv
http://thefirehousespace.org/event/topos-kolektiv/

VENUE: The Firehouse Space
ADMISSION: $10

SUNDAY, November 22
6PM Ben Goldberg / Ingrid Laubrock / Tom Rainey
VENUE: Downtown Music Gallery
ADMISSION: Free

TUESDAY, November 24
8PM ITT (Improvising Trombone Trio)
Dick Griffin (trombone) Joe McPhee (trombone) Steve Swell (trombone)
VENUE: The Stone
ADMISSION: $15

TUESDAY, November 24
10 PM Dragonfly Breath
Paul Flaherty (tenor saxophone) C. Spencer Yeh (violin, voice) Weasel Walter (drums) Steve Swell (trombone)
VENUE: The Stone
ADMISSION: $15

TUESDAY, November 24
6PM Inventions, Ensemble Signal
PROGRAM:
Ken Thomson, new work for percussion (2015) World premiere
Caroline Shaw, Boris Kerner (2012)
David Lang, Stuttered Chant (2011)
Iannis Xenakis, Psappha (1975)
http://www.millertheatre.com/events/inventions-signal
VENUE: Miller Theatre at Columbia University
ADMISSION: FREE

SATURDAY, November 28
8PM Trombone Solo, Schematics and Heuristics for (4) Clarinets #2, Composite #11
Marty Ehlrich, Ned Rothenberg, Guillermo Gregorio, Aaron Novich (clarinets) Nate Wooley (trumpet) Steve Swell (trombone, composition)
VENUE: The Stone
ADMISSION: $15

SATURDAY, November 28
10 PM TPP (Trombone, Piano, Poetry)
Connie Crothers (piano) Steve Dalachinsky (poetry) Steve Swell (trombone)
VENUE: The Stone
ADMISSION: $15

SUNDAY, November 29
3 PM John Zorn’s Bagatelles: Mark Feldman (violin) Sylvie Courvoisier (piano)
VENUE: The Stone
ADMISSION: $20

SUNDAY, November 29
8PM &10PM
From Norway—Frode Gjerstad Trio with Steve Swell
Frode Gjerstad (alto saxophone, clarinet) Johnny Ruun (bass) Paal Nilssen-Love (drums) Steve Swell (trombone)
VENUE: The Stone
ADMISSION: $15

NYC Calendar October 2015

Highlight of the month: John Zorn and Terry Riley festivals at National Sawdust

SATURDAY, October 3
7:30 PM Olivier Messiaen, Quartet for the End of Time
Jocelyn Ho, Aaron Kruziki, Regi Papa and Brian Sanders
http://www.jocelynho.com/steinwaywwii/
VENUE: Steinway Hall
ADMISSION: $25

FRIDAY – SUNDAY October 2-4
8:00 PM Laurie Anderson: Habeas Corpus
http://armoryonpark.org/programs_events/detail/laurie_anderson
VENUE: Park Avenue Armory
ADMISSION: $45, includes access to the installation

TUESDAY, October 6
8PM John Zorn Improv Night – A Stone Benefit
John Zorn (sax) Jon Rose (violin) Chuck Bettis (electronics) Ikue Mori (electronics) Okkyung Lee (cello) Francesco Mela (drums) and many special guests
VENUE: The Stone
ADMISSION: $20

WEDNESDAY, FRIDAY, SATURDAY, October 7, 9, 10
8PM John Luther Adams
http://www.millertheatre.com/events/jla-clouds
http://www.millertheatre.com/events/jla-for-lou-harrison
http://www.millertheatre.com/events/jla-white-silence
VENUE: Miller Theater
ADMISSION: $25-$40

THURSDAY, October 8
8PM Shelley Hirsch (voice) David Watson (guitar) Jon Rose (violin) Ches Smith (drums)

VENUE: The Stone
ADMISSION: $15

SUNDAY, October 11
8PM Sylvie Courvoisier (piano) Jon Rose (violin)

VENUE: The Stone
ADMISSION: $15

TUESDAY, October 13
8PM Malcolm Goldstein (Violin)
http://issueprojectroom.org/event/malcolm-goldstein

VENUE: Artists Space Books & Talks
ADMISSION: $12/$15

SATURDAY, October 17
7.30 and 9.30 PM Shane Endlsey
Shane Endlsey – trumpet
Uri Caine – piano
Nate Radley – guitar & pedal steel guitar
Matt Clohesy – bass
Gerald Cleaver ñ drums
VENUE: Jazz Gallery
ADMISSION: $12-$22

SATURDAY, October 17
10PM Hypercolor
Eyal Maoz (guitar) James Ilgenfritz (bass) Lukas Ligeti (drums)

VENUE: The Stone
ADMISSION: $15

TUESDAY, October 20
8PM Battle Pieces
Nate Wooley (trumpet) Ingrid Laubrock (sax) Sylvie Courvoisier (piano) Matt Moran (vibes)
VENUE: The Stone
ADMISSION: $15

TUESDAY, October 20
10PM Battle Pieces Meta
Nate Wooley (trumpet) Ingrid Laubrock (sax) Sylvie Courvoisier (piano) Matt Moran (vibes) Tim Berne (sax)
VENUE: The Stone
ADMISSION: $15

THURSDAY, October 22
8PM The Ex and Ken Vandermark
http://www.thebellhouseny.com/event/973387-ex-ken-vandermark-brooklyn/
https://www.facebook.com/events/1026025814087915/
VENUE: The Bell House
ADMISSION: $15

THURSDAY, October 22
8PM Baring Teeth Burning
Nate Wooley (trumpet and amplifier) C. Spencer Yeh (violin and voice) Ryan Sawyer (drums and voice)
VENUE: The Stone
ADMISSION: $15/$18

FRIDAY, October 23
8PM Nate Wooley (trumpet) Matt Shipp (piano)
VENUE: The Stone
ADMISSION: $15

SATURDAY, October 24
8PM Nate Wooley (trumpet) Zeena Parkins (harp and electronics) Joe Morris (guitar) P.A.L Ytton (drums)
VENUE: The Stone
ADMISSION: $15

SUNDAY, October 25
6PM Thomas Helton/William Parker

VENUE: Downtown Music Gallery
ADMISSION: Free

SUNDAY, October 25
10PM JOHN ZORN IMPROV NIGHT – A STONE BENEFIT
Nate Wooley (trumpet) John Zorn (sax) P.A.L. Ytton (percussion) Josh Sinton (bass clarinet) Matt Moran (vibes) Eivind Opsvik (bass) Harris Eisenstadt (drums)
VENUE: The Stone
ADMISSION: $20

FRIDAY, October 30
8PM Ron Anderson (bass, guitar, trumpet) Anthony Coleman (piano) Shelly Hirsch (voice) Sarah Bernstein (violin) Michael Evans (drums, electronics)
VENUE: The Stone
ADMISSION: $20

FRIDAY, SATURDAY October 30, 31
8:30 PM 80 years Barre Phillips / 15 years Trio Urs Leimgruber, Jacques Demierre, Barre Phillips
Urs Leimgruber saxophone
Jacques Demierre piano
Barre Phillips double bass

VENUE: Ibeam
ADMISSION:$15

Mary Kouyoumdjian’s Silent Cranes: Remembering the Armenian Genocide in Music

Memory is that which, in the end, never betrays.
Serhiy Zhadan

One of many questions triggered by Silent Cranes: The Music of Mary Kouyoumdjian, Performed by Kronos Quartet and Hotel Elefant presented on May 12 in Roulette, is the fragility of the boundary between political art and overt political statement. A descendant of a family that suffered from the Armenian Genocide, Kouyoumdjian shares Sartre’s belief in committed art, and, as Sartre suggests, in her works she recovers this world “by giving it to be seen as it is.”

Striving to approach controversial issues through the arts is apt in the case of the challenging topic addressed by Kouyoumdjian. Indeed, it is more common to learn about a century-old tragedy of the Armenian Genocide by experiencing artworks created by the exiled descendants of Armenians, rather than by means of a history lesson. I came to know about it from Ararat (2002), a film directed by an Armenian-Canadian Atom Egoyan, that shares many images and themes with Kouyoumdjian’s work: pomegranates, Arshile Gorky, Turkish soldier cutting the stomach of a pregnant woman, Hitler’s infamous inquiry, 1.5 million killed.

Kouyoumdjian’s music is able to transmit state of madness, exemplified in two portraits of genocide survivors – composer Komitas who suffered post-traumatic disorder after his deportation to a prison camp, and painter Gorky, who lost his mother to starvation. Sea of Two Colors (2011) transports the listener to the realm of a restless soul of Komitas; flowing piano trills of the sea can also be heard as dark sinister clouds that cover once clear mind of a legendary composer and, with a brief moment of transfiguration, dissolve into eternity. Gorky’s voice in Everlastingness (2015) sounds completely detached from the accompaniment (reminding of Schumann’s songs), as the protagonist, consumed by his memories, lives in a fever dream beyond reality.

Photo by Dominica Eriksen

Gorky’s ruminations didn’t engulf me as strongly as the last piece performed by Hotel Elefant: This Should Feel Like Home (2013) indeed felt like contemporary Armenia the way I imagine it, with all the imprints of the past. Folk melodies, marching band, distant voices, Orthodox church singing returning time and again – these recorded sounds naturally blended with their own reflections on the piano, flutes, clarinets, and strings.

The title piece of the concert, a four-movement multimedia work performed and commissioned by Kronos Quartet, seemed somewhat less integrated. The first movement appropriately introduced some highlights of Armenian cultural heritage: projected images of beautiful rugs and ceramics, traditional costumes and architecture, an old recording of Komitas music and his portrait on the screen. In the following movements pomegranates decomposed into blood as my ears submerged into survivors’ testimonies, my heart pierced with every word. I felt that these words were too numerous and too literal, leaving the music no role other than an accompaniment to a documentary film. After so many atrocities copied from real life and pasted into the piece, some of the conclusions in the last movement seemed redundant. Shocked by the work’s content, I felt imprisoned by the abundance of words. One of my inner voices resisted the idea that the facts, the images, the narrative and the conclusions were all thrown into my face so literally, leaving no room for reflection.

Photo by Dominica Eriksen

I’ve always believed that art should favor the figurative over the discursive, especially in the music; but further reflections on Kouyoumjian’s Silent Cranes proved that its case might be different. The piece bears many similarities with Schoenberg’s A Survivor from Warsaw (1947), famously criticized by Adorno for its literal depiction of suffering. The subject in each piece is personal to both composers, both works are based on the reports of survivors (although Survivor has a fictional narrative and it is not clear whether any reports at all are quoted directly), and the text is clearly recited. Moreover, both works stress the role of memory, although, ironically, in Schoenberg’s, written right after the Holocaust, the narrator “cannot remember everything,” while Kouyoumjian digs a hundred years into the past to give voice to someone who “was young, but still remembers.” One more twist of irony: in 1915, The New York Times systematically reported on the mass murder of the Armenian people, while the atrocities of the Holocaust were not immediately disclosed. And what do we remember today? Perhaps the artists who address the events forced into oblivion by the political will, have a right to be fully committed (i.e. realistic) – this is the only way time can lose its battle to memory.

Erlena Dlu

NYC calendar March 2015

Highlight of the month: The Stone residencies
SYLVIE COURVOISIER (MAR 10—15) and GUY KLUCEVSEK (MAR 17—22)

THURSDAY, March 5
8 pm Guy Klucevsek & Phillip Johnston Duo

Guy Klucevsek (accordion) Phillip Johnston (soprano sax)
Compositions and improvisations.
VENUE: The Stone
ADMISSION: $15

SATURDAY, March 7
9 pm Kronos Quartet
Program:
MERLIJN TWAALFHOVEN On Parole (World Premiere)
BRYCE DESSNER Tenebre
DEREK CHARKE Dear Creator, help us return to the centre of our hearts (World Premiere, co-commissioned by Carnegie Hall)
ALEKSANDRA VREBALOV / BILL MORRISON Beyond Zero: 1914–1918 (for quartet with film) (NY Premiere)
VENUE: Carnegie Hall, Zankel Hall
ADMISSION: $55 – $65

SUNDAY, March 8
8 pm Ned Rothenberg & Phillip Johnston Duo
Ned Rothenberg (woodwinds) Phillip Johnston (soprano sax)
Compositions and improvisations.
VENUE: The Stone
ADMISSION: $15

TUESDAY, March 10
8 pm MALPHAS-Sylvie Courvoisier and Mark Feldman playing Book of Angels
Mark Feldman (violin) Sylvie Courvoisier (piano)
Masada compositions by John Zorn.
VENUE: The Stone
ADMISSION: $15

WEDNESDAY, March 11
7 pm Mivos Quartet with composer/soprano Kate Soper

Music of Berg, Gesualdo, Iannotta; a world premiere by Kate Soper

VENUE: The Italian Academy
ADMISSION: Free

FRIDAY, March 13
8 pm Mephista
Sylvie Courvoisier (piano) Ikue Mori (electronics) Susie Ibarra (drums)
10 pm
Mephista + Nate Wooley
Sylvie Courvoisier (piano) Ikue Mori (electronics) Jim Black (drums) Nate Wooley (trumpet)
VENUE: The Stone
ADMISSION: $15 (each set)

SATURDAY, March 14
8 pm Sylvie Courvoisier and Mark Feldman Duo
Sylvie Courvoisier (piano, compositions) Mark Feldman (violin, compositions)
Sylvie Courvoisier-Mark Feldman DUO playing their own music from their CDs “Live at theatre vidy-Lausanne” and new compositions.
10 pm
Sylvie Courvoisier New Graphic Scores
VENUE: The Stone
ADMISSION: $15 (each set)

SATURDAY, March 14
9 pm & 10:30 pm Michael Formanek
Tim Berne, alto sax; Brian Settles, tenor saxophone, flute; Jacob Sacks, piano; Michael Formanek, bass; Dan Weiss, drums
VENUE: Cornelia street cafe
ADMISSION: $10 cover plus $10 minimum

SUNDAY, March 15
8 pm Sylvie Courvoisier Solo
Sylvie Courvoisier (piano, compositions)
Playing music from her solo album “Signs and Epigrams” on Tzadik Records + new pieces and improv.

10 pm
Sylvie Courvoisier, Mark Feldman, Ned Rothenberg TRIO
Sylvie Courvoisier (piano) Mark Feldman (violin) Ned Rothenberg (clarinet)
VENUE: The Stone
ADMISSION: $15

MONDAY, March 16
8:30pm Lukas Ligeti, percussion and Thollem McDonas, piano
VENUE: Spectrum
ADMISSION: $15

TUESDAY, March 17
8 pm The Klucevsek/Bern Unit
Alan Bern (accordion, piano, melodica, compositions) Guy Klucevsek (accordion, compositions)
VENUE: The Stone
ADMISSION: $20

WEDNESDAY, March 18
8 pm Teetering on the Verge of Normalcy
Peter Brown, Kamala Sankaram (voices) Jed Distler (toy piano, piano) Todd Reynolds (violin) Guy Klucevsek (accordion, compositions)
Music for collaborations: Chinoiserie (Ping Chong), Fallen Shadows (Karen Bamonte), Industrious Angels (Laurie McCants), Ruth Doesn’t Live Here Anymore
(Lionel Popkin)
VENUE: The Stone
ADMISSION: $20

THURSDAY, March 19
8 pm Solo Accordion Music 1982-2013
Guy Klucevsek (accordion, compositions)
VENUE: The Stone
ADMISSION: $20

FRIDAY, March 20
8 pm The Bantam Orchestra
Pete Donovan (bass) Erik Friedlander (cello) Mary Rowell (violin) Guy Klucevsek (accordion, compositions)
Music from Citrus, My Love (rec/rec swiss), Stolen Memories (Tzadik), and Flying Vegetables of the Apocalypse (XI)
VENUE: The Stone
ADMISSION: $20

SUNDAY, March 22
3 PM Meredith Monk and Friends
Performers:
Bang on a Can All-Stars, Don Byron and Guests, Lukas Ligeti, Meredith Monk and Vocal Ensemble, Missy Mazzoli and Victoire, John Zorn and Cyro Baptista
All-Meredith Monk program
VENUE: Carnegie Hall, Zankel Hall
ADMISSION: $43 – $50

WEDNESDAY, March 25
7:30 pm Neighborhood Concert: Cyro Baptista’s Banquet of the Spirits
VENUE: Harlem Stage Gatehouse
ADMISSION: Free

WEDNESDAY, March 25
7:00 pm Quartetto Maurice
Music by Andrea Agostini, Steve Reich, Fausto Romitelli, and a world premiere by Ryan Carter
VENUE: The Italian Academy
ADMISSION: Free