Kontraklang # 7 w/ Dunscombe + Endean + Josel + Alessandrini at Ev. Brüdergemeinde / Wednesday, 07.10.2015

The Italian composer Pierluigi Billone is known for questioning traditional instrumental playing techniques. According to his program notes to “1+1=1” from 2006, instruments are practically burdened by playing techniques and the centuries-long perfection of their characteristic qualities.

First contact with almost any instrument is already conditioned, but at the same time it remains open. When the composer and player adopt a new perspective, the identity of the instrument is already there.

[vimeo 72395692 w=620&h=300]

Pierluigi Billone studied composition with Salvatore Sciarrino and Helmut Lachenmann. His pieces have been performed by Klangforum Wien and Ensemble Modern, among other ensembles, in festivals such as Donaueschinger Musiktage or Ars Musica Bruxelles. He has received various prizes including the 1996 Busoni prize from the Akademie der Künste Berlin.

Musician and sound artist Samuel Dunscombe is specialized in the use of clarinets, computers, and microphones. “1+1=1” is a focus his PhD research at the University of California, San Diego, for which he has worked in close collaboration with the composer. Dunscombe has also worked with Iancu Dumitrescu, Chikako Morishita, Richard Barrett, and Jaap Blonk. Aviva Endean is an Australian composer and clarinetist. As a performer she is particularly interested in developing unusual playing techniques and contexts.

http://https://youtu.be/hpO9pngRmds

Austrian composer Peter Ablinger’s piece also carries a numerical title. Since 1994, Ablinger has concentrated on chamber music, as well as electroacoustic music and sond installations. His piece 1-127 for electric guitar and CD will be performed by Seth Josel. Josel, born in New York in 1961, studied at the Manhattan School of Music and Yale University, and has worked with a number of well-known composers such as Mauricio Kagel, Helmut Lachenmann, Tristan Murail, Phill Niblock, and James Tenney.

The third piece of the evening, by Patricia Alessandrini, will be performed by the composer herself with Josel and acoustic guitar. Most of Alessandrini’s works include live electronics and multimedia elements that interface actively with aspects of interpretation, perception, and memory.