$15
Sat., February 20, 2010 / 7:00 PM
Audio / Video
Gallery
About This Event
Minimum Age:
All AgesDoors Open:
7:00 PMShow Time:
8:00 PMDescription:
More about the show:
Jeff Mills:
There is a unique beauty in the motion of cycles. Like the spiraling of time we live in, this motion is unescapable. The convincing illusion that time restarts itself and allows us to begin again somehow feels like a rebirth. The classical composer Claude Debussy adapted this force in the cyclic method of 'rolling'. Born on the edge of Le Mer, he sublimely translates the incoming/outgoing motion of waves to piano arrangements. With a passion that rings a certain unspoken truth, his works have endure centuries, as they undeniably belong to reality itself.
This is a fact: Music without electricity is still music. The divisions of 'genre' that exists in music were designed for convenience for the listener. Genres were created to distinguish and sort between the vast ideas of music composers, this division was not in the original design of using sound as entertainment, but it was for reason of utility.
The idea of receiving a invitation from Kathleen Supove to participate in such a adventurous event is thrilling. It is a chance to object to the common notion that Music divides people. This division is something I look very much forward to exploring and is the shared task that the some Classical and Electronic Musicians are intent of dissolving as the trend of merging the two forms become more appreciated. Conveniently, looping is widely practiced in the world of Electronic Music and the merging of our ideas and impressions through the work of Claude Debussy is a practical decision I equate to nothing no less than substantial.
Kathleen Supové:
To me, the exploration of an intersection between Contemporary Classical and Techno music is more unusual than other kinds of crossover. Examples abound of classical with rock, or classical with jazz. But what about the kind of obsessive, personal fantasy that one constructs while standing (never mind dancing!) on the dance floor? How far are they from large-scale works of Philip Glass, John Adams, Charlemagne Palestine?
I've gotten this Debussy idea, in part, because he was a very early example of making a new kind of music and harmonic language that has been embraced in many musical worlds today. He had his obsessions that surfaced after travels to distant lands, some of them in his imagination.
In addition to the Debussy, or Debussy-like improvisations, I will add pieces that, in some way, reflect a sensibility or compositional process that is compatible with Techno.
This is a first-come seated event. Seating is limited and not guaranteed; please arrive early
Jeff Mills:
There is a unique beauty in the motion of cycles. Like the spiraling of time we live in, this motion is unescapable. The convincing illusion that time restarts itself and allows us to begin again somehow feels like a rebirth. The classical composer Claude Debussy adapted this force in the cyclic method of 'rolling'. Born on the edge of Le Mer, he sublimely translates the incoming/outgoing motion of waves to piano arrangements. With a passion that rings a certain unspoken truth, his works have endure centuries, as they undeniably belong to reality itself.
This is a fact: Music without electricity is still music. The divisions of 'genre' that exists in music were designed for convenience for the listener. Genres were created to distinguish and sort between the vast ideas of music composers, this division was not in the original design of using sound as entertainment, but it was for reason of utility.
The idea of receiving a invitation from Kathleen Supove to participate in such a adventurous event is thrilling. It is a chance to object to the common notion that Music divides people. This division is something I look very much forward to exploring and is the shared task that the some Classical and Electronic Musicians are intent of dissolving as the trend of merging the two forms become more appreciated. Conveniently, looping is widely practiced in the world of Electronic Music and the merging of our ideas and impressions through the work of Claude Debussy is a practical decision I equate to nothing no less than substantial.
Kathleen Supové:
To me, the exploration of an intersection between Contemporary Classical and Techno music is more unusual than other kinds of crossover. Examples abound of classical with rock, or classical with jazz. But what about the kind of obsessive, personal fantasy that one constructs while standing (never mind dancing!) on the dance floor? How far are they from large-scale works of Philip Glass, John Adams, Charlemagne Palestine?
I've gotten this Debussy idea, in part, because he was a very early example of making a new kind of music and harmonic language that has been embraced in many musical worlds today. He had his obsessions that surfaced after travels to distant lands, some of them in his imagination.
In addition to the Debussy, or Debussy-like improvisations, I will add pieces that, in some way, reflect a sensibility or compositional process that is compatible with Techno.
This is a first-come seated event. Seating is limited and not guaranteed; please arrive early
Artists
Jeff Mills
Jeff Mills is considered one of the most brilliant DJ and producers of techno in the World. He is the most recoｇnized representative figure of the Detroit Techno, where he began his career as a DJ on the WDRQ radio in 1984. He has created with “Mad Mike Banks” the collective “Underground Resistance”, which became a reference in the electro sphere. In 1992, Jeff Mills created his own label in Chicago :with “Axis”, he could keep his artistic independence and produce his own timeless electronic music compositions, inspired of science fiction. Jeff Mills’ artistic career goes much further than techno music. For over a decade, he’s been transcending disciplines with a large number of collaborations in contemporary art. Interested in cinema and attracted by images, Jeff Mills started working, in 2000, on the fusion of image and sound. In 2000, he created and presented at the Centre Pompidou a new sound track for the film “Metropolis” by Fritz Lang. A year after, he created “Mono”, an installation inspired by the movie “2001, a Space Odyssey”, by Stanley Kubrick. In 2004, Jeff Mills produced the DVD “Exhibitionist” which presents DJ sets filmed from various angles (from front, top and side). At that same period, he acquired a new tool, the DVJ-X which allowed him to manipulate image and sound together paving the way into the Art World. In 2005, Jeff Mills made, for MK2, a new sound track for the silent movie “Three Ages” by Buster Keaton, and created a serie of 6 video art works presented in Paris at the Galerie Georges-Philippe et Nathalie Vallois and at the « rendez-vous vidéo » of the Musée des Beaux-Arts in Rouen. Jeff Mills continued this work period with a production on Josephine Baker, presented during the FIAC 2005 in the Grand Palais. On July 2nd 2005, Jeff Mills played together with the Philharmonic Orchestra of Montpellier, for the 20th anniversary of the Pont du Gard's inclusion in the world heritage list by UNESCO. Together with the orchestra, Jeff Mills performed his own compositions, orchestrated by Thomas Roussel for this occasion. In 2007, he was invited by the movie director Claire Denis to create the sound environment of the exhibition « Diaspora » at the musée du quai Branly in Paris.. That same year, Jeff Mills received the title of « Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres» from the French ministry of Culture. In 2008, Jeff Mills was commissioned to create a contemporary installation for 100 Year Anniversary of the Futurist Manifesto at the Pompidou Center. At the Sonar Festival in Barcelona, Jeff Mills and « Mad Mike Banks » were together again for an historical performance called « X-102, Rediscovers the Rings of Saturn », mixing video and music. Always busy, Jeff Mills is involved in numerous projects at this time. The next event: For the 100 Year anniversary of the famous director, Cecil B. DeMille, he'll perform a Cinenamix at the French Cinematheque in Paris April 2nd.
Kathleen Supové
Kathleen Supové is one of America's most acclaimed and versatile contemporary music pianists, known for continually redefining what it means to be a pianist/keyboardist/performance artist in today's world. In addition to her compelling virtuosity, she is also known for her boundary-breaking ways of breaking the wall between performer and audience. After winning top prizes in the Gaudeamus International Competition for Interpretation of Contemporary Music, she began her career as a guest artist at the prestigious Darmstadt Festival in Germany. Since then, Ms. Supové has presented solo concerts entitled The Exploding Piano, in which she has championed the music of countless contemporary composers—minimalists, postminimalists, and experimentalists. The most notable are Frederic Rzewski, Louis Andriessen, Terry Riley, Chinary Ung, Giacinto Scelsi, Iannis Xenakis, John Adams, and Alvin Curran, as well as younger composers including Randall Woolf, David Lang, Nick Didkovsky, Eve Beglarian, Daniel Bernard Roumain, John Zorn, Carolyn Yarnell, Phil Kline, Lukas Ligeti, Kitty Brazelton, Aaron Jay Kernis, Mary Ellen Childs, Michael Daugherty, Marti Epstein, Patrick Grant, Eleanor Sandresky, Dan Becker, Elaine Kaplinsky, Dafna Naphtali, Jed Distler, Nicholas Brooke, Lois V Vierk, Marita Bolles, Gene Pritsker, Robert Carl, Rob Zuidam, Belinda Reynolds and many others. She is also involved in commissioning projects with even younger, emerging composers such as the iconoclastic Michael Gatonska, singer/performance artist Corey Dargel, composer/video v.j. Peter Kirn, and Gameboy composer Bubblyfish.
The Exploding Piano has become a multimedia experience by using electronics, theatrical elements, vocal rants, performance art, staging, and collaboration with artists from other disciplines. This has taken on several different dimensions. First, Ms. Supové has been commissioning and presenting a new repertory of works for piano and electronics. Secondly, she has been presenting a number of Concert Theater works, most notably the evening-length staged piece for singing/reciting/moving pianist called Jitters, (music by Randall Woolf and texts/directing by Valeria Vasilevski). Furthermore, her Exploding Piano concerts almost always have original monologues and theatrical sketches surrounding the pieces. Kathleen is a featured performer in the Summer 2000 issue of Yale Theater Journal, which is devoted to Concert Theater. In 2001, she was made a Yamaha Artist and is working on a long-term project of commissioning a body of works for Yamaha Disklavier. She has done dance collaborations with The Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company, Susan Marshall and Co., Heidi Latsky, and Nami Yamamoto. Ms. Supové has received commissioning and production grants from Meet The Composer, Mary Flagler Cary Charitable Trust, The Greenwall Foundation, Aaron Copland Fund for Music, and American Composers Forum, among others.
She has appeared with The Lincoln Center Festival, The Philip Glass Ensemble, Bang On a Can Marathon, Music at the Anthology, Composers' Collaborative, Inc., and at many other venues, ranging from concert halls such as Carnegie to theatrical spaces such as The Kitchen to clubs such as The Knitting Factory and The Cutting Room. She is currently an artist-in-residence at The Flea Theater in NYC, where she regularly presents her newest Exploding Piano concerts each season. Recently, she was a featured performer in two prestigious festivals: The Ussachevsky Memorial Festival (Pomona College, Claremont, CA) and the NIME Festival (New Interfaces for Musical Expression) in New York City.
In 2004, Ms. Supové released Infusion on the Koch International Classics label, featuring four contemporary solo works for piano and electronics. It is available through CDBaby, iTunes, and other digital sales outlets. Other recordings can be found on the Tzadik, CRI, Innova, New World, Neuma, Bridge, Centaur, OO, and XI labels.
Besides being a soloist, Kathleen is a member of the art-rock band Dr. Nerve. She also curates Music With A View, a free music + discussion series at The Flea Theater.
The Exploding Piano has become a multimedia experience by using electronics, theatrical elements, vocal rants, performance art, staging, and collaboration with artists from other disciplines. This has taken on several different dimensions. First, Ms. Supové has been commissioning and presenting a new repertory of works for piano and electronics. Secondly, she has been presenting a number of Concert Theater works, most notably the evening-length staged piece for singing/reciting/moving pianist called Jitters, (music by Randall Woolf and texts/directing by Valeria Vasilevski). Furthermore, her Exploding Piano concerts almost always have original monologues and theatrical sketches surrounding the pieces. Kathleen is a featured performer in the Summer 2000 issue of Yale Theater Journal, which is devoted to Concert Theater. In 2001, she was made a Yamaha Artist and is working on a long-term project of commissioning a body of works for Yamaha Disklavier. She has done dance collaborations with The Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company, Susan Marshall and Co., Heidi Latsky, and Nami Yamamoto. Ms. Supové has received commissioning and production grants from Meet The Composer, Mary Flagler Cary Charitable Trust, The Greenwall Foundation, Aaron Copland Fund for Music, and American Composers Forum, among others.
She has appeared with The Lincoln Center Festival, The Philip Glass Ensemble, Bang On a Can Marathon, Music at the Anthology, Composers' Collaborative, Inc., and at many other venues, ranging from concert halls such as Carnegie to theatrical spaces such as The Kitchen to clubs such as The Knitting Factory and The Cutting Room. She is currently an artist-in-residence at The Flea Theater in NYC, where she regularly presents her newest Exploding Piano concerts each season. Recently, she was a featured performer in two prestigious festivals: The Ussachevsky Memorial Festival (Pomona College, Claremont, CA) and the NIME Festival (New Interfaces for Musical Expression) in New York City.
In 2004, Ms. Supové released Infusion on the Koch International Classics label, featuring four contemporary solo works for piano and electronics. It is available through CDBaby, iTunes, and other digital sales outlets. Other recordings can be found on the Tzadik, CRI, Innova, New World, Neuma, Bridge, Centaur, OO, and XI labels.
Besides being a soloist, Kathleen is a member of the art-rock band Dr. Nerve. She also curates Music With A View, a free music + discussion series at The Flea Theater.