[silence] S.E.M. Ensemble at Experimental Intermedia Fr Mar 7

[S.E.M. Ensemble]

* R E M I N D E R *


S.E.M. Ensemble
at
EXPERIMENTAL INTERMEDIA
Friday, March 7, 9pm

>>> NOT JUST<<<
STRING QUARTETS

224 Centre Street (at Grand), Third Floor
New York, NY 10013 
 
The S.E.M. Ensemble
Petr Kotik, Director

Flute: Petr Kotik
Trumpet: Kyle Resnick, Terry Szor
Trombone: Julie Josephson, Chris McIntyre
Percussion: Peter Wise, Joe Bergen
Violin: Conrad Harris, Lynn Bechtold
Viola: Lev Zhurbin
Cello: Ludmila Konstantinova
 
PROGRAM:           
Petr Kotik: Solos and Incidental Harmonies (1982/83)
Mary Bellamy: Quartet (2007/08)
Elliott Sharp: Light in Fog (2002)
Elliott Sharp: Homage James Tenney (2007)
Petr Kotik: String Quartet (2007/08)


 
ABOUT THE PROGRAM

Petr Kotik (b. 1942 in Prague) entered the Prague Conservatory to study the
flute at the age of 14; four years later, he began to compose. In 1961,
while still a student at the Conservatory, he founded his first ensemble,
Musica viva pragensis. Since then, he has concentrated equally on composing
and performing. In addition to Musica viva pragensis, he founded and
directed the QUAX Ensemble (1966-69, also in Prague) and shortly after his
1969 arrival in the U.S., the S.E.M. Ensemble, which expanded into The
Orchestra of the S.E.M. Ensemble in 1992. Kotik has received numerous
composition grants and commissions from the National Endowment for the Arts
and the West German Radio in Cologne among others. In 1998, he received the
composition award from the Foundation for Contemporary Performance Arts. In
2004 Kotik was a resident composer in Berlin under the sponsorship of
Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst (DAAD).

Kotik¹s compositional method can be compared to a game in which the use of
controlled chance is balanced by conscious decision-making. The purpose of
this method is to trigger unpredictable processes, while the work progresses
in an envisioned direction. The strategies and limitations Kotik imposes on
chance are at the core of his compositional process.

Composed in 1983-83, Solos and Incidental Harmonies was Kotik¹s first large
instrumental ensemble piece after more than a decade of writing for voices.
In the beginning of the 1980s, Kotik became concerned with tonality and the
desire to introduce precise rhythmic elements into his music, both of which
needed traditionally notated scores, Solos and Incidental Harmonies being
the first piece in this new direction.  String Quartet was premiered on
December 20, 2007 at Paula Cooper Gallery. Kotik continues to work on the
composition and on March 7, SEM will present the piece in its new version.

The composer and multi-instrumentalist Elliott Sharp (b. 1951 in Cleveland)
studied anthropology at Cornell University; composition, ethnomusicology and
electronic music at Bard College; and composition and world music at
SUNY/Buffalo. Since 1979 he has lived in New York City and has been touring
the U.S., Europe, and Japan extensively since 1980.
 
Sharp¹s collaboration with Petr Kotik and the S.E.M. Ensemble goes back to
concerts in the late 1970s in Buffalo, NY. Most recently, The SEM Orchestra
performed Racing Hearts by Sharp and in 1992, Sharp composed Deadpan for the
S.E.M. Ensemble, which was performed in the U.S. and Europe.

Sharp's compositions have been performed by the Symphony of the Hessischer
Rundfunk, the Ensemble Modern, Ensemble Sospeso, Arditti Quartet, Meridian
Arts Ensemble, Continuum, Kronos Quartet, and Zeitkratzer.  Other
collaborators have included qawaali singer Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, playwright
Dael Orlandersmith, cello innovator Frances-Marie Uitti, sci-fi writers Jack
Womack and Lucius Shepard; blues legend Hubert Sumlin; jazz greats Sonny
Sharrock, Arthur Blythe, Jack deJohnette, and Oliver Lake; and Bachir Attar,
leader of the Master Musicians of Jahjoukah.


 
Mary Bellamy (b. 1971 in England) studied with Anthony Powers at Cardiff
University, Simon Bainbridge at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in
London, and George Nicholson at the University of Sheffield. She is a
lecturer in composition at the University of Huddersfield in England.  Her
pieces have been performed at the Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival,
the Hoxton New Music Days, State of the Nation, and the South Bank's
Inventions Days, as well as at many individual concerts, and by leading
contemporary music ensembles such as the London Sinfonietta, The Birmingham
Contemporary Music Group, the Composers Ensemble, and Ensemble Expose.


The S.E.M. Ensemble is dedicated to the performance and advancement of new
music, with a focus on works that can best be described as post-Cagean.
Since its inception in 1970, SEM has collaborated with composers who have
also often performed with the group, including Earle Brown, John Cage, David
Tudor, Alvin Lucier, Morton Feldman, Pauline Oliveros, Roscoe Mitchell, and
a score of other composers. In 1992, the Ensemble expanded into The
Orchestra of the S.E.M. Ensemble.  Their debut concert in Carnegie Hall,
³Tribute to John Cage,² premiered the complete Atlas Eclipticalis with an
86-piece orchestra, with Kotik conducting and Tudor at the piano. Since
then, the SEM Orchestra has performed in Japan and toured Europe five times.
SEM holds yearly concerts in New York at the Paula Cooper Gallery and other
venues such as Merkin Concert Hall, Alice Tully Hall at Lincoln Center,
Carnegie Hall, Zankel Hall at Carnegie Hall, and the World Financial Center.

 
For more information visit:
S.E.M. Ensemble: www.semensemble.org
 
################
 
This Concert is possible thanks to support from New York State Council on
the Arts, NYC Department of Cultural Affairs, Mary Flagler Cary Charitable
Trust, National Endowment for the Arts, Argosy Foundation, The Amphion
Foundation, Phaedrus Foundation and individual contributions. Special thanks
to the Brooklyn Borough President, Marty Markowitz, for his support.
 
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