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4/19/2006
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
The New York Art Ensemble Presents Its Fifth Annual
Tribeca New Music Festival
The New Avant Pop!
Sunday, May 21 at 7 p.m.
Electric Kompany with guitarist Kevin Gallagher
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE�The New York Art Ensemble concludes its Fifth Annual Tribeca New Music Festival at 7 p.m. on Sunday, 21 at The Flea Theater, 41 White Street, in NYC with guitarist, Kevin Gallagher and his new group, Electric Kompany Tickets are $15 and are available through Theatermania: online at www.theatermania.com or by phone at 212-352-3101.
Kevin Gallagher and Electric Kompany
Sunday, May 21, at 7 p.m. at The Flea Theater, the New York Art Ensemble will present the final concert in the Tribeca New Music Festival, featuring the guitarist Kevin Gallagher and his Avant Pop group, Electric Kompany, featuring - Kevin Gallagher, electric guitar, Jim Johnston, keyboards; Alex Walker, bass; Thad Wheeler, drums; and guest, Sarah M. Newman, vocals.
The program includes Architectonics by Erkki-Sven T��r for electric guitar and piano. Architectonics is a series of musical constructions in which musical building blocks are gradually brought together to form the structure of the piece. The language of the piece is influenced by groups such as King Crimson, Yes, Genesis, and Mike Oldfield. Fratres (the title means �brotherhood� in Latin) by Arvo P�rt brings a deeply spiritual and transcendental element to this piece of music, which has been arranged for guitar and piano by Mr. Gallagher. The music is made completely from rolling arpeggiated figures that begin very far away and move with a slowly building and powerful meditative grace. Grab it! by Jacob ter Veldhuis works with samples from the documentary Scared Straight in which prisoners are shown intimidating and threatening juvenile delinquents in the hopes of scaring them away from a future prison life. The performer often doubles the speech of the prisoners in rhythm and pitch. This is considered a watershed piece for the avant pop music movement. The second half of the program includes 3 Works by Nick Didkovsky, arranged for the Electric Kompany into a gritty and sophisticated soup that combines heavy metal and intriguing dynamic and harmonic contrasts. 3 Miniatures by Marc Mellits contrast soft pulsing and hard-driving rhythmic patterns that can sound like Phillip Glass on steroids. The concert concludes with four songs from the rock/theater piece Justine�s Red, A Tale of Pain and Redemption by Thad Wheeler and is sung by Sarah M. Newman. It�s a rock concert--musical vision of an apocalyptic world ruled by raw power. The libretto combines the plot lines of two novels by the Marquis de Sade, Justine and Juliette�a unique and very unusual rock musical that combines pulp, power, and wit.
Electric Kompany is an ensemble dedicated to arranging, composing, and commissioning music for rock quartet--the �modern instrument ensemble� of our times. At this time in music history, composers are freely combining avant-garde and American popular music aesthetics. This new �Avant - Pop� music is daring, exciting, shocking, and cutting edge. However, most composers are writing this �new� music for �old� instruments. Typically, pieces are written for traditional instruments with touches of modern technology--a string quartet with an added delay effect, a cello routed through a tube screamer pedal, an orchestra piece with a sampler. As beautiful as these pieces are, there still is a tremendous lack of �modern music� written for �modern instruments�--electric guitar, keyboards, drum set, etc. This is the next logical step in music evolution and is the main reason for the formation of the group Electric Kompany.
Kevin R. Gallagher (electric guitar) began playing rock guitar in his formative years but his musical appetite quickly led him to study jazz and, ultimately, classical guitar. In the summer of 2001, Kevin decided to expand the scope of his concert programs to also include works for electric guitar. Kevin is active in encouraging composers to write new music for the instruments of today--such as the electric guitar, turntables, synthesizers, etc. This unique approach to composition is widening the audience and interest for new music as well as educating composers who never have the chance to study these modern instruments in a traditional conservatory education.
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The New York Art Ensemble, Inc. is a nonprofit organization that seeks to challenge, entertain, inspire, educate, and connect the public to the best of new American music. It presents eclectic programming that reflects the energy and diversity of America's contemporary musical environment and features professional musicians of the highest level.
The New York Art Ensemble, in conjunction with The Flea Theater, presents the Tribeca New Music Festival.
(JPEG photos of the artists are available upon request.)
For further information about concerts, the Young Composers� Competition, or The New York Art Ensemble, go to http://www.nyae.org or contact NYAE directly at 212-234-4325.
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posted by Coming Events
4/19/2006 11:45:00 PM
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