Composer Anthony Cornicello (born in Brooklyn, New York, 1964) writes music that blurs distinctions between performers and electronics, timbre and harmony, composition and improvisation, and explores the boundaries of what may be considered post-classical concert music. His music is vibrant and visceral, full of rhythmic energy and harmonic sophistication, and his forays into live electronics have led to exciting combinations of instruments and processed sound. Cornicello’s background as a jazz pianist is evident not only in the rhythmic activity of his music, but also in his constant investigation of the rich sonorities available from a variety of instruments.
He has been commissioned to write music for the Scorchio Electric String Quartet, ModernWorks! (funding from Meet the Composer/ Commissioning Music USA), the Auros Group for New Music, the Prism Saxophone Quartet, the New York New Music Ensemble, David Holzman, the Group for Contemporary Music, and the InterEnsemble of Padova, Italy. His work has also been featured on the Guggenheim Museum’s “Works and Process” series. Cornicello’s works have also been performed by the Chicago Civic Symphony, Parnassus, ALEA III, Composers Concordance, Madeleine Shapiro, Robert Black, among many other outstanding groups and solo performers. His music has been presented as part of the Darmstadt International Festival of New Music as well as the June in Buffalo Festival.
Cornicello’s Second String Quartet has been recorded by the Atlantic String Quartet; the Second Sonata for Piano by David Holzman (Centaur). More recently, his Post-Modern Waltz was recorded by Eric Moe for Albany Records. A portrait CD of Cornicello’s works is scheduled for 2006 release on Albany Records.
As a performer, he has conducted or played piano in his own works on numerous occasions. While a graduate student at Rutgers, he formed and directed the Janus Ensemble, a group dedicated to contemporary music. More recently, Cornicello has begun performing on the laptop, using a variety of interfaces and the Max/MSP program. Those performances, mostly with EEE!, have had a notable impact on his music, as EEE!’s music ranges from hip-hop to experimental noise. EEE! is based at Eastern Connecticut State University, where Cornicello is an Associate Professor and Director of the Electronic Music Lab.
Cornicello received the Ph.D. from Brandeis University, where he studied with David Rakowski, Eric Chasalow, and Martin Boykan. His teachers also include Charles Wuorinen, Gérard Grisey, and Richard Beirach.
His current fields of interest include developing unusual interfaces for live computer music performances, as well as continuing to investigate resonance and spatialization. His recent and current projects (mostly for string instruments and electronics) have been exploring the latter two, and the series of experimental works ReZenant Garden, performed by EEE! have operated on all three areas of interest. Future projects will include works for instrumental groups or soloists and electronics, as well as turntablists.
Cornicello's works are published by C.F. Peters Corporation and APNM, and he is a member of BMI.
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Sunday, March 22, 2009
When reviewers go bad.....
Okay, I'm not going to talk about reviewers who are overly critical - you know the type! They've just heard someone blast through a program of unbelievable virtuosity, and they'll find some nuance they didn't like. They are truly annoying, but not the subject of my post today.
No, I'm talking about a reviewer who is clearly out of his or her league, but refuses to admit it. This is more like the poor chap who is used to reviewing folk music suddenly having to review a Keith Jarrett concert. Or, apparently, what happened to Lief Ellis, a composer in the Hartford, CT area.
So, Lief is an electronic music composer. No one is going to call this 'easy listening' music - it's certainly unusual, but well within the confines of what we've come to know as electronic music. It's got a certain Experimental bent to it (hey, we've got Alvin Lucier down the road, so it's bound to rub off on all of us!). He does a number of performances as part of the Hartford Sound Alliance, one of which was 'reviewed' by the Hartford Advocate last year. See this link, and you'll see what I mean. Lief has it on his website as well, listed as a "less than friendly review."
Now, the Hartford Advocate is an odd beast. It tries to be counter-cultural, as much as one can be counter-cultural these days. I say that, because most of what it embraces is either 'green culture' (good, but becoming more and more mainstream), and varieties of a post-punk/rock culture. It's a bit difficult for me to embrace many of these bands as counter-cultural - they're really just a few steps away from American Idol. (I'm not saying they're not good, but they're not exactly the Mothers of Invention on the scale of counter-cultural-ism.)
So, their reporter shows up, obviously trying to be hip and counter-cultural. He went in with a predefined notion of what electronic music is, and proceeded to review the event based on that idea. Now, Dan Barry (the reviewer, that is), can you please tell me what the following artists have in common: Steve Reich, Radiohead, DJ Olive, Pauline Oliveros, David Tudor, Autechre, Amon Tobin, and John Cage? Yes, they all make significant use of electronics in their artistic endeavors. They'd all create music that would essentially be called electronic.
He even says: "I was hoping for a performance that might demonstrate that electronics could be warmer and friendlier, and percussion colder and more mechanical, than how we normally think of each." Okay, this is something I tell anyone going to a new music concert of any sort: leave your expectations home. You'll never know what you're going to hear - especially if there are artists which whom you are unfamiliar. Sure, we know what to expect from, let's say, Wuorinen or Michael Gordon - for the most part. They may surprise you, though.
Worst of all, this reviewer should have really turned down the review, based on his own ignorance. Case in point: I've got a few students who are in a local band called "Tip the Van" Now, I like what I've heard of them - "Tip the Van" is a ska band. If, say, the Hartford Advocate found that all their reviewers were suddenly taken ill and started frantically calling people to review concerts, would I be the best choice to review "Tip the Van"? Even if I were to set aside my previous interaction with the band members (who, I should add, are bunch of nice people), would I be able to produce a good review? Well, I'd certainly be able to comment on the night's performance - "they sounded good", or "wow, was that tune great!". But, would I be able to deftly compare it to other ska bands? If I were, maybe I'd find how "Tip the Van" fits into the ska genre - or how they're unique in certain ways. But I certainly wouldn't do what the reviewer did for the Advocate - shrug my shoulders and go to the gig.
Of course, I'd rather have seen Mr. Barry done a little basic research. A quick perusal of Lief's website would have yielded some names that might have placed the listener in the right context. And, it would have certainly tipped off a reviewer that this music is connected to a genre of contemporary electronic music. And, in many ways, you'd realize that it's not that off-the-wall. If you've been to the Spark Festival or SEAMUS, you're going to see a lot of music that has similar qualities - not to diminish what Lief is doing, of course. But when you see these commonalities, you're a little more able to make intelligent comments about the music.
Do you think the review was at all fair? Mind you, I'm not saying a review must be positive - I'm just hoping that the reviewer would have approached this with a little more awareness.
NOTE: Many years ago, I recall seeing a Far Side cartoon with the caption "When Mayonnaise goes bad". The jar of mayonnaise had gone "bad" as in gangster, and was holding up the lettuce and tomato. I thought it would have been fun to post an image of that cartoon. Apparently, Gary Larson is incredibly vigilant about these sort of things. Many websites have been 'asked' (by, I'm sure, a Luca Brasi-type) to remove similar Far Side images.Labels: Connecticut, electro-acoustic, electronic music
posted by Anthony Cornicello
Saturday, May 12, 2007
Electronic Music in CT, week 3 (final events)
Okay, this was more than a week ago, but I thought that I should post on this, if not just to complete the trilogy.
We had two events on the final week of concerts. On May 3, Gray Code gave a performance at Central - a freely improvised set lasting around 45 minutes, followed by another slightly shorter one. The group is a trio of Butch Rovan on clarinets (including the contrabass!) and electronics, Fred Kennedy on percussion, and Kevin Patton on guitar and electronics. The music ranges from 70s Miles-inspired jazz to ambient noise, and there's an impressive amount of technology integrated with the instruments onstage. Nothing seemed too effected or out of place, and it was all quite flowing - quite impressive for an improvised group. It took me a while to realize there was no bass player - they produce music so full and interesting that you don't notice it.
Because of the lack of babyistting on a Thursday evening, Sophia came along. Sophia, who just turned three, is already enjoying music, and her current tastes include Bach and minimalism. She loved the music, and she sat there with a look of amazement on her face. When I asked her what she liked best, she said the saxophone (okay, it's a clarinet, but she's 3!!). In addition to the webpage listed above, you can check out Gray Code's MySpace page, which has musical clips. They've got a CD coming out soon, and I'm looking forward to it.
The other event was on May 5 (my 43rd birthday!), and featured ModernWorks (sorry, no MySpace page). They're another trio, this time Madeleine Shapiro, cello, Airi Yoshioka, violin, and Bill Schimmel, accordion. First of all, I need to say that I really like working with these people - they're wonderful musicians, and great people to be around. They played, amongst other pieces, my Spiral Jetty, which sounded great. I need to tinker with the electronics some more. But, for me, the highlight was an accordion solo piece by Bill, A Portrait of Harry Lime, with all it's film noir references. You know, when I told some friends that I was writing for the accordion, they snickered. I'm now enthralled with the instrument - I'm going to write some more for it. One other piece on the program was Tania Leon's Aixon, which although wonderfully played, seemed a bit long. The electronic component (programmed by Mari Kimura) was a bit disconnected from the live performer, in a sonic sense. It reminded me of the Davidovsky pieces, where the two elements (live performer and electronics) co-exist, sometimes interact, but never really mesh.
Sohpia came to this one too, and enjoyed it. This time, she loved the cello as well as the accordion.Labels: Connecticut, electro-acoustic, electronic music
posted by Anthony Cornicello
Saturday, April 28, 2007
Review: Electronic Music in CT, week 2
Okay, this week was much different, as far as the music is concerned.
On Tuesday, we had Paul Miller, aka DJ Spooky That Subliminal Kid as a guest. Needless to say, Paul was incredibly cool. He came for a lecture and an evening dance-party event.
The lecture was fantastic - very inspiring, very thought-provoking. Paul explained re-mix culture - it's origins, semiotics, and his own personal take. He gave some live performances as well. If you haven't heard him, please go and buy some CDs, or download tracks. The guy's a virtuoso on the turntables - and yes, I consider the turntable a musical instrument.
Now, this is where it gets odd: student involvement. Have you ever seen the movie Big Night? It's about these two brothers running an Italian restaurant in the 1950s. The cook (Tony Shaloub) wants to make fancy dishes like risotto or timbalo, while the clientele want spaghetti and meatballs. Anyway, an unscrupulous rival wants to put them out of business by convincing them to throw a party: he'll get his buddy Louis Prima to come, and it will 'save' the restaurant. The party is thrown, one fabulous course is followed by another (punctuated by one of the guests sobbing, "My mother never cooked like this!"), but Louis Prima didn't come. (Sorry if I gave away a major plot point, but it's still one of my favorite movies - and there's a lot more to the ending than that!)
This was the opposite. I produced DJ Spooky, yet students didn't come. The dance party was a fiasco. There were some students there, just not enough for a party. I sent Paul home early, before he even saw the amount of people there. I didn't want to show any disrespect to him.
The good thing was, I got to spend a bunch of time with Paul, and it was a blast. Our conversation went from music to politics to social issues. We even discussed a possible collaborative project, which is truly exciting.
Ironically, at the non-event in the evening, one of the students asked who was paying for all this. I said "you are", since the funds came from student activities. Anyone that I've talked to has said that DJ Spooky usually sells out the place. Not at Eastern. I'm shocked and appalled.
Wednesday night: rehearsal at my house, with Robert Black. We're doing an improvisation on Thursday night, him on bass, me on the laptop (which I also consider an instrument!). His bass barely fits into my studio, with it's 7' ceiling. Things go well.
Thursday night: Robert Black's concert, was co-presented by SEMI and a festival entitled "Recharging the Sensorium" at Central CT State University (Eastern's sister institution, in New Britain). The festival featured writers, performance artists, and sound artists from around the globe. There was similar student involvement (i.e., very little), but there was a sizable audience for the concert.
The concert started with the improvisation. I created a Max/MSP patch that will loop and provide a host of effects. Right now, I have a little control surface (the Evolution UC-33) that I've programmed to work with my patch. I made a recording, and I'll post it in a few days. It seemed to go over well, and Rob and I are now talking about doing whole concerts of improv.
After that, Rob played a piece by Barry Truax, Androgyne, Mon Amour a 1997 work. It's for bass and pre-recorded material, and Rob did a great job. Next, was Rob's own rendition of the classic In C. With just a bass and a looping Max patch, Rob played a short version of the entire work. (I'm not sure if he played each of the 53 cells, but it sounded complete.) This was truly a highlight - not to mention, the first time it was done this way in public. I'll be curious to hear what Riley thinks of it.
The final piece on the program was Reynold Widenaar's The Thundering Scream of Seraphim's Delight, which is a 1987 piece for video and bass. Now, this was a little ahead of its time, and the video technology showed it (but, much better than the cheesey videos by the McLeans, made more than a dozen years later!!); there was a nice dialogue between the visuals, pre-recorded sounds, and the live playing.
Rob's an unbelivable performer. Do you know all those bass jokes, about bad intonation and bowing techniques? You can safely put them to rest when you hear him play.Labels: Connecticut, DJ Spooky, electronic music, Robert Black, Terry Riley
posted by Anthony Cornicello
Sunday, April 15, 2007
Electronic Music, this week in CT
Okay, here's the rundown for our concerts this week:
Monday, 4/16: EEE! (Eastern Electronic Ensemble), 8PM at Webb Hall. Music of Alvin Lucier (Nothing is Real), John Cage (Radio Music), and students.
The Lucier piece is for piano and teapot. The piano is recorded, played back through the teapot, and the lid is raised and lowered. It's got to be heard to be believed, which you can do here. It's also on CD. Like most of Alvin's music, you wonder how this succesful this effect wil be. Then you hear it, and it far exceeds your expectations.
We're doing the Cage with the members sitting in the audience, right at the start of the concert. Lights go down, antennas go up, and we hit the volume controls. It's an odd piece, and I'm predicting some audience bewilderment. I hope we'll catch a bit of the Mets game.
The concert is at 8PM in Webb Hall, Room 110 on the Eastern CT State University campus is Willimantic. Not our usual venue.
You can get more info about EEE here and here.
Wednesday 4/18: The McLean Mix Duo comes to Eastern CT for a two-day residency. On Wednesday, they are setting up and running their Rainforest installation. Rainforest will run on Wednesday from 12-5, with a special presentation at 3PM. This event takes place in Harry Hope Theatre in Shafer Hall, also at Eastern CT.
Thursday 4/19: The McLeans are back again for an evening concert, entitled MILLing in the ENIUM. This will present electronic music mixed with traditional instruments, in a live performance setting.
This is about half of the events at ECSU. The rest are in the following weeks.Labels: Cage, Connecticut, electronic music, Lucier, McLean
posted by Anthony Cornicello
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