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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Friday, November 16, 2007
Frank Zappa, freerice
Okay, here's two totally unrelated links:
Frank Zappa, talking on Crossfire in the mid 1980s. It's amazing how observant this man was - and how oblivious the guy in the glasses was! Pay no attention to the little blurb on the YouTube page: I don't think copyright is ever mentioned. Rather, the discussion is on censorship the the government. Zappa's prediction of a totalitarian theocracy may have seemed off the wall at the time, but he comes way too close for the truth.
I once sat in front of Zappa at the premiere of a 'lost' Varèse piece, "Charts and Graphs". It was at Merkin Hall, in NY, and it was a moderate-sized crowd (I don't know if that place holds more than 200) I guess I was around 26-27, and a little intimidated, but I should have said something to him. It is one of those regrets that I still have....
One more Zappa clip on YouTube: playing The Black Page #2. This was on TV in 1981, and somehow I remember this. There must be another tune from the same broadcast (maybe this one, I'm still watching it!) where he turns around and conducts the band (he does some hand gestures during the breaks towards the middle). Hey, when I was in high school, I thought that was the coolest. Somehow, I still do.
Now, for the other random link:
Freerice.com. For each word you can identify correctly, they will donate 10 grains of rice to feed the hungry.
Okay, okay, one more random link:
Finally, a MIDI controller made for Homer Simpson.
Have fun. And let's see some high scores on that rice thing.Labels: Frank Zappa, instrument design, MIDI
posted by Anthony Cornicello
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