Distant Partners, Distant Portraits

Brooklyn composer Randall Woolf gives some insight to the Brooklyn Philharmonic January 24, 2010 concert "Distant Partners, Distant Portraits" at the Brooklyn Museum.

MajorWho Gets Copland Grant!

MajorWho has received a grant from the Aaron Copland Fund for Music to produce a record of piano music performed by Kathleen Supove. The record will consist of pieces by contemporary American composers such as Daniel Becker, Missy Mazzoli, Anna Clyne, Michael Gatonska, and Randall Woolf.

Congrats to Kathy - we look forward to working together on yet another project.

From http://www.coplandfund.org/

In keeping with his lifelong devotion to contemporary music, Aaron Copland created the Fund and bequeathed to it a large part of his estate. The Fund was officially announced to the public in 1992. The Fund’s purpose is to encourage and improve public knowledge and appreciation of contemporary American music. The fund operates three grant programs and also grants permission for the use of Copland’s music.

For a full list of this year's grant winners, visit http://www.coplandfund.org/news.html.

TONIGHT!!

April 7- @ Le Poisson Rouge, $15 (for 2 sets) 7pm Jennifer Choi, 8pm Susie Ibarra Quartet with video by Makoto Fujimura. Jenny will be the opening act for the Susie Ibarra Quartet joined by Bridget Kibbey, harp, and Kathleen Supove, piano, and Susie Ibarra, drums/percussion in an evening that will feature women composers and performers!

The first set will be all solo violin pieces by Wang Jie 'Serenade in Isolation', Annie Gosfield Lost Signals and Drifting Sattellites', Susie Ibarra's 'Black and White', PLUS Jacob TV 'Capriccio', then we'll be settling into some fine improvisations based on Susie's folkloric and fantasia like compositions. For more information: www.lepoissonrouge.com

Hope to see you there!

www.jenniferchoi.com

March Madness Music Gigs

So you thought fun was over in February? Guess Again! March is just as hoppin! Get ready for some great performances by Alec Gross, Diane Birch, Paula Valstein, Todd Alsup and many others!

March 2nd
8pm: Diane Birch @ Ella Lounge

March 3rd
9pm: Paula Valstein @ Joe's Pub

March 6th
8pm: Alec Gross @ Think Coffee

March 10th
8pm: Supove @The Stone

March 12th
8:30pm: Diane Birch @ Cornelia Street Cafe

March 13th
9pm: Wes Hutchinson @ Rockwood Music Hall

March 19th
7pm: AtomicTom @ Pianos

March 26th
8pm: Casey Shae @ Union Hall

March 27th
8pm: Todd Alsup @ Rockwood Music Hall
8:30pm: Katy Pfaffl @ Bar4 in Park Slope
9pm: Shayna Zaid @ Rockwood Music Hall

March 30th
3pm: Alec Gross @ Eastern Connecticut State University

Kathleen Supove and Jonathan Kane at le Poisson Rouge

Happy Fourth of July!!!

le Poisson Rouge is my new favorite venue. They've done an incredible job designing a beautiful space, with a great sound system, comfortable vibe, and friendly staff. I'll be attending many more shows there.

What an amazing show this was. Supove played a program of really cool compositions that included Randall Woolf, Frederick Rzewski, and Jacob TV. Shown here is a clip of 'Same Sky' by Carolyn Yarnell. The piece features a beautiful projected video shown here in the clip.



Downtown New York city legend Jonathan Kane and his band February followed. These guys were stunning. Riffing traditional blues grooves that grew steadily into a beautiful explosion of sound. Vintage guitars and amps, and about the most amazing drummer I've seen since Buddy Rich. Hints of Velvet Underground too. Here's a clip of them performing on WFMU, my favorite radio station.

Kathleen Supové at Other Minds Festival, San Francisco

Major Who has had the great fortune to work closely with pianist Kathleen Supové for many years in both live and studio settings. This proximity has given us the chance to gain an inspiringly close view of Kathy's mastery. After many years I am still amazed by her grace, power and technique, so often playing works of astounding difficulty that only Ms. Supové can pull off with style and ease. It's hard to describe her solo performances, often mixed with elements of theater, wild rants and performance art.

Which is why it comes as no surprise that she was reviewed so favorably yesterday in the Financial Times by Allan Ulrich. The review was for performances of Morton Subotnick's 'For The Piano' and Dan Becker's 'Revolution' at the Other Minds Festival in San Francisco.

Supové keeps popping up in all the right places. It's a thrill to see her get the recognition that she deserves. Contemporary and experimental music has often been a lonely path with only a few devoted fans showing up at the gigs. Now however, new technology is allowing this contemporary music community to come together and to grow rapidly in ways that weren't possible even a few short years ago. Artists and audiences are interacting in ways they never have before. Groups such as Ethel and artists like Corey Dargel and Stephen Merritt are changing the musical landscape and selling out concert venues without much outside assistance. This in many ways mirrors what's happening in the rock and pop world. The very same trends that are pushing independent art music are also driving the current revolution in popular music. And the lines between these genres continue to blur. I have a sense we'll see greater things happening in the next year musically and artistically.

Exciting musical and technological times!

Download Kathleen Supove's 'Infusion' Album from iTunes.
And while you're at it, download Molly Thompson's 'Ash' from iTunes. You'll like that one too. If you are who I think you are.

Kathleen Supove at The Flea Theater

Major Who is thrilled to be mixing the sound for this show. Please check it out if you can...

Buy your tickets TODAY for this adventurous new concert!
4 Performances Only!
$15 Tickets! The Flea Theater presents
The Exploding Piano's Production of
A I R R I G H T S World premiere compositions for the piano by
Michael Gatonska, Phil Kline, Miya Masaoka, Missy Mazzoli
With a special piece by Alvin Curran
Performed by Kathleen Supové
Directed by Valeria Vasilevski

Sunday & Monday, November 4, 5, 11, & 12.
All performances at 7 p.m.

Tickets $15. November 5 Benefit: $50.
To purchase, call (212) 352-3101 or visit www.theflea.org
Tickets are also available at the Box Office, 41 White Street, one hour prior to performance time.
The dynamic avant-garde pianist premieres four new works investigating the piano’s “air rights”;
Supové explores “the three-dimensional envelope” of the instrument using electronics,
vocal rants, video, and even ping-pong balls. The Flea Theater, 41 White Street, Tribeca. In-kind support provided by Yamaha Artist Services, Inc. (www.yamaha.com/yasi).