S.E.M. Ensemble

Following the success of the October 1st performance of Yves Klein’s symphony at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC, we were invited to perform the piece again in San Francisco on January 12, this time with Bay Area musicians. Click here for The Washington Post's review

UPCOMING CONCERT

Voices and Instruments

The Music of Petr Kotik and Friends

Tues. June 20, 2017, 7 pm
- at -
Willow Place Auditorium, 26 Willow Pl., Brooklyn Heights
2/3/4/5 to Borough Hall or A/C/F/R to Jay St

SEM performs Many Many Women at Paula Cooper Gallery, 2013

S.E.M. Ensemble

Petr Kotik - Artistic Director
Roberta Michel, Petr Kotik - Flute
Jacqueline Leclair - Oboe
William Lang, James Rogers - Trombone
Robert Boston - Keyboard
Kamala Sankaram, Vivian Yau - Soprano
Jacob Ingbar, Jeffrey Gavett - Baritone

Program

Petr Kotik - Etude 7 for Oboe (1962)
Philip Glass - Two Pages (1968)
Petr Kotik - There is Singularly Nothing (1972)
Petr Kotik - Many Many Women (1975-78) [excerpt]

This performance by the S.E.M. Ensemble is made possible by the generous support of the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew Cuomo and the New York State Legislature; the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council; Spyder Institute Praha; The Edwin H. Case Chair in American Music at Columbia University; The Aaron Copland Fund for Music, Inc.; The Phaedrus Foundation; The Low Road Foundation; The Fifth Floor Foundation; Ronald Feldman Fine Arts; Rackstraw Downes; Noni Pratt; Virginia Dwan; Raymond Learsy; Charlotta Kotik; Martina and Miloš Forman; C. Andrew Reynolds; William and Priscilla Newbury; Julian Lethbridge and Stephen J. Deutsch. Special thanks to  Jasper Johns, Werner Kramarsky, and NYC Councilmember Stephen T. Levin. 

UPCOMING CONCERT 

NEARLY SOLD OUT

Nothing / Everything Changes: Petr Kotik @ 75 

with special guests Philip Glass, George Lewis, and Alex Mincek

(Le) Poisson Rouge

158 Bleecker St, New York, NY 10012

Wednesday, June 21, 6:30 pm

Click here for tickets and more information

The S.E.M. Ensemble

Petr Kotik, conductor

with

Momenta Quartet

and soloist

Jacqueline Leclair, oboe

(le) poisson rouge commemorates the birthday of Petr Kotik along with friends Philip Glass, George Lewis, and Alex Mincek in conversation and a retrospective performance of Kotik’s iconic works, along with early music by Glass and an improvisation by Lewis and Mincek. A screening of the new film Untamable Kotik, produced by Czech Television will precede the concert. The performance will run 90 minutes without intermission and will be moderated by Pauline Kim Harris.

6:30pm - Untamable Kotik 

A new film by Czech Television (the national public television network), Untamable Kotik documents Kotik’s performances, rehearsals, travel, and personal life. Switching back and forth between New York, Prague, and Ostrava, it was filmed in the period between 2015 and 2016. It includes musicians from both continents in rehearsals, performances, and conversations. The film features music by Kotik, Phill Niblock, and John Cage. It is in English and Czech w/ English subtitles. Philip Glass, George Lewis, Alex Mincek, and Petr Kotik will be present throughout the evening to comment.

7:30pm - Music and talk

Featuring Jacqueline Leclair, oboe, S.E.M. Ensemble, and Momenta Quartet

Program:

Petr Kotik - Etude 7 for Oboe (1962)
Philip Glass - Two Pages (1968)
Petr Kotik - There is Singularly Nothing (1972)
Petr Kotik - Many Many Women (1975-78)
George Lewis - Interactive Trio  – short improvisation for trombone, saxophone, and computer-controlled Disklavier
Petr Kotik - Torso – 2nd String quartet (2013)

*UPCOMING CONCERTS*

Bohemian National Hall

321 E. 73rd St. New York, NY

Tuesday, April 25, 7 pm

FREE ADMISSION, REGISTER HERE

Lewis, Kotik, Mitchell, Wolff, Abrams, Bakla, Mac Low

Free preview concert

April 24 - 8:30 pm - Willow Place Auditorium, 26 Willow Pl. Brooklyn, NY

Press announcements: New Music World, New York Classical Review,

The New York Times (scroll down), I Care If You Listen (scroll down)

SEM at Bohemian National Hall, May 2016

The Orchestra of the S.E.M. Ensemble

Petr Kotik, conductor

with soloists

Muhal Richard Abrams, piano

Roscoe Mitchell, saxophone

George Lewis, trombone

Thomas Buckner, voice

Joseph Kubera, piano

Dana Jessen, bassoon

Claire Chase, flute

and special guests

Momenta Quartet

The Orchestra of the S.E.M. Ensemble, founded and directed by Petr Kotik, presents a marathon program which uniquely combines composers from the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians (AACM) – Muhal Richard Abrams, George Lewis, and Roscoe Mitchell – with those associated with the New York avant-garde tradition – Christian Wolff, Petr Kotik, Jackson Mac Low, and Czech composer Petr Bakla. SEM’s collaboration with AACM began 20 years ago, when Muhal Richard Abrams invited Kotik and his orchestra to perform, and has continued until today with many commissions and recordings. The concert’s program aims to bring forth the proximity of different musical ideas and underlines Kotik’s openness to unorthodox combinations of composers, whose work he has presented at SEM concerts in New York, and in Europe at the Ostrava Days festival.

(L-R) Petr Kotik, Chris Nappi, Dick Higgins, Joe Kubera, Jackson Mac Low, and Anne Tardos perform at S.E.M. Ensemble's Spoken Music concert at Paula Cooper Gallery, 1990

PROGRAM:

George Lewis - Emergent (2014)
Claire Chase (flute) and 4-channel sound

Muhal Richard Abrams - Trio Things (2016)
Abrams (piano), Tom Chiu (violin), Meaghan Burke (cello)

I  n  t  e  r  m  i  s  s  i  o  n

Jackson Mac Low - Is That Wool Hat My Hat? (1980)
4 Narrators

Christian Wolff - Five Songs (2017) WORLD PREMIERE
Thomas Buckner (voice) and orchestra

Petr Kotik - Music for 3 (1964)
Stephanie Griffin (viola), Meaghan Burke (cello), James Ilgenfritz (bass)

Roscoe Mitchell - Distant Radio Transmission (2017) WORLD PREMIERE
Mitchell (saxophone), Buckner (voice), and orchestra

I  n  t  e  r  m  i  s  s  i  o  n

Petr Bakla - Major Thirds (2017) WORLD PREMIERE
Joseph Kubera (piano), Momenta Quartet

George Lewis - Seismologic (2017) WORLD PREMIERE
Dana Jessen (bassoon) and 4-channel sound

Group improvisation - Roscoe Mitchell, George Lewis, Thomas Buckner, Joseph Kubera, Sara Schoenbeck

(L-R) Chris Nappi, Roscoe Mitchell, Sara Schoenbeck, Thomas Buckner, James Ilgenfritz, Lucie Vitkova, and George Lewis  at Bohemian National Hall, May, 2016

New York events by the S.E.M. Ensemble are made possible with the generous support of the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew Cuomo and the New York State Legislature; the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council; The Edwin H. Case Chair in American Music at Columbia University; The Aaron Copland Fund for Music, Inc.; The Phaedrus Foundation; The Low Road Foundation; The Fifth Floor Foundation; Ronald Feldman Fine Arts; Rackstraw Downes; Noni Pratt; Virginia Dwan; Raymond Learsy; Martina and Milos Forman; C. Andrew Reynolds; William and Priscilla Newbury; Julian Lethbridge. Special thanks to Spyder Institute Praha, Paula Cooper, Mark di Suvero, Jasper Johns, Werner Kramarsky, and NYC Councilmember Stephen T. Levin.
 

*DATES ANNOUNCED*

2017 Emerging Composers Workshop

New Works for Small Ensembles

Submission deadline: Jan. 14, 2017

The S.E.M. Ensemble is calling for score submissions of new works for small ensembles for inclusion in its annual Emerging Composers Workshop. Selected scores will be rehearsed and critiqued during the week of February 13 - 16, 2017. Composers will have the opportunity to work directly with the musicians who will read their work. Only composers who will be able to be present during the workshop will be considered. The workshop will conclude with a public performance at Willow Place Auditorium (26 Willow Pl.) in Brooklyn Heights.

Only scores for small ensembles (1-7 players) will be considered, without limitations on instrumentation. Works for small ensemble and electronics, works for small ensemble and voice, as well as solo works are also acceptable.

SEM performs the selected works from the 2016 workshop

Submission Guidlines

Please mail or deliver a package containing:

• 1 performance-ready copy of your score (no recording necessary)
• statement about the work
• personal statement/biography
• $25 processing fee payable to S.E.M. Ensemble, Inc.

To:  S.E.M. Ensemble, 25 Columbia Pl. Brooklyn, NY 11201

Materials should be POSTMARKED or hand-delivered NO LATER than FRIDAY, JANUARY 14, 2017.

For questions please email pksem@semensemble.org or call (718) 488-7659

SEM in rehearsal during the 2016 workshop

The S.E.M. Ensemble presents its annual holiday concert:

Musica Elettronica

Stockhausen, Niblock, Kotik, Spiegel, Schumacher

at Paula Cooper Gallery, Mark di Suvero exhibition

534 W. 21st St. New York, NY

Friday, December 9, 8:00 pm

Advanced sale tickets: $15, $10 for students/seniors

Door tickets: $20, $15 for students/seniors

available here from Brown Paper Tickets

NOTE: There will be a FREE preview concert of this program Dec. 7 at 8 pm at Willow Place Auditorium, 26 Willow Pl. Brooklyn Heights, NY

SEM at PCG, Mark di Suvero exhibit, 2011

Preview Concert:

Wed. Dec. 7 at 8 pm at Willow Place Auditorium

26 Willow Pl. Brooklyn Heights, NY

Free admission

Program

Phill Niblock:                    Praised Fan (2016) American premiere
                                                        Dafne Vicente-Sandoval, bassoon

Karlheinz Stockhausen:   Gesang der Jünglinge (1956)

Petr Kotik:                          Kontrabandt (1967)

Michael J. Schumacher:    Filters and Filtered (2011-present)

Laurie Spiegel:                   A Harmonic Algorithm (2011)  

"SEM continues to play a critical role in New York's musical life."
- The Guardian, May 9, 2016

SEM at Paula Cooper Gallery, October 2016

Program Notes

Phill Niblock: Praised Fan (2016) – American premiere
This 17-minute work is based on microtonal variations around three pitches (G#, A, Bb), played in different octaves. These variations not only affect the pitch, but also the timbre and partial balance, and their layering creates complex melodies of overtones, as well as rhythmical patterns produced by tonal beatings. The work, commissioned by the Adelaide Festival in Australia, will be performed by French bassoonist Dafne Vicente-Sandoval.
 
Karlheinz Stockhausen: Gesang der Jünglinge ("Song of the Youths") (1956)
Hailed by many as the first masterpiece of electronic sounds, this 13-minute composition for magnetic tape and five loudspeakers integrates electronic sounds with the voice of a boy soprano singing fragments from the Book of Daniel. With it, Stockhausen tested and employed for the first time the idea of “music in space” that would finds its radical expression in Gruppen (1955-57). The work received its world premiere at West German Radio (WDR) in Cologne in 1956.
 
Petr Kotik: Kontrabandt (1967)
Petr Kotik met Stockhausen for the first time in the spring of 1965 when he visited the Studio for Electronic Music at WDR. In 1966 he received a commission from WDR to compose and realize a piece of electronic music. Scored for musicians and magnetic tape, Kontrabandt is a live electronic music work, in which performers manipulate sound sources, including 80 pre-recorded segments realized at the Studio for Electronic Music and ranging from a split second to one and a half minutes in duration. The work premiered in Cologne in 1967 as part of the WDR concert series “Musik der Zeit.”
 
Michael J. Schumacher: Filters and Filtered (2011-present)
Filters and Filtered is a 20-minute spatial sound installation originally composed for 8 channels and adapted to 4 for this performance. A "filter" is anything that comes between the transmission and reception of the signal, including equalization, bit reduction, wave-shaping, phase shifting, acoustic treatment, room resonance, masking, as well as other psycho-acoustic effects. The structure is derived from algorithms that combine elements of serial and aleatoric techniques. Filters and Filtered was presented in 14 channel versions at AVA Gallery in New York, iMAL in Brussels and at Ultraschall in Berlin.
 
Laurie Spiegel: A Harmonic Algorithm 2011
The work is the third incarnation of a computer algorithm that composes music first coded on Spiegel’s Apple II computer around 1980. Instead of creating a finite number of works, Spiegel had the idea to encode in computer software her personal compositional methods, and musical and aesthetic decisions so that new music could be composed and generated long after the biological human had ceased to exist. This particular software, based on the harmonic progressions of Bach’s chorales, merges Bach and Spiegel’s musical selves. The work was commissioned by the Barcelona Museum of Contemporary Art.

S.E.M. Ensemble at Paula Cooper Gallery

Sol LeWitt Exhibition

534 W. 21st St. New York, NY

Tues. October 11, 2016, 8:00 pm

Tickets: $15 advance, $20 same day

available here from Brown Paper Tickets

Patron tickets: $300

includes reserved prime seating, $285 tax-deductible donation

To purchase, contact SEM directly at (718) 488-7659 or pksem@semensemble.org

Sol LeWitt, Wall Drawing #368, Paula Cooper Gallery

Program

Petr Kotik:   William William (2016) American premiere
                                   Choreography by Matilda Sakamoto

Alvin Lucier:   Navigations for Strings (1991)

Alvin Lucier:   Love Song (2016) World premiere

S.E.M. Ensemble

Lucy Dhegrae, Soprano; Jake Ingbar, Baritone; Adrian Rosas, Bass;

Debra Kay Anderson, Narrator; Conrad Harris and Pauline Kim Harris, Violin;

Liuh-Wen Ting, Viola; Caleb van der Swaagh, Violoncello; John Altieri, Tuba

Petr Kotik, Conductor

Dancers

Matilda Sakamoto, Victor Lozano, Alex Andison, Connor Bormann

"SEM continues to play a critical role in New York's musical life."
- The Guardian, May 9, 2016

SEM at Paula Cooper Gallery, December 2015

I am delighted to present a concert during the Sol LeWitt exhibit. Although Sol and I never met, he has, since the 1980s, regularly supported SEM. The music we perform must have been the reason. More than often, our programs are not in line with the prevailing trends or popular taste of the moment. Together with other artists, composers, and music followers, LeWitt’s support gave us the encouragement to go forward, because one cannot do it alone. That is certain.

Every generation struggles with the impossible task to redefine its art, not for the sake of doing something new – that itself is not interesting. We have to redefine our work because using the means from the past is banal in the view of every day’s new reality. Nothing changes from generation to generation except composition (Gertrude Stein). The meaning of the work continues to be unabated, but the composition has to change as the world around us changes. When one paints, draws, or creates objects, listening is more important than looking. A composer on the other hand must shut his or her ears because for a composer, looking is more important than listening. This may be the reason why music and art have been close companions for generations.

The wall drawings by Sol LeWitt are case in point. They are closer to music than to the way we understand visual art. All the fundamentals of music composition are here in place: there is a score (i.e. instruction for the realization), there are performers (who execute the score), and there is duration for the piece to exist. What has been actually redefined here – art or music?

                                                        – Petr Kotik

SEM and dancers perform Kotik's William William at NODO 2016, Ostrava, Czech Republic

I met Sol first through Andrea Miller-Keller who was his most eloquent and important friend and critic. Andrea suggested that Sol and I exchange works.

Sol was known for his ecumenical taste in art and had a huge collection of works by hundreds of artists. He gave me a wall drawing (#724) and I reciprocated with the hand written score of my quartet, Navigations for Strings. I was doubly honored that he later borrowed a panoramic photograph of part of the Swiss Alps that I had used in Panorama, a duo for piano and trombone, for Zug III, a gorgeous multi-colored wall drawing. More recently he asked me to supply music for his Curved Wall, an enormous sculpture first shown in Graz, Austria, later at Wesleyan. Sol LeWitt was the most kind and generous artist I have ever known.

                                                            – Alvin Lucier

Kotik conducts the premiere of Lucier's Orpheus Variations, November, 2015

S.E.M. Ensemble at NODO

New Opera Days Ostrava

June 27-30, 2016

Ostrava, Czech Republic

World premieres:

Petr Kotik                            William William

Petr Cígler                           Protracted Sinuous Movement of a Longitudinal Object

Idin Samimi Mofakham  

& Martyna Kosecka            At the Waters of Lethe

Richard Ayres                     No. 42 (In the Alps) (staged premiere)

And

Gyorgy Ligeti                       Aventures & Nouvelle Aventures

Iannis Xenakis                    Oresteia

Members of the S.E.M. Ensemble participated as soloists and members of the international chamber orchestra Ostravská banda:

Bohdan Hilash, Clarinet

Thomas Verchot, Trumpet

Conrad Harris, Violin

Pauline Harris Kim, Violin

Adrian Rosas, Voice

Matilda Sakamoto, Dancer

Colin Fuller, Dancer

Petr Kotik, Conductor (Ligeti, Kotik, Xenakis)

For full program and more information about NODO, click here. 

Kotik's William William at NODO, image courtesy of Ostrava Center for New Music

Xenakis's Oresteia at NODO, image courtesy of Ostrava Center for New Music

Bohemian National Hall

Monday May 9, 2016 8:00

Premieres by Roscoe Mitchell and Petr Kotik

Works by George Lewis, Lucie Vitkova, John Cage, Karlheinz Stockhausen

Following last year’s highly touted AACM@50 concerts, the S.E.M. Ensemble, led by conductor, composer, and flutist Petr Kotik, returns to the Bohemian National Hall for a  concert on Monday, May 9, featuring contemporary works and two world premieres.

Program:

Petr Kotik – String Noise William (2016)

George Lewis - Not Alone (2014-15)

Lucie Vitkova - Places to Meet (2016)

John Cage - Ryoanji (1985)

Roscoe Mitchell - They Rode for Them (2016)

Karlheinz Stockhausen - Zeitmaße (1956)

 Improvisation

The Bohemian National Hall is located at 321 E. 73rd St., New York, NY

More info: (718) 488-7659 or info@semensemble.org

Darmstadt New York: 70th Anniversary

Roulette Intermedium

Wednesday May 11, 2016 8:00

Works by John Cage, Petr Kotik, Morton Feldman,

Alvin Singleton, and Karlheinz Stockhausen

As part of this year’s Essential Darmstadt Repertoire Series, the S.E.M. Ensemble, led by conductor, composer, and flutist Petr Kotik, returns to the Roulette Intermedium for an  evening of 20th century classics on Wednesday, May 11.

Program:

Petr Kotik - Music for 3 (1964)

Alvin Singleton - Be Natural (1974)

Morton Feldman - Why Patterns? (1978)

Karlheinz Stockhausen - Zeitmaße (1956)

John Cage - Concert for Piano and Orchestra (1958)

Roulette Intermedium is located at 509 Atlantic Ave., Brooklyn, NY.

More info: (718) 488-7659 or info@semensemble.org

Preview Concert

Willow Place Auditorium

Sunday May 8, 2016 8:00

Works by John Cage, Petr Kotik, George Lewis, Roscoe Mitchell,

and Karlheinz Stockhausen

Join us for a preview of the SEM Ensemble’s May 2016 offering at the intimate Willow Place Auditorium in Brooklyn Heights. Concert will be followed by a reception.

Program:

George Lewis — Not Alone (2014/15)

Petr Kotik – Music for 3 (1966)

Petr Kotik – String Noise William (2016)

John Cage – Ryoanji (1985)

Roscoe Mitchell – They Rode for Them (2016)

Karlheinz Stockhausen - Zeitmaße (1956)

 Improvisation - featuring Thomas Buckner, George Lewis, Roscoe Mitchell, Chris Nappi, Sara Schoenbeck, and Lucie Vitkova

Free admission. (Suggested donation of $20)

Willow Place Auditorium is located at 26 Willow Place, Brooklyn NY.

More info: (718) 488-7659 or info@semensemble.org

       THE S.E.M. ENSEMBLE PRESENTS ITS ANNUAL READING         OF NEW WORKS BY EMERGING COMPOSERS

WILLOW PLACE AUDITORIUM

TUESDAY FEBRUARY 9, 2016 7:30

MUSIC BY TAI-KUANG CHAO, CHANG SEOK CHOI, ANTHONY DONOFRIO,    DAVID LOUIS ZUCKERMAN,  AND JAMES FALZONE

The S.E.M. Ensemble, led by conductor, composer, and flutist Petr Kotik, returns to the Willow Place Auditorium for a workshop and reading of new works by emerging artists.

Program:

David Louis Zuckerman - Per Diem

Tai-Kuang Chao - a story about an auction/the corners of the world: a      refrigerator that makes people want to stock romance

James Falzone - Helical Cannon

Anthony Donofrio - Piano Trio

Chang Seok Choi - Animus

Willow Place Auditorium is located at 26 Willow Place, Brooklyn NY, 11201. Admission is free (but contributions are appreciated).

More info: (718) 488-7659 or info@semensemble.org

THE S.E.M. ENSEMBLE PRESENTS ITS ANNUAL CONCERT AT PAULA COOPER GALLERY

SATURDAY DECEMBER 19, 2015 8:00

PREMIERES BY ALVIN LUCIER, LIISA HIRSCH (ESTONIA)

WORKS BY EARLY-MUSIC COMPOSER PAVEL JAN VEJVANOVSKÝ

ALSO MUSIC BY IANNIS XENAKIS, PETR KOTIK, AND ELI GREENHOE

The S.E.M. Ensemble, led by conductor, composer, and flutist Petr Kotik, returns to the Paula Cooper Gallery’s main space for its annual holiday concert on Saturday, December 19, 2015 (8 p.m.). A tradition started in 1984, the evening will feature contemporary works, along with rarely heard early music.

Program:

Iannis Xenakis - Kassandra (1987)

Eli Greenhoe - Etymology (2015)

Pavel Jan Vejvanovsky - Sonata la posta (1680)

Alvin Lucier - Orpheus Variations (2015) - U.S. premiere

Pavel Jan Vejvanovsky - Serenata in C (1685) - U.S. premiere

Liisa Hirsch - Four Glides (2015) - Premiere

Petr Kotik - Reiterations and Variables (1972 - 2015)

*Additionally, a preview concert will be held at the S.E.M. Ensemble's home and studio at Willow Place Auditorium on Wednesday, December 16, 2015 at 7:30pm

Paula Cooper Gallery is located at 534 West 21st Street, NY. Tickets are $15/10 (advanced sale); $20/15 (at door).

To order tickets: http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/2465972

More info: (718) 488-7659 or info@semensemble.org

Willow Place Auditorium is located at 26 Willow Pl, Brooklyn Heights, NY. Free

S.E.M. ENSEMBLE PRESENTS:

Dr.Faustus: Composers' Project

The concert will feature five world premieres of works for solo instrument and electronic sounds by composers Elizabeth Adams, André Brégégère, Nicholas R. Nelson, Inés Thiebaut, and Red Wierenga, performed by Jen Baker (tbn), Steve Beck (pf), Karen Kim (vn), Liam Kinson (cl), and John Singer (perc); and a performance of Davidovsky’s Synchronism No. 12 by Ben Ringer (cl).

When / Where

Wednesday, May 20, 2015 @ 8:00 PM

The Willow Place Auditorium
26 Willow Place, Brooklyn
Take R to Court Street, or 2,3,4,5 to Borough Hall

Tickets

$15/$10 (students/seniors)

The grand finale of the celebration of the AACM’s 50th anniversary, presented by the S.E.M. Ensemble in partnership with the Interpretations series, features major works for symphony and chamber orchestra by composers associated with the AACM – Muhal Richard Abrams, Roscoe Mitchell, George Lewis and Henry Threadgill – as well as works by John Cage, Christian Wolff and Petr Kotik. April 28 includes a duo by Mitchell and Lewis (Lewis’ Bound) and on April 29, a rare performance by the distinguished improvising trio of Abrams, Lewis, and Mitchell.

Tuesday April 28, 2015 @ 8 pm
The S.E.M. Ensemble
Ostravská banda

Wednesday April 29, 2015 @ 8 pm
The Orchestra of the S.E.M. Ensemble

Location:
Bohemian National Hall
321 E 73rd St
New York

MORE INFORMATION
www.semensemble.org/aacm50

March 22, 2015 @ 6:00 PM
Willow Place Auditorium, Brooklyn
S.E.M. Ensemble Presented:

Ensemble 365

Free Admission

Ensemble 365, with guest artists soprano Sara Paar and violist Eva Gerard, presents "Eastern Currents: Contemporary Music of Asia," featuring works by Bun-Ching Lam, Franghiz Ali-Zadeh, Ramin Heydarbeygi, Ming-Hsiu Yen and Bright Sheng.

Ensemble 365 (Marta Bedkowska (cello), Mary Hubbell (soprano), Alice Jones (flute), Mirna Lekic (piano), Karen Rostron (violin)) is a quintet founded in 2012 at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York. Its members, who met as doctoral students at their alma mater, perform regularly in concert halls and festivals in the US and abroad. Collectively they have, as individuals and as collaborators, commissioned, premiered, and recorded over 150 new works by living composers. The ensemble presents themed concerts, combining both new and standard chamber and solo repertoire.

Program:

Bun-Ching Lam: Autumn Sounds (1982)
(soprano and flute)

Franghiz Ali-Zadeh: Three Watercolors (1987)
(soprano, flute and piano)

Ramin Heydarbeygi: Astvihad (2012)
(soprano and piano)

(Intermission)

Franghiz Ali-Zadeh: Music for Piano (1997)

Bright Sheng: Three Chinese Love Songs (1988)
(soprano, viola and piano)

Ming-Hsiu Yen: Kuang Tsao (2012)
(flute and piano)

S.E.M. ENSEMBLE PRESENTS THE AMERICAN PREMIERE OF PETR KOTIK’S MASTER-PIECES (2014)
A chamber opera based on texts by Gertrude Stein

Directed by Michael Rau
Kamala Sankaram (Soprano)
Marty Coyle (Tenor)
Jeffrey Gavett (Baritone)
Adrian Rosas (Bass)
Pauline Kim Harris (Violin/Viola)
S.E.M. Ensemble; Petr Kotik (Conductor)

Wednesday, December 17, 2014, 7:30 pm
Paula Cooper Gallery, NYC

“There may have been two [masterpieces] among the five works presented [at NODO]. Kotik's was certainly one, proving that he could craft a light and thoroughly entertaining work from Stein's texts while staying true to his rigid sensibilities.”

The Wire, London, November 2014

The S.E.M. Ensemble returns to Paula Cooper Gallery for the American premiere of American/Czech composer Petr Kotik’s Master-Pieces (2014). The staged, 60-minute chamber opera features a libretto by Kotik, based on writings by Gertrud Stein and adapted to the stage by director Michael Rau. Commissioned by the National Moravian-Silesian Theatre in collaboration with New Opera Days Ostrava (NODO), Czech Republic, Master-Pieces received its world premiere at NODO last June. The opera marks Kotik’s return to Stein’s rhythmic, poetic prose, after Many Many Women and There is Singularly Nothing, both composed in the 70’s.

 A meditation on the nature of art and the act of creation,the opera draws from two works by Gertrud Stein – her 1936 lecture, What Are Masterpieces and Why Are So Few of Them and excerpts from The Wars I Have Seen, her diary from the last three years of WWII, published in 1945. For Stein, “the masterpiece has nothing to do with human nature or with identity, it has to do with the human mind and entity, that is with a thing in itself and not in relation.” Kotik’s opera develops this seeming simple idea by asking: Is what one is doing about the self (identity) or the work (entity)?

 “I wanted to go beyond the spectacle of a musical performance to investigate a meaningful subject matter within a theatrical form,” Kotik notes. “The theatrical energy comes from the very questions raised by Stein, as she continuously veers off her subject to contemplate and think about issues of creative process and the relationship between the self and the world.” The opera is a hybrid between theater and music; and the words – sometimes sung and sometimes spoken – strive to retain the poetry of Stein’s language while opening various layers of meanings.

 The premiere will take place at Paula Cooper Gallery, located at 534 West 21st Street, NY, on Wednesday, December 17, 2014, 7:30pm. Tickets: Advance sale $15/10; at the door $20/15. www.semensemble.org/tickets. More info: (718) 488-7659 or info@semensemble.org

November 21, 2014
Huddersfield, UK
Ostravská banda with SEM members
Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival

 2014 opens with a concert honouring Christian Wolff in his 80th year and showing the long and close collaboration between Wolff and Petr Kotik, who, with the Czech Republic’s OstravskaÅL banda, makes his first visit to Huddersfield.

Presenting a cross-section of the music of Ostravska banda and New York’s S.E.M. Ensemble, with an important contribution by Thomas Buckner, the concert includes Wolff’s Trust, premiered by Ostravska banda at WDR Cologne’s 2013 ‘Ensemble Europa’ series, along with new pieces by Cigler, Mincek and Kotik. Smolka’s music further ties the programme to the biennial Ostrava Days, where all the composers have been working since 2001. The programme is completed by John Cage’s previously presumed lost and recently rediscovered version of Wolff’s For Six or Seven Players (1959), given to Kotik in 1964.

St Paul’s Hall 5:30pm
The Orchestra of the S.E.M. Ensemble & Ostravska banda
Petr Kotík, conductor
Thomas Buckner, baritone

Program:

Christian Wolff
37 Haiku
UK PREMIERE

Petr Cígler
Uber das farbige Licht der Doppelsterne
UK PREMIERE

Martin Smolka
Autumn Thoughts
UK PREMIERE

Christian Wolff
For Six or Seven Players
(Music for Merce Cunningham)
UK PREMIERE

Alex Mincek
Subito No 2
UK PREMIERE

Petr Kotík
Nine + 1
UK PREMIERE

Christian Wolff
Trust
UK PREMIERE

September 11, 2014 at 8:00 PM
Roulette, Brooklyn
S.E.M. Ensemble
Thomas Buckner, Voice
Petr Kotik, Conductor
INTERPRETATIONS: A tribute to Robert Ashley

Thomas Buckner presents a program of pieces written especially for him by Robert Ashley (1930-2014) in their 30+ years of working together. Works include the stand-alone pieces ‘World War III, Just the Highlights’ and ‘Tract’, and three completely re-conceived concert versions of arias from the opera “Atalanta, Acts of God”: ‘The Producer Speaks’, ‘Odalisque’, and ‘Mystery of the River’, in its New York premiere. With Tom Hamilton, Joseph Kubera, Pauline Kim Harris, Conrad Harris, JD Parran and the SEM Ensemble. Co-sponsored by Roulette and Performing Artservices.

September 21, 2014 at 8:00 PM
The Willow Place Auditorium, Brooklyn
The S.E.M. Ensemble Presents: pianist Dante Boon 

NOTES ON THE PROGRAM:

The concert opens with two monumental yet extremely poetic pieces by Jürg Frey and Michael Pisaro. After the intermission, Boon will play his own contribution to “John’s Book”: a collection of solo pieces by all Wandelweiser composers, dedicated to pianist John McAlpine on his 65th birthday. Jürg Frey’s opus number 1 in the Wandelweiser catalogue, by now a classic of contemporary piano music “Sam Lazaro Bros.” concludes the program.

ABOUT THE PIANIST:

Dutch pianist and composer Dante Boon (b. 1973) has been playing and composing new music from an early age. He worked with, among others, Tom Johnson, Samuel Vriezen, Antoine Beuger, Jürg Frey and James Fulkerson on recording projects and first concert performances. His solo CD "cage.frey.vriezen.feldman.ayres.johnson manion" appeared in 2010 at Edition Wandelweiser Records to positive reviews. In the making are CD's with recordings of two of Boon's vocal compositions by German soprano Irene Kurka, Feldman's For John Cage with American violinist Andrew McIntosh and chamber pieces by Jürg Frey. As a concert pianist, Dante Boon has appeared at many concert venues and festivals across Europe and the USA. Boon's compositions are published by Edition Wandelweiser.

September 24 & 28, 2014
Ostrava & Prague
Ostravská banda with SEM members