Past Concerts | S.E.M. Ensemble

Dec. 19, 2012, at 8:00 pm | Post-Hurricane (annual) December Concert with Talujon Percussion & S.E.M. Ensemble

Willow Place Auditorium (26 Willow Place, Brooklyn)

S.E.M. Ensemble Talujon Percussion Ensemble
John Cage	*Radio Music* (1956) Imaginary Landscape No. 1 (1939) Amores (1943) Inlets (1977) Cartridge Music (1960) First Construction (in metal) (1939)
Petr Kotik	*Many Many Women* (1975-78)
Admission: $15 / $10 Students \| Buy Tickets

The S.E.M. Ensemble will present its annual December concert on December 19 at Willow Place Auditorium in Brooklyn Heights.

The program as well as the location relates to the (still felt) residues of Hurricane Sandy [HS] during SEM’s Beyond Cage festival: Talujon Percussion Ensemble will (finally) perform their set of percussion pieces by John Cage, and SEM will continue performing Petr Kotik’s Many Many Women on text by Gertrude Stein (this time in a 60-minute excerpt). Due to Sandy’s aftermath, we have moved the annual event (usually at Paula Cooper Gallery) to our own space, Willow Place Auditorium in Brooklyn Heights.

A highlight of Talujon’s set is the performance of Cage’s landmark electro-acoustic work Imaginary Landscape No. 1, for piano, cymbal, and two turntables, using reproductions of the RCA test-tone records that Cage used in the original composition. Two percussionists will operate turntables with vinyl reproductions of the records, in a live realization of a piece Cage originally intended for radio performance.

The 6-hour Many Many Women (programmed, relocated and shortened at Beyond Cage because of HS) will be heard in a shorter excerpt. (The full version will be performed in the not-too-distant future.) The entire piece consists of 173 sections, which are distributed among the musicians who shape the piece, deciding individually on each section’s entry.

Nov. 07, 2012, at 8:00 pm | Janáček Philharmonic Ostrava: Cage, Wolff, and Vítková

Ball Room, Bohemian National Hall (321 East 73rd Street, NYC)

Janáček Philharmonic Ostrava Lucie Vítková, Accordion • Petr Kotik, Conductor
Christian Wolff	*individuals, collective* (2012) WORLD PREMIERE
Lucie Vítková	*Accept* (2011) AMERICAN PREMIERE
John Cage	*103* (1991) NEW YORK PREMIERE *One¹¹* (1992) (film by Cage, realized by Henning Lohner)
Admission: $25 / $15 Festival Pass, Students, Seniors \| Buy Tickets

Czech Center New York, Bohemian National Hall (321 East 73rd Street, NYC)

A talk and presentation by Peter Graham

In September 1964, on their way to the Warsaw Autumn festival, the Cunningham Dance Company, John Cage, David Tudor and Robert Rauschenberg (traveling as the tour’s art director and stage technician) performed in Prague and Ostrava. These performances were significant for the Czech music scene, as Cage and Tudor met with composers and gave a public talk. The Cunningham Company and Cage were also given the rare opportunity to perform Concert for Piano and Orchestra with a full orchestra (conducted by the composer, Tudor at the piano)–Musica viva pragensis, organized by 22-year-old Petr Kotik. Peter Graham’s talk includes documents, commentaries and eyewitness accounts of this historic visit.

Alice Tully Hall at Lincoln Center (1941 Broadway, NYC)

Petr Kotik conducting the Janacek Philharmonic with Hana Kotková

Janáček Philharmonic Ostrava • Petr Kotik, Conductor Hana Kotková, Violin • Joseph Kubera, Piano • Erin Lesser, Flute
Morton Feldman	*Piano and Orchestra* (1976) *Structures for Orchestra* (1961) *Flute and Orchestra* (1978) AMERICAN PREMIERE *Violin and Orchestra* (1979) AMERICAN PREMIERE
Admission: $25 / $15 Students & Seniors \| Buy Tickets Buy a Festival Pass (includes The Orchestra of the S.E.M. Ensemble: John Cage’s Atlas Eclipticalis with Winter Music) starting at $50.Patron Tickets & Preferred Seating available through S.E.M. Ensemble office: 718-488-7650 or pksem@semensemble.org

Janáček Philharmonic Ostrava • Petr Kotik, Conductor
Hana Kotková, Violin • Joseph Kubera, Piano • Erin Lesser, Flute

Morton Feldman

Piano and Orchestra (1976)
Structures for Orchestra (1961)
Flute and Orchestra (1978) AMERICAN PREMIERE
Violin and Orchestra (1979) AMERICAN PREMIERE

Admission: $25 / $15 Students & Seniors | Buy Tickets

Buy a Festival Pass (includes The Orchestra of the S.E.M. Ensemble: John Cage’s Atlas Eclipticalis with Winter Music) starting at $50.Patron Tickets & Preferred Seating available through S.E.M. Ensemble office: 718-488-7650 or pksem@semensemble.org

Roulette (509 Atlantic Ave., Brooklyn)

Ostravská banda Joseph Kubera, Piano • Conrad Harris, Violin • Roscoe Mitchell, Saxophone • Petr Kotik, Flute & Conductor
John Cage	Concert for Piano and Orchestra (1957-58)
Petr Kotik	There is Singularly Nothing (1971-73)
John Cage	Freeman Etudes, Book IV (1981)
Roscoe Mitchell	Red Flower On A Bamboo Pole (Solo Saxophone) WORLD PREMIERE
John Cage	Music of Changes (1951)
Admission: $15 / $10 Festival Pass, Students, Seniors \| Buy Tickets

The Invisible Dog Art Center (51 Bergen St., Brooklyn)

PLEASE NOTE: Many Many Women has been moved to The Invisible Dog Art Center (51 Bergen St., Brooklyn), due to damage caused to Paula Cooper Gallery during the storm.

The time is now 6 pm – 8:30 pm, and audience members will be free to enter and exit at will.

S.E.M. Ensemble Lisa Bielawa, Michele Eaton, Sopranos Patrick Fennig, Countertenor; Daniel Neer, Tenor Elliot Z. Levine, Baritone; Steven Hrycelak, Bass Petr Kotik, Martha Cargo, Flute Kyle Resnick, Thomas Verchot, Trumpet William Lang, James Rogers, Trombone
Petr Kotik	*Many Many Women* (1975-78) Text by Gertrude Stein
Admission: Free, donations appreciated ($15 suggested) \| Donate

Bohemian National Hall (321 East 73rd Street, NYC)

Katalin Karolyi & Ostravská banda, Infinito nero by Salvatore Sciarrino

PLEASE NOTE: This concert was originally scheduled for Tuesday, Oct. 30, but has been rescheduled due to Hurricane Sandy. The first half of the program has been changed.

Ostravská banda & Members of Talujon Percussion Katalin Károlyi, Mezzo Soprano • Petr Kotik, Conductor
James Tenney	Having never written a note for percussion (1971)
John Cage	Forever and Sunsmell (1942)
Rebecca Saunders	Caerulean (2010/11) AMERICAN PREMIERE
John Cage	Wonderful Widow of Eighteen Springs (1942)
Morton Feldman	Durations I (1960)
Salvatore Sciarrino	Infinito nero (1998) FIRST U.S. STAGED VERSION “One act Ecstasy” chamber opera
Admission: $20 / $15 Festival Pass, Students \| Buy Tickets * NOTE: Due to necessary building repairs to the theater at ISSUE Project Room, the concert has been rescheduled for Bohemian National Hall.

Willow Place Auditorium (26 Willow Place, Brooklyn)

New Works by Emerging Composers S.E.M. Ensemble • Yarn/Wire • Ian Antonio, Percussion • Kate Soper, VoiceAn evening of World Premieres
Michael Winter	*half-normal* (2012)
Alex Mincek	V (2012)
Kate Soper	*The Crito.* (2012)
David Kant	*Variations for Functions and Partitions of Time (Variation VII)* (2012)
Natacha Diels	*Panik(bread)* (2012)
Admission: $10 \| Buy Tickets

Admission: $10 | Buy Tickets
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Oct. 27, 2012, at 8:00 pm | FLUX Quartet

Paula Cooper Gallery (521 West 21st Street, NYC)

FLUX Quartet Tom Chiu & Conrad Harris, Violin • Max Mandel, Viola • Felix Fan, Cello
John Cage	*Four* (1989)
Petr Kotik	*Torso* (2011-12)
Earle Brown	*String Quartet* (1965)
Morton Feldman	*Structures* (1951)
Alvin Lucier	*Navigations for Strings* (1991)
Luigi Nono	*Fragmente – Stille. An Diotima* (1980)
Admission: $15 / $10 Festival Pass, Students, Seniors \| Buy Tickets

Elebash Recital Hall, The Graduate Center, CUNY (365 Fifth Ave. @ 34th St., NYC)

The panel discussion will focus on principles and concepts of performing Cage. The composer’s long-time associates and collaborators will convene to present analyses of the music, while attempting to clear up misguided approaches in performances often presented as “authentic.”

Panelists include composer Christian Wolff, one of Cage’s closest associates and his only student; pianist Joseph Kubera; author Richard Kostelanetz; percussionist Robyn Schulkowsky; composer Joel Chadabe; and Petr Kotik, one of the oldest living musical collaborators of Cage, who worked with him for 28 years, from 1964 to 1992.

Free and open to the public. Reservations recommended.

In partnership with The Graduate Center, CUNY