[Switch~ Ensemble] - Resonant Mechanisms: The Experimental Tradition in Upstate New York

  • Fri, Nov 18, 2022 7:00 PM - 8:30 PM

  • PS21 Black Box Theater

    2980 New York 66
    Chatham, New York 12037
Ticket Price $0.00-$25.00 This event is now over
Description

Fri, Nov 18th, 7:00 pm | $25 General, $20 PS21 Members, FREE Students & Youth

Program

Sarah Hennies, Everything Else (2016)

Victoria Cheah, Hard columns you within (2022) - world premiere

Julius Eastman, Buddha (1984)

Jen Kutler, Chatter Marks (2022) - world premiere

[Switch~ Ensemble]

Laura Cocks, flutes

Madison Greenstone, clarinets

Lauren Cauley, violin

T.J. Borden, cello

Megan Arns, percussion

Jason Thorpe Buchanan, artistic director & electronics/sound

Chris Chandler, electronics/sound

 

The [Switch~ Ensemble] presents a concert of new and old works, engaging with the rich tradition of experimental music in upstate New York. Commissions from Victoria Cheah and Jen Kutler are featured, for quintet and electronics of contrasting modalities. Jen Kutler’s new work is for ensemble and analog machinery, digitally controlled and activated in response to the musicians. Kutler’s artistic practice utilizes “modified found objects that are cultural signifiers of power, gender, queerness and intimacy,” exploring “common and discrepant experiences of familiar social tones in immersive sound and media environments.”

 

Victoria Cheah is a multi-disciplinary composer interested in boundaries, sustained energy, and social/performance rituals. Cheah’s new work for [Switch~] interrogates how outer forces can destroy one’s sense of self by amplifying contradictions within. Using intimate amplification of the ensemble and items from Cheah’s personal history, this work pushes the presence of these specific objects, instruments and artifacts, to listeners’ awareness.

 

Sarah Hennies is a composer based in Upstate NY whose work is concerned with a variety of musical, sociopolitical, and psychological issues including queer & trans identity, psychoacoustics, and the social and neurological conditions underlying creative thought. Her work Everything Else (2016) asks musicians to choose an object/method for performing a repetitive sound-making action that is “non-musical”.

 

Julius Eastman lived in upstate New York and NYC for much of his career. While his work was under-appreciated during his lifetime it has gained significant recognition in the past decade. NPR has described his music as “challenging, mischievously irreverent, and sometimes ecstatic”. Buddha (1984) is a late period open instrumentation work, a single-page, hand drawn score of a resonating oval encompassing 20 staves of non-durational pitches, without performance instructions.

 

With support from the New York State Council on the Arts and the Amphion Foundation.

Date & Time

Fri, Nov 18, 2022 7:00 PM - 8:30 PM

Venue Details

PS21 Black Box Theater

2980 New York 66
Chatham, New York 12037 PS21 Black Box Theater
PS21: Performance Spaces for the 21st Century

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About PS21

Established in Chatham, NY in 2006, PS21 supports innovative performing artists and creators and introduces their work to a broader audience, while also providing the surrounding region with opportunities for arts engagement regardless of economic status, cultural background, and age.

 

Five acres of PS21's 100+ acres are developed; the rest are meadows and woodlands. Situated near the theater are the Dance Barn, a rehearsal and performance venue, and two artists’ residences accommodating sixteen individuals. The PS21 property is also host to the Chatham Farm Animal Rescue. PS21's new theater and rural campus are important resources for both visiting artists and the community, optimized for the public's enjoyment and to encourage citizen expression and participation. 

 

The 350-seat theater is a state-of-the-art, green facility offering resident makers and performers the tools and flexibility for successful innovation and collaboration in the development of sophisticated multi-media work. Few other US facilities are able to provide this level of technical support. PS21 operates year-round, supporting performances by and residencies for dancers, choreographers, musicians, composers, actors and creators. The summer season is PS21's public highlight, during which a full calendar of performances is augmented with a myriad of events and workshops, many of which are free of charge and involve community collaboration with the gifted artists in residence.

 

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