Archived News and Events

June 14th, 2016 at 12:30pm: concert presentation of The Mud Oratorio, a 51-minute computer piece for dance theater, with music and libretto by Alice Shields, presented by the 2016 New York City Electroacoustic Music Festival at The Playhouse of the Abrons Art Center, 466 Grand Street (at Pitt Street), on Manhattan's Lower East Side.The Mud Oratorio was originally commissioned by Dance Alloy of Pittsburgh and Frostburg State University in Maryland. I created the work around two Nature Conservancy swamps in Frostburg Maryland whose flora and fauna survived the ice age. My voice narrates, with bird and animal imitations by a local biologist, and sounds constructed by digital sampling and software synthesis. The choreographer in the 2003 premiere at Frostbug State University was Mark Taylor; the lighting designer was Barbara Thompson; the libretto is based on the book Stirring the Mud by Barbara Hurd. You can hear an excerpt of The Mud Oratorio on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e2siY21UPbE On The Mud Oratorio:"mind-boggling art..."--- David Dishneau, Associated Press

Music for Strings - presented by the String Orchestra of Brooklyn and Roulette 509 Atlantic Avenue, Brooklyn, NY

Program:
Marina Kifferstein - An Alien With Extraordinary Abilities (2017)
Lewis Nielson - Le journal du corps (2010)
Meaghan Burke - Song selections
Leah Asher - Hollux Rey (2017), Shoulder to Shoulder (2017)

Inspired by the feminist writings of Margaret Atwood and the protest song as artistic genre, this program celebrates stylistically diverse, subversive music by three members of The Rhythm Method alongside American composer Lewis Nielson's powerful work Le journal du corps. Through subtly embedded anti- imperialist anthems, torch song vocals, or nearly hidden hums, each of these works incorporates vocalization in order to expand the expressive, political potential of the string quartet. From the anti-capitalist sentiment prevalent in Nielsons work, to the post-cabaret songs of Meaghan Burke, the intricate graphic scores and suffragette-inspired work of Leah Asher, and a reflection on immigration from Marina Kifferstein, this program covers a wide range of musical material while maintaining a steady hand on the pulse of contemporary issues and aesthetics. With improvisation, vocalization, theatre, and a virtuosic spectrum of extended techniques, the performer/composers of The Rhythm Method defy expectations of genre and preconceptions of what a string quartet can or should do.

TUESday, JUNE 18, 2019 at 7:00pm
Marc A. Scorca Hall at the National Opera center (New York, NY)

A REMINISCENCE SING: Celebrating the Walt Whitman Bicentennial

A reminiscence sing, Andrea Clearfield
Oh me! Oh life!, lvaro Gallegos
I Saw Them , Irene Gregori
In clouds descending, Darleen Mitchell
I sit and look out, Marc Ostrow
Passing Stranger, Ben Schuman
additional works by
Scott Gendel, Jonathan Bailey Holland, Jorge Martn, Ned Rorem, Dennis Tobenski, and Craig Urquhart

Now it its milestone tenth season, Cheah Chan Duo has become a mainstay of the New York musical scene with performances at The National Opera Center, The DiMenna Center for Classical Music, Tenri Cultural Institute, Cornelia Street Caf, North of History, Church of St. Luke in the Fields, St. Bartholomew's Church,and Symphony Space.

Lauded by Time Out New York for its restlessly inquisitive performances, the Duo has garnered acclaim for its uniquely curated programs of art songs and piano works on themes of cultural and social issues.

A strong advocate for new and rarely performed music, the Duo has also performed works by Chris Cresswell, Jonathan David, Drew Hemenger, Jennifer Higdon,Steve Holtje, Laura Kaminsky, Gilda Lyons, Meredith Monk, Frank J. Oteri, Ren Silva, Martha Sullivan, and Dennis Tobenski, several of which were world or US premires. The Duo can be heard in an upcoming recording of art songs on the Centaur label by Jonathan David with Two Kingsongs, a song cycle written especially for them.