Created in 2011 as a parody of contemporary politics and politicians, Jeff Young and Paul Pinto, Patriots, Run for Public Office on a Platform of Swift and Righteous Immigration Reform, Lots of Jobs, and a Healthy Environment: an Opera by Paul Pinto and Jeffrey Young is a half-hour piece of music-theatre has become an all-too-real reflection of today's bad behavior surrounding issues of immigration and national identity. Young and Pinto (part of the collective thingNY) collaboratively created the text, music, and staging, scoring the piece for their own voices, violin, percussion, a turntable, samples, and lots of cardboard boxes. In …Patriots…, instrumental music alternates with sung and spoken words, zany and humorous topical quips alternate with personal, pointed critiques of the political zeitgeist, fully notated sections merge into structured musical and textual improvisations, and tonal harmonies mix with startling, untraditional musical effects. Available on July 4, ...Patriots... is also thingNY's latest album, available as a digital download and as a set of four collectable campaign buttons from Gold Bolus Recordings.
Bonnie Lander is a contemporary vocalist who specializes in new music for soprano as well as free improvisation. She will perform a selection of her favorite unaccompanied vocal works:
Giacinto Scelsi: Hô György Kurtág: Jószef Attila Fragments Kurt Schwitters: Ur Sonate (excerpts)
Archipelago is a multimedia composition by Tanngrisnir, the duo of electric guitarist Christopher Burns and glockenspiel specialist Trevor Saint. Structured in ten scenes, Archipelago combines volcanic live improvisation with computer-controlled lighting and algorithmically edited cut-up visuals. Trevor and Chris perform together with their video doppelgangers, exploring shimmering textures, rapidly evolving sonic and visual patterns, and densely layered polyrhythms. Archipelago uses video to enable the experience of a single musical instant from multiple perspectives, integrating live, prerecorded, documentary, and abstracted materials into a complex web of sound and visuals. Ranging from the spare and poetic to the whirling and vertiginous, Archipelago is a provocative, intense, rewarding experience.
Tanngrisnir is the improvising duo of Christopher Burns and Trevor Saint, building upon their five years of shared experience performing in Minor Vices. Tanngrisnir is dedicated to the fusion of composition and improvisation. They develop bespoke software and technology and invent rules, games, and koans, all designed to integrate preconceived intention and spur-of-the-moment decision-making in new and innovative ways. Their approach emphasizes clear musical trajectories, wide-ranging sonic exploration, and furious rhythmic energy. Archipelago is their first large-scale project as a duo.
MEGA LAVERNE & SHIRLEY is a band birthed from the fictitious art scene known as big TEEN. big TEEN bands revel in aesthetics of distraction, multiplicity, and metatheatrics. MEGA LAVERNE & SHIRLEY embrace this artistic framework with monolithic performances that incorporate electronic synthesizers, MIDI sampling, multilingual declamations, choreography informed by Chinese calligraphy, and LED light worship.
