Pittsburgh New Music Net

The Eclectic Laboratory Chamber Orchestra in rehearsal…we think…

So it’s shaped up to be a really interesting week for new music in the Burgh. Patrick Burke will make his debut as director of Duquesne’s Contemporary Ensemble this Thursday at PNC Recital Hall, The Outer Circle, a group formed by veterans of the local avant-garde improv scene, gives their debut concert on Friday at The Nerve, and Eclectic Laboratory Chamber Orchestra returns with another program that lives up to that band’s name on Sunday at Grey Box Theatre. Check out all the details on the Events Calendar, and as always, shoot me an e-mail if you have, or know of, something interesting going on.

Grey Box Theatre
3595 Butler Street, Lawrencville

Tickets: $5 students & artists  $10 all other
Ticket sales are cash only at the door the evening of the performance.

The ever-provocative Eclectic Laboratory Chamber Orchestra is backwith another genre-bending program.  This time ELCO blurs the lines between composer and performer, between composition and improvisation, and between “classical” and “popular” with three exciting, grooving modern classics:  Terry Riley’s In C, Frederic Rzewski’s Les moutons de Panurge, and Elliott Sharp’s SyndaKit.  Meridian Dreams, an ambient/trip-hop electronica project spearheaded by well-known producer/engineer Rae DiLeo, will provide a unique opening set.

The three pieces on ELCO’s set showcase noted American master composers whose work represents three distinct approaches to combining composed music with the influences of rock and jazz.  In C, by Terry Riley, inaugurated the genre known as minimalism with its unabashed tunefulness and relentless pulse.  Les moutons de Panurge, by Frederic Rzewski, takes its title from a novel by the French satirist Rabelais, and is a witty exploration of the limits of virtuosity.  SyndaKit, by Elliott Sharp, explores the relation between the group and the individual musician in a piece that nods equally to the composers studies with Morton Feldman and his days in the punk clubs of New York.

Rae DiLeo, who performs as Meridian Dreams, will be perform an opening set with video artist Hans Jensen.  Rae has performed throughout California and the southwest and has been a studio engineer for artists from Henry Rollins to Filter to Grandmaster Flash.

For additional information or to reserve a ticket contact elco.events@gmail.com or call 412-608-6120.
Visit us on the web at twitter.com/ELCO_concerts or join our Facebook fan page.

Everything Floats: Post-Rockers, Shoegazers, and Sound Sculptors

Presented by the Eclectic Laboratory Chamber Orchestra

Sunday, March 22, 2009 8:30pm-10:00pm – Brew House

2100 Mary Street, South Side

Post rock meets cutting edge classical music presented by the twenty-two musicians of the Eclectic Laboratory Chamber Orchestra. Through its unique repertoire, which ranges from classical to indie rock, ELCO brings together diverse audiences and exposes listeners to genres of music which they may have never before experienced.  The debut concert this past November examined alienation as found in the music Gustav Mahler and the Velvet Underground.  This time around, Everything Floats, explores time, repetition, and memory through the music of Webern, Morton Feldman, Machaut, transcriptions of music by Sonic Youth, Ride, and Icelandic post-rockers Sigur Rós and a debut of “i meet you.  i remember you.” by Pittsburgh composer David Gerard Matthews featuring violin soloist Roger Zahab. 

Tickets are available for purchase at the door the evening of the concert. 
$5 for students/senior/artists $10 for all others. Sales are cash only. 

For more information or to reserve tickets contact Heidi Baldt at elco.events@gmail.com or 412-608-6120.

Unless your transportation comes equipped with an alternate reality drive it’s going to be tough to get to all the great contemporary music happening in the Burgh this weekend.

Music on the Edge and the Warhol kick things off on Friday night with a performance by Alarm Will Sound at The New Hazlett. On Saturday, Walter Morales leads the Carnegie Mellon Contemporary Ensemble in the Pittsburgh premiere of John Adams’ Grand Pianola Music (featuring piainsts Jack Kurutz and Robert Frankenberry) and Schoenberg’s Verklärte Nacht. Sunday is when you will need to spin up the alternate reality drive so that you can see the Duquesne University Symphony Orchestra and flutist Alberto Almarza premiere David Stock’s new Flute Concerto (see below), then hop over to the Brew House on the South Side where Eclectic Laboratory Chamber Orchestra will feature the premiere of i meet you. i remember you. by Pittsburgh composer David Gerard Matthews, featuring the intrepid Roger Zahab as violin soloist. Speaking of which, I’m delighted to welcome ELCO to the links section of the blog.

Everything Floats: Post-Rockers, Shoegazers, & Sound Sculptors

The Brew House – 2100 Mary Street, South Side 

Post rock meets cutting edge classical music presented by the twenty-two musicians of the Eclectic Laboratory Chamber Orchestra in their upcoming concert Everything Floats: Post-Rockers, Shoegazers, and Sound Sculptors.

Explore time, repetition, and memory through the music of Webern, Morton Feldman, Machaut, along with transcriptions of music by Sonic Youth, Ride, and Icelandic post-rockers Sigur Rós.  The concert will also feature a debut of “i meet you. i remember you.” by Pittsburgh composer David Gerard Matthews, featuring violin soloist Roger Zahab.

Through its unique repertoire, which ranges from classical to indie rock, the Eclectic Laboratory Chamber Orchestra brings together diverse audiences in non-traditional spaces. The group hopes to expose listeners to genres of music, which they may have never before experienced in the Southside’s historic Brew House located at 2100 Mary Street.

$5 Admission for students, artists, & shoegazers
$10 for all others
Tickets are cash only & available for purchase at the door the evening of the event.

For more information or to reserve tickets contact Heidi Baldt at elco.events@gmail.com or call 412-608-6120. Also visit ELCO on the web at www.myspace.com/ELCOrchestra and www.twitter.com/ELCO_concerts