Pittsburgh New Music Net

This Saturday, March 13, marks the last occasion to see the very unique HiTEC, an ensemble of Pittsburgh musicians and performers utilizing instruction pieces, chance, improvisation, theatrics, and a giant spinning Wheel-of-Fortune. Intrigued? Well, you should be and you probably come to this event, because it is literally your last chance to see the act. Extensive detail below…

HiTEC (Histrionic Thought Experiment Cooperative),
the experimental orchestra founded by
tENTATIVELY, a cONVENIENCE
will present its last ‘UNCERT’ (Uncertainty Concert), Saturday, March 13, 2010,
8PM (doors open 7:30PM), at the Kresge Recital Hall
in the CFA (Center for Fine Arts) at CMU (Carnegie Mellon University)
- $6.00 suggested donation, free to CMU students.

HiTEC has previously publicly presented the talents of:

tENTATIVELY, a cONVENIENCE: piano, SysMan, electronics, percussion, spinner
Ben Opie – reeds, electronics
Kenny Haney: clarinets
Unfinished Symphonies: electronic keyboard
Hyla Willis: amplified erhu
Jonathan Brodfsky: monome with mabalhabla software
Spat Cannon: upright acoustic bass
Johan Nystrom: extended percussion
Joy Toujours: electric guitar w/ nylon strings, violin
Roger Dannenberg: trumpet, flugelhorn, piccolo trumpet
William Wedler: Experiment 1
Ben Harris: violin
Dani Simmonds: banjo-uke
James Gyre: drums
Tony Balko: camcorder
Julian Krishnamurti: electric bass
David Bernabo: electric guitar
Red Bob Jungkunz: drums
Kerrith Livengood: alto flute
Josh Beyer: cello
Mike Tamburo: hammered dulcimer
Erok: trombone
Mike Kasunic: synthesizer, flute, percussion
Missi St Pierre: toy piano w/ effects
Stuart Anderson: laptop

& will introduce, for this occasion:

Spencer Rafael Diaz: camcorder
Gina Ketter: 5 string electric viola

Videos of HiTEC can be seen online @:

For Tony Balko’s 16mm footage of HiTEC
(Histrionic Thought Experiment Cooperative) ’s beginning
of our 21st rehearsal on September 14, 2008EV:

For the beginning of my documentary of HiTEC’s premier gig:

A soft focus high-definition wide-angle shot of a short excerpt
from the 1/9/9 premier of HiTEC at the New Hazlett Theater:

For the HiTEC movie that also features Ian Page’s
The End of Television project + Sound/Unsound Trio & the Valentine Trio:

The 1st day of HiTEC @ the Visionary Arts Festival
(& days leading up to it):

Featuring all Carnegie Mellon School of Music ensembles and select student and faculty soloists, the 2010 Collage Concert will be a feast for the senses! This 90-minute non-stop concert will keep audience members at the edge of their seats as performers appear and disappear from various positions within the concert hall. In one concert, experience the dazzling array of music produced at Carnegie Mellon, including Baroque, Classical, Contemporary, Vocal, Jazz and more in a single performance. Faculty soloists include violinist Cyrus Forough, soprano Laura Knoop Very, pianist Enrique Graf and PSO principal clarinet Michael Rusinek. You won’t want to miss this one-night-only extravaganza of sound produced by Carnegie Mellon’s School of Music and staged by acclaimed director and professor of drama, Gregory Lehane.

When:
8 p.m. Friday, February 12, 2010

Where:
Soldiers & Sailors Auditorium
4141 Fifth Avenue (in Oakland)
Pittsburgh, PA 15213

Cost:
$15 general admission
$12 senior citizens
$10 students
Tickets can be purchased in advance via Web

Phone: 412.268.2383 (School of Music’s Concert Line)

Web: Buy tickets online with your credit card at http://music.cmu.edu. Click on ‘Box Office’ to start your order!

On-Site: Tickets will also be available (cash only) at Soldiers & Sailors one hour prior to the performance – at 7:00 p.m., February 12.

Questions? Contact Kristi Ries at kristi@cmu.edu.

Online, free

Pittsburgh Symphony Insider will present a live chat with Composer of the Year Richard Danielpour on Friday, October 16 at 3 p.m. The chat will be hosted by yours truly on behalf of Pittsburgh New Music Net, so be sure to log in and ask questions. There will also be opportunities to submit your questions via a related thread on this blog, so check back soon for more details.

A quick reminder about tonight’s concert by Lukas Ligeti with his spastic art-jazz-rock trio HYPERCOLOR on Wednesday, September 23 at Garfield Artworks, 4931 Penn Ave. Doors are at 8 pm and admission is $7. For all the details, see Manny’s post below.

And though it’s a secondary part of the festivities, a short documentary I scored will premiere during Pittsburgh Center for the Arts’ opening for Tim Kaulen, their new Artist of the Year. The film is Virgil Cantini: the Artist in Public by Will Zavala of Pittsburgh Filmmakers. It examines the work of Virgil Cantini, founder of Pitt’s Department of Studio Arts and prolific creator of public art. You’ve seen Canitini’s sculptures if you’ve spent any time in Pittsburgh, even though you might not have known whose they were. The film will loop, along with three other documentaries, in the video room at PCA. The opening takes place at Pittsburgh Center for the Arts on Friday, September 25 from 5:30–8 p.m. There’s a suggested donation of $5 and PCA members get in free. So come to the PCA opening and check out the documentaries as well.

Bellefield Hall Auditorium

ProArts Tickets

IonSound Project launches its Reduce-Renew-Recycle season with chamber versions of Mahler’s Kindertotenlieder, Philip Thompson’s Percussion Concerto–Remixed, and Ravel’s Mother Goose Suite. The program will feature contralto Daphne Alderson and video artist Chris Ivey.

As part of The End of Television (http://theendoftelevision.blogspot.com), The Nerve will host a majestic night of jazz and improvised music from the following groups:

HiTEC (Histrionic Thought Experiment Cooperative)
the 22 member experimental orchestra – founded by tENTATIVELY, a cONVENIENCE

Fred Lonberg-Holm’s Valentine Trio
The Chicago master anti-cellist brings his jazz trio to Pittsburgh to run through original tunes, Fred Katz material, and possibly the odd Sun Ra, Wilco, or Syd Barret tune. Jason Roebke on bass, Frank Rosaly on drums.

Ben Opie’s Sound/Unsound Trio
One of Ben’s newer projects, surely to fall somewhere inbetween the Sun Ra-inspired big band strut of OPEK and the modal jams of Thoth Trio.

at The Nerve: an art and performance venue
500 Dargan Street (at Minerva St. next to the Bloomfield Bridge)
Friday, June 12, 2009
Doors at 7PM, $6

Current HiTEC Lineup:
tENTATIVELY, a cONVENIENCE: piano, electronics, percussion
Tony Balko: camcorder
Ben Opie: reeds, electronics
Kenny Haney: clarinets
Spat Cannon: upright acoustic bass
Dani Simmonds: banjo-uke
Roger Dannenberg: trumpet, flugelhorn, piccolo trumpet, software design
Missi St Pierre: toy piano w/ effects
Julian Krishnamurti: electric bass
Johan Nystrom [auxiliary member in Philly]: extended percussion
Ben Harris: violin
Jonathan Borofsky: monome with mabalhabla software
Mike Tamburo: hammered dulcimer
Unfinished Symphonies: electronic keyboard
Joy: electric guitar w/ nylon strings
William Wedler: Experiment 1
James Gyre: drums
Hyla Willis: erhu
David Bernabo: acoustic guitar
Josh Beyer: cello
Mike Kasunic: digital synth, electronics
Bob Jungkunz: drums

Below are some links to movies of HiTEC:

For Tony Balko’s 16mm footage of HiTEC
(Histrionic Thought Experiment Cooperative) ’s beginning
of our 21st rehearsal on September 14, 2008EV:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e0thj_1lWlA

For the beginning of my documentary of HiTEC’s premier gig:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tMpa9VMyWmU

A soft focus high-definition wide-angle shot of a short excerpt
from the 1/9/9 premier of HiTEC at the New Hazlett Theater:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wo2apKl_CCY

Fred Lonberg-Holm:

Flyer:

David Bernabo – Improvisation 01 for solo acoustic guitar

If an effort to provide more audio and video media to this blog, here is an artifact from the first edition of the WHY ARE Music Series that was held every Saturday in March 2009. This happens to be me since I’ve been on a recent documenting kick. I’ll be soliciting records from other folks who played and post them if given. Hope you enjoy.

Don’t miss Andy Druckenbrod’s shout out to Pittsburgh New Music Net in Classical Musings and note our proud new place in his blogroll. And stop by Andy’s blog to let him know that you appreciate his tenacity in covering the contemporary music scene in Pittsburgh. 

This week PNMNet passed 1,000 unique visitors for 2009. That includes nearly 5,000 visits, and over 10,000 pages views from some 30 countries. Thanks for reading!

IonSound Project and the Pittsburgh Chamber Music Society are pleased to announce the New Music Day-Pass for Sunday March 8, 2009. Purchase tickets to hear the Bugallo-Williams Piano Duo and IonSound Project with KnotDance and a light dinner in between, all for $20! Please see details below:

3 p.m. at Frick Fine Arts Auditorium (650 Schenley Dr. Pittsburgh, PA 15260)
Bridges Fine-tuned, Part II: Featuring the Bugallo-Williams Piano Duo premiering Amy Williams’ new composition for piano, with music by Gyorgy Kurtag, Machaut, Frescobaldi, Purcell, J.S. Bach, Conlon Nancarrow, and Igor Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring for piano four hands.

5:15 p.m. at Bellefield Hall 2nd Floor Lobby ((315 S. Bellefield Ave. Pittsburgh PA 15213)
Share a light meal with the artists, including vegetarian and omnivorian deli sandwiches, salad, drinks, and dessert.

7 p.m. at Bellefield Hall Auditorium
IonSound Project, the University of Pittsburgh Department of Music’s Ensemble-in-Residence, will give a concert titled Hometown Heroes, featuring music by John Adams, Patrick Burke, Eric Moe, Jonathan Kolm, David Stock, Philip Thompson, and Roger Zahab, with choreography by KnotDance.

Purchase your New Music Day-Pass for $20 by contacting The Pittsburgh Chamber Music Society at
412-624-4129 or info@pittsburghchambermusic.org.
Visa or MasterCard accepted for phone orders

Or send order form and check payable to Pittsburgh Chamber Music Society to

Pittsburgh Chamber Music Society

315 S. Bellefield Ave, Room 305

Pittsburgh, PA 15213

The next 10 people who register for Pittsburgh New Music Net will receive free tickets to the Biava Quartet’s premiere of David Stock’s String Quartet No. 8 on Saturday, February 7 at the New Hazlett. Also on the program are Shostakovich String Quartet No. 8 in c minor, Op. 110 and Mendelssohn String Quartet in f minor, Op. 80., so there really is something for everyone. 

Registering is free and simple. Scroll down the right-hand column to “Meta” and click “Register.” After you’re signed up I’ll send you an e-mail to confirm that you’ll be attending the concert and your name will be placed on the will-call list. It’s that easy.