Pittsburgh New Music Net

Host Skull, the duo of David Bernabo and Will Dyar, released a new composition on Chicago’s Contraphonic label. The piece, titled “Fourth River”, juxtaposes arrhythmic electronics with lush sections of classical guitar, vibraphone, and percussion. To flesh out the lineup, this instance of Host Skull also includes vibraphonist Jeff Berman, modular synth-ist Herman “Soy Sos” Pearl, and a trio of Ben Harris/Kerrith Livengood/Brandon Masterman. The composition comes as an MP3 along with an essay on Pittsburgh by Contraphonic label owner Ben Schulman and photography by CMU’s Alternative Photo Process class, led by professor Elizabeth Raymer Griffin.

The package can be purchased through Contraphonic here for the very reasonable price of $3.99.

Host Skull’s first official show will this Friday, April 29th at The Frame on Carnegie Mellon’s campus at Forbes and Margaret Morrison. Host Skull will be represented by David Bernabo and Jeff Berman.

Pittsburgh’s Fourth River is the sometimes mythologized, sometimes forgotten river that flows below the surface. More accurately, it is an aquifer that is given the name Wisconsin Glacial Flow. The visible manifestations of the river can be seen in the fountain at Point State Park and in some of the downtown drinking water. When the Fourth River is mentioned, grand notions of a flowing subterranean river come to mind. This is in direct contrast to what is actually is: sand, gravel, and a bit of water running through it.

Watch a video preview of the piece here.

Carnegie Mellon’s Wind Ensemble presents a lively program featuring two world premieres: Professor Marilyn Taft Thomas’ Snapshots of a Great City (transcription by director Denis Colwell), and Scatterbrain by composition student Alex Weston (BFA ’11). Other contemporary works will include Ticheli’s Blue Shades, Stravinsky’s Symphonies of Wind Instruments, Whitacre’s October, and High Flight, a high energy piece commissioned by the U.S. Air Force Band. The concert begins at 8 p.m. Wednesday, March 24 in Oakland’s Carnegie Music Hall.

Tickets are $5 for general admission and can be purchased in advance online at http://music.cmu.edu. College students w/valid ID receive FREE admission!

Hear world premieres by three acclaimed Carnegie Mellon student composers this Wednesday, February 24 at 8 p.m. in Oakland’s Carnegie Music Hall. Along with guest conductors Tobias Volkmann and Jan Pellant, music director Ronald Zollman will lead the Carnegie Mellon Philharmonic in this concert of original music that also will feature concertmaster Emma Steele on Prokofiev’s Violin Concerto No. 2 in G minor.

Tickets are $5 general admission, $4 senior citizens and free to all students with ID. Visit music.cmu.edu for more information.

Hear world premieres by four up-and-coming Carnegie Mellon student composers this Wednesday, February 17 at 8 p.m. in Oakland’s Carnegie Music Hall. Along with guest conductors Tobias Volkmann and Jan Pellant, music director Ronald Zollman will lead the Carnegie Mellon Philharmonic in this concert of original music that also will feature soprano Danielle Messina on Barber’s classic Knoxville, Summer of 1915.

Tickets are $5 general admission, $4 senior citizens and free to all students with ID. Visit music.cmu.edu for more information.