Carleton is pleased to present a not-to-be-missed evening of concert performance by world-renowned artists Andrea Mazzariello, Mobius Percussion, and Nikki Melville. These groundbreaking musicians will come together Friday, Sept. 16 from 7 to 8 p.m. in the Concert Hall, performing new works at the crossroads of composition, performance, and technology—combining keys, drums, voice, and electronics—blurring the lines between the traditional and the avant garde.
Composer and visiting professor of music Mazzariello explains:
“This is music that honors diverse practices—virtuosic performance, songwriting, electronic dance music, among many others—by creating a hybrid sound and form, one that values sincerity, intimacy, and immediacy. It asks performers to rethink their physiological relationship to their instruments, pushing the limits of instrumental and vocal multitasking. And tt asks audiences to rethink what concert music might be, absorbing the ethos of pop and art music in equal parts, creating a vulnerable space into which those seemingly opposed traditions might articulate their best selves.”
As an added bonus, Mazzariello will be joined by members of acclaimed Mobius Percussion for a screening of video work, including the world premiere film version of Mazzariello’s “Symmetry and Sharing,” Other works include visual treatments of technologically-assisted spoken word, collisions of music and theater, and, what Mazzariello calls, “a new music audiovisual secret family recipe.” The screening, in collaboration with Four/Ten Media, will be held Saturday, Sept. 17 from 1 to 3 p.m. in the Weitz Center for Creativity Cinema, followed by a Q&A session with the featured artists.
Andrea Mazzariello is a composer, performer, writer, and teacher. His music thinks through the physiology of performance in terms of instrumental technique, often extended through technological intervention, and pays special attention to the treatment and setting of his own original text, spoken and sung.
An active performer, Mazzariello has appeared in such diverse venues as the Knitting Factory, Cakeshop, the Queens New Music Festival, and the Wassaic Festival. His original compositions have been performed by Sō Percussion, Mobius Percussion, NOW Ensemble, Newspeak, the Berkshire Symphony, and many others. Recordings of his work appear on New Amsterdam Records and SEAMUS.
Mazzariello currently teaches composition, music technology, and music fundamentals as visiting assistant professor of music at Carleton College, and directs the composition program at the Sō Percussion Summer Institute. His first book, One More Revolution, will be published by The Operating System in 2017. Learn more at www.andreamazzariello.com.
Mobius Percussion is an ensemble of young musicians renowned for bringing a visual and theatrical edge to their performances. By working with a wide range of collaborators including videographers, dancers, fashion designers, thespians, and like-minded composers, they are breaking down the traditions of classical music performance in favor of an immersive concert experience. The Brooklyn-based quartet (comprised of David Degge, Mika Godbole, Yumi Tamashiro, and Frank Tyl) performs frequently throughout the tristate area at venues such as (le) Poisson Rouge, Baby’s All Right, Shapeshifter Lounge, and the Princeton Sound Kitchen and have been guest artists on Vicky Chow’s Contagious Sounds Series, Andrea Clearfield’s Salon Series, The Firehouse New Music Series, and Sō Percussion’s Brooklyn Bound. More at www.mobiuspercussion.com.
Pianist and Carleton professor of music Nikki Melville has commissioned and premiered many works by composers in the United States and her native New Zealand. She has recorded the complete piano rags of William Albright for the Equilibrium label; her most recent CD, released on Innova Recordings, features thirteen new commissions by award-winning composers from around the US. In addition to being an advocate for new music, her ongoing interests include interdisciplinary performances that combine music with other arts in live performance.
These events are free and open to the public. Andrea Mazzariello is the Christopher U. Light Lecturer for 2016-17. The Concert Hall is located on First Street between Nevada and Winona Streets in Northfield. The Weitz Center for Creativity is located at Third and College Streets in Northfield. For more information, including disability accommodations, please call (507) 222-4475.
