Tag Archives: Monroe Golden

Worldlines Premieres at AEIVA

Posted on by

Worldlines, my brand-new piece for three or more sustaining instruments, gets its premiere tonight at the Abroms-Engel Institute for Visual Arts in a concert of chamber music inspired by Jessica Angel’s site-specific installation Facing the Hyperstructure.The program features three other world premiere compositions by Monroe Golden, Kyle McGucken, and Tom Reiner.

The pieces will be performed by Hillary Tidman, flute; Diana Dunn, oboe; Kathleen Costello, clarinet; Tariq Masri, bassoon; and Kevin Kozak, french horn. The event begins at 5pm with a reception and time to take in the artwork, followed by the concert at 5:30pm.

Friday April 7 5:00pm
Chamber Music at AEIVA: Air in a Loop
University of Alabama at Birmingham Abroms-Engel Institute for Visual Arts
1221 10th Avenue South
Birmingham AL 35205
5:00pm Reception and art viewing
5:30pm Concert

Like many of my recent scores, the musicians performing worldlines determine the moment-to-moment shape of the music. In this case, all of the musicians share the same written material and use hand-signals to determine how they navigate through it. One hand signal may cue players to repeat their current phrase, while another may cause them to read backwards through the score.

Here I am trying out a pair of ChromaDepth glasses surrounded by Jessica’s artwork. The glasses add a sense of depth to Angel’s vividly-colored environment.

BAMA DIY & DIT

Posted on by

Tomorrow I’ll be joining friends in the Birmingham Art Music Alliance for a DIY Composers Concert featuring composer/performers playing their own compositions. I’ll be performing music for banjo, live electronics and voice. Also on the program are Raphael Crystal and Gaines Brake, Monroe Golden, Kenneth Kuhn, Kyle McGucken and area newcomer Geni Skendo.

Tuesday August 9 7pm
BAMA “DIY” Concert
Unitarian Universalist Church of Birmingham
4300 Hampton Heights Dr
Birmingham AL 35209

DIY = Do It Yourself, of course
DIT = Do It Together (and in this case, Do It Tuesday)

Iron Giant Revives Metronome Quartet

Posted on by

Iron Giant Percussion will perform my work Quartet 60x88x120x208 for four metronomes  at the Hoover Library Theatre tomorrow. The concert is part of a 20th anniversary celebration of the Birmingham Art Music Alliance. Quartet 60x88x120x208 was performed during BAMA’s first season of concerts (January 22, 1996). It’s one of my more widely performed compositions, but I don’t think it has been heard in Birmingham since then.

Thursday April 28 7:30pm
BAMA presents Iron Giant Percussion
Hoover Library Theater
200 Municipal Drive
Hoover AL 35216Free Admission

The program will also include music by Drew Pendergrass, Tom Reiner, Mark Lackey, Jody Landers, Monroe Golden and works by Iron Giant Percussion.

Download a .pdf score for Quartet 60x88x120x208

Bridging Circuits and Cities

Posted on by

Tomorrow night I’m performing a new work on Circuit Bridges concert 37.

Thursday October 22, 8pm
Gallery MC
549 W 52nd St, Fl 8th
New York, New York 10019

This concert is part of the Vox Novus Festival celebrating 15 years of work. Vox Novus and Circuit Bridges have teamed up with BAMA in a composer exchange (kind of like hostages, only composers are somewhat more demanding—requiring better food, more liquor—and not as susceptible to audio torture). The exchange began a few weeks ago with the Birmingham Art Music Alliance welcoming a contingent of NY-based composers for the Birmingham New Music Festival. This weekend Monroe Golden, Mark Lackey, Brian Moon, William Price and I are being hosted by Circuit Bridges.

I’ll be performing Alap Catfish Impala,  a new piece for banjo voice and live electronics. It’s a mashup (or maybe a medley?) of clawhammer blues and just-tuned modal improvisations.

Check out the wonderfully eclectic program.

Kallay Tour Underway

Posted on by
A History of Elevators in Film (excerpt)

A History of Elevators in Film (excerpt)

The Birmingham Art Music Alliance kicked off the Beyond 12, 2015 Tour featuring pianist Aron Kallay last night with a performance at the Hoover Library Theater. Aron will perform six more times through April 8. This tour features three premieres of pieces by Alabama-based composers including Monroe Golden, Brian Moon and myself.

My work is titled A History of Elevators in Film, and like all the pieces on the program it features a retuned and remapped piano keyboard. In my case, I’m using Max to retune and remap pitches on the fly in response to the pianist’s performance.

 

Hultgren Revisits Nine Islands

Posted on by

07 3mvt1p3

Cellist and improviser Craig Hultgren will perform my Nine Islands, Nine Dialects for cello and speaking cellist as part of a retrospective concert presented by the Birmingham Art Music Alliance.

Wednesday February 4 7:30pm
Birmingham Art Music Alliance presents
Hultgren Cello Retrospective
Moonlight on the Mountain
Birmingham AL

It’s hard for me to believe this piece is more than 20 years old. I wrote it while living abroad as a fellow of the Thomas J. Watson Foundation, and I wrote it especially for Craig to perform. His support and encouragement was so important for me as a young composer as was the experience working alongside him in the newly-formed Birmingham Art Music Alliance. Craig premiered the piece at one of the first concerts presented by BAMA, and this will be one of his last BAMA concerts as a Birmingham resident. Craig will also perform pieces by Michael Angell, Edwin Robertson, James A. Jensen, Brian C. Moon, William Price, Monroe Golden, Bryan Page and Mark A. Lackey.

Feeney & Richman Premiere Glacial Erratics

Posted on by

glacial_erratics_image

Percussionist Tim Feeney and violist Wendy Richman will premiere my Glacial Erratics for 1 or 2 sustaining instruments and electronics in a concert presented by the Birmingham Art Music Alliance. Also performing will be Osiris Molina on clarinet. The concert will feature works by Lori Ardovino, Monroe Golden, Joseph Landers, Adriana Perera, William Price and Ron Wray.

Wednesday January 21 7:30pm
Tim Feeney / Wendy Richman / Osiris J. Molina
Moody Music Building Recital Hall
University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa AL

 

 

UAB Faculty Brass performs Purple Loosestrife (Satellite)

Posted on by
euphonium 01

An excerpt from the score

 

Wednesday January 15 7:30 pm
Birmingham Art Music Alliance presents
UAB Faculty Brass
Samford University
Brock Recital Hall
Birmingham AL

This will be the premiere performance of my brass quintet, Purple Loosestrife (Satellite). The piece functions as a distributed network of musical gestures. Each musician can influence the behavior of any of the other musicians, while simultaneously being influenced by them. No one person is more “in charge” than another. There’s also no predetermined beginning, middle or ending. I sat in on a rehearsal this weekend and loved how the ensemble was working together. I can’t wait to hear how it comes together for the performance.

Also on the program:

  • Mark A. Lackey – Three Simple Prayers
  • Bryan Page – now does our world descend
  • Monroe Golden – Some Day
  • Jan Vi?ar – Three Marches for Dr. Kaybl
  • Wesley Johnson – Bluebrass Kebyar
  • Ron Wray – Dance Like It Hurts
  • William Price – Sans Titre VII
  • Fernando Deddos – Rabecando
  • Nancy Jensen – Polaris Fanfare

The University of Alabama at Birmingham Brass Quintet consists of Dr. James Zingara and Dr. Steve Roberts, trumpets, Dr. Martin Cochran, euphonium, Jeff Koonce, trombone, and Scott Robertson, tuba.

Piano Duo on Tour

Posted on by

Cypher a Circle front

Tomorrow Kathryn Fouse and Adam Bowles kick off a four city tour presented by the Birmingham Art Music Alliance. They’ll perform a program of new compositions for piano duo, including the premiere of my piece Cypher, A Circle.

Thursday, Oct. 3, 8:00 pm – Oakwood University, Huntsville AL
Tuesday, Oct. 8, 7:30 pm – University of Montevallo, Montevallo AL
Friday, Oct. 18, 7:30 pm – Jacksonville State University, Jacksonville AL
Tuesday, Nov. 5, 1:15 pm – Shelton State University, Tuscaloosa AL

Spain on My Mind – Adriana Perera
Limited Transit – Michael Coleman
Frequent Flyer – Cynthia Miller
Left of Center – William Price
Cypher, A Circle – Holland Hopson
Three Movements for Two Pianos – Edwin Robertson
So I Can See Willy – Monroe Golden