Hey there, reader/listener/new friend!
Tomorrow night is Loop38’s concert STRANGE, WILD, WIERD! We are so excited to celebrate the best hour of the day (happy hour) with you all at Night Heron, one of our favourite Houston bars! Whether you’re reading this before sneaking off to bed, or first thing in the morning we want to give you a little taste of what you should DEFINITELY come and hear after work on MONDAY DEC 10th!!
Our program opens with Jonathan Newman’s “OK feel good new” is a colourful rhythmic playground. He is unreal at incorporating sounds from jazz and pop into his work. This piece will pep you up and put a tap in your toes for sure.
One of his favourite works of mine is “Blow it up, Start again” -- take a listen here:
Next up will be “Switches”, by Sam Pluta. This piece was awarded the 2009 ASCAP Morton Gould Young Composers Prize. It features heavy rock influences, and sounds maybe not expected from a traditional chamber music experience. Our viola star Siggy will be rocking out on this with our guest percussionist Jamie Kollar.
Here’s a little clip of his work “Machine Language”:
Up third will be Canadian composer Nicole Lizee’s “Malfunctionlieder”. I first sang this work in a competition, and it’s one of the most difficult, rollicking scores that I’ve ever worked through. The entire piece is an incredible exploration of absurdity and pop culture, taking clips of famous movie and warping them. The singer and pianist in turn, I would say,, get a little warped themselves! Nicole is one of my favourite composers around right now, take a peek at her “Hitchcock Etudes” for piano, tape, and video (watch closely, she makes an appearance herself):
Our harpist Caitlin will be transporting us to the mesmerizing and trance-like world of Angelica Negrón in her piece “Technicolor” for harp and electronics! Negrón’s music is known for it’s heavy pop influences and transcendent sound world. This piece is no different. Take a peek at the composer herself performing one of her works:
Keeping in the pop sound world, we have a selection from Gabriel Kahane’s “Craigslistlieder”. In writing these songs, Kahane took actual adverts from Craigslist and set them to music. The results are nothing but hilarious.
Look to the right to watch Kahane himself singing and playing some excerpts from the complete Craigslistlieder:
We close our program with “Anthem” by George Lewis, both a professor of composition at Columbia University and a MacArthur Fellow (2002), a Guggenheim Fellow (2015). Anthem is an exhilarating work about belonging, power, celebrity, and desire. I first heard this work performed a couple years ago and I just about lit something on FIRE I was so worked up afterwards! I’m really hoping it has the same effect on you (but please don’t light anything on fire)!!
All in all, this program TOMORROW is going to be a RIGHTEOUS good time. Really really really really hope you can come! Until then - get excited and get those ears ready!
Ally xx