Mark Gresham | 05 APR 2019
Now in its fourth year, the SoundNOW Atlanta Music Festival presents seven concerts of contemporary music performed by nine Atlanta area ensembles beginning this Sunday, April 7, through Saturday, April 13.
Concert venues will include Kopleff Recital Hall, {Poem88} Gallery & Bookshp and the First Existentialist Congregation of Atlanta. The four concerts at Kopleff Recital Hall are presented in conjunction with the Georgia State University School of Music’s 2018/19 Signature Series.
Here’s the complete rundown of SoundNOW Festival concerts:
SUNDAY, APRIL 7 • Terminus Ensemble – not to be confused with the heavily-promoted dance company of a similar name – made its debut in March 2012. The name “Terminus” was the original name of Atlanta, when it was the end of the Western & Atlanta Railroad. The group “seeks to explore the boundaries and intersections of contemporary art music” through promoting new music by composers based in Atlanta and the southeastern United States.
In this Festival-opening concert, Terminus Ensemble will perform music by Nicole Chamberlain, Sarah Hersh, Charles Knox, Salvatore Locascio, Brent Milam, and Bryan Wysocki. 3:00pm at Kopleff Recital Hall. Free admission.
MONDAY, APRIL 8 • GSU’s neoPhonia New Music Ensemble promotes the music of established contemporary composers, presents important chamber works of the late 20th/early 21st Century, hosts significant guest artists and provides an opportunity for the performance of music by emerging young composers. The ensemble features a flexible instrumentation comprised of Georgia State University School of Music faculty and students plus professional musicians from the Atlanta area.
For this concert, neoPhonia New Music Ensemble will perform music by GSU School of Music faculty composers Robert Scott Thompson, Brent Milam, Marc Lemay, Hanna Lisa Stefansson and the world premiere of Ithaca by Nickitas Demos with a text by Constantine P. Cavafy as translated by Dr. Gregory Jusdanis, noted Cafavy scholar and Humanities Distinguished Professor at Ohio State University, who will offer a pre-concert lecture from 6:15 to 7:15pm. The concert begins at 7:30pm. Both take place at Kopleff Recital Hall. Admission is free.Reception to follow.
TUESDAY, APRIL 9 • Bent Frequency performs a concert featuring music by guest composer George Lewis, the Edwin H. Case Professor of American Music at Columbia University, including his North Star Boogaloo and Anthem. The program also includes works by Alvin Singleton, T. J. Anderson, Anahita Abbasi, Eve Beglarian, Emily Kkoh and GSU alumna Colette Coward. 7:30pm at Kopleff Recial Hall. Free admission.
Associated with the April 9 Bent Frequency concert are other activitiesin George Lewis’ residency as GSU Provost Visiting Scholar: an Interdisciplinary Improvisation Symposium (April 9, 11am – Kopleff Recital Hall); an open rehearsal with Bent Frequency (April 9, 3:30 PM – Kopleff Recital Hall); and a pair of lectures by Lewis about his book, A Power Stronger That Itself: The AACM and American Experimental Music (April 10. 9:30 am, Troy Moore Library) and his music and artistic process (April 11, 3:30pm, GSU School of Music, Room 400 in the Standard Building). All are free and open to the public.
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 10 • Chamber Cartel makes a welcomed return to the local new music scene after a year-and-a-half hiatus. Founding percussionist Caleb Herron leads the Cartel in a program of music by Drew Baker, Augustin Braud, Anthony Donofrio, and Philippe Hurel.7:30 pm at Kopleff Recial Hall • Free Admission!
THURSDAY, APRIL 11 • Cantos y Cuentos and Perimeter Flutes perform works by Michael Kurth, Charles Knox, Nicole Chamberlain, Stephen Wood, Greg McLean, Lera Auerbach, Ashely Floyd, Sy Brandon, Gary Shocker,Alan Theisen and Oliver Caplan. 7:30pm at Poem 88 Gallery. $10 suggested donation at the door.
FRIDAY, APRIL 12 • The Atlanta Contemporary Ensemble will perform compositions by Stephen Wood, featuring music from his new classical chamber music album, Untrammeled (wilderness compositions inspired by remote back-country artist residencies between 2012 and 2016), the world premiere of Natural Sounds and Night Skies, plus graphic score improvisations of urban wilderness soundscapes. 8:00pm at First Existentialist Congregation in candler Park. Admission is $10 at the door.
SATURDAY, APRIL 13 • The Festival closes with the debut of the smol ensemble. Toy pianists Amy O’Dell and Monica Pearce and percussionists Justin Greene and Paul Stevens will perform premieres of compositions by Monica Pearce and Justin Greene, music by Eva-Maria Houben and Music for Amplified Toy Piano by John Cage. They will share the concert with Atlanta-based experimental pop duo Moloq. 7:00pm at Poem 88 Gallery.$10 suggested donation at the door. ■
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