University of Washington doctoral composers Josh Archibald-Seiffer and Ania Stachurska present an evening of acoustic and electronic works. This event will feature world premieres by both Archibald-Seiffer and Stachurska that explore diverse themes such as political civil war, children’s literature, the structure of language, and the uncanny.

Josh Archibald-Seiffer‘s work explores the expressive potential of structures as both organizational and narrative forces. His music has been played in the U.S., Canada, and Germany by groups such as Dal Niente, the Seattle Symphony, Pascal Gallois, sfSound, and Inverted Space Ensemble. Archibald-Seiffer received an Honorable Mention for his work Music for Orchestra in the 2015 American Composers’ Forum National Composition Contest, and he was a 2010 recipient of the Robert M. Golden Medal for Excellence in the Humanities and Creative Arts. He completed his BA in Music Composition at Stanford University in 2010 under the guidance of Brian Ferneyhough and Mark Applebaum, and he is currently pursuing his DMA with Joël-François Durand. Archibald-Seiffer is also active as a pianist and is a frequent performer with Seattle-based contemporary music group Inverted Space Ensemble.

Polish-born composer Ania Stachurska is a DMA candidate at the University of Washington. She completed her MM in Music Composition in 2014 at the University of Washington under the guidance of Juan Pampin and Joël-François Durand, and she earned her BA in Music Composition at Academy of Music in Kraków, Poland under the guidance of Zbigniew Bujarski and Krzysztof Meyer. Among Stachurska’s musical accolades include are 3rd prize at the I Controlled Composition Competition in Radom, Poland in 2013; 3rd prize at the Composition Competition in Kraków, Poland in 2008; and the William Bergsma Endowment for Excellence in Music Composition Fellowship. She also received a commission from the Polish Institute of Music and Dance, resulting in her work isolated-disintegrated for flute and live electronics. Stachurska’s music has been played in the United States, Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia and Germany by performers such as Daria Binkowski, Pascal Gallois, JACK Quartet and Talea Ensemble among others.

Earshot Jazz & Nonsequitur present a solo performance by guitarist, turntable performer, composer, producer, and co-founder of the Project Fukushima! organization, Otomo Yoshihide.

The events that unfolded in Fukushima in March 2011 still hold important lessons for all of us in the current era of nuclear power and global climate change. The documentary film Project Fukushima! (screening May 2 at NW Film Forum) follows the preparations made for a festival held in Fukushima just five months after the earthquake and tsunami. Project Fukushima! continues to organize festivals and related events on a yearly basis to this day.

For the five-year anniversary screening, we will have in attendance one of the founders of the Project Fukushima! organization, renowned avant musician Otomo Yoshihide, visiting from Japan. Born in Yokohama in 1959, he spent his teen years in Fukushima. He has led multiple bands, such as ONJT, Double Orchestra, Yuheisya and FEN, and is also a member of numerous other bands and music projects, including Filament, Kahimi Karie, I.S.O., Otoasobi no Kai and Emergency!. He has worked independently to create music widely and simultaneously all over the world. His output ranges from loud music using noise and feedback, to music focusing on the generation of sound itself, plus other work themed around jazz, pop music and songs. His film compositions number over 60 pieces, including Chinese cinema (Blue Kite, directed by Tian Zhuang-Zhuang), the work of leading Japanese film directors (Shinji Somai, Hiroshi Ando, Masao Adachi, Tomoro Taguchi), emerging directors in Japan (Satoko Yokohama), TV drama series (e.g. NHK (Japan Broadcasting Corporation) morning drama series Ama chan), and TV advertising. Recently his unit ENSEMBLES has been presenting musical pieces and unique concerts based on collaborations with a broad variety of people, and he has also been conducting musical workshops with disabled people, and projects which are open for amateurs. His published books include MUSICS (Iwanami Books), JAMJAM Diary by Yoshihide Otomo (Kawade Shobo Shinsha), and ENSEMBLES (Getsuyosha).

(photo: Hiro Yamada)

The Seattle Bass Clarinet Project was founded in 2013 by Jenny Ziefel and Beverly Setzer to promote the bass clarinet as a vital voice in new music. The Setzer/Ziefel Duo has commissioned several works for bass clarinet duet from Seattle area composers and performs regularly around the Seattle area. Other members of SCBP include Lori Shepherd and Brian Madsen. The SCBP strives to introduce new audiences to the instrument its members love and to foster interest in new music. This concert will include the World Premiere of Sean Osborn’s Four Moods for Bass Clarinet Duo and performances of pieces by Bill Smith, Jim Knodle, Daniel Barry, and other composers.

Jenny Ziefel is an active Seattle area performer and teacher. She earned her D.M.A. in Clarinet from the University of Washington in 2002 after studying clarinet at the University of Northern Colorado and both clarinet and saxophone at Lawrence University (in Wisconsin). She plays in orchestras and chamber music groups as well as jazz ensembles and other improvisatory settings. She is a member of the Lake Washington Symphony, Seattle Women’s Jazz Orchestra, the Setzer/Ziefel Duo, and a variety of chamber ensembles. Her recent performances include playing for the Earshot Jazz Festival, performing at Clarinetissimo, and playing bass clarinet with the Cascade Symphony. She is an active freelancer and has a vibrant studio of clarinet and saxophone students.

Beverly Setzer holds a Bachelor of Arts and a Bachelor of Music in clarinet performance from the University of Washington. After college, Bev spent a year playing co-principal and principal clarinet in La Filarmónica del Bajío in Guanajuato, Mexico. Bev is a member of the Tacoma Symphony, the Lake Washington Symphony, the Bavarian Village Band, Roadside Attraction, Banda Vagos, and the Mellifluous Zephyrs. She enjoys playing a wide variety of music ranging from classical to polkas to jazz. She lives on a little farm in Snohomish with her trombone playing husband and two children.

Leviathan Worship Service presents a unique improvised experience. We believe in total freedom of sound. As a collective we do not discuss what we are going to play nor do we view the music in terms of “good” or “bad,” we are only concerned with experiencing the music in the moment. There are no permanent members, making for a consistent change of sound from one performance to the next. This incarnation of the Service is comprised of Carol Levin (electric harp & loops), Mack Fisher (synthesizer & electronics), Nico Sophiea (Casio & electronics), K.S. Mooney (prepared bass), and Darb Aduor (amplified gamelan & guitar)

DTMF is the new project of Gabriel Schubiner (Noise No Noise, Hollow Earth Radio), calling on emulated telephony signal processors, sampled recordings and generative processes to dial in the sounds of networked communication. DTMF taps into the experience of remote connection while synths and TTS cross-talk on Room 641A’s shared lines, phreaks tone-dial over POTS and ringbacks modulate dual tone multi-frequency dial tones.

Opening the evening is a music and dance performance from Campbell Thibo and Belle (dance) with Darb Aduor (gamelan/percussion)

Join us.

The NOCCO String Quartet performs pieces by the ten finalists in the Seattle Composer Alliance‘s Second Annual International Call for Scores. The program features composers from the United Kingdom, Spain, Italy, Canada and beyond, as well as local contributions from Seattle and throughout the United States. Our hearty congratulations to this year’s winners listed below in alphabetical order:

Rodrigo Batalha, Pulse
Diane Berry, Chasing the Raven
Jeff Chambers, Whitewater
William Cooper, Elegy
Daniele Di Virgilio, The Guild of Sorcerer’s Apprentices
Heidi Fivash, Lifespan
Philip Kenworthy, Fire Dance
Jiyoung Kim, Garak
Andrea Montalbano, Geometric Game
William Toutant, Smidgen

At the end of the concert, a first, second, and third place winner will be announced from the stage. First place winner receives a one-year Full Membership to the SCA, a studio-quality recording of their piece, and a free-invitation to participate in next year’s Call for Scores. Second and third place winners, in addition to the performance and recording, will receive one-year Associate Memberships to the SCA.

Seattle Composers Alliance is a non-profit professional organization made up of working composers, students, and others interested in professional music composition. The SCA was created so that composers could gather with their peers in a relaxed, non-competitive atmosphere and share knowledge, experience and information. We also offer special forums and seminars of interest to our members. Our other goals include expanding Seattle’s reputation as a center for musical creativity and providing educational resources for composers in the greater Seattle community.

Artist/musician Erin Jorgensen creates a sound world that is part yoga nidra, part punk rock. Inspired in part by Laurie Anderson, death metal, JS Bach, and late-night airwaves, her music conjures up a musical palette with lots of space for the listener to fill in the blanks. Using a five-octave marimba, both acoustic and amplified, with intimate vocals, backing electronics, and stream-of-consciousness thoughts, her soundscapes are ideal for closed eyes, 3 AM thoughts, and dreams.

Erin Jorgensen is a musician who half-heartedly studied classical percussion until forging her own path in pop, rock, and performance art. Based in Seattle, she has created artistic collaborations with musician/producer Steve Fisk and guitarist Brett Netson (Built to Spill, Brett Netson and Snakes). She currently creates surreal pop records and soundtracks for people who have a difficult time on planet Earth.

(photo: Dave Lichterman)

Presented by Nonsequitur.

Gamelan Pacifica presents Back to the Source: Music from Central Java, with special guest renowned Javanese musician Heri Purwanto, and featuring vocalist/pesindhèn Jessika Kenney. Directed by Jarrad Powell. Musicians: Jackie An, Maggie Brown, Michael Dorrity, Stephen Fandrich, Ted Gill, Sierra Klingele, Deena Manis, Jarrad Powell, Richard Robinson, Matt Shoemaker, Stephanie Shadbolt, Jesse Snyder, Astrid Vinje.

Gamelan, an Indonesian gong-chime percussion orchestra and one of the most remarkable ensembles in the world, creates both rich and dramatic resonance and contemplative beauty. Gamelan Pacifica performs music for Javanese gamelan, featuring classic gending (compositions) from Central Java.

HERI PURWANTO is a highly respected teacher, performer, and master musician of the Javanese gamelan. He comes from a family of musicians in Wonogiri, Central Java. After graduating from the college level academy (Sekolah Tinggi Seni Indonesia) in Surakarta, Central Java, at the top of his class in 2000, he taught gamelan at the University of California-Berkeley, from 2001 to 2004 and directed the Berkeley-based ensemble Gamelan Sari Raras. He returned to Java in 2004, continuing his work as an artist, building and running an arts studio in his community as well as performing as a musician throughout Indonesia and in Singapore. More recently he has been a visiting artist at academic institutions in the U.S., including the University of Washington and Cornish College of the Arts.

JESSIKA KENNEY is a composer/singer who does not fear untraveled paths, appreciated by audiences for the vastly different musical forms she has integrated into a distinct style. Her reverence for, and interpretations of, South East Asian and Persian vocal traditions have also formed the basis for her main improvisational work. Simultaneously, an ongoing series of collaborations with her husband, composer/violist Eyvind Kang, have her embracing the avant-garde audience. Add to that her performances of Scelsi, Cage and Feldman, and her involvement with experimental metal groups such as Sunn O))) and ASVA, and one realizes that challenging horizons mark Kenney’s regular pursuits. In 2014, Kenney received Artist Trust’s James W. Ray Distinguished Artist Award for a Washington State artist whose work demonstrates exceptional originality, and she and Kang were recipients of the 2013 Stranger Genius Award in Music.

GAMELAN PACIFICA has performed extensively in the Pacific Northwest, throughout the U.S. and Canada. Formed in 1980, Gamelan Pacifica is among the finest ensembles devoted to the performance of music for gamelan in the U.S. They have been guest performers on The Smithsonian Institute’s Festival of Indonesia, New Music Across America Festival, Vancouver New Music Society, On the Boards, Walker Art Center, Performing Arts Chicago, and many others. In the Northwest they perform regularly and have appeared at the University of Washington, Seattle University, Town Hall, Cornish College of the Arts, Seattle Art Museum, Evergreen State College, Centrum, Bumbershoot Festival, Arts in Nature Festival, University of Oregon, Whidbey Institute, CenterStage, and many others. Visiting artists have included some of the most notable artists of Indonesia, including Rahayu Supangah, Al. Suwardi, Peni Chandra Rini, Sutrisno Hartana, Wayan Sinti, Didik Nini Thowok, Sri Djoko Rahardja, I Made Sidia, Endo Suanda, Dedek Wahyudi, Goenawan Mohamad, and Tony Prabowo. Gamelan Pacifica’s recording, Trance Gong, has received international acclaim. Recent recordings include Scenes from Cavafy for New World Records, and Nourishment for Blind Stone Records. Gamelan Pacifica is directed by noted composer and Cornish College of the Arts Professor Jarrad Powell. In addition to sponsoring the Javanese gamelan ensemble, Gamelan Pacifica is a well-respected non-profit arts organization that supports programs and projects relating to music and dance, with a special emphasis on cross-cultural and interdisciplinary collaboration. Gamelan Pacifica has been the recipient of numerous grants, including support from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Rockefeller Foundation and Arts International. Gamelan Pacifica is currently supported in part by sustaining funds from the Seattle Office of Arts and Culture and 4Culture.

Passionate playing with clear technical command and a compelling story behind each composition are what guitarist Mark Hilliard Wilson brings to the stage. Performing regularly at festivals and concert series through out the greater Northwest, Wilson has distinguished himself as a unique voice with programs that feature his own transcriptions of new works for the guitar, and is privileged to have had a number of works written for him by composers such as Mesut Ozgen, Michael Timpson, Charles Atwood, Nathen Jensen, Jim Clarke and Paul Messler. Wilson’s performing career has taken him to Carnegie Hall’s Weill Recital Hall with the new music group Ensemble Sospeso to concert halls across the US. Wilson’s compositions for the guitar have been appearing on stages throughout the Northwest US and Canada for over 15 years. The main medium he works in is the relatively unexplored genre of multiple guitars or Guitar Orchestra. Wilson is the conductor, composer, arranger and music director of the Guitar Orchestra.

Tonight’s concert is an exploration of opposites. The first half is for solo guitarist dutifully following the instructions given by the composers 63 and 53 years ago. The second half is for a growing ensemble of players that will be alternately improvising freely and following a very open set of instructions.

What are the edges of communication and what can be learned from working diligently to preserve one’s ideas in corporeal form verses giving a set of instructions? The scope of this inquiry is so large that it is impossible to get more than a glimpse of an answer with this one night. That said, Mark has chosen pieces that feature the ideas of towering figures of history in the first half and some of the best improvisers and musicians he has had the privilege to know.

Alone: Giacinto Scelsi, Ko-Tha; Maurice Ohana‬, Si le jour parait…; Gyorgy Kurtag, Cinque Merrycate

Together: improvisations with William Wolford; John Cage, Variations II; improvisations with Lori Goldston, Kyle Hason, Helen Pridmore, William Wolford

Dave Rempis, Alto Saxophone
 / Darren Johnston, Trumpet
 / Larry Ochs, Tenor and Sopranino Saxophones

“Horn-only ensembles tend to fall into two categories: either they take a figure-and-ground approach, with one or more players acting as a de facto rhythm section, or they turn into free- for-all blowouts. This trio’s music is like improvised carpentry, making elegant constructions out of each horn’s complete range of sounds, both customary and unexpected.” — Bill Meyer, Chicago Reader

Forming in 2015, this all-horns free-improvising trio came together when Rempis journeyed to the West Coast to discover some things about his compatriots on the Bay Area improvising scene. From the first few notes, their initial meeting flowed comfortably, yet in totally unexpected ways, with all three making logical structural decisions that gave their improvisations the feel of through-composed pieces. Not satisfied with simply existing in the moment, these three combine sensibilities to look many moves ahead, setting each other up time and again to capitalize on structural possibilities that give rare and meaningful form to an otherwise very spontaneous music. (Listen here.) They stop in Seattle on a tour to celebrate their new album, Neutral Nation (Aerophonic Record)s.

Dave Rempis began his musical studies at the age of 8, inspired by a family friend who played clarinet in local Greek bands, and by Zoot, of the Muppets Band, to pick up saxophone. During high school he performed in his town, district, and all-state bands and wind ensembles, as well as in a jazz combo at a local music school. During his tenure with The Vandermark Five, Rempis also began to develop the many Chicago-based groups for which he is currently known. These include The Rempis Percussion Quartet, The Engines, The Rempis/Rosaly Duo, The Outskirts, Ballister, The Rempis/Daisy Duo, Bishop/Rempis/Kessler/Zerang, and Wheelhouse. Past working groups include Triage, and the Dave Rempis Quartet. Many of these groups have been documented on the Okkadisk, 482 Music, Not Two, MultiKulti, Solitaire, and Utech record labels. Rempis also performs and tours with Ken Vandermark’s Territory Band and Resonance Project, and The Ingebrigt Haker-Flaten Quintet. Past collaborations have included performances with Paul Lytton, Axel Dörner, Peter Brötzmann, Hamid Drake, Steve Swell, John Tchicai, Roscoe Mitchell, Fred Anderson, Kevin Drumm, Paal Nilssen-Love, Nels Cline, Tony Buck, and Joe McPhee. Rempis has been named three times in the annual Downbeat Critics’s Poll as a rising star in both the alto and baritone saxophone categories.

Since settling in San Francisco in 1997, Canada-born trumpeter/composer/songwriter Darren Johnston has collaborated and recorded with an extremely diverse cross-section of artists, from straight-ahead jazz luminaries such as bassist/composer Marcus Shelby, to experimental icons like ROVA, Fred Frith and Myra Melford, rising star in the singer/songwriter world like Meklit Hadero, or traditional Balkan brass band giants Brass Menazeri. As a bandleader he has made his mark with the award winning The Nice Guy Trio, The Darren Johnston Quintet, the category defying Broken Shadows, and more. Johnston was featured as one of Downbeat Magazine’s “25 Trumpeters for the Future,” and has been listed multiple times in the critic’s polls. His debut quintet recording, “The Edge of the Forest” received four stars by four very different critics in the Downbeat “Critics Polls,” and was given an honorable mention by the Village Voice for the top 10 CDs of the year. Johnston has a BA from the Cincinnati Conservatory of music, and an MFA in composition from Mills College. Johnston currently teaches privately, at the Community Music Center in San Francisco’s Mission district, the Oakland School for the Arts, and as adjunct faculty at the University of California, Berkeley.

As a member of Rova Saxophone Quartet since 1977, Larry Ochs has made more than two-dozen CDs and 40 tours to Europe and Japan. He has recorded dozens of CDs with his other touring bands including Larry Ochs Sax & Drumming Core with Scott Amendola, Don Robinson, Satoko Fujii, and Natsuki Tamura, and Kihnoua with vocalist/performance artist Dohee Lee, Scott Amendola and special guests. He is performing in and composing for more “collective” bands such as: East-West Collective – with Didier Petit, Sylvain Kassap, Miya Masaoka, Xu Fengxia; Ochs-Robinson Duo with drummer Don Robinson; Jones Jones – with Mark Dresser and Vladimir Tarasov; Maybe Monday – with Miya Masaoka and Fred Frith; Shelton-Ochs Quartet with Aram Shelton, Kjell Nordeson and Mark Dresser; and Trio Dave Rempis-Darren Johnston-Larry Ochs. He has performed with Kronos Quartet, John Zorn, Steve Lacy, Anthony Braxton, Nels Cline, John Lindberg, Scott Amendola, Andrew Cyrille, Butch Morris, Marilyn Crispell, Henry Kaiser, Wadada Leo Smith, Peggy Lee and many others.

Presented by Nonsequitur.

Seattle Modern Orchestra presents a full concert of electronic music, including three works from three different generations and three stages of technologic development. SMO has commissioned Seattle-based Polish composer and research scientist at University of Washington DxARTS Ewa Trębacz to write Ligeia (2016), a piece for ensemble and surround sound in its World Premiere. Trębacz utilizes the latest technologies in sound processing and spatialization in an immersive approach to music with a lyrical narrative. To place this new work in context, this concert will present Differences (1959) by celebrated Italian composer Luciano Berio for small ensemble and tape. The tape plays a filtered, transposed, expanded recording of the acoustic part, creating a polyphonic relationship with the live ensemble. Finally, we will feature Finnish composer Kaija Saariaho’s Lichtbogen (1986) for ensemble and live electronics designed at the French institute IRCAM.

Music starts at 8 PM. Pre-concert conversation with co-artistic director Jérémy Jolley and composer Ewa Trębacz at 7:30 PM.