Amphibian Presents Cygnus Ensemble: Works by Greenbaum, Rakowski, Babbitt, Suzuki, Claman & Biscardi, 4/3

AMPHIBIAN concert series presents Cygnus Ensemble performing Venerable Canons, works by Matthew Greenbaum, David Rakowski, Milton Babbitt, Shoko Suzuki, David Claman and Chester Biscardi on Tuesday, April 3^rd at 8pm.  Mezzo-soprano Re'ut Ben Ze'ev will be a special guest.  The performance will be at the Hi Art! Gallery.  

AMPHIBIAN is a performance series that combines new chamber music with video art. Its second season features Momenta Quartet, Cygnus Ensemble, and Temple University’s ‘Cybersounds,’ which offers electro-acoustic and visual music under the direction of Maurice Wright. In addition to these events, Mari Kimura will present an evening of her own interactive works for violin, electronics and video, plus an electro-acoustic classic: Mario Davidovsky’s lyrical 9th Synchronism for violin and pre-recorded electronic sound. 

Tuesday, April 3, 2012

8pm

Hi Art! Gallery

227 West 29^th Street

Studio 4R

New York, New York

Tickets:  $15; $10 for students

About the Program 

Venerable Canons, for flute & violin
by Matthew Greenbaum

Sho gyo mu jo for theorbo & baritone
by Shoko Suzuki

gone for foreign, for tutti Cygnus
by David Claman
Resisting Stillness, for two guitars
by Chester Biscardi

Soli e Duettini, for two guitars
by Milton Babbitt

Zyg Zag, for tutti Cygnus
by David Rakowski

Rope and Chasm,
for mezzo, electronic sounds and video
by Matthew Greenbaum

Cygnus Ensemble

Critically acclaimed Cygnus was founded in 1985 by guitarist and composer William Anderson. The group's core instrumental formation consists of winds and strings in pairs, as well as a pair of plucked string players who, together, cover classical and electric guitars, theorbo (a giant Baroque lute), mandolin, and tenor banjo. The instrumentation has roots in the Elizabethan "broken consort" (combining instruments from different families), but Cygnus moves freely from the Baroque sound world into newgrass, electronica, and world music.

Cygnus celebrates its commitment to a great number of diverse American composers, and has had numerous key modernist and postmodernist works composed especially for them including Milton Babbitt's Swan Song No. 1, David Lang's Warmth and Sebastian Currier's Broken Consort. The ensemble has produced many CDs, and has given concerts in the US, Europe and Latin America. The ensemble’s recording of American composer Harold Meltzer’s “Brion” (Naxos 8.559660) received accolades as one of the best recordings of 2010. Cygnus is currently in residence at Sarah Lawrence College and the City University of New York's Graduate Center. In February/March, 2012 Cygnus was in residence at the Library of Congress to inaugurate the Dina Koston and Roger Shapiro Music Fund concerts there. For more information, go to www.cygnusensemble.com

CYGNUS ENSEMBLE: 

Tara Helen O'Connor, flute

Robert Ingliss, oboe

Calvin Wiersma, violin

Susannah Chapman, 'cello

Oren Fader, guitar

William Anderson, guitar, mandolin, tenor banjo