Time of Music Festival

Viitasaari, Finland

Philip Venables – Answer Machine Tape, 1987 (world premiere)

Zubin Kanga, piano, live electronics and live video

Pianist Zubin Kanga presents the world premiere of Answer Machine Tape, 1987, a major new work for piano and multimedia by Philip Venables, created in collaboration with dramatist Ted Huffman and programmer Simon Hendry. It focuses on New York visual artist and AIDS activist David Wojnarowicz and the turbulent period leading up to the death of Peter Hujar – his former lover, close friend and fellow artist –  from an AIDS-related illness in 1987. The work’s focal point is Wojnarowicz’s answering machine tape from the days leading up to Hujar’s death, featuring calls from Hujar, other artists, friends and lovers, to explore not just his life, but that period of the New York art scene, queer history and the AIDS crisis.

Layers of text and narrative are woven into a musical fabric, with messages on the tape transformed into character studies and musical reflections. Using new sensor technology from the Augmented Instruments Lab, the piano functions not just as an acoustic instrument, as a typewriter to transcribe, comment on and illuminate the messages. The result is a poignant and intimate work that reflects on a devastating period of queer history.  

Supporters:

Answer Machine Tape, 1987 was commissioned by Zubin Kanga with the support of a UKRI Future Leaders Fellowship, Royal Holloway, University of London and The Marchus Trust; Time of Music (Finland) November Music (Netherlands) and Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival (UK) with the support of Sounds Now and Creative Europe; and Festival d’Automne à Paris (France).  

In this performance, pianist and Leverhulme Research Fellow Zubin Kanga performs newly-commissioned works that expand the possibilities of the piano through electronics, film, motion sensors and AI.

The concert includes Alexander Schubert’s WIKI-PIANO.NET, a work that It features a website that allows the public to edit the score and multimedia parts, creating a constantly evolving work that explores internet culture. Jon Rose’s Ballast is a wild virtuosic ride featuring a motion sensor controlling the electronics, Kate Neal’s Novel Piano uses stop motion animation in a whimsical work creating a piano out of everyday objects. Scott McLaughlin uses super-charged magnetic resonators to create otherworldly sounds from the piano. Finally, Adam de la Cour’s Transplant the Movie 2!: Operaion ‘Re-Rise’ Dark Return takes inspiration from 80s action and spy movies, as well as 80s video games, with a secret agent going undercover as a cocktail pianist to infiltrate an evil syndicate.

Refreshments will be available to purchase in the Windsor Building Foyer.
Season Tickets apply to this event.

Alexaner Schubert – WIKI-PIANO.NET
Scott McLaughlin – In the unknown there is already a script for transcendence
Kate Neal – Novel Piano
Christopher Fox – Five characters in search of a form

In WIKIPIANO, pianist Zubin Kanga performs innovative new works extending the piano with multimedia.

Leading German composer, Alexander Schubert’s new work features a website that allows the public to compose the score, just like a Wikipedia article, creating a constantly evolving work that explores internet culture.

Scott McLaughlin uses a range of magnetic resonators to conjure otherworldly sounds from the piano strings. Kate Neal uses stop-motion animation to create a whimsical exploration of virtuosity. And Christopher Fox combines film and piano in a work that plays games with with genre, style and the rehearsal process.

Clothworkers Centenary Concert Hall, School of Music, University of Leeds

The De Montfort University Music, Technology & Innovation 2018-19 concert series presents:

ZUBIN KANGA: PIANO EX MACHINA
'Silver Screens, Black Mirrors'

'Piano Ex Machina' is the latest major international touring project by ‘cyborg pianist’ Zubin Kanga. Building on his major ‘Dark Twin’ (2015) and ‘Cyborg Pianist’ (2016) international tours, this project combines cutting edge multimedia technology and piano virtuosity, with ground-breaking new work exploring sci-fi concepts, motion capture, artificial intelligence (AI), internet culture, interactive video and film history.

'Silver Screens, Black Mirrors' explores screen culture and our obsessive and sometimes toxic relationships to visual media including film, the internet and television series.

Works by Alexander Schubert, Christopher Fox, Claudia Molitor and Adam de la Cour.

PACE building, Richmond Street, Leicester UK, LE2 7BQ
Start time 7pm

Free Range is proud to present the internationally established contemporary music pianist Zubin Kanga performing new multi-media pieces for piano and electronics.

Zubin Kanga performs newly commissioned works that expand the possibilities of the piano through electronics, film and magnets. This concert includes Alexander Schubert’s WIKI-PIANO.NET, a work featuring a website that allows the public to edit the score and multimedia parts, creating a constantly evolving work that explores internet culture. Visit the website to make your own edits before the performance. Scott McLaughlin uses super-charged e-bows and magnetic resonators to create otherworldly sounds from the piano. Finally, Adam de la Cour’s Transplant the Movie 2!: Operation ‘Re-Rise’ Dark Returntakes inspiration from 80s action and spy movies, as well as 80s video games, with a secret agent going undercover as a cocktail pianist to infiltrate an evil syndicate.

Zubin invites everyone to contribute to WIKI-PIANO.NET prior to, and during, the concert. All kinds of content are welcome and will become part of the performance: http://http://wiki-piano.net/

The opening set features an eight-piece ensemble performing music by Lawrence Crane and John Cage. Am Horizont is a concert series run by the composer Sam Messer, and tonight they present a performance of Octet by Lawrence Crane. Crane has written of his work: “I use simple and basic musical objects; common chords and intervals, arpeggios, drones, cadences, fragments of scales and melodies. The materials may seem familiar – perhaps even rather ordinary – but my aim is to find a fresh beauty in these objects by placing them in new structural and formal contexts”.

Zubin Kanga playing to Transplant: The Movie! https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=24&v=0_goWT3xG58

Ensemble Offspring showcases the sheer virtuosity of its musicians in an evening of works inspired by the uncompromising power and aural intensity of a true revolutionary.

The music of architect, mathematician and composer Iannis Xenakis, has been described as ‘joyously elemental music which turns collections of pitches and rhythms into a force of nature’ (Tom Service). It’s also fiendishly difficult.

Claire Edwardes (percussion), Véronique Serret (violin) and Zubin Kanga (piano) each present seminal works by Xenakis – Rebonds A/B, Mikka, Mikka S and Evryali – alongside Elizabeth Younan’s Electors of Middlemarch, written especially for Claire, and newly commissioned solos by Berlin-based Australian, Cathy Milliken, and Sydney composer, Michael Smetanin.

PERFORMANCES

December 4, 7pm , Track 8, Carriageworks
$35 + booking fee
BOOK NOW

PROGRAM

Iannis Xenakis – Rebonds (1989) for percussion 13’
Iannis Xenakis – Mikka/Mikka S (1971/76) for violin 4’
Iannis Xenakis – Evryali (1973) for piano 9’5
Elizabeth Younan – Electors of Middlemarch (2018) for drum set up & voice solo 8’
Cathy Milliken – Crie (2018) for violin solo (World Premiere) 8’
Michael Smetanin – Four Angels (2018) for piano solo (World Premiere) 8’

PERFORMERS

Véronique Serret (violin)
Claire Edwardes (percussion)
Zubin Kanga (piano)

Tickets £12 (£9 concession / online)

Zubin Kanga piano
Nicholas Moroz electronics

Alexander Schubert WIKI-PIANO.NET
Scott McLaughlin In the unknown there is already a script for transcendence World Premiere
Claudia Molitor You touched the twinkle on the helix of my ear
Nicole Lizée Scorsese Etudes World Premiere
Christopher Fox Five characters in search of a form World Premiere

Australian-born pianist Zubin Kanga is a seasoned interpreter of iconic works by contemporary music’s leading composers. In this fascinating concert, he will perform premieres by established and emerging artists alike, supplementing his piano with a series of disruptive makeshift instruments. Scored for magnetic resonators, cameras, body microphones and live editing from the public, these pieces hinge on discrepancy and contingency, offering a probing and political concert exploring composing as a radical action of confrontation.

Produced by hcmf//

Please note: this concert includes images from films featuring stylised violence.

Cheltenham Festival

Zubin Kanga performs his acclaimed piano and multimedia programme in the UK for the first time, featuring by Stefan Prins, Michel van der Aa, Patrick Nunn, Julian Day, Kate Moore and new works by Adam de la Cour and Neil Luck. 

Zubin Kanga piano / electronics

Stefan Prins Piano Hero No 1 for keyboard, live electronics and live video
Julian Day Dark Twin for piano and electronics (UK premiere)
Neil Luck 2018 for piano and electronics (premiere)
Adam de la Cour Transplant the Movie! for piano and video (premiere)
Michel van der Aa Transit for piano, electronics and video
Patrick Nunn Morphosis for piano, 3D sensors and live electronics
Kate Moore New Work for piano, digital pedals and live electronics (premiere)

Fri 8 Jul 2016 9:30pm - 10:50pm
Parabola Arts Centre, Cheltenham Ladies' College
£12 plus transaction fee*

Booking and more info

Solo Recital at Brunel University, London, featuring George Crumb’s Makrokosmos (Volume I) and works by Michael Alec Rose and Timo Andres

Americuration/Minimalism. Presented by Nonclassical at The Russet in London. Performing solo works by Timo Andres, Per Nørgård and Kate Moore.

CD Launch for Orfordness, featuring the music of David Gorton. Royal Academy of Music, London

Lecture Recital in the Composers' Forum, Oxford University. Featuring works by George Crumb, David Gorton, Elo Masing and David Young. 

DARK TWIN tour. Piano and multimedia recital featuring new works by Julian Day, Daniel Blinkhorn and Cat Hope as well as works by Stefan Prins, Michel van der Aa, Ben Carey and Steve Reich. Totally Huge New Music Festival, Art Gallery of WA (Perth)

DARK TWIN tour. Piano and multimedia recital featuring new works by Julian Day, Daniel Blinkhorn and Cat Hope as well as works by Stefan Prins, Michel van der Aa, Ben Carey and Steve Reich. Sydney Conservatorium of Music

DARK TWIN tour. Piano and multimedia recital featuring new works by Julian Day, Daniel Blinkhorn and Cat Hope as well as works by Stefan Prins, Michel van der Aa, Ben Carey and Steve Reich. Metropolis New Music Festival, Melbourne Recital Centre

Performance at the Musée Chagall in Nice as part of the Mars aux Musées Festival (performing George Crumb's Makrokosmos I and David Young's Not Music Yet). 

Performance of Not Music Yet by David Young at the opening of the Drawn from Sound exhibition of graphic scores at the Australia Council, Sydney, to launch the CD of Not Music Yet. 

Solo recital at the Royal Academy of Music. Featuring the premiere of Morphosis by Pat Nunn (with live electronics controlled by 3D hand sensors), UK premiere of Not Music Yet by David Young and works by David Gorton, Elo Masing, Michael Finnissy and George Benjamin. 

Performance of Z/K by Michael Finnissy at the Café Oto, London. Part of the Kammerklang event, "Schwittloads of Notes”

Solo recital at Vanderbilt University, Nashville, USA, featuring the world premiere of Michael Alec Rose's Sui Generis and works by George Crumb, Michael Finnissy, David Young and Param Vir.

Lecture-recital at the Peabody Institute, Baltimore. Featuring works by George Crumb, Michael Finnissy, David Young and Param Vir.

Solo performances at BBC Proms. Proms Plus series at Royal College of Music, featuring world premiere of new work by Param Vir. Royal College of Music, 5:45 pm.

Mapping Music, incl premiere of Studies of Resonance II (for solo piano) by Elo Masing as well as works by Harvey and Lachenmann. St Leonard's Church, Shoreditch, London. 

Spectrum, a solo recital of new works by Australian and British composers, all commissioned by Zubin Kanga. Featuring works by Michael Finnissy, David Young, Marcus Whale, Andrew Harrison, Jane Stanley and Rosalind Page.

Spectrum, a solo recital of new works by Australian and British composers, all commissioned by Zubin Kanga. Featuring works by Michael Finnissy, David Young, Marcus Whale, Andrew Harrison, Jane Stanley and Rosalind Page. 

Performing Shadowlines and Piano Figures by George Benjamin at the Purcell Room as part of "George Benjamin: Jubilation" weekend.

New works by Michael Finnissy and David Gorton alongside works by Kate Moore, Rolf Hind, Claudia Molitor and Alex Pozniak. 8pm, Kings Place, London. Review here. 

Six generations of Australian composers including Nigel Butterly, Ross Edwards, Elliott Gyger, Daniel Rojas, Nicholas Vines, Alex Pozniak and a new work by 18-year-old HSC student, Phil Jameson. Big School room, Sydney Grammar School, College St, Darlinghurst, NSW.

Piano: Inside/Out tour to Canberra (ANU), Newcastle (Stuart and Sons showroom) and Melbourne (ANAM). New works by Elliott Gyger, Nick Vines and Daniel Rojas as well as wors by Rolf Hind, Claudia Molitor and Alex Pozniak.