Name: Three Grids (cl, vln, vlc, pno) by Aaron Myers-Brooks, composer
Duration: 6 min 49 s
Description: Recorded by the Unheard-of Ensemble November 2024 at Pitt

A live performance of David Rakowski's "E-Machines" (Étude No. 1 - 1988), performed live by Geoffrey Burleson, on a Dame Myra Hess Memorial Concert, Chicago Cultural Center, 1996.

Live Performances

David Rakowski: E-Machines (Étude #1), performed by Geoffrey Burleson

[Note: Live performance. Noise from the hall is heard in the beginning. The piece starts with no-pitch bowing.]
A fundamental idea of “In a World of Binary Perspectives” stems from the notion of binary scaling, zero/one interpretations that one often confronts as life goes on. Composing a new piece is equivalent to creating a small new world. I decided to put some binary ideas into the tiny sonic sphere and then process them over time. The categorically dichotomized ideas stand opposed to one another at times, but are interconnected at some points and then even conceptually assimilated and become indistinguishable from one another. “In a World...” is planned as part of a trilogy for violoncello solo and closely related to the two other pieces of mine, “Re:” and “Montage: A Tale”.

Premiered in Seoul, South Korea
Performance: Hee Young Lim

살아가면서 종종 마주하게 되는, 0과 1로 나누어 현상들을 해석하거나 바라보는 체계에 대해 생각하기 시작했다. 새로운 음악을 만드는 것은, 마치 나만의 작은 세상을 만드는 것과 같은 느낌이다. 이 작은 세계 안에 두 개의 개념들을 놓고, 풀어가 보기로 했다. 두 개의 카테고리로 갈라놓은 아이디어들은 서로 경계를 만들기도 하나, 연결되며 어느 순간 동화되기도 한다. 이 곡은 수 년 전 썼던 ‘Re:’, ‘Montage: A Tale’과 연결되는 것으로, 음악적 아이디어와 진행 양상에 있어 밀접한 관계가 있다.

임희영 리사이틀 - 일신홀 라이브

In a world of binary perspectives (2021)

​Commissioned and performed by Anna Elder 
Virtual Premier: 06-21-2020 through Experimental Sound Studios in Chicago, IL. Hosted by Omaha Under the Radar

(https://www.undertheradaromaha.com)
​Live Premier: 06-06-2020 at Re:sound 2020 for CUSP, at The BOP STOP in Cleveland, OH. (Postponed due to Covid-19).

Selection for SEAMUS 2021 Album

Additional performances: 

04-15-2021, Oh My Ears Festival 
SEAMUS, 04-24-2021
Cleveland Uncommon Sound Project, 06-032021
​NMOP, Date 06-08-2021 
SICPP, Date 06-25-2021
Splice, 07-02-2021
CIME-ICEM, 09-18-2021

Succubus (2020)

The Line Between, on poetry of E.E. Cummings
Amanda Gregory, soprano

THE LINE BETWEEN

A rendition of one performance of "the smallest flock." Every performance will be different.

the smallest flock: demo performance

Released on the Métier label. July, 2017.
www.divine-art.co.uk/metierhome.htm

“Craig owns the works here”

Gramophone Magazine

Richard Barrett - vale for solo flute

Recorded by the Unheard-of Ensemble November 2024 at Pitt

Three Grids (cl, vln, vlc, pno)

Milton Babbitt / Piano Concerto No. 2 (1998)
Conor Hanick, piano solo / Jeffrey Milarsky, conductor / The Juilliard Orchestra
Recorded Live, Alice Tully Hall / January 2016

Milton Babbitt / Piano Concerto No. 2 (1998)

Performers: Civic Orchestra of Chicago (Christy Kim – flute, Gordon Daole-Wellman – bass clarinet, Wai Chi Tang – Percussion, Pei-yeh Tsai – piano, Maria Arrua – violin, and Nicky Swett – cello)

Program Notes:
Kindling is a reflection on the spontaneous, yet repetitive motion of fire. From the outset of the piece, the ricochet bowing of the cello and the steady pulse of the kick drum stoke the flame, while the violin flickers and flares in response. As the piece builds, a flurry of tremolos and natural harmonics are used to express motion that is both active and static. Eventually, the ensemble, led by the piano and strings, conjures a steady orange glow with a series of phrases that quickly appear and dissipate. The rapid alternations between these distinct phrases coalesce to form a continuous, burning texture.

Kindling for pierrot plus percussion

Live performance of "South Scale" at Chatham University by soloist Stephen Marotto.

4/7/19

*please listen on good earphones or speakers with little/no background noise*

"South Scale" for Amplified Cello (2019)

Five Songs  Ruth Crawford Seeger (1901-1953)   
  I. Home Thoughts 
  II. White Moon 
  III. Joy 
  IV. Loam 
  V. Sunsets

Daehn-Avery Fall 2019 Fete of the Feminine 2

Home Thoughts

Aaron Myers-Brooks is a composer, educator, and performer of diverse interests who comes to musical creativity by way of rock and metal’s avant-garde. Born and raised in Greenville, North Carolina by visual artist parents, he developed an interest in creativity at a young age, first via drawing as a child, and later with 4-track home recording during his teenage years, subsequently finding a home in the contemporary classical and DIY rock worlds during college. He is currently active as a Pittsburgh based composer and teacher, and as a guitarist in math metal bands AutoReplicant and Monochromatic Residua, and filk (fiction folk) duo Familiar.

 

Aaron composes in various styles, but always attempts to maintain a quirky and exciting approach to rhythmic energy in his music. Much of his recent work focuses on microtonal electronic and electric guitar writing through digital technology, alternate tunings, and on 17-notes-per-octave guitar. 

Aaron currently serves as Teaching Assistant Professor at the University of Pittsburgh. As an educator, Aaron has largely focused on teaching electronic music and music theory, recently developing Pitt’s first Ableton beat-making course and assisting in the development of an undergrad music theory curriculum which integrates a broad variety of musics and perspectives.

 

Aaron has written pieces at the request of the North Carolina New Music Initiative, Collide-O-Scope Music, Patchwork, and Kamraton, among others. Aaron has performed at events such as the Beyond 2020: Microtonal Music Festival, Berserker Fest, Kamraton’s She Scores series, the Ohio Valley Filk Fest, and Cropped Out. His bands and compositions have been released by labels such as New Focus Recordings and Corpseflower Records and have been reviewed favorably by Metal Injection, KLANG - New Music On The Fringe, Decibel Magazine, and Cleveland Classical, among others.

Three Grids (cl, vln, vlc, pno)

Aaron Myers-Brooks, composer

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