For the first time in human history, more than 50% of the global population now lives in so-called megacities. By 2050, it is projected that this city-centric population shift will reach approx. 70%. With people gravitating to megacities around the world, we have witnessed changes in urban soundscapes, including in cities like Chicago which hosts one of the busiest airports. In 2009, airplane noise complaints were around 14,858 per year. Eight years later in 2017, complaints have risen to 5,522,273 for the year. senalpriA aims to bring awareness to the changing urban soundscapes focusing on community aircraft noise impacting residents living around airports. The piece was originally composed for The Cube:  140 audio channels and loudspeakers.

senalpriA

Jakob Bangsø and Antero Pellikka, guitars. Live recording from Kitara Nova festival, Helsinki, 18. September 2021.

Concept pieces

Ripples for guitar duo

Intro

for violin, electric guitar, and double bass

studio recording 
made at the University of North Texas COM Lab Studio
recorded by: Mark Vaughn, Dalton Boles, Michael Smith, Chaz Underriner
mixed by: Chaz Underriner

Mia Detwiler, violin
Chaz Underriner, electric guitar
Mariechen Meyer, double bass


I. Hwy 175, Athens to Dallas

The “Great Man” theory was a view of history popular in the 19th Century that posited that society was advanced by a succession of “great men,” who influenced history through the centuries. It may come as no surprise that the majority of these men (besides notable exceptions such as Jesus or Mohammed) were white. In recent decades such views of history have been criticized, and the contributions of women and people of color have been studied in greater detail.
However, even today, there is perhaps no better field of study to see the Great Man theory at work than in the Classical canon. The music of long-deceased white male Europeans reigns supreme in the concert and recital halls, and these men are credited with all of the stylistic progressions of Western art music. To put it bluntly, the performance and study of the canon is one of dead white man music, and that fact often feels like a barrier for female composers and those of color that must be overcome.

Dead White Man Music serves as a personal reflection on this issue, and my own place in Classical music as a young black composer. This concerto for harpsichord draws on inspiration and influences across the centuries: from Bach and Dowland to Julius Eastman and Nina Simone, and from the Baroque to Post-Minimalism and Rock. Through the work I ask: what music am I called to write and who should be my models?

Dead White Man Music was commissioned by Urban Playground Chamber Orchestra, through the generous support of over sixty donors through a crowdfunding campaign. The concerto was written for harpsichordist Daniel Walden.

Dead White Man Music, I. Fantasia on "Es ist genug"

dont cry no more

DOWNLOAD THE FREE APP: https://show.co/21pQFyq

on bandcamp:
https://isaacschankler.bandcamp.com/track/the-moonlight-sonata-but-the-bass-is-a-bar-late-and-the-melody-is-a-bar-early

sheet music:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/22sq0p19lundped/moonlate12102018.pdf?dl=0

Download

The Moonlight Sonata but the bass is a bar late and the melody is a bar early

VENENO 5 (2001-2002) by Jorge Sánchez-Chiong

PHACE (ensemble) / Berndt Thurner (percussion soloist) / Simeon Pironkoff (conductor)
commisioned by Konzerthaus Vienna

1. con tutta la forza
2. d’una stabilitá apparente
3. cadenza
4. con tutta la forza (ma senza suono)
5. gong!


Veneno5

Don't You Feel Me

Polish premier, 28 Sptember 2019, at the Filharmonia Narodowa during the Warsaw Autumn Festival.
Performed by NOSPR, Ryan Bancroft conductor, Marco Blaauw double bell trumpet

Rebecca Saunders, Alba

"Greetings from Astridplein" is my recent collaboration with composer Matthew Shlomowitz and guitarist Tom Pauwels. Made for BBC radio 3, this work took an interesting turn when the three of us felt it would be constructive for the piece if I musically produce and transform it into a ("musical") radio play. Adding field recordings, cutting and re-editing the material (with full respect to the score), envisioning the sound of each guitar channel and then mixing and mashing them up into a new "cinematic" creation were in a sense a chance for me to discover a new territory within the world of interpretation. 
* All guitars recordings by Tom Pauwels and myself

I. Hwy 175, Athens to Dallas

Chaz Underriner

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