Swiss Brazil Connection. 

Premiere performance of Conversationl Geometry with Dirk Amrein, Posaune, Maurizio Grandinetti, Gitarrre, Jürg Henneberger, Klavier

Recorded by DRS2 Swiss Radio

Aufnahme Gare du Nord Basel, 17. Dezember 2010

As the title suggests, conversational Geometry is a conversation between three voices; guitar, trombone and piano. This conversation is sometimes delicate and at other times robust and confrontational presenting complex musical layers in constantly changing relationships. The piece is formed by bringing together the music from three other pieces of mine and 'mashing' them together. This process is not as arbitrary as it may sound; all the material brought together comes from pieces that stem originally from the same material, so the links are deeply embedded within them. These links become apparent after listening to the music several times as its complex interweaving of lines can (purposely) obscure these relationships rather like several people talking about the same topic at once but not actually talking to each other.

As explaned in previous interviews:

"New works are also originated by recycling existing pieces of music through changing contexts and relationships, transforming this material into something quite new. Many of the acoustic pieces I write find their starting point from within other pieces of music I’ve already written.
I am fascinated how altered contexts can radically redefine the way musical material feels and sounds. Transplanting different layers, voices or strands of music from one piece to another, altering tempi and dynamics, transposing, inverting, and then letting those strands sound out together; all of these methods fascinate me.
Like the music, my paintings are often produced in series, each painting being influenced by the former. Sometimes I will paint two or three pictures at the same time, each sharing the same starting point, layers and processes until something happens to make me want to separate them and explore them in different ways. In music, the recycling of material ensures that there is a ‘genetic’ connection between all the works – sometimes up to 15 individual pieces may be connected in this way. They are like sons and daughters, cousins, five times removed. With this ‘genetic’ material comes history, characteristics and content. In music, as with people, the way this genetic material is ‘lived out’ determines the character and make-up of the person or piece. This can lead to very individual outcomes."

 

Conversational Geometry (2009)

“Well done, Troy. A Piece for Solo Cello is very powerful (and well conceived for the instrument). “ - James Erber (Composer, UK)

"I have a persistent fascination with A Short Piece for Orchestra. It’s so dense and rewarding! Obviously not a moment wasted. The stacked harmonies during the held chords in the strings almost remind me of the IRCAM/spectral sound world. It’s so very rich, really quite textbook. Beautiful Job.” - Gleb Kanasevich (Composer / Clarinetist, USA and Belarus)

"The music in A Piece for Solo Cello is intense and melancholic. You maintain a taut lyrical tension throughout.” - Marc Yeats (Composer, UK)

Troy Lennerd Nielsen is an independent music composer, classical and jazz guitarist, instructor and music engraver. Troy's music has been performed in every continent, worldwide, and has been toured, by many musicians on numerous occasions. Awards include: The Margret Jory Fairbanks award from the American Music Center, 6 time recipient of the ASCAP Plus Award, and the Composers Guild Contest -first place in two categories. Commissions Include several works for Modern Dance, Solo Instruments, chamber music and film.

Troy earned a Bachelors degree in Music Composition and Jazz Guitar Performance from the University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah. After earning his degree, he continued private study with Stan Funicelli in Composition and Classical Guitar. His composition teachers have also included : Tully Cathy, Henry Wolking, Tracy Peterson, Morris Rosenzweig, and Steve Roens and he has attended master classes with Samuel Adler, Martin Boykan, Roy Harbison and Harvey Sollberger. He has been composing for over 30 years.

Troy is a member of ASCAP, The Society of Composers (SCI), The American Music Center and DCM Contemporary Music Forum. His music is published by LenMuse Music and Great River Books.

“There is vitality, a life force, a quickening that is translated through you into action, and because there is only one of you in all of time, this expression is unique. And if you block it, it will never exist through any other medium and be lost. The world will not have it. It is not your business to determine how good it is: nor, how valuable it is: nor, how it compares with other expressions. It is your business to keep it yours clearly and directly, to keep the channel open. You do not even have to believe in yourself or your work. You have to keep open and aware directly to the urges that motivate you. Keep the channel open, no artist is pleased. There is no satisfaction whatever at any time. There is only a queer, divine dissatisfaction: a blessed unrest that keeps us marching and Makes us more alive than the others.” - Martha Graham to Agnes DeMille.

Elizabeth Fawn composes minimalist classical music with electro-acoustic techniques.

Marc Yeats is an internationally renowned composer and visual artist whose compositions have been performed by the most noted of orchestras and ensembles across the globe. These include UK companies such as The London Sinfonietta and The Scottish Chamber Orchestra, the BBC Philharmonic and the Halle Orchestra and Chorus. Further afield, Marc’s work has also been performed by the Tokyo City Philharmonic, the Atlanta based, Chamber Cartel, and many others. His compositions have gained great acclaim through many radio broadcasts for the BBC and also been broadcast in many other countries including the US, Germany and New Zealand.

Marc’s relationship with the BBC is both strong and enduring, starting with a BBC Scotland performance by the Edinburgh String Quartet more than 20 years ago. His first orchestral work – I See Blue – conducted by Martyn Brabbins, received much acclaim when first performed around the same time. This led to specific BBC commissions, including a piano concerto to open Piano 2000 in Manchester, with Kathryn Stott as soloist, and a solo harpsichord piece ‘Rhema’, performed by Mahan Esfahani and broadcast in 2010 by BBC Radio 3 from the Clothworkers’ Centenary Concert Hall in Leeds.

Selection as one of just 10 to attend the legendary Hoy Summer School in 1994 brought Marc into contact with the late Sir Peter Maxwell Davies. At the completion of the course, Max was keen to support and promote Marc’s work, and conducted his first commission with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra at the St. Magnus Festival in 1997. He and Marc continued to share ideas, and Max took a great interest in Marc’s visual art and compositional work with mobile technologies and a range of asynchronous structural approaches to composition.

Marc is excited to have recently been appointed composer-in-residence to Yeovil District and Dorchester County Hospitals, a position he has also held with other UK and US organisations. Work such as My Blood Is As Red As Yours’ (an orchestral and choral piece commissioned by the Halle to celebrate World Aids Day in 2008 and performed at the Bridgewater Hall) and recent work, such as ‘shapeshifter’ and ‘the observation quartets’ continues to enhance his reputation as a leading contemporary composer.

I share music that I have made here solo or in groups. I am bundling my work with some online friends as a project oriented, micro-collective. We are happy to share with you!

https://darkpebble-bluewave.bandcamp.com/

Wilhelm Mattthies, John Daly (aka Tuneind52), Paulo Chagas and Matthias Boss

Composer Ejnar Kanding (b. 1965) is internationally known for his unique colourful sound, where the electronic and acoustic are united in complex textures, physical energy and delicate simplicity. To him, music should not embellish, but be a realm of fantasy. A journey into the ambiguous – a hall of mirrors. Kanding originally got his degree in composition and musical theory at The Royal Danish Academy of Music in Copenhagen in 1993, followed by studies at IRCAM in Paris and with Professor Lev Koblyakov in Jerusalem in 1994 and 95, but has since his debut concert from the Royal Danish Academy of Music in 1996 specialized himself in composing music for computer and instruments. This has led to an extensive use of the software MaxMSP in the development of his works and as an instrument in live performances. Despite this obsession his focus is never the electronic experiment, but always the musical expression, form and phrase.
The way Kanding uses the digital mixing console and MaxMSP as an instrument is pioneering the new assignment as a musician which is known as live electronics or sound direction. His virtuosity in this field has led to numerous performances of own works or others of both improvised and written music with various groups, for example, works by Saariaho , Nono and Stockhausen; and ensembles as Cikada (NO), Ars Nova (SE), Jack Quartet (NYC), Transit ensemble (NYC) and Adpater (DE).

Award-winning harpist Anna originally studied at the Conservatori Municipal de Música de Barcelona with Maria Lluïsa and in 2013 she gained a Bachelor Degree in Music Performance with Honours at the Conservatorio Superior de Música del Liceu, studying with Abigail Prat. In 2015 Anna graduated with Honours from a Masters Degree in Performance at the Royal College of Music where she studied with Professors Ieuan Jones, Rachel Masters and Daphne Boden; she is currently studying an Artist Diploma course in Contemporary Solo Performance with Professor Ieuan Jones and Sioned Williams, Principal Harpist BBCSO. She has received numerous awards and generous support, most notably from the Leverhulme Award, Stanley Picker Award, and the Agustí Pedro i Pons Foundation Scholarship, and she is currently being supported by the charity Talent Unlimited. 

Anna has experience as a soloist, chamber and orchestral player from a very young age, and has performed in corporate and special occasions both in Spain and the UK. She has toured Spain as a winner of the Concurso Permanente de Juventudes Musicales de España (JJMM), participated in numerous music festivals and projects such as the “Festival Internacional d’ Arpa de Sentmenat”, and performed in renowned venues such as the V&A, BBC Maida Vale Studios, Cadogan Hall, Royal College of Music, the Spencer House, Italian Embassy, Austrian Cultural Forum, amongst others. She has also worked with several orchestras including the BBC Symphony Orchestra (BBCSO Pathway Scheme). 

Get in touch at nhung@soundawakener.com

Sketch book from @soundawakener

Solo music project of Nhung Nguyen from Hanoi, Vietnam

Also on @nhungnguyenmusic for cinematic ambient music.