Full Description:

 

$15 General Admission
$10 Students/Seniors/Members

VITAL VOX: A VOCAL FESTIVAL this 2-day festival explores the myriad power of the human voice in its solo and ensemble forms across a multitude of genres. It celebrates composer-performers in the vocal arts who stretch and expand the voice in new and original ways, continuing a strong contemporary tradition developed in the United States.

VITAL VOX is an annual vocal festival that had its premiere in 2009. It has brought together some of the most talented & creative vocalists in the Tri-State area, and has featured 19 projects and 30 vocalists thus far. The Vital Vox Artistic Directors are Sasha Bogdanowitsch & Sabrina Lastman.

www.vitalvoxfest.com

JUDITH BERKSON

Judith Berkson is a New York based soprano, pianist and composer who also performs as Liederkreis. She has played at the BrucknerTage, Museo Picasso Malaga, Le Poisson Rouge, Leipzig Kaufhaus Joske and the American Festival of Microtonal Music, premiering pieces as both a singer and pianist. She has been collaborating with Kronos Quartet on re-workings of Schubert lieder for string quartet, voice, wurlitzer and organ and is currently working with Darmstadt Institute and Theater of a Two-Headed Calf on opera premiers. Her latest recording 'Oylam' (ECM) uses voice and keyboards in a similar way to her live shows where originals, Schubert lieder, standards and liturgical music share the same recital. Judith studied voice at New England Conservatory with Lucy Shelton, composition with Joe Maneri and piano with Judith Marinelli Godfrey and Viola Haas. In addition to performing new music and art song she is also a cantor.artist's website

GALSEY BELL

Gelsey Bell is a singer, songwriter, and scholar. She has released two studio albums, Under A Piano (2005) and In Place of Arms (2010), and two experimental albums, February (2008) and Love Is Just a Crack In the Space of You (2009). She has performed her site-specific Bathroom Songs (2010) in various locations throughout New York City. She performs regularly with contemporary music ensemble thingNY, and has premiered and developed a number of works by New York City-based composers. Gelsey is also an ABD Doctoral Candidate in Performance Studies at NYU and the Critical Acts Editor for TDR/The Drama Review. artist's website

DAFNA NAPHTALI

Dafna Naphtali is a singer/instrumentalist/electronic-musician from an eclectic musical background (jazz, classical, rock and near-eastern music). Since the mid-90's she composes/performs experimental, interactive electro-acoustic music using her custom Max/MSP programming for live sound processing of voice and other instruments, and also interprets the work of Cage, Stockhausen and contemporary composers. With her large variety of projects with well regarded musicians in the US, Europe and India, she has received awards from NYFA, NYSCA, Franklin Furnace, American Composers Forum and American Music Center, and recorded several CDs, including "What is it Like to be a Bat?" a digital punk trio with Kitty Brazelton (on Tzadik). artist's website

Full Description:

A live interactive performance for kids.
Featuring; Steve Horowitz ; Bass/Conductor, Dafna Naphtali; VOX/Conductor/Sampler
Michael Evans; Percussion & Theremin, Hans Tammen; Guitar

Designed for kids 5-99, Gloorf is an interactive kids show introducing the kids to all kinds of wacky and historical concepts in new music, sound art and digital performance. Gloorf!, invites children of all ages to participate as we make music out of kitchen appliances, electronic instruments, Theremin, samplers and voice processing, animal sound, electronic toys and various body parts and other surprises.

Gloorf! Also seeks to express universal musical ideas in a fun & interactive way. Style, form, the role of the conductor and the performer are all examined in a fun & engaging way.

Dafna Naphtali is a singer/guitarist/electronic-musician from an eclectic background of music-making. As sound-artist/performer/composer she creates custom Max/MSP/Jitter programs for audio processing of voice and other instruments in her performances. She co-leads the digital chamber punk ensemble, What is it Like to be a Bat? with Kitty Brazelton (www.whatbat.org). and has collaborated / performed with Lukas Ligeti, David First, Joshua Fried, Ras Moshe, Kathleen Supovê, Hans Tammen LEMURbots and others. She's received commissions and awards from NYFA, NYSCA, Meet the Composer, Experimental TV Center, American Composers Forum, and residencies at STEIM (Holland), LEMUR and Create@ iEAR. She teaches at NYU (Music Technology), and gives workshops at universities in the US and Europe. She teaches, programs and consults about Max/MSP for Harvestworks and freelance -- and done sound design or programming work for the projects of Jin Hi Kim, Shelley Hirsch, Pamela Z, Phoebe Legere, Fred Frith, Jim Staley, Henry Threadgill, Steve Coleman, Chico Freeman and others. Dafna can be heard on Mechanique(s) on a new release on Acheulian Handaxe, Hans Tammen's Third Eye Orchestra (Innova) and Josê Halac's CD 'Dance of 1000 Heads' (Tellus), and What is it Like to be a Bat? on Tzadik/Oracles (4 Stars, All Music Guide).

Steve Horowitz is a creator of odd but highly accessible sounds and a diverse and prolific musician, with an output spanning the worlds of film, television, games, concerts, and recordings. In addition to his ground breaking work with Nickelodeon Digital and his film and television scores (Super Size Me, Casino Cinema, I Bet You Will, Nickelodeon), he also records and tours with his band The Code International. Steve won a Grammy award for engineering the multi-artist True Life Blues: The Songs of Bill Monroe [Sugar Hill], 1996's winner for best bluegrass album. Steve studied composition at the California Institute and has received performance underwriting and commissions from numerous organizations. For more information on Steve Horowitz, visit www.thecodeinternational.com

Full Description:

For 10 years, Dafna Naphtali has been trying to find ways to peacefully and not-so-peacefully incorporate "audio machinations" (her particular vision for the processing and manipulation of musical sounds) into both improvised and composed music. With an arsenal of equipment, computer programs she has been writing and her 4-octave vocals, she has performed with many fine musicians in a full spectrum of improvised contexts. She also composes instrumental music and has written for and performed extensively with her "digital chamber punk" trio, What is it Like to be a Bat?, with Kitty Brazelton.

fusebox// is a reiteration of Dafna's long standing ideas about sound processing with new contextualizations and influences. The work incorporates improvisations, original composition and novel arrangements/configurations of her favorite pieces by Mingus and others. With saxophonist Ras Moshe, Shayna Dulberger (bass) and Jeff Arnal (drums/percussion.)

Dafna Naphtali is a sound-artist and improviser-composer from an eclectic background of music-making. As singer/guitarist/electronic-musician she performs and composes using custom Max/MSP/Jitter programs for sound processing of voice and other instruments that she has been writing since 1992. Besides her composing and improvising projects, she co-leads the digital chamber punk ensemble, What is it Like to be a Bat?, with Kitty Brazelton (http://www.whatbat.org) and has collaborated/performed with Lukas Ligeti, David First, Joshua Fried, Ras Moshe, Alexander Waterman, Kathleen Supové and Hans Tammen, among others. She's received commissions and awards from NYFA, NYSCA, Meet the Composer, Experimental TV Center and American Composers Forum, and a residency at STEIM. She has performed and traveled widely and under usual circumstances for her music. In more serious moments she teaches and gives workshops at universities in the US and in Europe. She teaches, programs and works as a consultant about Max/MSP and has done sound design and/or programming work for the projects of Jin Hi Kim, Shelley Hirsch, Pamela Z, Phoebe Legere, Fred Frith, Jim Staley, Henry Threadgill, Steve Coleman, Chico Freeman and others.

Dafna can be heard with Mechanique(s) on a forthcoming release on In-situ ('06,) was featured vocalist on José Halac's CD 'Dance of 1000 Heads' (Tellus,) as well as on her acclaimed release with What is it Like to be a Bat? on Tzadik/Oracles (4 Stars: All Music Guide.)

Full Description:

The singer and sound artist performs kaleidophonic audio machinations and live organic sound manipulations with her unique computer-mediated sound instrument. Naphtali will perform in duos/trios/larger groups with the mechanical preparations of guitarist Hans Tammen, Paul Geluso on bass and others.