Drew Krause has been composing with computer algorithms for over 20 years, often to transform traditional musical materials into unexpected and provocative contexts. This evening features first performances of some recent compositions featuring performances by Flux Quartet, Danny Tunick (percussion), and Drew Krause (piano)
Funded in part through Meet The Composer’s MetLife Creative Connections program.
Drew Krause has written over 80 works for instrumental and electronic media. His music is published by Frog Peak and MLKeepe Publications, and has been recorded by Innova, Capstone, New Ariel, Frog Peak, Pogus, AUR, and Bonk Records. He has received grants from Harvestworks, The MacDowell Colony, The Wurlitzer Foundation, and Meet the Composer, and residencies at Stanford University and Brooklyn College. A graduate of Hamilton College (BA), Juilliard (MM) and the University of Illinois (DMA), his principal teachers were Herbert Brun, Salvatore Martirano, Vincent Persichetti, Bernard Rands, and Stuart Smith. Recent performances include Roulette, Diapason Gallery, North River Music, International Computer Music Conference, SCI National Conference, FOCUS!, Bonk, and Ought-One festivals. Author of the extensive Common Lisp Composer’s Library for algorithmic music composition, he is on the faculty of New York University.
Percussionist/conductor/bassist Danny Tunick has played, conducted and recorded music ranging from classical (Pierre Boulez, Terry Riley, Annie Gosfield) to punk rock (Jowe Head, The Clean, Elliott Sharp). Along the way, he has attempted to navigate around and through innumerable other musical obstacles. Mr. Tunick can be heard on over 30 record labels, including CRI, Opus One, EMI Portugal, New Albion, Capstone, Tzadik, Merge, Wiiija, Important, Mutable Music, Bridge, Happy Squid, Cantaloupe, Red Toucan, Spaced, Black Box, Rare Book Room, and Rock Against Rock. Recent CDs include the premiere recording of Drew Krause’s Apocalypso for bass clarinet and drumset.
“One of the most fearless and important new-music ensembles around,” (Joshua Kosman, San Francisco Chronicle) “who has a brought a new renaissance to quartet music,” (Kyle Gann, The Village Voice) the FLUX Quartet has performed to rave reviews at many music centers around the world. It has appeared at Da Camera of Houston, Miller Theater, the Walker Art Center, the Library of Congress, and Carnegie Hall’s When Morty Met John Festival. It has also recently made two acclaimed international debuts: in Ireland at the Samuel Beckett Centenary Festival, and in Mexico at the Chihuahua International Arts Festival. FLUX’s numerous radio credits include NPR’s All Things Considered, WNYC’s New Sounds and Soundcheck, and WFMU’s Stochastic Hit Parade. Its growing discography includes recordings by composers Morton Feldman, Annie Gosfield, and bagpipe virtuoso Matthew Welch. Highlights of recent seasons include the debut appearances at The Kennedy Center and Walt Disney Hall in Los Angeles, residencies at Dartmouth, Wesleyan, and Williams, and New York’s Interpretations Series, a leading series for innovative music of living performers and composers. FLUX captivates its audiences worldwide with a vivid repertoire balanced between notable pioneers as well as visionaries of tomorrow. From “classics” by Conlon Nancarrow, Giacinto Scelsi, and Iannis Xenakis, to new works by Roscoe Mitchell, Elliott Sharp, Welch, and John Zorn, FLUX brings to all of its performances a “boundless, uninhibited energy.” (New York Times) The quartet avidly seeks out collaborative relationships with genre-transcending artists such as Ornette Coleman, Joan La Barbara, Oliver Lake, balloon artist Judy Dunaway, and digital art collective, The OpenEnded Group. Members from the quartet have also done significant work in dance, including frequent collaborations with Morphoses/Wheeldon Company and Shen Wei Dance Arts. Strongly dedicated to uncovering new works both by it own members as well as emerging composers, FLUX actively pursues commissions, with recent grants from the American Composers Forum, USArtists International, Aaron Copland Fund, and the Meet-The-Composer Foundation.
The spirit to explore and expand stylistic boundaries is a trademark of the FLUX Quartet. Inspired by the all-embracing philosophy of the Fluxus movement, violinist Tom Chiu founded the FLUX Quartet in the 90’s with a quest similar to that of the original Fluxus artists: a search for a living art for all people with an “anything-goes, do-it-yourself” spirit. To that end, FLUX has always been committed to projects of unique vision that defy aesthetic categorization. One such project is Feldman’s String Quartet No. 2. Lasting more than six continuous hours, it is “a disorienting, transfixing experience that repeatedly approached and touched the sublime.” (Alex Ross, The New Yorker)
For more information, please visit www.fluxquartet.com.
