Music composed for ensemble including piano, strings, brass, voice, drums and electronics. Expect minimalist webs, complex rhythms, cinematic layering, a dash of prog-rock as well as a live score/short film collaboration with animator Lori Samsel. This collection of pieces marks for the composer a birthing into heavier avant-garde sensibilities. Different movements will convey the dramatically constructed and the impulsively deconstructed, ceremonial exaggeration and aqueous
dream-states.

Joel Kennedy is a young composer who lives in Harlem, NYC. He is 1/2 of Rocket Surgery, a space-rock duo which has played numerous shows and self-released an album. In addition to work with Rocket Surgery, he has composed avant-folk music for solo guitar (imagine Shostakovich meets Harry Nilsson) as well as pieces for synthesizer and 8-bit electronics. His influences and moods are varied, drawing from sources like Milford Graves, Moondog, early Pink Floyd, Goblin and Bartok. He is also passionate about playing pungmul (Korean drumming) and travels to Korea periodically to study it. He is a fan of polyrhythmic music and events. Samples of Mr. Kennedy’s recorded work can be found at www.myspace.com/jdkennedy.