Roulette TV sits down with composer and percussionist Susie Ibarra to discuss her project Talking Gong with Claire Chase and Alex Peh—presented at Roulette in June 2021.
This dynamic trio emerged out of a commission from SUNY New Paltz in 2018 when Ibarra was Davenport Composer in Residence, and the release of their self-titled album Talking Gong on New Focus Recordings in January 2021. Talking Gong performed an evening program of music featuring compositions by Ibarra from their album, as well as Ibarra’s series of solos as bird songs of the sunbird, hummingbird, and kingfisher for piano, flute, and drums. The trio joined by electronic artist Senem Pirler will also perform a version of The Witness by Pauline Oliveros, an improvisation-based score that asks performers to witness and respond to their environments (natural, acoustic, somatic, political…) through a series of deep listening strategies. Peh and Chase will perform a duet inspired by the blackbird, The Merle Noir, by Olivier Messiaen. Amidst the program are conduction pieces by Ibarra, a mixture of motivic scores and improvisation that highlight the trio’s unique sound world and musical chemistry.
Claire Chase: piccolo, flute, alto, and bass flutes
Alex Peh: piano
Susie Ibarra: drumset, kulintang, gandingan, agong, and percussion
Senem Pirler: electronics on The Witness
Episode produced by Jim Staley
Directed by Wolfgang Daniel