RESCHEDULED: COMPOSERS SERIES PART TWO: CRISTINA VALDES, CHRIS BROWN WITH JOAN JEANRENAUD AND WILLIAM WINANT

This event has been rescheduled for Spring 2009. Please check back for more details.

Day two of the Composers Series features Cristina Valdes, a captivating pianist who has played Lincoln Center, Carnegie Hall and the Kennedy Center; and Chris Brown with Joan Jeanrenaud and William Winant. Brown is a composer, electronic musician and instrument-builder whose pursuit of new sonic experiences drives the trajectories of his work. Cellist Jeanrenaud previously played with the Kronos Quartet and has performed over 2000 concerts. Winant is ..."one of the best avant-garde percussionists working today" according to music critic Mark Swed (Los Angeles Times, Wall Street Journal).

Brown, Winant and Jeanrenaud perform an improvisation of Messiaen's Oiseaux Exotiques, arranged by Brown:

"There are 10 different sections, each a solo, duo, or trio, and each of them contains transcriptions of specific bird-songs from Oiseaux Exotiques.  I've left the metronome markings that were in Messiaen's score but we should feel free to play them at a comfortable speed. And the main point is that they are to be used as material for improvisation, so it's not necessary or desirable to play them all from beginning to end. Just get used to the notes so that you can vary their order, repeat different little cells, etc.

There will also be interactive electronics listening and responding to each of the sections -- these are designed to sound like the actual birds that Messiaen transcribed -- so the idea of the piece is to have electronic birds as part of each improvisation.  So plan on playing, then stopping to listen, then responding to the electronic birds, playing a little more of the theme, etc."

                                                                                                                     - Note from Brown to Winant and Jeanrenaud about Oiseaux Exotiques

Brown, Winant and Jeanrenaud also perform Stupas - a duet for percussion, piano and electronics - "an homage to another great composer of Messiaen's generation: José Maceda of the Philippines, whose music though very different in character, also exemplifies qualities of universalism and transcendence." (Brown)

Additional Information

Chris Brown's website
Cristina Valdes' MySpace page
William Winant's website
Joan Jeanrenaud's website

You might also be interested in Antares performing Messiaen's “Quartet for the End of Time”