To be released in April on New World
Liner Notes by Daniel Tacke
1. Résonateur [7:02] (2005)
Conductor: James Baker
Flute: Tara Helen O'Connor
Cor Anglais: Arthur Sato
Keyboard: Steve Beck
Keyboard: Stephen Gosling
Percussion: Matthew Gold
Perc: Alex Lipowski
Violin: Yuki Numata Resnick
Cello: Chris Gross
Digital audio signal processing: Olivier Pasquet and Rand Steiger
2. A Menacing Plume [16:48] (2011)
Conductor: James Baker
Flute, Alto Flute and Piccolo: Tara Helen O'Connor
Oboe and Cor Anglais: Arthur Sato
Clarinet and bass clarinet: Rane Moore
Piano: Steven Beck
Percussion: Matthew Gold
Percussion: Alex Lipowski
Violin: Yuki Numata Resnick
Viola: Elizabeth Weisser
Cello: Chris Gross
Digital audio signal processing: Miller Puckette and Rand Steiger
3. Elusive Peace [14:10] (2000)
Ben Reimer, drum set
Leanne Zacharias, cello
4. Elliott's Instruments [12:10] (2010)
Conductor: James Baker
Flute and Picollo: Tara Helen O'Connor
Clarinet and bass clarinet: Rane Moore
Piano: Steven Beck
Percussion: Alex Lipowski
Violin: Yuki Numata Resnick
Cello: Chris Gross
5. awhirl [8:01] (2008)
Solo Piano: Steven Beck
Digital audio signal processing: Rand Steiger
All pieces (except Elusive Peace) originally recorded in January 2013
at Oktaven Audio in Yonkers, New York; Ryan Streber and Rand Steiger,
producers; Ryan Streber, engineer. Elusive Peace recorded May 11, 2012
in Studio A, Schulich School of Music, McGill University, Montréal.
Scott Levine producer and engineer. Additional editing and mixing
followed in January 2014 at U.C. San Diego Department of Music; Joseph
Kucera, engineer; Rand Steiger, Producer.
All compositions are published by Rand Steiger Music (ASCAP)
http://rand.info
http://taleaensemble.org
Talea Ensemble
The Talea Ensemble has given many important world and US premieres of
new works by composers including Pierre Boulez, Tristan Murail, Olga
Neuwirth, John Zorn, Unsuk Chin, Rand Steiger, Beat Furrer, and Fausto
Romitelli. Talea has performed at Lincoln Center Festival,
Internationales Musikinstitut Darmstadt, Wien Modern, Contempuls,
Newport Jazz Festival, La Ciudad de las Ideas (Mexico), Art Summit
Indonesia (Jakarta), and the International Contemporary Music Festival
(Peru). Radio broadcasts of performances have been heard on ORF
(Austria), HRF (Germany), and WQXR’s Q2. As an active
collaborator of new music Talea has joined forces with the Austrian
Cultural Forum, Consulate General of Denmark, Korean Cultural Service
NY, Italian Cultural Institute, and the Ukrainian Institute.
Assuming an ongoing role in supporting and collaborating with student
composers, Talea has served as ensemble in residence at Harvard
University, Columbia University, Stanford University, Ithaca College,
Cornell University and New York University. Talea has recorded works on
the Living Artists Label, Gravina Musica, Tzadik, and New World
Records. For more information, please visit www.taleaensemble.org
James Baker, conductor
James Baker is Music Director and conductor of the Composers Conference
at Wellesley College, Director of the Percussion Ensemble at the
Mannes College of Music, and conductor of the New York New Music
Ensemble. He is Guest Conductor of the Slee Sinfonietta at the
Institute for 21st Century Music in Buffalo and also with Speculum
Musicae and the Talea Ensemble. He has led concerts across North
America, Europe, and Asia at festivals including the Beijing Modern
Festival, Monday Evening Concerts, US Library of Congress, and the
Transit Festival. He has collaborated with composers on hundreds of
world and American premieres including John Cage, Pierre Boulez,
Earl Brown, Charles Wourinen, Mario Davidovsky, Hans Werner Henze,
Roger Reynolds, Hans Abrahamsen, Milton Babbitt, Donald Martino,
Elliott Carter, Stefano Gervasoni, David Felder, and George Crumb. An
active composer of electro-acoustic music, Mr. Baker won a Bessie award
for composition for dance. Past commissions include works for Dance
Theater Workshop New York, the Lyon Opera Ballet and Netherlands Dance
Theater with his longtime collaborator, choreographer Tere O’Conor and
at EMPAC at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.
Steven Beck, piano
American pianist Steven Beck continues to garner acclaim for his
performances of a wide range of music. Highlights of the 2013-14 season
include performances with the Alabama Symphony, recordings of Carter's
late piano works for Bridge Records' Carter series, and a performance
of Messiaen's final work, "Concert a Quatre", with the New York Youth
Symphony.
Ben Reimer, drum set
Canadian percussionist, Ben Reimer, has a Doctorate in Music from
McGill University, Montréal. His main focus of research and performance
is exploring how the drumset, traditionally an improvised instrument in
popular music, has emerged as a solo instrument in Western art
music. Ben was the drumset soloist for two concertos by Nicole
Lizée: Triple Concerto for Power Trio and Orchestra and “The Man with
the Golden Arms”: Concerto for Drumset and Orchestra. He has
commissioned drumset solos by composers such as Lukas Ligeti and Nicole
Lizée, and is featured on the CD “This Will Not Be Televised.”
www.benreimer.com
Leanne Zacharias
Canadian cellist Leanne Zacharias is a dynamic soloist,
interdisciplinary artist and performance curator breaking trail in the
post-classical era collaborating with composers, visual and video
artists, poets, architects, choreographers and musicians of all
stripes. On faculty at the Brandon University School of Music, she also
leads the Correction Line Ensemble and contributes to the Odyssey Works
performance project. Recent performances include the FastForwardAustin
and X-Avant New Music Festivals, International Cello Festival of
Canada, Ottawa Chamber Music Festival, Austin's New Music Co-op,
Winnipeg's Warming Huts Art & Architecture competition and with
songwriters Christine Fellows, John K. Samson and The Mountain Goats.
complete list of works