NEW CD: EXTENDED FAMILY (Innova 782)
The CD release party will be January 11, 2011, 7:30pm at Le Poisson Rouge in Greenwich Village, NYC. The CD features ETHEL performing the title piece for amplified string quartet, Bob Gluck performing Faith for piano with Neil on computer, and a solo laptop performance of Neil's MONO Prelude. Official digital release date (on iTunes, etc.) is January 4, 2011, in the stores January 25. Innova also released Neil's last three CDs, Shadow Quartet in 2005, Digits in 2006 and The Economic Engine in 2009.
MONO
Most of Neil's work for 2010 and into 2011 has been focused on the development of MONO, a large, evening long piece exploring the fagility of perception. The piece is driven by his experience of losing hearing in his left ear between 9:30 and 11am on March 31, 2008. That experience is documented in his Hearingblog. On the way to developing the full length performance, Neil has develoed a number of smaller works for performances in 2009 and 2010.
The MONO Prelude, for solo laptop, was premiered on tour in China, with performances in Shanghai, Beijing and Hong Kong in October and November 2009. The Prelude was then further developed as part of a residency at the Serial Underground concerts in New York City, and is included on Neil's new CD, Extended Family.
Another excerpt, for string trio, laptop and video, was played at the Cutting Edge Concerts and on the Music With A View series in the spring of 2010. In spring and early fall 2010, Neil was at the MacDowell Colony in NH, and at the Ucross Foundation in Wyoming, began putting together the full score and text for MONO. Stay tuned for news of where and when to hear the first performance in 2012.
THE HOEFER PRIZE
In October 2010 Neil was awarded the Hoefer Prize from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. The prize is awarded to an alumnus composer, and includes a cash award, a commission to write a piece for the Conservatory's New Music Ensemble, and a residency at the Conservatory timed to coincide with the premiere of the commission. The new piece, Anosmia, will be a further development of the MONO project, and will be premiered in San Francisco in early 2012, under the direction of Nicole Paiement.
... AND MORE
Also in the works are two new pieces for solo instruments and computer. A set of bite-sized works for Bang On A Can pianist Vicky Chow, and a new piece for sizzling saxophonist Demetrius Spaneas. Vicky, Demetrius and Neil all played on a mini-tour of Beijing and Hong Kong in 2009. Both pieces are expected in 2012 or 2013.