The NY Theremin Society presents:
"International Edition"
Performances on Theremin by:
Charlie Draper (UK)
Thorwald Jorgensen (NL)
Llamano (JP)
Anthony Ptak (US)
Rob Schwimmer
http://www.joespub.com/component/option,com_shows/task,view/Itemid,40/id,6757
Friday June 28th - 7pm
Joe's Pub
at the Public Theater
425 Lafayette St.
NYC, NY 10003-7021
212-539-8770
http://www.joespub.com/
Price: $15
Tele-Charge: 212 239 6200 or www.telecharge.com
Dinner reservations: 212-539-8778
"The Theremin is cool and now"
Check Out The NY Theremin Society in
The Wall Street Journal
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324669104578203943527912734.html
"Where Better to Play a Theremin Than on a Boat?"
The New York Times
"The Untouchables"
The New York Post
http://www.nypost.com/p/entertainment/hot_picks_vgGF4hC5Op38v4xdtCn3BN
We are thrilled to continue the NY Theremin Society's concert series by announcing an exciting international line-up of distinguished Theremin Virtuosos to perform June 28th at Joe's Pub. Thereminists include Thorwald Jorgensen from the Netherlands, one of the leading European classical thereminsts in his first NYC appearance; Llamano from Japan, who created quite a stir with her subway theremin video series; Charlie Draper, one of the UK's top thereminists in his NYC debut; altermodern artist and composer Anthony Ptak and host Rob Schwimmer. Each player has their own unique style and approach to the instrument making for a night full of contrasts, musical surprises and sublime beauty. Join the growing Theremin movement in the 21st century!
"There have never been as many thereminists in the world as there are right now..."
Founded by Suzanne Fiol and Dorit Chrysler, musician/composer, the NY Theremin Society launched its concert series December 2nd 2005, bringing together skilled interpreters on Theremin, each presenting their solo works and joining in an experimental Theremin Orchestra. Those concert series took place at Issue Project Room and sold out regularly, featuring noted players such as Pamelia Kurstin, Dalit Warshaw, Anthony Ptak, Elizabeth Brown, David Simons, Armen Ra and Rob Schwimmer just to name a few. The NY Theremin Society started to serve as a platform for Thereminists and Enthusiasts and its mission statement evolved; namely to exchange, inspire and educate, as well as to demonstrate the surprising variety of different approaches thatthis relatively young and unique instrument has to offer in the contemporary world of music. The NY Theremin Society was instrumental in the recreation of a Ten Piece Theremin Orchestra performing at the LA Disney Hall (emulating the first theremin orchestra concert taking place at Carnegie Hall in 1930.)
June 28th at Joe's Pub - International Thereminists present their works:
CHARLIE DRAPER is one of Europe's few exponents of the theremin. Beginning his musical studies with the piano, Charlie turned his hands to the instrument in 2005, studying under the Russian thereminist Lydia Kavina, relative and final protégé of the instrument's inventor, Léon Theremin. He gave his first public recital in 2006. Since then he has performed in Britain and Europe at venues including the Welsh Opera House, Irish National Concert Hall, and the British Library. He has collaborated with other thereminists including Barbara Bucholz, Carolina Eyck, and Lydia Kavina, and performs regularly as soloist with the Radio Science Orchestra.
http://www.charliedraper.co.uk
THORWALD JORGENSEN "A musical highlight of the evening was Thorwald Jørgensen and his theremin" Trouw (review of the Dutch Bachfestival)
At the age of 14, Thorwald Jørgensen started his first percussion lessons with Peter Elberse (timpanist at the Dutch Philharmonic Orchestra). After finishing high school he went on to study classical percussion at the Utrecht and Tilburg Conservatory, where he studied with Werner Otten, Hans Zonderop, Johan Faber and Peter de Vries. He graduated with a Music Masters as a student of Arnold Marinissen. Taking up the theremin was a logical progression. This instrument also requires a skilled coordination of the left and right hand. Since the playing technique resembles that of a string instrument, Thorwald is currently being coached by Saskia Boon, former cellist with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra. Having a busy concert schedule, Thorwald has performed as a chamber musician, soloist and orchestral thereminist in Europe, North America, Canada and Russia. A remarkable highlight was the Dutch premiere of the theremin concertino by Anis Fuleihan. Besides these concerts, Thorwald also performed for radio and television and played at several festivals, like Festival Classique (NL), Bach Festival (NL), Without Touch (UK) and Music and Beyond (CA). He was also invited as a guest lecturer for the composition class at both the Amsterdam and Rotterdam Conservatory. Thorwald has managed to collect an expansive library of original music for the theremin from music libraries and private collections both in Holland and abroad. He has expanded this collection by adding music for string instruments and voice. Furthermore, he has arranged a couple of theremin concertino’s for symphonic wind band, so this music is no longer restricted to the accompaniment of a symphony orchestra. This mixed and varied repertoire serves as a demonstration of the fact that the theremin can be so much more than an instrument for dramatic effects in movies.
http://www.thorwaldjorgensen.com/
LLAMANO is a thereminist and songwriter/composer who hails from Yokohama. She studied under Japanese thereminist Yuki Yano who is a pioneer of theremin in Japan. A mostly self taught pianist in her youth, she also learned to play guitar. Llamano started theremin about 10 years ago and often plays in music pubs and galleries in Tokyo. She recently returned from the Norwegian arctic island of Svalbard where she felt drawn to visit in order to play theremin under the aurora (in the company of polar bears...but not too close) and taking part in the Polar Jazz Festival.
http://llaminov.wordpress.com/
ANTHONY PTAK (b. 1970 New York) has been an interaction designer, artist, performer, teacher, and a composer recently based in the Interactive Telecommunications Program at NYU (MPS2010.) He has studied with Tony Conrad, Paul Sharits, Peter Campus, Lydia Kavina, and Herbert Brün, and had technical consultations with Robert Moog. He was a guest theremin artist and composer under director Scott Wyatt at the historic Experimental Music Studios (EMS) at the University of Illinois at
Urbana-Champaign between 2000-2007. He has presented his works at SEAMUS Society for ElectroAcoustic Music in the United States, School of the Art Institute, Chicago Cultural Center, St. Louis Art Museum, Institute for Advanced Study Princeton, Roulette Intermedium, the Kitchen, the Stone, Galapagos Art Space, Chelsea Art Museum, and Issue Project Room in New York and most recently at NIME Sydney, Australia 2010. He has collaborated with Nicolas Collins, Alex Waterman, Cyrus Pireh, and
Stephan Moore. He performed at the First International Theremin Festival and is a founding member of the New York Theremin Society. He was a visiting scholar at NYU's Department of Art and Art Professions. His graphic scores have been published in Notations 21, and the exhibition catalogues Between Thought and Sound, and Agape. He was awarded a Lower Manhattan Cultural Council grant in 2008. For his graduate thesis Phase Cancellation he worked in the James L. Dolan 3D Audio Research Lab at NYU Steinhardt Music Technology. He was appointed adjunct faculty at NYU Department of Music in 2011 for the purposes of curriculum development. Since being diagnosed with brain cancer (CNS lymphoma) in January 2011, he has lent his expertise in research projects bridging Music and Neuroscience.
http://axoxnxs.com
ROB SCHWIMMER "...his moving reading of Wagner's "Träume" suggested a reassessment of the theremin's potential." (WSJ) A pianist-composerdescribed as a "Theremin master" in The New York Times and a "Theremin hero" in The New Yorker, Rob was theremin soloist with The Orchestra of St. Luke's at Caramoor playing the premiere of Bernard Herrmann's Scene d'Amour from Vertigo performed with theremin for the first time and played theremin and piano on Matthew Barney's epic Cremaster 3 movie. An original member of The NY Theremin Society as well as a founding member of Polygraph Lounge, Rob has worked with Wayne Shorter, Antonio Carlos Jobim, Paul Simon, Bobby McFerrin, Willie Nelson, Chaka Khan, Laurie Anderson, Simon & Garfunkel, Stevie Wonder, Bette Midler, Adam Guettel, T-Bone Walker, Sam Rivers, Marc Shaiman, Trey Anastasio, The Klezmatics, Theo Bleckmann, Christian Marclay, Gwyneth Paltrow, Marshall Brickman, Mary Cleere Haran, Arif Mardin, Mabou Mines, John Cale, Steve Buscemi, Burt Bacharach, The Roches, Edie Brickell, Teo Macero, Hal Willner, Vernon Reid, The Everly Brothers, Ethel, Kurt Vonnegut, Sammy Davis... Rob has recently added the Haken Continuum to his arsenal of instruments.
http://www.robschwimmer.com
(NOTE-- Sadly Dorit Chrysler is out of town for this concert but will be back next time)
VIDEO/AUDIO
Thorwald Jorgensen
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iS_NYiMca4g
Anthony Ptak
http://soundcloud.com/axoxnxs/axoxnxs
Llamano
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sL01xTmV_Fc
Rob Schwimmer
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YKiqQJhYj74
Visit The NY THEREMIN SOCIETY on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/NyThereminSociety
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THE THEREMIN
Invented 1919 by Russian electro physicist Lev Sergejewitch Termen, the Theremin is the only instrument that generates sound without being touched. Notoriously hard to play, it is one of the first electronic instruments that inspired the creation of synthesizers in future generations. Historically, the theremin is one of the earliest electronic instruments, introduced to audiences in the early 20th century. Subsequently, it served as the basis from which electronic musical instruments of the 20th century were later developed. Although originally intended for classical music performance, the theremin instead found its success supplying 'eerie' background music for countless motion pictures. Whether that it is due to its unusual frequency and vibrato effects, or the challenge posed upon the player to master its technique, the theremin has never been a widely-played instrument.
Yet today, among fields of electronic musicians, many more are rediscovering the potential of the theremin and exploring its complex and expressive sounds, pitches, movements, and gestures through various styles and media. In 1966 the Beach Boy's Brian Wilson put the Theremin to work in "Good Vibrations". In 1967 Theremins showed up on Captain Beefheart's landmark "Safe as Milk" and in 1969, Led Zeppelin anthem "Whole Lotta Love" featured a Theremin. Today artists such as Jon Spencer, Portishead, Nine Inch Nails, Elvis Costello, Trey Anstasio, and Simon & Garfunkel have put the instrument to use.
Leon Theremin emigrated to New York City in late 1927, quickly establishing a laboratory dedicated to the scientific study of electronic sound; in April of 1930, a Ten Piece Theremin Orchestra premiered on the stage of Carnegie Hall to enthusiastic response. A decade later, Theremin was whisked back to the Soviet Union (involuntarily, some have said) and placed in Butyrka prison, eventually working in a Soviet think-tank to develop a covert listening device for the Soviet government. Following Theremin’s abrupt departure and reassignment, his instrument inspired a handful of virtuosos, most notably Clara Rockmore and Samuel J. Hoffman, but ultimately fell into obscurity until...
