– The Violin Music of Gene Pritsker –
This is a general admission, partially seated event in the Gallery at LPR.
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Gene & The Violinists
Composer Gene Pritsker presents a concert of his music for violin; “I noticed that I have many compositions for the violin, including 11 concertos, numerous solo pieces and loads of chamber music. I decided, why not have a concert featuring only the violin?.” Five violinists, some of whom have collaborated with Gene for over 20 years and some for whom this is a first collaboration, will perform solos, duos, works for violin and Samplestra (pre recorded electronics) and compositions for violin and Di.J. (with GP). In addition there will be a premiere of a brand new chamber piece written for solo violin, a five violin ensemble, rapper and Di.J. The violinists are: Peter Krysa, Lynn Bechtold, Mioi Takeda – (Miolina Duo), Gregor Kitzis, Hajnal K. Pivnick & Yuko Naito-Gotay. Besides compositions that have been performed around the world many times such as: ‘Bach Partita ReMix’, ‘Misfortune Has it’s Uses’, ‘Empty Bottles’, ‘Opposite Extreme of Benevolence’, this concert will also feature four premieres, including two movements for the solo violin piece ‘Tango In V’, a new violin and Samplestra composition; ‘Waiting II’, the violin duet ‘No Conviction, a Hope and that is All’ and the aforementioned new chamber piece.
Composer/guitarist/rapper/Di.J Gene Pritsker has written over five hundred fifty compositions, including chamber operas, orchestral and chamber works, electro-acoustic music and songs for hip-hop and rock ensembles. All of his compositions employ an eclectic spectrum of styles and are influenced by his studies of various musical cultures.
He is the founder and leader of Sound Liberation; an eclectic hip hop-chamber-jazz-rock-etc. ensemble who have released cd’s on Col-legno, Composers Concordance and Innova Records. He is also the co-director of Composers’ Concordance, a new music presenting organization with a 30 year history of producing concert in NYC. Other organization he is associate with include the Grammy nominated Absolute Ensemble, which he co founded in 1993 with Kristjan Jarvi and has been a composer in residence and guitarist with ever since. Gene’s music has been performed all over the world at various festivals and by many ensembles and performers, including the The Adelaide Symphony, MDR Symphony, The Athens Camerata, China Philharmonic Orchestra, Brooklyn, Shanghai and Berlin Philharmonics, Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, St. Lukes Chamber Orchestra, Sinfonietta Riga, Orchester des Pfalztheaters, Yomiuri Nippon Symphony Orchestra, Anhaltische Philharmonie as well as such soloists as Anne Akiko Meyers, Lara St. John, Sarah Chang, Kathleen Supové, Martin Kuuskmann and Simone Dinnerstein. He worked closely with jazz fusion legend Joe Zawinul and has orchestrated major Hollywood movies, including ‘Cloud Atlas’, for which he wrote additional music and composed his ”Cloud Atlas Symphony’.
The New York Times described him as “…audacious…multitalented.” Joseph Pehrson, writing in The Music Connoisseur, described Pritsker as “dissolving the artificial boundaries between high brow, low brow, classical, popular musics and elevates the idea that if it’s done well it is great music, regardless of the style or genre”. Raul d’Gama Rose writes in All About Jazz: “Barring the obvious exceptions, much of 21st century composition appears to be thinning in significance, but this might be about to change. Gene Pritsker is one of a very spare handful of composers effecting this change.” Evan Burke writes in ICareIf YouListen: “Pritsker seems to look at all music as one genre, in which all other possible styles, sounds and traditions are meant to be used as building blocks and palette colors, combined in various configurations to create a boundless whole. This result is almost always more interesting, and representative of how most new music will be born in the 21st century, as genres and barriers begin to vanish, and as styles begin cross-fertilizing in previously unimagined ways.” Classical Music Sentinel writes: “His expressive reach is so wide as to encompass everything from ethno/techno, rock/jazz fusion, classical opera and more, and it all seems to be effortlessly integrated within his anima and comes out through different facets of his persona. You could almost see him as a modern day renaissance man. “
Organizations he is associated with include: Co-director of Composers Concordance & Composers Concordance Records, co-founder/guitarist of Absolute Ensemble and artist-in residence at the Austrian Outreach Festival. Gene Pritsker’s music is published by: Falls House Press, Gold Branch Music, Periferia Sheet Music & Calabrese Brothers music. Recorded on: Col Legno, Enja, Eutrepe, Wergo, Innova , Composers’ Concordance Records, SONY Classical, and Capstone record labels.sound and composition.
Gene Pritsker official site
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This concert is part of The Composers Now Festival:
The Composers Now Festival celebrates living composers, the diversity of their voices and the significance of their musical contributions to our society. During the month of February, the Festival brings together dozens of performances presented by venues, ensembles, orchestras, opera companies, dance companies and many other innovative events throughout New York City. Experience the sounds and get to know the creators behind the music. From jazz to indie, from classical to electronic and beyond, join us on a sonic journey through the landscape of the arts of our time. Composers will be in attendance, interacting with audiences. Composers Now is a project partner of The Fund for the City of New York. We gratefully acknowledge the support of the Rockefeller Brothers Fund, the Cheswatyr Foundation, the Ann and Gordon Getty Foundation, ASCAP, BMI, New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council and Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts.
Peter Krysa, Lynn Bechtold, Mioi Takeda, Gregor Kitzis, and Hajnal K. Pivnick
