ICE at Oberlin | Music of Xenakis and Lang

January 21, 2012 | 8:00pm
Finney Chapel, Oberlin College
Oberlin, OH
$37 Public, $27 Seniors/OC Staff & Faculty, $12 Students

International Contemporary Ensemble
Steve Schick, guest conductor, percussion
Cory Smythe, solo piano
Joshua Rubin, solo bass clarinet

ICE returns to the Oberlin College Artist Recital Series to play classic music of iconic noise pioneer Iannis Xenakis and a brand new work by modern sound poet David Lang. Greek composer Iannis Xenakis was a composer, a mathematician, an architect, a mystic, and a radical music theorist. Pulitzer prize-winning composer David Lang's music casts a radiant and rhythmic energy. Master percussionist and Xenakis scholar Steve Schick will open the program with his world-renowned performance of Psappha, and the program will build in instrumental forces until ICE takes over the entire stage, ending with Xenakis' final work, O-Mega. The program features a World Premiere of a new work by David Lang written for ICE. 

Program:

David Lang: Anvil Chorus, for solo percussion (1991)
Iannis Xenakis: Echange for bass clarinet and ensemble (1989)
Iannis Xenakis: Palimpsest for solo piano and ensemble (1979)
George E. Lewis: Artificial Life 2007 for ensemble (2007)
David Lang (b. 1957): New Work, for ensemble (2011) WORLD PREMIERE
Iannis Xenakis: Thallein, for ensemble (1984)
Iannis Xenakis: O-Mega, for solo percussion and ensemble (1997)

From the Blog

  • ICE at Oberlin | Music of Xenakis and Lang [Review]

    February 7, 2012

    ICE at Oberlin | Music of Xenakis and Lang [Review]

    Once all the elements were in the mix, a quiet passage ensued . . . break time . . . and then suddenly the fury returned, driving to full mayhem and a sudden conclusion as Steve’s instruments started to shake loose from their substantial moorings.

  • ICE at Oberlin | Music of Xenakis and Lang [Preview]

    January 14, 2012

    ICE at Oberlin | Music of Xenakis and Lang [Preview]

    The concert isn’t just a Xenakis revue though – as its title would suggest, David Lang’s work also figures prominently. Steve Schick will take on a piece written specifically for him, Anvil Chorus, a spasmodic and danceable solo percussion piece that fits nicely with the Xenakis work on the program. Oberlin concertgoers are in for a special treat, as if they weren’t already: ICE will premiere Lang’s new (still untitled) work, it's currently appropriately called "New Work."

  • Cory Smythe | Piano

    January 19, 2012

    Cory Smythe | Piano

    "I can only hope that people on their way home from the show will be talking about how much beauty and invention existed in this ultra-conservative music that didn't include even one naked performer nor exploding piano."