Past Events

Friday, January 22, 2016, Concert 8:00 PM, doors 7:00 PM
at Joe’s Cafe, 6014 Kingsbury Ave., 63122 (map)
Susan Alcorn — pedal steel guitar, Frank Rosaly — drums

Susan Alcorn is a Baltimore based composer and instrumentalist who has received international recognition as an innovator of the pedal steel guitar. Alcorn elicits an expansive range of sounds from her instrument, from accessible country glissandos to Theremin like science fiction “noir” effects. The warm and shimmering earnestness of her instrument is used to full effect in her arrangements, probing the depths and textures of the songs. The UK Guardian describes her music as “beautiful, glassy and liquid, however far she strays from pulse and conventional harmony.”

Though mostly a solo performer, she has collaborated with numerous artists including Pauline Oliveros, Joe McPhee, Ellen Fullman, Evan Parker, Michael Formanek, and Thurston Moore. Her most recent album, Soledad, was released in 2015 on Relative Pitch.

Drummer Frank Rosaly has lived in Chicago since 2001 and has become an integral part of that city’s musical fabric, playing in improvised and experimental ensembles as well lending his skills to rock and indie groups. This flexibility as a musician lends particularly well to his improvised sets, where possibly he shines brightest.

New Music Circle audiences may recall his performance in 2013 with Joshua Abrams’s Natural Information Society at Joe’s Cafe. As we heard, unusual percussive devices such as found objects and electronic sounds are often included in his arsenal, and he is capable of transitioning from the most subtle sounds to intense outbursts, all in the same breath.

Rosaly now devotes much of his time to performing, composing and teaching, as well as organizing musical events. His collaborations include work with Matana Roberts, Fred Lonberg-Holm, Jeb Bishop, Ken Vandermark, Roscoe Mitchell, Ryley Walker, Colin Stentson, and Marshall Allen.

Presented by New Music Circle and KDHX

Friday, December 4, 2015, concert 8:00 PM, doors 7:00 PM
at The Stage at KDHX, 3524 Washington Ave., 63103 (map)
Sylvie Courvoisier — piano, Mark Feldman — violin

Swiss pianist Sylvie Courvoisier and American violinist Mark Feldman have been close partners, both musically and personally, for more than fifteen years, and their music attests to that, imbuing a sense of familiarity yet avoiding predictability. Feldman spoke of the music’s goal to achieve “integration…the real organic integration of classical and modern jazz.”

Since relocating from Switzerland to New York City in 1998, Sylvie Courvoisier has been and active force in the downtown New York scene and has released albums on John Zorn’s Tzadik label as well as ECM. In both her playing and her composition, she reflects neoclassical influences mixed with European improvised styles and draws much inspiration from the unique sphere of experimental genres that make up the New York downtown scene, where she regularly performs and records with Ikue Mori and Susie Ibarra (as the trio Mephista), John Zorn, Yusef Lateef, Evan Parker, Lotte Anker, and Fred Frith, among others.

Mark Feldman belongs to that selective cadre of jazz violinists dominated by such greats as Noel Pointer and Stéphane Grappelli, all while honing a storyteller’s vernacular so much his own that he may one day be seen as the pioneer of a new tradition. Firmly established as one of jazz’s finest string players, his musical explorations establish a climate often associated with contemporary composition, yet include a sense of spontaneous ensemble interaction so critical to the jazz language. In concert he has performed with Paul Bley, Anthony Davis, Tim Berne, Muhal Richard Abrams, and many more.

SPECIAL FREE EVENT: Join New Music Circle and Jackson Pianos as we host a special event with Sylvie Courvoisier and Mark Feldman at the wonderful showroom at Jackson Pianos. Both artists will engage in a short performances and take time to discuss their work, music techniques, and participate in a Q+A. Snacks and beverages will be served. No RSVP is needed.

Thursday, December 3rd at Jackson Pianos (4354 Olive St, St. Louis, MO 63108). 6:30pm – 7:30pm. Free and open to the public.

Thursday, December 3rd, 2015, 6:30 PM
Jackson Pianos, 4354 Olive St, St. Louis, MO 63108 (map)

SPECIAL FREE EVENT: Join New Music Circle and Jackson Pianos as we host a special event with Sylvie Courvoisier and Mark Feldman at the wonderful showroom at Jackson Pianos. Both artists will engage in a short performances and take time to discuss their work, music techniques, and participate in a Q+A. Snacks and beverages will be served. No RSVP is needed.

Charlemagne Palestine may not be a considered a household name in all circles, but his moniker is one you would be unlikely to forget. Now at the age of 70, Palestine has made a name for himself as a musician unlike any other, his signature style being comprised of long evolving drones and sustained notes, often involving installations of stuffed animals that envelope the performance space. He is frequently associated with minimalist composition, since he was a contemporary in the 1970s of composers such as Terry Riley and Steve Reich, yet he states “I never wanted to be an anything”, a proclamation which might explain his wildly eclectic oeuvre, extending into film and art installations (His works have shown at MOMA and the 2014 Whitney Biennial.). His instruments include piano, church organ, church bells and synthesizers (Early in his career he worked with Morton Subotnick.), and with these tools in hand, Palestine composes sounds that exhibit spectral effects when either pushed beyond their bounds, left alone, or both. Palestine’s “strumming” technique can be explained as repeating sounds, ultimately invoking sonorities into existence.

Now based in Brussels, he was born in Brooklyn to Eastern European immigrant Jewish parents and draws much of his inspiration from the traditional sacred musics he encountered as a youth. Palestine got his early start singing in synagogues, where he learned the art of delivering long pieces. Then as a teenager he attended a special arts school in Manhattan and soon thereafter grew to fame as a carillioner, or bell-ringer, at a church across the street from the Museum of Modern Art. It was there that his musical style began its alteration between what Palestine refers to as “cataclysms” and at other times “sonorities”. Examples of these approaches can be heard in his many recordings, often in collaboration with artists such as Tony Conrad, Pan Sonic, and Rhys Chatham.

Saturday, November 7, 2015, Concert 8:00 PM, Doors 7:00 PM
at The Pulitzer Arts Foundation, 3716 Washington Blvd, 63108
Charlemagne Palestine — piano, electronics, voice

And special church organ concert…

Charlemagne Palestine may not be a considered a household name in all circles, but his moniker is one you would be unlikely to forget. Now at the age of 70, Palestine has made a name for himself as a musician unlike any other, his signature style being comprised of long evolving drones and sustained notes, often involving installations of stuffed animals that envelope the performance space. He is frequently associated with minimalist composition, since he was a contemporary in the 1970s of composers such as Terry Riley and Steve Reich, yet he states “I never wanted to be an anything”, a proclamation which might explain his wildly eclectic oeuvre, extending into film and art installations (His works have shown at MOMA and the 2014 Whitney Biennial.). His instruments include piano, church organ, church bells and synthesizers (Early in his career he worked with Morton Subotnick.), and with these tools in hand, Palestine composes sounds that exhibit spectral effects when either pushed beyond their bounds, left alone, or both. Palestine’s “strumming” technique can be explained as repeating sounds, ultimately invoking sonorities into existence.

Now based in Brussels, he was born in Brooklyn to Eastern European immigrant Jewish parents and draws much of his inspiration from the traditional sacred musics he encountered as a youth. Palestine got his early start singing in synagogues, where he learned the art of delivering long pieces. Then as a teenager he attended a special arts school in Manhattan and soon thereafter grew to fame as a carillioner, or bell-ringer, at a church across the street from the Museum of Modern Art. It was there that his musical style began its alteration between what Palestine refers to as “cataclysms” and at other times “sonorities”. Examples of these approaches can be heard in his many recordings, often in collaboration with artists such as Tony Conrad, Pan Sonic, and Rhys Chatham.

TWO free artist talks / Q+A’s with Charlemagne Palestine. Both are FREE and open to the public.

Friday, November 6
10am – 11am
Kemp Auditorium (in Givens Hall). First floor. Room #116
(parking available on Skinker Blvd.)
Hosted and led by Heather Bennett (Sam Fox School Lecturer)

Friday, November 6
12pm – 1pm
Free and open to the public
Sverdrup Complex, 8300 Big Bend Boulevard, Room 123
(Street parking available on Big Bend or parking garage on Garden Ave.)
Hosted and led by Marie Heilich (curator, writer, and the Assistant Director of White Flag Projects)