Daniel Corral: “Polytope”
Daniel Corral, Trevor Anderies, Andrew Lessman, Federico Llach
Sunday, March 1, 2020, 7 p.m.
Drinkward Recital Hall
Daniel Corral, "Polytope." Photo courtesy of Daniel Corral.
PROGRAM
Polytope (2018)
Daniel Corral
Polytope is an aural vortex of electronic minimalism and alternate tuning that recalls classic experimental electronic albums like Terry Riley’s Shri Camel, Aphex Twin’s Selected Ambient Works Volume II, Laurie Spiegel’s The Expanding Universe, or Eliane Radigue’s Trilogie de la Mort. Sequenza 21 praised Polytope as “an extraordinary piece of musical and visual art… that is both accessible and compelling,” SF Gate hailed it as “a mesmerizing visual and musical spectacle,” and The Stranger described it as “gamelan from Pluto—or maybe ’70s Philip Glass as interpreted by Harry Partch on his Cloud-Chamber Bowls.”
Daniel Corral is a composer/performer born and raised in Eagle River, Alaska. Now in Los Angeles, his unique voice finds outlet in accordion orchestras, multimedia microtonal electronics, puppet operas, handmade music boxes, site-specific sound installations, chamber music, and various collaborations. Corral’s music has been commissioned and presented by venues such as the Brooklyn Academy of Music, Sundance Film Festival, Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity, Joe’s Pub, REDCAT, Iceland University of the Arts, Mengi, Harpa, MATA, HERE Arts Center, Miami Light Project, Operadagen Rotterdam, Wayward Music, Walt Disney Concert Hall, Hammer Museum, Museum of Contemporary Art, Göteborg Art Sound Festival, USC Thornton School of Music, Center for New Music, CSUN College of Arts, Pianospheres, Automata Los Angeles, Machine Project, SASSAS, the wulf., Pasadena All Saints Choir, Santa Monica GLOW Festival, CalArts, UCSD School of Music, Carlsbad Music Festival, and the Marin Headlands Center for the Arts. Corral is also the lead composer for Timur and The Dime Museum, who are produced by Beth Morrison Projects. Corral is on the composition faculty at CalArts.
Based in Los Angeles, Trevor Anderies performs locally and on the international scene with groups including, Slumgum, The Walsh Set Trio, The Jon Armstrong Jazz Orchestra, Dan Rosenboom, Joe Anderies Generations Project, Neelamjit Dhillon, The Nigerian Talking Drum Ensemble, and The Trevor Anderies Quintet. Amongst his many teachers have been Joe LaBarbara, Bennie Maupin, Art Lande, Randy Gloss, Paul Romaine, and Larry Koonse. In addition, Trevor has studied Ewe music from Ghanian Master Drummer Alfred Ladzekpo, and Tabla from North Indian Master Swapan Chaudhuri. Trevor has performed and recorded with a wide array of artists including Bennie Maupin, Charlie Haden’s Liberation Orchestra, Dwight Trible, Hugh Ragin, Ron Miles, Greg Gisbert, Pat Coil, Larry Coryell, Eric Gunnison, and Shunzo Ohno. In addition to being a performer Trevor has given workshops at universities including CU Boulder, Denver University, Reed College, Sacramento State, Metro State, Mesa State College, George Mason University, and the University of Reno, Nevada.
Andrew Lessman is a drummer and composer based in Los Angeles, by way of San Diego and Chicago. Since graduating from CalArts in 2009, Lessman has toured extensively throughout Europe and North America, establishing himself as a rhythmic force with a wide range of artists spanning indie rock (The Wedding Present, Incan Abraham) to singer-songwriters (Simone White, Dorian Wood) and progressive jazz (Vinny Golia Sextet). At this time, he is actively performing and/or recording with Timur and the Dime Museum, Matt Kivel, The Alexander Noice Sextet, Polartropica, Dia, and a forthcoming project of his original music for creative instrumental ensemble. Lessman is seasoned in the practice of live sample triggering, often augmenting his traditional setup with a drumKAT MIDI percussion controller.
Musically raised in Buenos Aires as a jazz performer and classical composer, Federico Llach creates music that combines the intimacy of concert music with the energy of popular music. His sound palette has been forever changed as a result of his experience with modular synthesizers and electronics. His works have been performed by Orquesta Sinfónica Nacional Argentina, Compañía Oblicua, Now Hear Ensemble, PFL Traject, Cuarteto UNTREF, UCSB Orchestra, Formalist Quartet and Ensemble Dal Niente and at venues of such aesthetic diversity as Festival Internacional de Jazz Buenos Aires and Darmstadt Ferienkurse. Llach has created custom software for composition in the areas of spatialization, note generation from math functions and note generation from audio analysis. He has founded and directs Now Hear Ensemble, a group of classically trained musicians collaborating with composers working with electronics and intermedia. Llach serves as Lecturer at UC Merced in the Global Arts Program, and as part-time faculty for the Music Department at Cal Poly Pomona.
HMC is deeply grateful for the generous support that created The Ken Stevens ’61 Founding Class Concert Series.