NEW SOUNDS #2: ASHLEY FURE

Hey there, reader/listener/new friend!

Thanks for stopping in! All of us here at Loop38 firmly believe that it’s much easier to enjoy a concert when you have some background in what you’re about to hear and why it’s incredible! SO, leading up our concerts this year, I will be posting these short little tidbits about our featured composers. Hoping that this will feel like you’re chilling with a friend, getting psyched about great music! Feel free to take a peak, have a listen, and get a taste for what’s to come!

Our upcoming concert BEHIND THE SCENES, BEHIND THE SOUNDS, on November 14 features performances of electro acoustic works by Maja Ratkje, Ashley Fure, and Lewis Nielson.

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Hope you had a great listen to Maja Ratkje’s stuff from last time and are ready for MORE because this week we are hitting up the one and ~only~ Ashley Fure.

If you’re into new music (which you DEFINITELY should be), you have undoubtedly heard about Fure. She has racked up a substantial and impressive resume, including the Rome Prize, a Guggenheim Fellowship, and a nomination for the 2017 Pulitzer Prize. Not too shabby. All of those accolades are beyond well deserved: her work constantly tears apart what sounds belong in the concert hall (answer: all of them) and how we listen. Think: wild bassoon, ASMR, and megaphones.

If you saw ASMR and did a double take, no, you read that correctly. For the uninitiated, ASMR stands for “autonomous sensory meridian response”. This refers to a tingling feeling that you can get listening to certain sounds that start in your head (re: ears) and then travel to the rest of your body. The internet has made a killing off of ASMR videos, with people whispering, crinkling, and scratching into high quality microphones. Definitely check it out if you haven’t before.

Now, although Fure’s work is not explicitly ASMR, it does frequently incorporate sounds that made your skin tingle and have a similar affect. In both her piece The Force Of Things: An Opera for Objects and her recent premiere Filament with the New York Phil, Fure used megaphones to amplify unusual sounds, lending an experience every similar to ASMR. You can read more about Filament here! And listen to a clip from rehearsal below:

You should also take a listen to a bit of The Force Of Things here (featuring the incredible Lucy Deghrae whose festival, Resonant Bodies, you should also check out).

Fure once said that, “classical instrumental technique deemphasizes the body behind the sound: one is meant to hear the melody, not the fingernails on the keys.” Fure takes up the challenge of flipping this narrative: in her works the bodies playing become instruments as well, and the movement and physicality of the players is of utmost importance. In Albatross, which you’ll hear if you come to our concert November 14 (!!!!), physical gestures and textural sounds on the instruments are written into the score. In the piece below, Soma, you will here all kinds of environmental sounds. Close your eyes and allow you mind to let go of expectations and completely drift!

Most importantly, since the piece we are performing is called Albatross, here are some facts about the aforementioned bird:

• They have the longest wingspan of any bird

• They have a special tendon in their shoulders that allows their wings to maintain spread, with minimal muscle expenditure. This allows them to soar for AGES.

• They do a special mating dance, and then they mate for life.

Finally, if you’d like to know more about Fure, articulated MUCH better than I attempted here, check out this interview! My favourite part is where she talks about the process/struggles of notating all these wild things (and how notation holds us back). Also, this interview features maybe my new favourite quote:

“LET YOUR AUDITORY FREAK FLAG FLY” - ASHLEY FURE

(screaming)

Hope that all made sense and got you just a lil’ tingly with excitement! If you want more of where that came from, you know what you need to do:

xx ally xx

*tingly*

NEW SOUNDS #1: MAJA RATKJE

Hey there, reader/listener/new friend!

Thanks for stopping in! All of us here at Loop38 firmly believe that concerts are even more enjoyable when you have some background in what you’re about to hear and why it’s incredible! SO, leading up our concerts this year, I will be posting these short little tidbits about our featured composers. Hoping that this will feel like you’re chilling with a friend (that’s me), and getting psyched about great music (literally my constant state of being)! Feel free to take a peek, have a listen, and get a taste for what’s to come!

Our upcoming concert BEHIND THE SCENES, BEHIND THE SOUNDS, on November 14 features performances of electro acoustic works by Maja Ratkje, Ashley Fure, and Lewis Nielson.

——

Today, we’re getting to know the SoUndS (and there’s a LOT of them) of Maja Ratkje! Get those ears ready!

It can truly be said that Norwegian composer Maja Ratkje is unlike anyone else. Her compositions are known for their vibrant, feral, and jarring sound worlds. She frequently incorporates her own voice (which you can’t help but be obsessed with) into her work.

Her breakout album, Voice, released in 2002, took an absolute gamut of extended vocal techniques and gave them the electronic treatment. For those of you who might not know what an ‘extended technique’ is,  it’s actually pretty simple. If you think of ‘standard technique’ as the normal sounds you would expect from a singer (re: do re mi, la di da, I’m singing a lil’ song over here), ‘extended technique’ encompasses everything else! It’s a special art to be able to grunt, yell, whisper, shriek, vocal fry, and make the guttural, jarring noises Ratkje does. Listen below to two of my favourite tracks off that album:

DICTAPHONE JAM FROM VOICE — make sure you listen at LEAST until the middle!!

For something on the other side of that spectrum (but equally trippy), check out the title song:

VOICE FROM VOICE — again, don’t stop at the beginning, progression and form is KEY to Ratkje’s music! Take it ALL in!

You can hear that Ratkje samples some traditional-ish singing, but distorts it with extended techniques and electronics. Unreal. If that doesn’t get your heart rate up, I don’t know what will. So,

I HOPE THAT GOT YOU ALL FIRED UP BECAUSE….

You’ll definitely be hearing lots of Ratkje’s incredible voice on November 14 in her piece ‘and sing while thou on pressed flowers dost sleep’. Her raw vocals are sampled, processed, and imitated throughout the piece. That being said, this singing is not like any singing you’ve heard - and you definitely will not fall asleep.

Before I sign off, here’s one more clip of her, this time live!

MAJA RATKJE LIVE (OMG)

Hope that this opened your ears a bit and you’re PUMPED for what is going to be a fantastic concert! I’ll be coming at you with our other featured composers shortly!

xx ally xx

What, we’re already in Season 3?! - pianist, Yvonne Chen

…and we’re back!

It’s been a solid year+ since we last updated you all on our activities. After such an amazing first season of concerts all across Houston - Rothko Chapel, “Twilight Epiphany” Turrell Skyspace, the MATCH - as well as great recording and performance collaborations with composers Shih-Hui Chen and George Lewis, we knew that Houston made a place for us.

There were a lot of growing pains that we encountered almost immediately afterwards - our players were TOO GOOD and won orchestra and ensemble jobs all across the world. With half the ensemble moved on, we decided on two things:

• We would use this setback as an opportunity to grow organically, giving more structure to group as we moved from “project” towards “organization”

• Our ultimate goal would be to become a reason for great musicians to stay in Houston

Our second season thus became our true foundation of the group we have now.

With Harvey, we started the season late, but were able to spark curiosity and interest with Murder Mystery Madness at Galveston Artist Residency. Between my Ligeti-esque figurations divvied up in a Reich Piano Phase style on celeste and piano, hearing skin-tingling breath sounds from the wind players and bursts of Italian whisperings from our singer extraordinaire, the performance gave me renewed excitement and hope for Loop38’s future.

That same weekend, we hosted a retreat to truly talk through our goals and start thinking about ways to make it all happen. This was all funded by a Presser Graduate Music Award I’d received in the Spring, and has since proved to be integral to our beginnings.

Given the successes of our first season, we were lucky to have been presented by Musiqa on two of their season concerts and collaborate on performances with composer Matthew Burtner and his EcoSono Ensemble, Apollo Chamber Players, Kinetic Ensemble, and WindSync. Having all of these performance opportunities helped familiarize ourselves with other performers and recruit them to become a core member.

I am happy that due to these collaborations, procuring a couple grants, and the generosity of time, talents, and resources of the members of Loop38, we are able to start the third season having saved up all contributions from our initial fundraising campaign (!!!!). All of this will go towards starting our third season with personally crafted concerts of our own.

I am so grateful to our amazing core members and wonderful donors for getting us to where we are today. Thank you.

On behalf of Loop38, we look forward to continue bringing you exciting, unfamiliar, and new works that you remember from previous seasons, performed to the highest standards. Stay “in the loop” and see you at a concert soon!

-YC

Sanctuary - percussionist, Craig Hauschildt

I just came from the peaceful Rothko Chapel, the site of our performance of Georg Haas’ in vain. On this Wednesday afternoon, the Chapel was only occupied by a couple people sitting there in bliss-filled silence.  It is the end of a challenging work day, and I’m feeling pulled in numerous directions, my mind struggling to unwind.  There I sat, between the deep purple paintings, recalling the wildly-different energy that we filled the room with just last week.  We made extraordinary music together.  Music that had never been played here in Houston before.  Music created by a wonderfully talented group of musicians that constantly amaze me.  Music enjoyed by an enthusiastic gathering of people excited to experience something new.  

Even when rehearsals and concerts demanded that we learn challenging parts and move large instruments up and down seemingly-endless flights of stairs, being a part of Loop38 provided a sanctuary from the bluster of life.  Similar, yet wholly different, to the sanctuary that I found today in the chapel, as I sat there reflecting on my experience this year with the band.  The inaugural season and the fundraising campaign have now ended, but the experience will live on as we turn our gaze to next season.  Please keep Loop38 in mind as we set out to create new experiences throughout Houston next season, I can’t wait until we come together again!

-CH

Please consider making a 100% tax-deductible donation today to help us create more experiences like Music in Darkness at Rothko Chapel happen in the future. Thank you!

Why we do what we do - violinist, Dian Zhang

My encounter with ‘new music,’ contemporary music, music of our time, whichever name one choose to use, came organically during my undergraduate studies. As an incoming freshman, I was rather clueless about music. Sure, I played the violin well enough to get into Peabody Conservatory, but my roommate gave me an exasperated look after he expressed his excitement at the prospects of performing Beethoven’s 5th Symphony in one of our first orchestra concerts, to which I professed to not even knowing how the piece goes. Thats the level of ‘musicianship’ I had as a college freshman. 

In the first couple of years of undergraduate studies, we all had to take music history courses, split into 4 classes, each detailing a different era, and with the last one focusing on music of the 20th Century to the music of today. So while I was learning about the contrapuntal splendors of the last movement of Mozart’s Jupiter Symphony, I encountered at the same time everything from the hypnotic rhythms in Steve Reich’s Drumming to the reimagining of the song in George Crumb’s Madrigals. I realized then that music is not just a set of pieces, but rather a humanistic endeavor that continuously explore the intersection of sound and its affectations on our capacity to feel.

Playing in an ensemble like Loop38 for me is as musically necessary and satisfying as playing in a string quartet or in an orchestra. I would feel incomplete as a musician living in 2017 who somehow couldn’t perform masterpieces like the Chaconne by Bach or a quartet by Beethoven, just like how I would feel if I didn’t perform the latest works by a Haas or an Adés. To explore and discover are just as noble of a pursuit as to appreciate what we already possess. But the human desire to explore is intrinsic to our nature, this is perhaps most evident in the scientific fields. Whereas scientists explore and strive to answer the age-old question — What is the meaning of life? — with chemistry, math, biology, and physics, musicians and composers do the same with sounds. Loop38 is an ensemble that is dedicated to the forefront of such sonic discoveries, and I feel a strong sense of fulfillment to be part of this collection of esteemed musicians. 

-DZ

2 days left in our fundraising campaign!

Why our size? - double bassist, Austin Lewellen

Within the Common Practice Era (what most people think of when they hear the words “classical music”), there are several established instrumentations: common terms include the symphony orchestra and the string quartet. Quartets still abound within the music of our lifetimes, but the common “large ensemble” setup of today is considerably smaller. In general this music is written for one person per instrument, with doublings occurring most commonly in the violins and percussion. This pared-down instrumentation is incredibly flexible: composers have access to the entire orchestral palette, from the delicate textures heard in Kaija Saariaho’s Lichtbogen to the strident melodies of Andrew Norman’s Try.

This season, we have taken great care to select venues well-suited to our projects and our size. To create an intimate and immersive experience, we looked for spaces just large enough to fit everyone: MATCH Gallery, Turrell Skyspace, Rothko Chapel. These are all unusual settings for a concert, and each came with its own set of logistical challenges, but the final product was well worth the extra effort. When so much of our repertoire aims for a visceral, emotional reaction from the listener, part of our task is to ensure that our sound and expression are enhanced by the venue. We want you to sit up close, we want you to feel what we feel, and we want to scare the wits out of you.

-AL

3 days left in our fundraising campaign!

Why we do what we do - violinist, Ling Ling Huang

Ling Ling recounts her new music experiences - from Corigliano and Saariaho at Aspen Music Festival, and Grisey at Banff - to the potential of music to speak to current social events, out-of-body experiences, and "losing it" in an audience...

Here's the Corigliano "shotgun moment" from Circus Maximus:

and here's the performance she talks about Yvonne playing Rzewski at Duncan Hall:

4 days left in our first fundraising campaign! Thank you for your support!

First season in review - pianist and co-founder, Yvonne Chen

First off, THANK YOU ALL.

I hope that with this first season, we have proven our ability to present new music for chamber ensemble in meaningful experiences to Houston. The feedback that you have all given back to us has been encouraging and helpful while we've taken risks and dealt with unfamiliar challenges. You have proven to us that there are indeed curious listeners in Houston who appreciate what we have to bring, and have given us hope that we may one day succeed in making this a viable career. 

We couldn't have done any of this without the collective of musicians that make up Loop38. It is daunting enough to decide to give up our livelihood preparing for concerts, playing gigs, and teaching students in order to organize these performances, but having these musicians that also are passionate about it has made it all worth it:

Timothy Steeves
Ling Ling Huang
Dian Zhang
Giancarlo Latta
Jarita Ng
Jebat Kee
Jakob Nierenz
Will Kremer
Austin Lewellen
Caitlin Mehrtens
Christina Hughes
Doug DeVries
Justina Chu
Katie Hart
Maiko Sasaki
Thomas Frey
Ben Roidl-Ward
Isaac Schultz
Masahito Sugihara
Danny Kamins
Tanner Antonetti
Cameron Kerl
John Church
Daniel Hawkins
Hugo Valverde
Daniel Egan
Michael Chen
Frances Lee
Craig Hauschildt
Brandon Bell

As classically trained musicians from the top conservatories in the world, many of us at Loop38 have a lifelong appreciation and love for the classics. However the options to perform the music of today is incredibly limited, particularly in the "chamber orchestra"/"large ensemble" size we love so much, with its perfect blend of soloistic instrumental playing with the timbral possibilities of a full orchestra. We realize the value and effectiveness of playing today's music for today's audiences, and hope that it can be recognized as more than a passion-project or hobby, and instead to be on par with an orchestra career.

I took a MBA class at Rice last semester and came out of it realizing how important it is to go after the things you want, but also if it doesn't work, to fail fast. I am delighted and yet saddened that we are losing many of our musicians this year to amazing jobs. Prove to us that Loop38 has a place in Houston to stay, to continually challenge the cultural landscape, and to offer viable careers in the arts, by participating in our first fundraising campaign, giving us feedback, and coming out to hear our shows. Thank you!

-YC

Help us reach our $8300 goal by Wednesday night! Every bit counts!