During the last 300 years of the modern piano’s existence, an almost unquantifiable number of piano works of contrasting styles has been created and performed. As we enter the second decade of this century, composers and musicians are still finding ways to keep one of the most popular instruments in the world fresh.
On Wednesday (March 9) the piano takes center stage at REDCAT, but this time with interdisciplinary collaborations. Dubbed Piano And, the concert will feature several CalArtian pianists paired with other musicians, filmmakers, videographers and animators, presenting contemporary repertoire and original works.
Featured among the CalArts pianists is faculty member Danny Holt (Music MFA 06), who has received critical acclaim for his Piano/Percussion Project. The project places Holt among an array of percussion instruments, showing off his acrobatic feats of multi-instrumentalism. Holt will perform several new compositions by various composers, including Andrew Tholl‘s (Music DMA 12) hitting things won’t solve your problems (but it might make you feel better).
“The idea of playing piano and percussion simultaneously first came to me when I played a Michael Gordon piece in 2003 which called on me to occasionally play kick drum while I played keyboard,” says Holt. “Although I am primarily a pianist, I am also a trained percussionist, so I instantly saw the potential for so much more.” To date, Holt has performed more than 20 pieces written for his intricate setup.
Some of these new works will be interspersed with other CalArts interdisciplinary collaborations:
- Pianist Richard Valitutto (Music MFA 11) and mezzo-soprano Argenta Walther (Music MFA 10) perform Tel jour, telle nuit, a song cycle by Francis Poulenc paired with a film by Nick Flessa.
- Ingrid Lee (Music BFA 12) collaborates with video artist Adeline Newmann (Film/Video BFA 12) on Synchronism no. 6 by Mario Davidovsky and 8 by Randy Hostetler, performed with an eightball.
- Performing his Olga the Headless Girl, with found video edited by Brian Tuthill is David Rhodes (Music MFA 12).
- Pianist Diane Lindsay and vocalist Laura Anderson (Music BFA 13) will be performing two songs from Sieben frühe Lieder by Alban Berg with animation by Adeline Newmann.
- Performing her own work Moves is Emi Tamura (Music MFA 11) with cellist Derek Stein (Music MFA 10) and video artist Evan Pritts.
A video excerpt from Holt’s performance of Tholl’s hitting things won’t solve your problems (but it might make you feel better) is posted above. Video courtesy of Danny Holt Music.
Piano And
featuring Danny Holt
REDCAT
March 9 at 8:30 pm
Tickets: $20, $16 students, $10 CalArts students, faculty and staff