Here are some pictures of ICE rehearsing Impossible Flow, the new commissioned piece by composer/saxophonist Steve Lehman. The world premiere will be during the second concert of our FREE ICElab residency at (le) poisson rouge on Tuesday, April 19th. Reservations are strongly encouraged!
ICElab composer, guitarist, and ICE-friend Mario Diaz de León sat down for an interview with composer, guitarist, and ICE-friend Rafiq Bhatia to discuss Diaz de León’s most recent compositions for the band, to be performed next week at (le) poisson rouge: the New York premiere of the blistering bass clarinet solo The Soul is the Arena, and the world premiere of the epic, hallucinogenic sextet Portals Before Dawn.
ICElab: Prism Path | Music of Mario Diaz de León
(le) Poisson Rouge
158 Bleecker Street
New York, NY
Free admission; reservations strongly encouraged
We are pleased to announce our 2012 ICElab Collaborators! We’d like to congratulate those who were selected, as well as to thank everyone who submitted an application.
Click the image above to learn more about ICElab. Or, just come on out to (le) poisson rouge next Wednesday for the first of three FREE ICElab concerts, this one featuring the work of Mario Diaz De Leon.
We’re pleased to have Mario Diaz de León back in the house with another guest post, this time discussing three tracks that have inspired him as a composer and performer.
We’ve attached audio of all three tracks – please purchase them if you like what you hear – plus some new music from Mario’s noise/metal band MIRRORGATE. Without further ado, here are the words from Mario:
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Wolf Eyes
“Dog Jaw 1″ (2004)
Of Wolf Eyes’ more ambient material, Dog Jaw is my favorite, released by Heresee in 2004. The opening delay loop reminds me of the opening “photo flash” sound from Texas Chainsaw Massacre, and immediately conjures a haunting atmosphere. There’s a shredding noise solo over the top of it. The solo here can seamlessly dissolve into pure pummeling atmosphere, and then assume the role of a solo again. The places i’ve listened to this record have also made a strong impression, once in the Egyptian rooms at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and countless times in the dark at the West Nile space (RIP).
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As we’ve previously mentioned here, in addition to composing concert music, Mario plays guitar in the band MIRRORGATE. He’s agreed to let us post a demo track for you all – check it out, and see if you can hear the influences described above. We do.
MIRRORGATE
“Open (demo)”
If you like what you’ve read/heard, don’t miss our LPR residency, which we’ll be kicking off with a FREE concert of Mario’s music on Wednesday, March 30th.
There’s been a lot of talk about ICElab composer Mario Diaz De León around here lately, particularly as we gear up for our LPR residency, which begins with a FREE concert of Mario’s music on March 30th.
We’ve noticed, however, that only a surprisingly small portion of the folks that rave about Mario’s concert music have ever checked out his noise/metal band, MIRRORGATE, a duo outfit consisting of MDdL and sound/visual artist Doron Sadja. If you haven’t heard them, you should visit their MySpace. Or, wait to hear it live at Psychotropa next week!
Describing the events of a late 2009 performance, Nate Dorr of Impose Magazine writes: “(MDdL) took up a guitar to build roaring seething gusts of black wind across Sadja’s broken percussion (chains rattled over a drum kit, nervous electronic tics).”
Mary Cassidy took some great photos of their March 2nd show at the Wierd Party in NYC. Here is one to whet your appetite:
ICElab composer Mario Diaz De León has launched a SoundCloud page! Stay tuned for updates (read: more music and perhaps some unreleased tracks!) as we approach our first FREE ICElab show feat. world and NYC premiers of Mario’s works at (le) poisson rouge on March 30th.
Hear ICE perform MDdL’s Mansion (from “Enter Houses Of”, Tzadik) below.
From NewMusicBox: “…the first few seconds of distortion opening Mansion feel like they could explode in any genre direction, but what enters next is not the crash of a drum or a powerhouse electric guitar line, but a delicate, introspective flute duet courtesy of Claire Chase and Eric Lamb: sweetness and aggression playing a chess game with equal power and skill.”
We’re very excited for our upcoming ICElab residency at (le) Poisson Rouge. We’re presenting three FREE concerts over the next three months, starting with a tour de force program from composer & multi-instrumentalist Mario Diaz de León.
Check out this unreleased footage of ICE’s Joshua Rubin premiering MDdL’s composition The Soul is the Arena at The Velvet Lounge in Chicago. While you’re at it, take a look at this awesome guest post from Mario on the influences behind the piece.
ICElab: Prism Path | Music of Mario Diaz de León
Wednesday, March 30th, 2011 at 7:30pm
(le) Poisson Rouge
158 Bleecker Street
New York, NY
Free admission; reservations strongly encouraged
Mario Diaz de León (b. 1979):
Portals Before Dawn for two flutes, clarinet, percussion, piano, and synth (2011) WORLD PREMIERE
The Soul is the Arena for bass clarinet and electronics (2010) NEW YORK PREMIERE
Prism Path for two alto flutes and percussion (2010) NEW YORK PREMIERE
Altar of Two Serpents for two flutes (2010)
Mansion for two alto flutes, percussion, and electronics (2009)
The Flesh Needs Fire for flute, clarinet, and electronics (2007)
We’ll be at Miller Theatre this Friday to perform works from electro-acoustic music pioneer Mario Davidovsky. Check out this great picture from circa 1970 taken at Studio 317, one of four composition studios at the Columbia-Princeton Electronic Music Center, located at Columbia’s Prentis Hall on West 125th Street.
Clockwise from the center front, Vladimir Ussachevsky (seated), Milton Babbitt, Bülent Arel, Pril Smiley, Mario Davidovsky, Alice Shields, Otto Luening.
The New York Times has a wonderful review of Nathan Davis’s Bells and our Chance Encounters program at the opening of Lincoln Center’s TullyScope Festival this past Tuesday.
Be sure to check out the video of Jalons on the Times’s site.
Unfold: ICE at MoCP
Happy Friday, everyone! ICE is presenting a FREE concert tonight at the Museum of Contemporary Photography in Chicago! The music responds to the current MoCP exhibition u-n-f-o-l-d. More info below:
Sunand Prasad: "Greenhouse Gas"
Unfold: ICE at MoCP
Claire Chase, flute
Michael Nicolas, cello
Joshua Rubin, clarinet
Museum of Contemporary Photography
600 South Michigan Avenue
Chicago, IL 60605
Tickets: FREE; to reserve, e-mail reservations@iceorg.org
The photographers whose works are represented at MoCP’s “UnFold: Cape Farewell” exhibition have traveled to fragile natural environments on the tipping point of climate change. Since these locations are so remote, our interaction with them must be mediated by the lens of a camera.
The pieces on this program explore the most fragile form of musical counterpoint: the duo. Using Bach’s two part inventions as a starting point, the program explores the structural lenses that mediate musical interactions between performers.
J.S. Bach, Two-part Inventions Nos. 1, 2 and 4
Elliott Carter, Esprit Rude/Esprit Doux for flute and clarinet (1984)
J.S. Bach, Two-part Inventions Nos. 10, 8 and 11
Kaija Saariaho, Oi Kuu for bass flute and cello (1990)
J.S. Bach, Two-part Inventions Nos. 7 and 15
Giancinto Scelsi, Ko-Lho for flute and clarinet (1966)
J.S. Bach, Two-part Inventions Nos. 5 and 6
Magnus Lindberg, Steamboat Bill Junior for clarinet and cello (1990)
J.S. Bach, Sinfonia No. 1
Also, if you are a fan of free concerts, don’t miss the start of the ICElab residency at (le) poisson rouge next Wednesday, featuring the world and New York premieres of music by Mario Diaz de León:
ICElab: Prism Path | Music of Mario Diaz de León
(le) Poisson Rouge
158 Bleecker Street
New York, NY
Free admission; reservations strongly encouraged