CompCord Ensemble Meets Erick Hawkins Dance – Hawkins West UNLV
Free
- Michiyo Suzuki, clarinet
- David Taylor, bass trombone
- Markus Kaitila, piano
- Troy Rinker, Jr., double bass
- Damien Bassman, percussion
- Gene Pritsker (Noizepunk), conductor
Dan Cooper — Selected works
Charles Coleman — Gustav's Groove
Carlos José Castro Mora — Selected works
Lucia Dlugoszewski — Selected works
Melanie Mitrano — Down Bleecker Street
Ginka Mizuki — Unwilling Entrainment
Gene Pritsker — Echoed Ecstasy
David Taylor — Selected works
On Sunday, April 6th, 2025, at 5pm Eastern, two renowned organizations—Erick Hawkins Dance Company and Composers Concordance—will join forces to present an electrifying concert of brand-new choreography set to original music at the world-famous St. Mark's Church in-the Bowery in the East Village. Both groups have been at the forefront of artistic innovation for over four decades, and for this special event, they will collaborate on ten fresh, dynamic pieces composed specifically for the occasion.
The program will feature works by an impressive lineup of composers, including Aaron Alter, Dan Cooper, Charles Coleman, Carlos Castro, Lucia Dlugoszewski, Melanie Mitrano, Ginka Mizuki, Gene Pritsker, and David Taylor, with choreography by the visionary Katherine Duke. Highlights of the evening include Down Bleecker Street by Melanie Mitrano, Echoed Ecstasy by Gene Pritsker, Gustav's Groove by Charles Coleman, and Unwilling Entrainment by Ginka Mizuki.
Prepare for an evening of groundbreaking music and movement, pushing artistic boundaries in an unforgettable setting!
The in-person event will also be livestreamed on Composers Concordance's Facebook Page.
About Composers Concordance
Staying in rotation for 40 years in NYC is a rare feat. In the case of a new music presenting organization, it requires not only diligence and cognizance of achievements of the past but also an ethic of keeping one's ear to the ground for emerging stylistic and technological developments, as well as talented new composers on the scene.
Composers Concordance, founded in 1984 by Joseph Pehrson and Patrick Hardish, advised by Otto Luening, strives to present contemporary music in innovative ways, with an emphasis on thematic programming. Directors Gene Pritsker and Dan Cooper co-curate the programs and lead the CompCord Ensemble, Chamber Orchestra, String Orchestra, and Big Band. Associate Directors are Milica Paranosic, Peter Jarvis, Debra Kaye, and Seth Boustead.
Composers Concordance has also created a Naxos-distributed record label: Composers Concordance Records, co-directed by Peter Jarvis. Composers Concordance's overriding vision is to promote contemporary music, composers, and new works as a rightful and respected part of society. Good music performed and recorded well, pushing the boundaries of sound and composition.
http://www.composersconcordance.comAbout Erick Hawkins Dance Company
The Erick Hawkins Dance Company, founded in 1951, has been touring the world since the 1960s. With unwavering integrity and uncompromising working methods, Hawkins choreography is based on a collaboration of music, art, and dance. His dances are performed to live music, often composed especially for each dance, along with commissioned sets by artists and sculptors. Known for a fluid, effortless style of movement, each dance is energetic yet poetic, serene yet harmonious. The company continues today to develop dances based on Hawkins' pioneering movement theory.
https://www.erickhawkinsdance.org/About Michiyo Suzuki, clarinet
About David Taylor, bass trombone
Receiving B.S. and M.S. degrees from Juilliard, trombonist David Taylor started his playing career as a member of Leopold Stokowski's American Symphony Orchestra, and by appearing with the New York Philharmonic under Pierre Boulez. Simultaneously, he was a member of the Thad Jones Mel Lewis jazz band, and recorded with groups ranging from Duke Ellington to The Rolling Stones. He has appeared and recorded with major jazz and popular artists including Barbara Streisand, Miles Davis, Quincy Jones, Frank Sinatra, and Aretha Franklin. Mr. Taylor has won the NARAS Most Valuable Player Award for five consecutive years, and has also been awarded the NARAS Most Valuable Player Virtuoso Award, an honor accorded no other bass trombonist. He has been a member of the bands of Gil Evans, Thad Jones-Mel Lewis, George Russell, Jaco Pastorius, Charles Mingus, Michelle Camillo, Bob Mintzer, Dave Matthews, the Words Within Music Trio, and B3+. In 1998 Taylor performed on four Grammy-nominated CDs: The J.J. Johnson Big Band, Dave Grusin's West Side Story, the Joe Henderson Big Band, and the Randy Brecker Band. The latter two CDs were chosen for Grammys. David Taylor is also on the faculties of the MSM and Mannes. He plays Edwards bass trombones exclusively.
https://www.davetaylor.net/About Damien Bassman, percussion
About Gene Pritsker (Noizepunk), conductor
Composer/musical polymath Gene Pritsker has written over nine hundred compositions, including chamber operas, orchestral and chamber works, electro-acoustic music and songs for hip-hop and rock ensembles. His compositions employ an eclectic spectrum of styles, that are influenced by his studies of various musical cultures.
He is the founder and leader of Sound Liberation, an eclectic hip hop-chamber-jazz-rock-etc. ensemble. He also Co-Directs Composers Concordance. Gene's music is performed all over the world at internationally recognized festivals and by highly respected ensembles and performers.
He co-founded the Grammy-nominated Absolute Ensemble with Kristjan Jarvi and has been a composer in residence and guitarist since its creation in 1993. He worked closely with jazz fusion legend Joe Zawinul and has orchestrated major Hollywood movies, including Cloud Atlas, for which he wrote additional music and composed his Cloud Atlas Symphony. He is also the lead orchestrator for such TV series as Babylon Berlin, Jett, Netflix's Sense8, and Messiah. Gene is the lead orchestrator and has additional music in the 2021 film The Matrix Resurrections.
"My music is extremely eclectic, for me music has no bounds – I view the world of music as one big genre. My motto for my art is ending the segregation of sound vibration."
Gene is also a guitarist/rapper/Di.J./ and producer he incorporates each of these musical attributes to create music that is "not designed for easy listening or to melt into the background. It is insistent. It demands attention and curiosity." (New York Newsday) "Mischief-maker and cultural blender-in-chief, Pritsker is a serious artist, yet much of his work is witty and irreverent. Anyone can draw a mustache on the Mona Lisa, but few musicians draw it as artistically and creatively as Gene Pritsker." (Raymond Tuttle, Fanfare Magazine)
https://www.genepritsker.com/