Two movements of Judith Shatin’s For the Birds for amplified viola and electronic playback, performed by violist Laura Wilcox, and A Little Water Music for electronics, with video by Kim Yantis, will be presented on Saturday, April 21 – 8:00 PM at GAB Studio, 105 NW 23rd Street in Miami, Florida.
Ms. Shatin’s Fledermaus Fantasy for solo violin plus viola, cello, contrabass and piano will be performed by members of The Deering Estate Chamber Ensemble on Sunday, April 22 – 7:15 PM at Deering Estate at Cutler, 16701 SW 72 Ave., again in Miami, Florida.
The composer writes about For the Birds, “(originally for) for amplified cello and electronics, (it) is an homage to the birds of the Yellowstone region as well as a play on Cage’s book of that name. Rather than imitate the sounds of the natural world in music, I include them, sometimes clearly, sometimes digitally transformed beyond recognition.” Read more about it at http://judithshatin.com/?p=520.
A Little Water Music is an electronic composition created from recordings Ms. Shatin made in April, 2011, of Biscayne Bay in the area around North Miami and on the Deering Estate at Cutler. More about it at http://judithshatin.com/?p=1644.
The April 21 concert will be part of 12 Nights of Electronic Music and Art V: Earth Night and will also include music by John Cage, James Tenney and others. More about the event at 305-200-5349 or http://www.gabstudio.com/.
The composer writes about Fledermaus, “Fledermaus Fantasy, for violin and piano, was inspired by the sparkling tunes of Johann Strauss’s operetta, Die Fledermaus, and by the delightful tradition of such pieces as Sarasate’s Carmen Fantasy, and by the enthusiasm of violinist Karen Murray... I have composed Fledermaus Fantasy around four numbers from the operetta: the introduction, the aria, the Czardas that Rosalinde sings in her disguise as an exotic Hungarian, and the tick-tock tune that accompanies Gabriel’s attempt to seduce his own wife…(It) was written to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the admission of women to the U. of Virginia.” Read the program note at http://www.judithshatin.com/detail.php?compid=63.
Judith Shatin was the subject of a recent American Composer article by Kyle Gann in Chamber Music magazine - http://judithshatin.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/Gann_American-Composer.pdf. Visit her online at http://www.judithshatin.com.
The April 22 concert will also include music by Louise Farrenc and Felix Mendelssohn. For more information, call 305-235-1668 or visit
http://www.deeringestate.com/