The ensembles IIIZ+ and UnitedBerlin, under the direction of Alaska's Matthew Burtner, rehearse a world premiere for the grand finale of the CrossSound Music Festival at the Juneau Arts & Culture Center.
Story last updated at 9/3/2009 - 9:49 am
The world premieres of two musical compositions will be featured this weekend. Both pieces break new ground in bringing together two string ensembles - one a plucked-zither ensemble, and the other a bowed-string quartet.
IIIZ+ ("three zee plus"), founded in 2001 by Clark, features traditional East Asian string instruments (zheng, kayag m, koto) and percussion. UnitedBerlin, a group from Germany that unites the music of the populations of East and West Berlin, features traditional western stringed instruments (two violins, viola and cello).
CrossSounds' "Refugium" concert will take place at 8 p.m. Friday, Sept. 4, at the Juneau Arts & Culture Center, and will be preceded by a public conversation with the composers at 7 p.m. A pay-as-you-can preview of the program will be held today, Sept. 3, at 7 p.m., also at the JACC.
Clark, who has been bringing CrossSounds' music to Juneau audiences since 1999, encourages people to come to both performances, as brand new music often take some time to sink in.
"It will change with each hearing," she said.
She recommends that the audience relax and listen to what they're hearing without trying to make sense of it in a verbal way.
And for those who are nervous about listening something experimental or far out, Clark adds that the music, though sophisticated, isn't particularly avant garde.
"Its not against the audience, its for the audience," she said.
The first piece on the program is the world premiere, "East-West V," commissioned by CrossSound and composed by Hwang-Long Pan for the zheng and string quartet. Clark said Hwang-Long Pan is the most well-known composer in Taiwan.
"He's someone I've heard of for years and years and years. I never thought he'd be here."
The last piece, "Moments in Human Life," also is a world premiere, and was composed by Stefan Hakenberg for both string ensembles.
In addition to the two world premiers, the program will feature four other compositions: "Texture Mapping," for kayag m and string trio; "KwangYa - Five Korean Dances," for changgu and amplified string quartet; "Trio," zheng, koto, kayag m, changgu|; and "Fragments from Cold," for cello and computer.
Clark said that visiting musicians and composers are usually housed by friends, neighbors and other music fans, and that the group gathers for family-style dinners.
"I have to thank Juneau community for being so supportive (all these years) because it wouldn't have worked otherwise," she said.
The full festival schedule and more information can be found at crosssound.com.
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