Newsletter December 2013

Dear friends, I’ve been trying to send out a newsletter for months now, but with a little 1 year old wobbling around the house, its been tough to find the time. But here are some news and some olds. Best wishes for the upcoming holidays, Ned

NOT Trio CD and Tour to Istanbul

Together with clarinetist Oguz Buyukberber and pianist Tolga Tuzun, we recorded an improv album earlier this year as the NOT Trio. All three of us having physical problems at the time it seemed fitting to call the album ‘Injured’.

You can hear/download the album here: link

In December we’re on tour in Istanbul:

Tuesday 3 Dec, 9 pm: Gitar Cafe: http://www.gitarcafe.com

Oguz Büyükberber - clarinet, bass clarinet
Caglayan Yildiz - Guitar
Tolga Tuzun - Piano
Ned McGowan - flute and piccolo

4 and 5 Dec., workshops and concert
Istanbul Bilgi University
poster: link

Contrabass flute solo

I’ve been playing the contrabass flute now for more than 15 years in ensembles and creative projects and I’m starting to develop some solo repertoire with the instrument. Come hear the premiere at the Calefax PAN at the Muziekgebouw, Amsterdam on December 28th.

Link

Early next year I'll make a new piece for contrabass flute and percussion for the awesome A/B Duo (link). Stay tuned to the low frequencies...

iPad Concerto in Valdosta

This past september the Valdosta Symphony Orchestra, led by Dr. Howard Hsu, performed the US premiere of my Concerto for iPad, with iPad soloist Keiko Shichijo. Together with Dr. Hsu we held the first iPad party, where group pieces were created with all the attendants and their iPads.

Valdosta Symphony Orchestra  link

Hexnut on Tour

In September at the Brigham Young University in Utah, USA, Hexnut performed the final show (for now) of Wrench, together with the photographs of Edward Burtynsky. BYU was an excellent host and it was a a great experience for Hexnut to play there. Also showing at the BYU museum was the Burtynsky exhibit: The Industrial Sublime. Indeed it was sublime to see those photos in person. Further, I gave a lecture to the BYU students and faculty as a part of the Barlow Lecture Series.

Here are some photos from Hexnut’s concert: link

Building Music video

Last April was the premiere of a new work for the David Kweksilber Big Band during the Red Ear Festival in Rotterdam. 

Inspired by Ligeti’s Poeme Symphonique, for 100 metronomes, every musician in the band follows a metronome on their stand, each with a different tempo on it, creating a cacophony of different tempi at the same time. Entitled Building Music, the piece is accompanied by photos of Ruud Sies and a time lapse video from Paul Martens of the construction of The Rotterdam mega-building designed by Rem Koolhaas on the Wilhelminapier in Rotterdam. Here’s a video clip of some moments from the premiere:

Building Music

Urban Turban news

The duo Urban Turban, which I wrote while still a student in the Hague, is still alive and grooving. The often prize winning duo 'Sax n Stix' just released their beautifully recorded CD ‘New Amsterdam’ with Urban Turban on it. They nailed it on this one and you can hear it here. I recommend the whole CD, which is available here.

the critics: 

A trio version of UT will be played in February by the Great Noise Ensemble in Washington DC.

more...

stay tuned to the AGENDA for more information about upcoming events...



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