WHEN: Thursday, November 21, 2013
8:00pm concert, 7:30 pm doors

WHERE: Decca Restaurant
812 East Market Street
Louisville, KY 40206

ADMISSION: Free

On Thursday, November 21st, contemporary/avant-garde music collective Mothership Ensemble will present the first concert of their 2013-14 concert season at Decca. The program will feature both newly-composed works and 20th century classics performed by some of the most versatile and enthusiastic players in the Louisville area.

The centerpiece of the program is Louis Andriessen’s raucous, 20-minute epic Workers Union (1975), written for “any loud-sounding group of instruments.” The composer describes the piece as a political metaphor that features “a combination of individual freedom and severe discipline… it is difficult to play in an ensemble and to remain in step, sort of like organizing and carrying on political action.”

Mothership will also present the world premiere of Louisville composer Chris Kincaid’s sensuous and atmospheric Full Sunlight, written for bass flute, viola, cello, and electronic sounds. The work is inspired by the poem “Full Sunlight” written by Louisville-born poet Conyer Clayton. Kincaid was interested in how “much of the poem is portrayed as a still shot, a moment in time that is filled with so much. The music is not exactly frozen in time, but instead takes place in time that slowed almost to a standstill.”

Ensemble director and cellist Jon Silpayamanant will perform in almost every work on the program, including two pieces written specifically for him by Louisville-based composer Rylee Short. Mayaplis, for solo cello and electronics, depicts the immersive, electrifying, and overwhelming experiences of being in a large city. Short’s Lucid Themes, originally written for multimedia duo Camera Lucida, features gorgeous video projections by artist Roxell Karr in a lively duet with Silpayamanant.

Program:

“Mandala” (1996) – Jeffrey Radcliffe
Two Instruments (1958) – Morton Feldman
“Mayaplis” (for solo cello and pedals, 2012) – Rylee Short
“The Great Train Race” (for Solo Flute) – Ian Clarke
Two duets for Bassoon and Cello – Edison Vassilievich Denisov

—break—

“Shengshi zisheng tu” 盛世滋生圖 (for Chinese erhu, electronics, video, 2013) – Jon Silpayamanant
Improvisation – Jackie Royce, Jon Silpayamanant
“Lucid Themes” (for cello, dancer, electronics, interactive video, 2013) – Rylee Short
“Worker’s Union” (1975) – Louis Andriessen