TRANSITION live concert at ppIANISSIMO International Festival of Contemporary Piano Music

Описание: TRANSITION is a portrait of the avant-garde piano that stretches almost one hundred years of repertoire. Each piece on the programme breaks new ground as each composer navigates through uncharted waters to depict a new profile for the instrument.

This eclectic musical journey kicks off with ‘Suspensions’ by Atau Tanaka. In this piece, the pianist manipulates and triggers electronic music in real-time with her gestures. The MYO band interface on her forearms captures electrical signals caused by muscle tension to create a motion capture sequence assigned to control specific music events within the score.

In ‘Pounding’ for piano and video, composer Ruben Zahra creates a visual narrative to the rhythmic character of the score. The intensity of the percussive clusters in the music is juxtaposed with scars on the face of a model. The hands of the pianist striking the keyboard seem to inflict these scars, conjuring a sense of morbid and sensual drama.

‘The Voice of Lir’ by Henry Cowell, with its passionate tone clusters, comes across as radical and avant-garde as it did almost a century ago when it was written. Another 20th-century classic is ‘Piano Counterpoint’ for piano and tape by Steve Reich. ‘Piano Counterpoint’ is an arrangement of ‘Six Pianos’ (by Vincent Corver) following the format of Steve Reich's Counterpoint series in which one live instrument plays against pre-recorded versions of the same instrument.

In ‘Transit’ for piano and video by Michel Van der Aa, the movements of the pianist interact theatrically with the video projection. As the focus shifts between the video projections and the virtuoso performance of the pianist, the film footage shows us an old man trapped in his own house as he struggles with loneliness, verging on insanity. The grand finale of the performance portrays the dazzling exploration of musical timbre in ‘Makrokosmos’ by George Crumb. Throughout this work, sounds produced from the keyboard are combined with an extraordinary assortment of “inside-the piano” effects - which the audience may follow and appreciate via a live camera projection.

TRANSITION by Tricia Dawn Williams is truly a unique experience that transforms the piano recital into an interdisciplinary performance featuring motion capture technology, video-art, electronic music and extended piano technique.


Recording by The Bulgarian National Radio, Binar.