Secret Theatre

38-02 61st St.  Woodside, NY 11377
(2 blocks from the 7 Train 61 St-Woodside stop)

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May 9. 8pm. Thursday
Random Access Music Composers and Players
Music by RAM Composers
Masatora Goya “How We Became Stardust” for clarinet, violin, cello, and piano (2023)
Zhihua HU “AI & HUMAN” for flute/ryuteki, clarinet/hichiriki, violin, mechanical metronome, and piano (2024) (World premiere)
Beata Moon “Vignettes” for electric guitar and piano (2003/04)
Allen Schulz “Six Bagatelles” for solo guitar (World premiere)
Frances White "falling away" for flute, clarinet, violin, cello, and piano (2024) (World premiere)

WINNER of 2024 Call for Scores
Xinyang Wang “Amodeo Alley” for clarinet, cello, and piano (2017)
Figurines - Tabernacle - Marionettes

Performed by

Lish Lindsey, flute & ryuteki
Thomas Piercy, clarinet & hichiriki

Sabina Torosjan, violin

Aaron Wolff, cello

Jay Sorce, guitar & electric guitar
Tengku Irfan, piano

Program notes

Masatora Goya “How We Became Stardust” for clarinet, violin, cello, and piano (2023)

Do we gaze at the stars because we are..., or were..., or will be...?
https://www.masatoragoya.com/

Zhihua HU “AI & Human” for flute/ryuteki, clarinet/hichiriki, violin, mechanical metronome, and piano (2024) (World premiere)
Nowadays, the topic of Artificial Intelligence and Human is attracting more and more attentions. Composer Zhihua Hu was inspired by the increasingly heated topic. She composed this new music through her imagination. Besides, by adding a Mechanical Metronome into the work, composer Ms. Hu conveys the differences and coexistence between Artificial Intelligence and Human.
https://www.zhihuahu.website/bio

Beata Moon “Vignettes” for electric guitar and piano (2003/04)

From the CD liner notes written by Kyle Gann: "The originality of Vignettes begins with the instrumentation, for the electric guitar-and-piano repertoire is almost non-existent. Moon fused them by echoing the same figures from one to the other, having the piano act as a powerful bass for the guitar, and using enough variety of sounds and effects in the guitar that the duo never sounds limited to two timbres. Meanwhile, she gets in enough real rock licks and ambient atmospheric effects to satisfy the grungiest downtown venue." 
https://beatamoon.com/

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Allen Schulz “Six Bagatelles” for solo guitar (World premiere)
https://www.allenschulz.net/
 

Frances White "falling away" for flute, clarinet, violin, cello, and piano (2024) (World premiere)
http://rosewhitemusic.com/

Xinyang Wang “Amodeo Alley” for clarinet, cello, and piano (2017)
WINNER of Random Access Music 2024 Call for Scores

Xinyang Wang, a contemporary classical composer, has garnered multiple international accolades for his music that concerns influences from both the Eastern and Western hemispheres. Notable achievements include winning the First Prize in the 2020 Toru Takemitsu Award and collaborating with esteemed orchestras like the Tokyo Philharmonic and Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra. He has been prominently featured in prestigious music festivals, such as being the sole featured Asian composer at the 2021 Tanglewood Music Festival. Wang highly values collaboration, having collaborated with numerous distinguished musicians and ensembles.

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"Amodeo Alley" is a trio for clarinet, cello, and piano that subtly plays with certain aspects of contemporary music. While diverging from the composer's typical style, it draws inspiration from an Italian trip, guiding listeners on a whimsical journey. Figurines playfully explores repetitive motifs, Tabernacle delves into haunting sensitivities, and Marionettes combines elements with a satirical and mischievous touch, suggesting a passive manipulation. Through its whimsical musical language, Amodeo Alley satirizes, striking a balance between depth and playfulness.

 

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May 10. 8pm. Friday
Kathleen Supové, piano

Randall Woolf "A Face In The Crowd" (2018)
Masatora Goya "Beneath A Stone Still Flows Water" (2023)

Kathleen Supové "Nautical Twilight" (2023)

Rahilia Hasanova "Monad" (1993)

Installation Piece TBA, by Kathleen Supové, part of the Supové Confinement/Escape Project (audience interaction)

Program notes
 

A Face In The Crowd by Randall Woolf

A Face In The Crowd was commissioned as part of my Migration Project and received its premiere on the Portland, OR series Fear No Music (Kenji and Monica Bunch, Directors). Randall Woolf wanted to depict the annual Vaux's Swift migration known so well to Portlanders, taking place in the fall, during which spectators gather to watch birds fly into the Chapman School chimney by the thousands. It vividly captures the contrast between their smooth, poetic soaring and complete chaos when thousands of birds enter one fairly small chute.

---Kathleen Supové 

 

Beneath A Stone Still Flows Water by Masatora Goya

One afternoon I caught a guy online splitting a gigantic rock by a sledgehammer, one spike at a time, at several different surfaces on the rock over and over. It looked like an impossible task, but it went eventually split into pieces at the end. It was like a magic and extremely pleasing.

In my mind, the piano looked like the gigantic rock, and the two hands of a pianist felt like the sledgehammers. What a fun piece it could be! Eventually, my imagination made me think about what you can find after you try so hard to break the rock.

After all, the whole effort of splitting the gigantic rock felt like a metaphor of life. There may or may not be something precious, but we still embark on a difficult task. I had avoided writing for solo piano for the past decade as I had no clue what I could do with the medium that had been thoroughly explored in every single possible way by the past masters. It was indeed my musical boulder.

Even so, the piano had been a part of my chamber music and I tried many ways to shape my own approach for the instrument. When Kathleen Supové asked me to write a new piece for her, I made up my mind to dig deeper and crack my own boulder sitting forever.

The main concept for this piece is the use of a black-key pentatonic and how different types of white- key pentatonic or all white keys interact with it. It may correspond, be juxtaposed, or make a cluster to the other. The musical texture is inspired by the act of hammering and blasting, as well as the way the water flows, but it is not meant to be a literal depiction. Rather, it navigates one's mind into an imaginative journey.

The title was inspired by the proverb in one of Tolstoy's tales, from its English translation "Beneath a stone no water flows". I learned there are many stories about the rock and water, from a biblical tale to folklore in different cultures. In my work, it may not tell clearly whether the stone was split or the water was found, but by listening to it I hope you can find your own gigantic rock in your mind and feel what's beneath.

---Masatora Goya

 

Nautical Twilight by Kathleen Supové

Nautical twilight is a phenomenon that occurs at sunrise or sunset. The horizon is well defined, and the outline of objects is visible. Ordinary activities are not possible without extra illumination. This is when I do most of my running, and it feels like home to me. It is fairly quiet out, so the sound in my ears is more prevalent, interrupted by a general outdoor/urban hum and punctuated with occasional sounds, such as remnants of music from the night before and

sharply etched inklings of the day to come. Written as a tribute to Henry Cowell, it bears little resemblance to his music, but its creation and elements would not have happened without his existence.

---Kathleen Supové

 

Monad by Rahilia Hasanova

Hasanova’s compositions contain elements of Western culture but are grounded within Azerbaijani culture. The program describes Hasanova as “combining the essence of her native Azerbaijani culture and traditional music that represents the East with the contemporary classical music traditions of the West.” One of the most touching pieces...was “Monad”

 

(Sonata for piano, 1993). Hasanova explained before performing the piece that it was created in direct response to the 1990s invasion of Azerbaijan by the Soviets. During the invasion, Hasanova witnessed one of her neighbors being killed. The piece conveyed the chaos and sorrow of that deeply traumatic event.--Jaime Gropper in "The Justice", Brandeis Independent Student Newspaper.

Though this virtuosic piece is a response to a horrible tragedy, I have always found it to be ultimately uplifting and inspirational.

—-Kathleen Supové 

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May 11. 2pm ​To be announced

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May 11. 4pm. Saturday
RECAP
Percussion Quartet
Set list:

- Lixando-Se

- Jenny Beck

- Moving through Fog

- Inner Child

- Settles

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May 11. 7pm. Saturday
Hypercube

Jay Sorce, classical and electric guitar

Andrea Lodge, piano and accordion 

Erin Rogers, saxophones 

Chris Graham, percussion 

Program

in this empty echo (2019) by Farzia Fallah 

Claudia (2024) by Efrain Rozas

Shadow Drawing No. 2 (2024) by Jessica Ackerley

We are here (2021) by Seong Ae Kim

Limbo (2024) by Brandon Connors-Morrison

Voided Cross Mvt. IV (2018) by Eric Wubbels

 

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May 12. 2pm ​To be announced

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May 12. 4pm. Sunday
Matthew Fontana, clarinet
Marina Iwao, piano

Jorge Montilla "Introduction and joropo" for bass clarinet (2007)

Masatora Goya “Humble Beginnings” for clarinet and piano (2024)

Juan Ruiz “Nocturno” for clarinet (2015)
Michael Fontana “Nocturne” for clarinet and piano (2013)

Horacio Fernandez Vazquez “Suite Latino Americana” for clarinet and piano (2021)

I. Salsa II. Bossa Nova III. Bachata

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May 12. 7pm. Sunday
Music Kart 
(Tokyo-based ensemble combining Contemporary Classical & Pop)
Go Mochizuki, Mandolin
Thomas Piercy, clarinet
Gaku Yamada, electric guitar
Pablo Lanouguere, electric bass
Hiroaki Takaha, piano
Satoshi Takeishi, drums

Music Kart: Tokyo to New York  東京とNY
World premieres of music composed for Thomas Piercy and Music Kart by Tokyo and NYC-based composers
Gilbert Galindo "Turning Point" (2024)
Masatora Goya "Not Here, Not There" (2020)
Yu Kuwabara "Dance to Live"
Fernando Otero "Angelonia"
Emilio Teubal "Pyramid"


Program notes

Masatora Goya "Not Here, Not There" (2020)

Finding an original shape in music or roots in music often feels like playing peekaboo all the time. A trace and hint may appear briefly, but it may not be exactly about one thing and there may never be a concrete answer. Still, the journey of exploration never ends. This was the last composition I completed before the pandemic hit the world in 2020. I am pleasantly surprised by its optimistic tone and how fast the past four years have passed. Am I here, is it here, was I there, was it there? 


Emilio Teubal "Pyramid" (2019)

Pyramid was written in late 2019 and was co-commissioned by Music Kart and Thomas Percy.

My main idea was  to write a piece that would fit the energetic, eclectic, and powerful essence of the ensemble, but at the same time a piece that would still have a strong connection with my own music and with my Argentinean roots. The title Pyramid makes reference to the angular ascending quality of the main melodic motive of the piece, and also to the overall build up of energy found in the music.

Pyramid received a 2nd prize of the 2024 Mandolina composition competition organized by the music publisher Edition 49 and the Siegburger Musikwerkstatt