New Music Mondays: Ken Ueno

by Ted Gordon on Oct. 14, 2013, 5 p.m.

Another week, another new piece of music available from PSNY: Ken Ueno's Visible Remainder of Invisible Light. Unfamiliar with Ueno? Check out this video for a brief introduction:

Ueno's work explores a wide spectrum of instrumentation, including his own voice; Visible Remainder of Invisible Light, for Piano Trio, continues Ueno's exploration of traces, materiality, and resonance. Its title taken from a poem by T.S. Eliot, Visible Remainder of Invisible Light was inspired by Ueno's observations of "secret meridians" of light, in spaces both sacred and quotidian. The work has already been performed in New York, San Fransisco, and Seoul, South Korea. If you're new to Ueno's work, this is a great way in. 

Seda Röder Plays Lei Liang & Ken Ueno at UC Davis

by Ted Gordon on Nov. 15, 2012, noon

West Coasters, it's your lucky day: Turkish pianist Seda Röder is performing an evening concert of works inspired by John Cage (who else?) on Friday, November 16th at UC Davis' Mondavi Center! The program includes Lei Liang's "Piano, Piano" and Ken Ueno's "Volcano", both of which Röder premiered at the Goethe-Institut Boston in April, alongside works by Cage, Morton Feldman, and Röder herself. 

"Piano, Piano" (slowly, gently, softly in Italian) was written during Liang's residency at the American Academy in Rome (where our composers Robert Beaser, Andrew Norman, and Anthony Cheung have also all been fellows). It is scored for an improvising pianist, and consists of two sets of sheet music: one printed, and one to be projected as a transparency. The work was written specifically for Röder as a part of her "Tales From the Silent Lands..." project.

For a taste of Liang's writing for solo piano, check out this video of Joanna Chao performing a movement from his 2007 work, "My Windows", available on PSNY:

Röder interviewed Liang about "Piano, Piano", and the video can be seen below:

We hope you all can be able to attend! Stay tuned for more upcoming news and interviews in the weeks ahead! 

Ken Ueno and Katharina Rosenberger Join PSNY

by Ted Gordon on April 11, 2012, 2:05 p.m.

We're delighted to announce two new members of the PSNY family: composers Katharina Rosenberger and Ken Ueno. Both based in California, Ken and Katharina are two composers who explore both new sonic possibilities and show deft and innovative approaches to organizing those sounds in their works for small ensembles. 

Here's a brief introduction to Ken, produced by Meet The Composer Studio (including some awesome footage of Ken's singing!)

And here's some footage of Katharina's video opera collaboration with Ivan Talijancic, "x - suite filante":

 Both of these composers' voices are incredibly strong, unique, and beautiful; we hope you take a look at the chamber works we've started with: Katharina's "scatter 2.0" and Ken's "...blood blossoms..."