March 9, 2025
Kopleff Recital Hall, Georgia State University
Atlanta, GA – USA
Amy Petrongelli, soprano; Sarah Kruser Ambrose, flutes; Tim Fitzgerald, clarinet; Jan Berry Baker, saxophones; Erika Tazawa, piano; Stuart Gerber, percussion; Paul Bhasin, conductor; Adam Mirza, technologist.
Sofia Matus CANCINO: Apoptosis
Ben GAUNT: Grave Pastures
Thomas PENNISI: To The Moon
Kerrith LIVENGOOD: Brittle Thoughts
Anuj BHUTANI: Flightpath
Arnau BRICHS: Supra Temps Amalgamat
Howard Wershil | 13 MAR 2025
Attending a concert of composition contest winners can be a marvelous way to immerse yourself in the extraordinary variety of styles and sounds that exist in our world’s contemporary music community. For the past four years, Bent Frequency has sponsored an international composition competition that showcases global talent, and this year’s presentation was certainly no disappointment!
Out of over 300 entries, six composers were selected for performance. Much to the credit of Bent Frequency’s supporters and Bent Frequency’s own diligence, funding was available to bring the winning composers to Atlanta to hear their premieres and interact with the audience. Heartening as well was the attendance. Well over 100 individuals journeyed on a rainy Sunday afternoon to enjoy the gifts of these imaginative composers and highly talented performers.
Our first composition, the U.S. premiere of Sofia Matus Cancino’s Apoptosis (7 minutes, 3 seconds), for percussion, live electronics, and video, began with semi-high-pitched, delicate recorded sounds met with equally delicate, repeated non-pitch metallic percussion sounds progressing to more bombastic cymbal activity, then receding, then returning with more snare-drum-focused activity. The accompanying video featured animated concentric wavy circles, moving, expanding inward and outward, layering, dividing, changing from black-on-white to lightly colored, to white-on-black, and back again, and provided a pleasant, contrapuntal and organic handshake to the musical commentary presented. At times, the percussion took on an almost militaristic rigidity and repetitiveness I was not expecting, but that did factor in well with the visuals. The recorded sounds were often based on modified percussive metallic gestures that complemented, rather than challenged, the live performance. The music was thoughtfully performed by master percussionist and Bent Frequency co-director Stuart Gerber.
Our second composition, the aleatoric/improvisational Grave Pastures (5 minutes, 55 seconds), by Ben Gaunt, in a version for toy piano, grand piano with extended techniques, and fixed media (local trees swaying in the wind, shaking wheat; breaking twigs; recorded instruments), was sensitively performed and intelligently constructed by pianist Erika Tazawa from a score consisting mostly of guiding instructions. The form of the piece was more than adequately defined by the successive differences in sparse materials from section to section (plucked and bowed piano strings, and percussive inside-the-piano gestures vs. a gentle rocking of major and minor 6th intervals, and others, between the grand piano and toy piano vs. a volleying of octave intervals between the grand piano and toy piano as well, in conclusion).
As with the previous piece, I marveled at how little musical material it can take, with a smart usage of repetition and variation, to express considerable musical concepts in a short amount of time. As such, I heard this particular realization of the piece as an extension of the groundbreaking minimalist school of composition, an extension from clarity and brevity to greater expressiveness and fancy, yet within a similar framework, with a bit of John Cage philosophy thrown in as well. I found the overall effect of the piece, the tender combination of instrumental sounds, dynamic gestures, and recorded sounds of nature and music, to be calm and inviting.
Third on our list of local premieres was To The Moon (5 minutes, 59 seconds), by Thomas Pennisi, a light and playful interaction between soprano Amy Petrongelli and Sarah Kruser Ambrose on alto flute. The composer employed very few notes between them, mostly identical or adjacent pitches, expressing only the occasional contrast of wide intervallic distances. Very brief pauses were sprinkled throughout, creating a sly sense of teasing anticipation. The flute expressed occasional breathiness, both restrained and bold, while the soprano sometimes slid her notes and, at other times, whispered them. The overall effect was almost as if the soprano were attempting to instruct the flute on how to successfully vocalize while the flute played the passive-aggressive antagonist, coyly imitating the soprano but never truly acknowledging the lesson being taught. The enthusiasm and precision of the performers’ flirtatious portrayal contrasted starkly with the seriousness of the text being conveyed.
The next piece, Kerrith Livengood’s Brittle Thoughts (7 minutes, 46 seconds), performed by Bent Frequency co-directors Jan Berry Baker on saxophone and percussionist Stuart Gerber, certainly began with a bang! A subsequent sustained section of a high squeal over a low, clear trill followed. Disjoint, disjunct sounds, and perforating silences ensued. The saxophone squawked, whispered, and wailed while percussive sounds were coaxed from various sources, including metallic objects, suspended metal bars, snare drum, bass drum, cymbals, and even the box upon which the percussionist sat. We were presented, at times, with oddly repetitive patterns dissolving into jazz-like phrases and seemingly random excursions at others, sometimes melodic, sometimes frenetic, all within a clearly aggressive demeanor. At one point, the suspended metal bars were immersed in a large glass of water that, when shaken, created an almost celestial sound. At another point, a high, shrill note on the saxophone was held reverentially until released to further rhythmic and sonic explorations. We were treated with passages loud and bombastic and passages mysterious and hushed. I found the piece quite stimulating, having a musical language all its own.
Jan Berry Baoer and Stuart Gerber perform ‘Brittle Thoughts’ by Kerrith Livengood. (credit: Davida Cohen)
Flightpath (13 minutes, 14 seconds), by Anuj Bhutani, was perhaps the most delicate and melodic piece in the concert and was brought to its full beauty by performers Erika Tazawa on piano, Jan Berry Baker on saxophone, Sarah Kruser Ambrose on flute, Tim Fitzgerald on clarinet, and Stuart Gerber on pitched percussion. Soft, warm harmonies dissolved into fanciful glissandi and simple, thoughtful phrases growing in volume, texture, and density, then slowly receded and quieted into trilling passages reminiscent of a temporary avian arrival. The piece then suddenly veered in another direction, playing with very short, stacked, repeated phrases that grew and developed thematically in an almost Terry Riley In C fashion, landing finally in a quiet, somewhat perplexing area of trills, minor seconds, and again, short melodic phrases. A surprising sequence of brief key changes (yes, the music did express enough tonality to suggest such a quaint transition) led to more quiet, more harmony, more pauses, and, ultimately, a reserved, sustained resolution. It was a lovely, alluring piece, sincerely expressive of the sense of freedom experienced by birds in flight, alluded to in the composer’s program notes.
The final presentation of the afternoon, the world premiere of Supra Temps Amalgamat (13 minutes, 20 seconds) by Arnau Brichs, utilized the full ensemble of performers available for the afternoon (soprano, flute, clarinet/bass clarinet, tenor/alto saxophone, piano, percussion) led by conductor Paul Bhasin, as well as a meticulously synchronized electroacoustic accompaniment. At first, I found the piece to be a nostalgically unremarkable compendium of 20th-century language and techniques, fully based on the musical language of composers such as Karlheinz Stockhausen and Luciano Berio. However, as the piece progressed and more nuance was revealed (hocket between the performers and the recording; individual pitches, clustered and solo, that melted imperceptibly between performer and recording, for instance), I found myself drawn into the musical universe of changing gestures and textures, and intrigued by its power of expression.
A mid-1950s musical language gave way to a contrasting section of repetitive recorded percussive rhythms topped by squeals and jazz-like materials; enchanting, sustained notes in sparse doses; multiphonics, angular activity, soprano prominence, and alternating passages between soprano, instruments, and electroacoustics; all fading away to a parade of occasional sustained notes, and then silence. This was indeed a major work, stretching the abilities of any performer, requiring focus, dexterity, and acute listening skills of a virtuosic magnitude on the part of performer, conductor, and technologist alike. I marveled at the detail with which the composer constructed this opus and the brilliance with which its performers presented his vision to the world at large.
In addition to praising the efforts and achievements of all the Bent Frequency performers and conductor, I have to give a shout-out to Adam Mirza, technologist extraordinaire for this Bent Frequency concert. For music involving the juxtaposition, balance, volume, and synchronization of prerecorded sounds to live performance, the technologist is as crucial as any of the performers, and Adam performed his role wonderfully. In particular, for a work like the final piece of the afternoon, which required quite rigid alignments to allow live and recorded sounds to evolve in seamless and often confounding perfection, the elements under the control of the technologist can make or break the music’s effectiveness. Should Bent Frequency continue to utilize his services, I believe it to be an appropriate request that his name be included on the program, along with the composers and performers, as an integral element of the concert’s success.
Every year brings new talent, sounds, languages, and surprises to avid contemporary music enthusiasts. I’ll certainly be looking forward to next year’s Bent Frequency premieres of winning creations. If you’re as diehard a fan as I am, you’ll be looking forward to them as well. Keep your eyes peeled for the new and amazing. Your invitation to immersion is waiting for you! ■
Composers and Bent Frequency performers gather for a photo after the concert. (credit: Davida Cohen)
EXTERNAL LINKS:
- Bent Frequency: bentfrequency.com
Read more by Howard Wershil.
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