An Evening of Electro-Acoustic Music with Jacaszek and Lenczycki in Los Angeles

Polish electro-acoustic composer Jacaszek is presented in the Los Angeles premiere of Pentral, an attempt to describe the interior of a Gothic church by acoustic means. Los Angeles-based composer Gregory Lenczycki will lead a small ensemble to open the concert with his setting of Shelley\'s 1817 poem, Mont Blanc for soprano, clarinet, tuba and live electronics. Lenczycki will be joined by soprano Juliette Dwyer, Jorge Martin (clarinet and live electronics) and tubist William Roper in this world premiere.

Pentral is an attempt to describe a gothic church interior by means of sounds. A temple owes its special atmosphere not only to its visual elements but also to the characteristic acoustics of its reverb, enhancing and prolonging a slightest whisper into infinity. Jacaszek spent several days in three historic Gdansk churches (Oliwa Cathedral, St. Nicolas\' church, St. Mary\'s Basilica) recording chanting, organs, and a broad spectrum of accidental noises. These source sounds were used only as stimuli to release the acoustic response of the churches’ interiors, and, as such, were consequently retouched in the post-production process. Studio work, the composition of melody and willful arrangements were subordinate to the idea of portraying the church as a place filled with distant mysteries to be played as a huge music instrument.

Mont Blanc - Following the success of his operatic setting of Kathleen Johnson\'s science fiction libretto Brainchild II at Human Resources last November, Los Angeles-based composer Gregory Lenczycki turns his attention to a text that has not lost its existential impact as one of the most ecstatic and terrifying expressions of the Romantic sublime. In his setting of Percy Bysshe Shelley\'s 1817 poem Mont Blanc, Lenczycki will be joined by soprano Juliette Dwyer, Jorge Martin on live electronics and clarinet and William Roper on tuba. Stemming from an ongoing interest in Mary Shelley\'s Frankenstein and its exposition of the creative process, Lenczycki has referenced the novel in ever-increasing degrees in recent compositions. With Mont Blanc, he seeks to traverse the landscape that brought Frankenstein into being and, through the intercourse of textual and musical messages, chart “The everlasting universe of things”.

About the artists:
Jacaszek is the author and producer of electro-acoustic music that combines electronically prepared sounds with acoustic instruments as well as a composer of soundtracks and theatre music. He is a co-curator of C3 Festival /Club Contemporary Classical/ and lives in Gdansk, Poland. Theatre and film music play an important role in his work. He was awarded Grand Prix at the ”Dwa Teatry” festival for the music he composed for the play ”Golgota Wrocławska” directed by Jan Komasa. He wrote music for two plays directed by Michał Siegoczyński: ”2084” and “SHOWTIME”. He also created music for “There is no others, there is only us”, a film directed by Marc Silver, as well as, for ”Nigdy nie wrocisz do domu” (”You will never come back home”) a documentary film by Jolanta Krysowata. His latest work is the soundtrack for “Sala samobojcow” (Suicide’s Room), a feature film directed by Jan Komasa. Jacaszek has performed in the USA (Unsound New York, Communikey, Hopscotch), Canada (Mutek Showcase), Great Britain (Fertilizer Festival, Apha Ville Festival), Nederlands (Urbanexplorer Festival), Belgium (Fereejen Festival), Portugal, Sweden (Volt Festival), Slovakia, Germany, Ukraine and Russia (Electro-Mechanica Festival), as well as, in Poland at the most important festivals: Heineken Opener Festival; Off Festival; Tauron Nowa Muzyka; Unsound Festival; Astigmatic and Festiwal Ambientalny. On the Web at www.jacaszek.com and www.facebook.com/jacaszekmusic

Gregory Lenczycki - described as “always poetic” and “twittering with excitable circuitry,” composer Gregory Lenczycki’s work explores the rhythms of space and the architecture of sound. His music is often self-referential, drawing from a personal archive of borrowed code, irregular sequences and obscure melodies that are weaved together in lyric cycles. Lenczycki received his MFA from Mills College where he studied composition with Alvin Curran and Maryanne Amacher. He has worked with Curran, Amacher, Naut Humon, Joe Potts, Doug Henry, Anna Homler, and Ted Byrnes, among many others. Lenczycki has presented at such venues as Centre for the Living Arts, Mobile Alabama, California Institute for the Arts, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Culver Center for the Arts at UC Riverside, ResBox at the Steve Allen Theatre, Mount Wilson Observatory, Cal State LA, Highways Performance Space, Las Cienegas Projects, and as part of SASSAS\'s 10th Anniversary Mapping Sound festival. Most recently he premiered his opera Brainchild II at Human Resources in Los Angeles and his symphonic tone poem Things I am not fully aware of at Mills College in Oakland. Lenczycki’s collaborations include Light Show with Fluxus artist Jeff Perkins, Still Life with Bomb with drummer Ted Byrnes and accordionist Ari DeSano, and Small Liberties (2006, Whitney Museum) with artists Andrea Zittel and Giovanni Jance. Lenczycki’s work has received Meet The Composer and the NEA support, and his music is available at: http://gregorylenczycki.bandcamp.com/

Concert presented by Automata - http://www.automata-la.org/index.html

Tickets at: http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/414901

Jacaszek\'s travel to USA is supported by the City of Gdańsk and Adam Mickiewicz Institute.