Celebrating its 40th anniversary year of continuous activity, the extraordinary String Trio of New York ensemble will be closing out the 30th anniversary season of New York’s renowned Interpretations Series along with String Noise at Brooklyn’s Roulette on Thursday, June 6, 2019, at 8pm. Roulette, 509 Atlantic Ave, Brooklyn, NY, tickets are $20 for adults / $15 for students & seniors, and available on Roulette.org and Interpretations.info.

Ubiquitous violin duo ​String Noise​ (​​​Conrad Harris and GRAMMY®-nominated Pauline Kim Harris​) present four world premieres, including a premiere​ by ​George Lewis simply titled New Work ​– the first in his new series of works for ensembles and computer sound processing. Opening the night is Pauline Kim Harris’ ​100 Thimbles in a Box for Syrinx​ (acoustic synthesizer) and two violins (featuring Spencer Topel​), sharing its title from a book on the spirit and beauty of Korean handicrafts. Much like a bojagi (Korean wrapping cloth), the piece weaves its instruments in a sonic tapestry using 100 techniques wrapped and stitched together. Rounding out the program are The Life of Information​ by ​Jessie Cox​, focusing on identity and information; and ​April​ by ​Sam Yulsman​, a multi-movement work about gestures and memories, envisioned specifically for String Noise.

For this very special performance, The String Trio of New York (S3NY) will feature James Emery (guitarist and founding member); Rob Thomas (violin); and Michael Formanek (bass, replacing an indisposed Tony Marino), who will perform vignettes of notable early works by S3NY co-founders, including Billy Bang’s Bang’s Bounce and John Lindberg’s Twixt C & D, plus a new realization of a piece they commissioned from the legendary Muhal Richard Abrams, Strings and Things. Taking a World Music view of this stunning work, S3NY will be joined by percussionist Thurman Barker – a long-time collaborator with Abrams and Emery – playing balafon, drums, and marimba. The program will be rounded out by some of Emery’s most popular works for the ensemble, The Pursuit of Happiness, Cobalt Blue, and E Pedal.

The Interpretations Series is dedicated to nurturing the relationship of innovative composers with the growing community of new music virtuoso performers. “When we started, this was a real need, especially for the more experimental new music,” says founder/artistic director Thomas Buckner. “Now we are experiencing a blossoming of new music groups and solo performers, which makes the series necessary in a new way. There are so many exceptional composers and performers who need a great place to perform.”

String Noise (stringnoiseduo.com) is a classical, avant-punk violin duo comprised of violinists Conrad Harris and Pauline Kim Harris. Since its inception in 2011 at Ostrava New Music Days, they have expanded the two violin repertoire in over 50 new works to include larger collaborations with multimedia art, electronics, video projections, opera and dance.

Their first feature album The Book of Strange Positions was released on NORTHERN SPY RECORDS in November 2015. Tiny Mix Tapes describes this collection of original works and arrangements by Eric Lyon of punk covers by Bad Brains, Violent Femmes, Deerhoof, Radiohead, and Black Flag as a “mix of classic punk covers and ZERO APOLOGIES.” Their 7” inch EP Covers, produced by Deerhoof drummer and composer Greg Saunier, is also available on Northern Spy Records.
String Noise was highlighted in Performa 2011 with artist Will Cotton and was the featured ensemble for the launch of composers collective Indexical (David Kant, Andrew Christopher Smith, Mustafa Walker and Beau Sievers). Premieres by String Noise include works by Christian Wolff, John King, Phill Niblock, Caleb Burhans, David Lang, Petr Kotik, Du Yun, Annie Gosfield, Bernhard Lang, Spencer Topel, Derek Hurst, Jerome Begin, Luciano Chessa, Michael Byron, Elizabeth Hoffman, John Zorn, Greg Saunier, Alex Mincek, Yoon-Ji Lee, Catherine Lamb, Petr Bakla, Richard Carrick and Alvin Lucier, Lou Bunk, to name some. String Noise has performed at Issue Project Room, Bohemian National Hall, Roulette, EXAPNO, Rockwood Music Hall, Miller Gallery, Noguchi Museum and the Stone and has been heard on WNYC, WKCR and WFMU.
As curators, String Noise presented Drawing Sound: Part II at the Drawing Center – a three night mini-festival featuring artists Alvin Lucier, Greg Saunier and Jad Fair and is a co-curator for Carnegie Hill Concerts in New York.
Formed in the late 1970s during the legendary days of the New York Downtown scene, The String Trio of New York (s3ny.org) forged a deep path for a new movement in contemporary music emerging from the jazz tradition. Combining the progressive essence of that profound period in jazz with similarly adventurous elements of modern classical and world music traditions, S3NY was highly instrumental in the development of the genre-busting chamber sound that is so much at the heart of the contemporary creative scene.

Founded by visionary composer and guitarist James Emery, along with bassist John Lindberg, and the late violinist Billy Bang primarily as a vehicle for their own compositions, S3NY has sustained that instrumentation for its entire existence. With James and John as the consistent members for more than 30 years, and a limited succession of fine violinists over that time (including Regina Carter), James has been joined by the remarkable Rob Thomas on violin since 2001; with the outstanding bassist Tony Marino in the group following founding member and bassist emeritus John Lindberg’s move to Michigan in 2011.
With a repertoire that includes a consistent reinvigoration of favorite originals, brilliant re-imaginations of classics by legendary jazz composers and a number of commissioned works by some of the most respected modern composers, S3NY has remained innovative, adventurous and utterly contemporary throughout its entire history.

The String Trio of New York will be recording its 40th anniversary album later this year.
FOUNDER AND ARTISTIC DIRECTOR THOMAS BUCKNER (thomasbuckner.com)

For decades, baritone Thomas Buckner has dedicated himself to the promotion and performance of new and improvised music, collaborating with a host of new music luminaries including: Robert Ashley, Noah Creshevsky, Tom Hamilton, Earl Howard, Matthias Kaul, Leroy Jenkins, Bun Ching Lam, Annea Lockwood, Roscoe Mitchell, Phill Niblock, Wadada Leo Smith, Chinary Ung, Christian Wolff, and many others.

Buckner has appeared at Lincoln Center, Carnegie Hall, the Herbst Theatre, the Art Institute of Chicago, the Berlin Spring Festival, the Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival, the Prague Spring Festival, and the Angelica Festival of Bologna. He is featured on over 50 recordings, including 6 solo albums, the most recent being New Music for Baritone & Chamber Ensemble, which includes works by Annea Lockwood, Tania Leon, and Petr Kotik. Buckner also appears in the CD/DVD Kirili et le Nymphéas (Hommage à Monet) filmed at the Musée de l’Orangerie, Paris, which houses the Monet’s celebrated Water Lilies murals.

For the past thirty years Thomas Buckner has curated the Interpretations series in New York City, and continues to produce recordings on the Mutable Music label, introducing current artists and repertoire, as well as presenting important historic material, previously unavailable in CD format.

ABOUT INTERPRETATIONS
The Interpretations series, now in its thirtieth season, is a New York-based concert series focusing on the relationship between contemporary composers and their interpreters. Sometimes the interpreters are the composers themselves; more often, the series features performers who specialize in the interpretation of new music. Since its inception in 1989, Interpretations has featured leading figures in contemporary music and multimedia, including Muhal Richard Abrams, Robert Ashley, Anthony Braxton, Thomas Buckner, FLUX Quartet, Joseph Kubera, Annea Lockwood, and Alvin Lucier, Roscoe Mitchell, Phill Niblock, Pauline Oliveros, Ursula Oppens, and Morton Subotnick.

Interpretations began as a collaboration with Robert and Helene Browning and the World Music Institute, presenting concerts at Merkin Concert Hall, then at Roulette, at its Greene Street location in Soho. When Roulette moved to the current space in Brooklyn, Interpretations moved with it. Interpretations is thrilled to co-produce at Roulette, which has developed into a premiere venue for new and innovative music, with excellent acoustics and world-class technical facilities.

For its 30th Anniversary, Interpretations has assembled an eclectic line-up of innovative composers and their interpreters, representing a wide variety of approaches to music making.

ROULETTE:
509 Atlantic Ave. Downtown Brooklyn
2, 3, 4, 5, C, G, D, M, N, R, B & Q trains & LIRR.
Tickets, available online at www.interpretations.info, range from $15 for Seniors, Students, and Roulette Members to $20 for General Admission.
All concerts begin at 8pm unless otherwise noted.