Talea Ensemble at June in Buffalo 2013!

We’re gearing up for June in Buffalo 2013 and preparing to host the renown Talea Ensemble for the festival, from June 3 – 9. They’ll be traveling here from New York City with conductor James Baker, and will be rehearsing and performing pieces by June in Buffalo student composers, and offering an evening concert of works by June in Buffalo Faculty composers.

Talea has been very active recently – just last year they released an exquisite album of music by Fausto Romitelli on John Zorn’s label, Tzadik, which they recorded at EMPAC. The CD features five very thoughtfully interpretted chamber ensemble pieces: Amok Koma (2001), Domeniche alla periferia dell”impero (2000), La sabbia del tempo (1991), Nell”alto dei giorni immobili (1990), and Blood on the Floor, Painting 1986 (2000). 

Talea Ensemble

Currently, the Talea Ensemble is preparing a concert of pieces by Austrian composer Beat Furrer, which they’ll be presenting at the Austrian Cultural Forum in New York City on May 14th. Two days later, they’ll give the U.S. premiere of Beat Furrer’s opera Fama, on both May 16th and 17th. More on the premiere here.

One thing we love about Talea is their indefatigable enthusiasm for the music of our time, and the tremendous energy they bring to contemporary American musical life. A bit from their mission statement below:

“In music, the term talea (literally, “cutting” in Latin) refers to collections of repeating, cycling rhythmic patterns. Most often, these patterns are associated with the ars nova period of Medieval music in which new techniques of musical composition were emerging.Talea has also been used in several other traditions including Indian classical music (tala in Sanskrit – a wonderful linguistic coincidence), and throughout the ages in Western music, from the composer Guillaume de Machaut in the 14th Century to Olivier Messiaen and Gérard Grisey in the 20th Century. This idea of a global, timeless, and cutting-edge musical practice, inventive in its construction and beautiful in its execution, is at the root of the Talea Ensemble’s artistic direction.

“The Talea Ensemble is committed to promoting new, groundbreaking music through innovative programming thereby communicating the distinctive voices of composers that deserve to be heard. By commissioning and programming these progressive works alongside the established literature of modern and contemporary repertoire, the ensemble creates a dialogue that challenges the boundaries of music and fosters a greater understanding of the works of today. Additionally, the Talea Ensemble wishes to support and advance familiarity with contemporary American works by bringing it to concert halls and venues not only in New York but also abroad. By developing an interactive relationship between the composers, performers and audience, the Talea Ensemble builds an environment of reciprocal inspiration that sparks the imagination of all.”

Below is a video excerpt of Talea offering a gorgeous interpretation of Helmut Lachenmann's Trio Fluido:

Link to this post here.