Talujon Percussion: A Rustle and a Bang along 25 years

Lots of contemporary music ensembles have a specialty.  From some ensembles, you can expect a keen ear for the eclectic "Fourth Stream" of downtown minimalism; from others, an expertise in the complex inner workings of American serialism; while others still can summon the most otherworldly sounds from their instruments in service of the more abstract works of the European avant garde.

Surveying the repertoire of Talujon Percussion Ensemble, one finds a perplexing diversity.  The ensemble—described by the New York Times as possessing an edgy, unflagging energy while performing frenzied explosions of percussion madness—is one we're excited to count among the internationally renowned artists in residence at this year's June in Buffalo.  Rather than a single stylistic specialty, Talujon seems to specialize in a stunning sensitivity to a wide span of compositional languages.  If you need an ensemble that can expertly execute staples like Clapping Music or First Construction, or players that can breathe new life into standards like Having Never Written a Note for Percussion or Credo in US, you'd be hard-pressed to find a stronger and more willing group—indeed, Talujon has skillfully performed all of these.  If you need an ensemble that can can blaze through modern classics like Xenakis's Pléiades or Steve Reich's Drumming with effortless fluency, Talujon can more than accommodate—in fact, the latter has become one of the group's signature pieces (listen below).  But perhaps the most exciting aspect of the group is the scope of their rep:  while many percussion ensembles try their hands at American favorites like Reich and Cage, how many also dive into the labyrinthine textures of French works like Manoury's Les Livres des Claviers or Grisey's monumental Le Noire do l'Etoile?  How many can match the visceral intellect of Xenakis with the delicate simplicity of Scelsi and Takemitsu—and perform each with equal relish and precision?  How many percussion ensembles commission works from both post-minimal pioneers like Julia Wolfe and sonic experimenters like Alvin Lucier?

One of the most affecting concerts I can remember was during the ensemble's 2010 residency at the Center.  After opening with a flawless execution of Drumming and stunning with the dynamic, full-spectrum energy of Wolfe's drumset quartet Dark Full Ride, Talujon turned to Sciarrino's Un fruscio lungo trent’anni, a piece whose instrumentation consists of shaken pine branches, stirred water, and scraped glass bottles, performed surrounding the audience.  Rich in silences and glorious near-silences, the piece displayed the breadth of Talujon's sonic sensitivity.  In retrospect, I can think of no better piece to follow Wolfe's intense percussive excursion.

This is the enigma of Talujon:  their specialty lies not in knowing the ins and outs of a single subset of the new music scene, but in seeking out exciting works from every corner of the globe, working with adventurous composers who are constantly finding new ways to expand the ensemble's sonic palette, and having a skillful command of their instruments (which of course, for percussionists, is practically any sound-producing body).

PI faculty member
 Tom Kolor

This skillful command is part of what makes it so exciting that Talujon will be a part of the second June in Buffalo Performance Institute (and that UB's Tom Kolor, a Talujon member, will be on the PI faculty).  Emerging performers of contemporary music can look forward to master classes and workshops with the ensemble, at which Talujon's insight and musical acumen is sure to help guide them toward a mastery of the many lexica of contemporary music.  Like Meridian Arts Ensemble (with whom Talujon will be performing a concert at JiB) Talujon is an ensemble of composers, and the group has premiered many works written by individual members or composed collectively as a group.  Well-attuned to the problems and pleasures of writing for percussion, they will certainly be able to assist emerging composers in getting their ideas across effectively.

2015 is an anniversary year for June in Buffalo, as we celebrate the 40th anniversary of the festival and the 30th anniversary of David Felder's tenure as artistic director.  It is also an anniversary year for Talujon:  formed in 1990, the ensemble is celebrating its 25th year.  Showing no sign of stopping, Talujon will surely continue to expand the contemporary percussion repertoire, taking the field in new directions for years to come—starting with the works they'll premiere at this year's festival.  I think back to Sciarrino's Un fruscio lungo trent’anni, whose title translates to "a rustle along thirty years":  congratulations to Talujon, as they celebrate many rustles, bangs, and complex phasing polyrhythms along their twenty-five years.

—Ethan Hayden

The JACK Quartet kicks off the June in Buffalo Performance Institute with Feldman's String Quartet No. 1 at Buffalo's historic One M&T Plaza!

The Center for 21st Century Music is gearing up for the first year ever of the June in Buffalo Performance Institute, which invites performers with an interest in contemporary music to take part in an intensive 10-day festival of concerts, master classes, and seminars. Held on the campus of the University at Buffalo, the 2013 Performance Institute invites pianists, string players, and percussionists as well as pre-formed string quartets and percussion ensembles to apply. All participants will have the opportunity to study and collaborate with Performance Institute faculty and perform as well as attend June in Buffalo composer workshops and concerts. The Performance Institute coincides with the annual June in Buffalo Festival for composers and will run from May 30th - June 8th, 2013.

The JACK Quartet

There is still time to apply to the June in Buffalo Performance Institute – the postmark deadline is February 15, 2013. More information can be found here. 

The opening weekend of the June in Buffalo Performance Institute will be jam-packed with events. The Institute kicks off on Thursday, May 30, at 6:30 p.m., when the JACK Quartet will offer a concert of Morton Feldman’s String Quartet No. 1, at One M&T Plaza. One M&T Plaza is a special historical building and office tower in downtown Buffalo which was designed and built in 1966 by Minoru Yamasaki, who was the architect for the World Trade Center in New York City. The concert will also be part of the Center for 21st Century Music’s Music in Buffalo’s Historic Places series, and will open with a brief presentation by UB Professor of Architecture, Brian Carter, who in 2011 published the book, M&T Bank, about the history and design of the building.

Friday’s and Saturday’s concerts will both take place at 8:00 p.m. in Slee Hall, at the University at Buffalo. On Friday, May 31, pianist Eric Huebner will premiere Velocity and the Grain of Time for solo prepared piano by Eric Wubbels, as well as give a world premiere of a new work by Roger Reynolds. The next day on Saturday, June 1, Talujon Percussion Ensemble will perform Steve Reich’s Drumming, and other works recently commissioned by Talujon. 

Eric Huebner

The opening weekend will conclude on Sunday, June 2, at 6:00 p.m., at the Pausa Art House in Allentown, Buffalo, one of Buffalo’s liveliest areas. There, the June in Buffalo Festival will throw a welcome party for faculty and participants and offer special guest performances.

After the weekend is over, the Performance Institute will coincide with the larger June in Buffalo Festival, which runs June 3 – 9, and which features an all-star lineup of composer faculty, including: Raphaël Cendo, 
David Felder, 
Brian Ferneyhough, 
Augusta Read Thomas
, Charles Wuorinen
, and Yehudi Wyner. The week will be filled to the brim with concerts and performances by the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra, 
Ensemble Linea, 
Ensemble Signal, 
Slee Sinfonietta, 
Talea Ensemble, JACK Quartet
, Talujon Percussion Ensemble, and students of the Performance Institute.

Link to this post here.

Tom Kolor gets a bang out of UB (and vice-versa)

UB's music department has a distinguished tradition of percussion teaching. Legendary percussionist Jan Williams arrived in 1964 as a Creative Associate, joined the faculty in 1967, and taught at UB for nearly 40 years, achieving worldwide renown as an interpreter of contemporary music. He is now an emeritus professor.

Assistant Professor Tom Kolor has proven a worthy heir to this tradition. Through performances with the Talujon Percussion Quartet, New Jersey Percussion Ensemble, Ensemble Sospeso, and others, Kolor has earned a place as one of the top percussionists on the new music scene. As a soloist, he has given dozens of premieres by such composers as Milton Babbitt, John Zorn, Wayne Peterson, Tania Leon, and Jerome Kitzke. He has recorded for Bridge, New World, Albany, Capstone, Innova, Wergo, Naxos, CRI, Koch, Tzadik, North/South Consonance, and Deutsche Grammophon labels. At UB, Kolor directs the Percussion Ensemble, gives private lessons, and is the Principal Percussionist of the Slee Sinfonietta. 


Here are a couple videos of Kolor at work -- one of them serious fun (a Julia Wolfe piece, performed by Talujon), the other simply fun (a restroom sign "concerto" with violinist Todd Reynolds). 

TALUJON Residency at the Center for 21st Century Music

On Friday, March 19, 2010, the Talujon Percussion Quartet comes to the University at Buffalo’s Lippes Concert Hall performing a concert of contemporary percussion music.

Thoroughly committed to the expansion of the contemporary percussion repertoire as well as the education and diversification of its worldwide audience, their residency at the Center for 21st Century Music and the Department of Music also includes master-classes on Friday, March 19, 2010 at 1pm and a composer workshop with the UB graduate composers on Thursday, March 18, 2010 at 4pm. All master classes and workshop sessions are free and open to public and will take place in Lippes Concert Hall.

Described by the New York Times as an ensemble possessing an "edgy, unflagging energy", the Talujon Percussion Quartet has been mesmerizing audiences since 1991. Based in New York City, Talujon performs regularly for highly regarded organizations such as the Lincoln Center Chamber Music Society, Bang on a Can, Carnegie Hall, Symphony Space, Harvard University, and the Percussive Art Society.

More information about the ensemble can be found at their website:

http://www.talujon.com/

For tickets to Talujon's concert visit the Lippes Concert Hall website.


Talujon performing Julia Wolfe's Dark Ride at CD Release Party

(part 3 of 3)