[inter/meta/trans] Christian Kesten @ Dangrous Curve | Fri. 4/20 8pm

[adam overton]

hi
sorry for the last minute announcement
i'll have the pleasure of performing in a work by composer Christian  
Kesten tonight (friday) at Dangerous Curve in Los Angeles.
i believe this might possibly be Christian's last stateside concert  
before returning to Berlin
see below for details

. . .

christian kesten | solo and ensemble works


Friday, April 20, 2007 | 8-10pm | $10-7 sliding scale
Dangerous Curve | 1020 E Fourth Place | Los Angeles, CA 90013
dangerouscurve.org

performed by Mari Garrett, Christa Graf, Orin Hildestad, Lewis  
Keller, Adam Overton, Mark So, and Christian Kesten


program


zunge loesen | releasing the tongue (1999/2002)
version for 3 performers


o.T. (atem zunge lippen) | without title (breath tongue lips) (2005)
solo


cypress park (2007)
for video-audio field recordings, voice, guitar and one action


dodger stadium (2007)
for video-audio field recordings, violin, harmonium, voice and hands


unter umstaenden verabschieden wir uns behalten etwas in erinnerung  
was wesentlicher erscheint als das gegenwaertige fragen aber nicht  
mehr |
possibly we take leave keep remembering something which seems more  
essential than the present but don’t ask anymore (2004)
version for water, plastic bag; speaking voice; tongue, breath,  
larynx; violin



Christian Kesten’s interest lies in the „space in- 
between“: between music and theatre, music and language,  
between music and the visual arts. His pieces work with the space  
which opens up between the sound of language and the parallel, non- 
illustrative action ('-cycling' [1990], 'The Preponderance of the  
Small' [1995], '45 seconds' [2006]).

They make use of everyday spaces and their sounds, including works  
made for train stations, in which minimal sounds of winds and brass  
are spread over the station and mixed with sounds of trains and  
passers-by ('nordbahnhof' [1996], 'bahnhof westend' [1996], 'bahnhof  
zoo' [1997]). 'welcome home' is written for the squeaking doors of  
the Nordbahnhof station in Berlin and two violins which mirror the  
door sounds: the passers-by experience the music while on the move.

In '(without title) for clarinet in a space with a long reverberation  
time' 1 (1999) and 2 (2000), the clarinet plays to its own echo as a  
second voice, microtonally, and thus refers to the presence of space.  
'parochial' (1998) – for the group „Die Maulwerker“  
(4 female voices, trumpet/voice, clarinet/voice, alto saxophone +  
additional instruments) – was written especially for the space  
of the Parochialkirche in Berlin: sculptural shaped sounds are moved  
in space, while trumpet, clarinet and sax move mostly outside the  
space and so extending acoustic perception beyond the walls of the  
church.

'LIFT' (2005), for four performers (voices, trumpet, saxophone) in  
three elevators, works with vertically moving single sounds and  
silent, visual actions: a temporary sculpture.

'releasing the tongue' (solo version 1999/ ensemble version 2001/  
trio version 2002) - for tongue and breath - works with the root of  
articulation and is both a work for voice and a scenic composition,  
music-theatre in a compact form.

Kesten's recent works 'possibly we take leave keep remembering  
something which seems more essential than the present but don't ask  
anymore' (2004) for water, paper, voice; tongue, breath, larynx; and  
trumpet (for 3 performers) and 'without title (breath, tongue,  
lips)' (2005) for solo voice, analyze vocal production and understand  
breath, tongue, larynx and lips as separate layers in a kind of  
counterpoint.

During his stay in Los Angeles, Kesten worked on video audio field  
recordings, which he combines with live sound: 'the Los Angeles  
catalogue' for video, prepared electric guitar, voice and two pianos,  
'Cypress Park' for video, guitar, voice and one action, and 'Dodger  
Stadium' for video, violin, harmonium, voice and hands (all 2007).

---------------------------------------------

Christian Kesten lives in Berlin and works as composer, stage  
director, performance artist and vocalist. He has received numerous  
scholarships, fellowships and commissions. He was composer-in- 
residence at Villa Aurora Los Angeles in March/April 2007. His works  
have been performed at Diapason gallery for sound and intermedia New  
York, Museum of Modern Art MUMOK Vienna, staatsbank Berlin,  
Parochialkirche Berlin, TESLA Berlin, Center for Contemporary Arts  
CCA Glasgow, Mossovet Theatre Moscow, Festival „Escuta!“  
Rio de Janeiro, Festival „moments musicaux“ Aarau/ 
Switzerland, Museo Vostell Malpartida/Spain, and elsewhere.

www.christiankesten.de