Marij van Gorkom – bass clarinet and electronics
Cora Schmeiser – solo voice
Ji Youn Kang and Mei Yi Lee – electronics and percussions
Gareth Davis, Leo Fabriek – bass clarinet and drums
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Marij van Gorkom
Having studied with both Dutch bass clarinet soloists, Marij van Gorkom can be seen as a true exponent of Dutch bass clarinet culture and is a representative of the new generation of Dutch bass clarinetists. In a process of continuous reflection and reinvention, she intends to not only continue and expand on the pioneering work of her teachers, but also to search for new directions and sonic possibilities. Marij van Gorkom studied bass clarinet with Henri Bok at Codarts in Rotterdam (2002-2007) and with Harry Sparnaay at the ESMUC in Barcelona (2007-2009). Before this she studied clarinet with Eli Eban at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music, where the technical foundations of her playing were developed. Other influential teachers are James Campbell, Ernesto Molinari, José Luis Estellés. In 2010 she graduated cum laude in chemistry at Leiden University.
Sonic Spaces: New Netherland
This project represents an exploration and discovery of sonic spaces with the bass clarinet center stage. Each piece takes its own shape and occupies a unique place in sonic space. Engage personally and emotionally in its sounds, but also understand the objective acoustic nature of each work. The sole aim is to create a point of departure, in order to provide and generate dialogue, discussion, and a way forward towards refinement and reinvention.The program is a collaboration and exchange between The Netherlands and New Zealand, turning our world inside out and upside down. It focuses on current music for bass clarinet and electronics by Dutch and New Zealand composers, and includes 6 new works. From this program Marij van Gorkom will present pieces by John Croft, Bas Kalle, Dugal McKinnon, and Roderik de Man.
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Cora Schmeiser
Cora completed her Diploma for Instrumental pedagogy at the Hochschule für Musik und Darstellende Kunst, in Frankfurt, Germany, in 1997 and her Bachelor degree in singing at the Royal Conservatory in The Hague, in 2000, where she studied with Lenie van der Heuvel, Wout Oosterkamp and Gerda van Zelm. She has followed courses and master classes for the Style and Interpretation of Early Music with Jill Feldman, Marius van Altena, Michael Schopper and Richard Wistreich, and for Modern Music and Improvisation by Ton Hartsuiker, Inge Fröhlich, Greetje Bijma, Isabelle Ganz, Barbara Hannigan, Claron McFadden, the Neue Vokalsolisten Stuttgart and the Nederlands Vocaal Laboratorium (2002-2004, since then member). She is currently coached by Ronald Klekamp.
Her main interest is to explore the possibilities and limitations of the voice – occasionally in combination with actions or movements – on the basis of vocal experiments. Her search for different timbres and corresponding vocal expressivity is always linked to fine taste and sense of style regarding the repertory to be performed: medieval, renaissance, baroque, classic or contemporary.
For the Ephémère evening, Cora Schmeiser will perform the Ursonata composed by Kurt Schwitters between 1922 and 1932. The Ursonata consists of a written organization of phonetics, with notations in German. No notes, tempi, or formal dynamics are given, allowing the performer a bit of freedom. The poem was influenced by Raoul Hausmann’s poem “fmsbw” which Schwitters’ heard recited by Hausmann in Prague in 1921. Schwitters performed the piece regularly, developing and extending it, until finally publishing his notations for the recital in the last Merz periodical, 1932.
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Ji Youn Kang and Mei Yi Lee
Ji Youn Kang, born in Seoul, South Korea, studied composition at Chu-Gye University of Arts and moved to The Netherlands in 2006. Her objectives and interests revolve around the creation of her own musical language that (re)presents the Korean tradition and culture using materials from Korean music as well as newly generated sounds. Many of her electronic music pieces have been composed based on the rites of Korean Shamanism using the Wave Field Synthesis system in The Hague (192 loudspeakers), exploring the relationship between musical and physical spaces. She achieved her Master degree both in Sonology at the Royal Conservatory in the Hague, and in composition at Conservatorium van Amsterdam. Currently She is working as a research associate in Sonology, and is active as a composer and sound artist based in The Hague.
Mei-Yi Lee
After achieved her bachelor degree at the National Taiwan University of Arts she moves to The Netherlands to continue her musical education at the Royal Conservatory in The Hague under the supervision of Fedor Tunisse, Luuk Nagtegaal, Hans Zonderop. Presently she is a regular guest performer with several ensembles such as Slagwerkgroep Den Haag, Taiwan Youth Orchestra, Percussion Ensemble 1002, and the National Taiwan Symphony Orchestra, among others; performing in important concert halls from France, Italy, Belgium, The Netherlands, Luxemburg, China and Taiwan. She concluded her Masters degree at the Royal Conservatory of The Hague, focusing in the percussion works of John Cage as well as collaborating frequently with young artists and composers.
Mei-Yi Lee and Ji Youn Kang have been working together as a duo, seeking for possible ways to create music for percussion and live electronics. In this performance, they present a new music for a new instrument built by Wen Chin Fu. Creating music for an unconventional instrument challenges the composer, performer, and instrument builder to discover the artistic quality from the characteristics of the building materials such as wooden and metallic plates, its shape, and motion. The primitivity and mechanics of the new instrument has provided a direction to a musical development, new techniques to perform, a space for the treatment of the sounds with electronics. More importantly it invites the human breath into it.
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Gareth Davis & Leo Fabriek
Gareth Davis plays clarinets of various shapes and sizes, and has done so with musicians such as Elliott Sharp, Steven R. Smith, Rutger Zuydervelt and Frances-Marie Uitti.
Leo Fabriek is the drummer of free rock trio the Julie Mittens, as well as Mere, a new trio with Gareth Davis and guitarist Thomas Cruijsen, with releases on Gizeh Records and Home Normal.
As a duo, Gareth and Leo produce music that exists somewhere between free jazz and something that is completely different. Or nothing at all.