Area Musicians Debut Electronic, Mixed Media Compositions
GILBERTSVILLE—A concert featuring world premieres of electronic music will take place on Saturday, August 10 at 7:30 p.m. at the Dunderberg Gallery, 118 Marion Avenue in Gilbertsville. Titled “Unheard Of: A Concert of Spanking New Electronic and Mixed Media Music,” the concert program features works by Thad Wheeler, Keith Torgan, Marshall Coid, concert curator Barbara Siesel, and Patrick Rost.
Wheeler’s “El Shaddai—Songs of the Book of Genesis” is a visionary work combining video with text, live cello, Old Testament rap and hamboning. The piece celebrates ancient stories foundational to Western civilization. A composer, percussionist, and teacher, Wheeler directs The Wheeler Project, has produced theatrical works, collaborated on anime projects, toured with Steve Reich, Liza Minnelli, and Ray Charles, and worked on Broadway. He now resides in Middlefield, composing and teaching music.
“Bathe Me in a Sea of Light,” by Keith Torgan, is a deeply personal song about overcoming darkness and trauma to find healing and inner peace. It is part of his Echoes of Otsego Cabaret Installation, funded by the Earlville Opera House’s Arts in the Community Grants Program. A versatile artist with more than 20 years of experience in children’s music, Torgan appeals to audiences as a singer, songwriter, guitarist, actor, author, teacher, storyteller, and visual artist He has performed across the U.S. and internationally. He has also composed scores for productions such as “The Tempest” and “Ring Round the Moon,” founded “Morgan, Torgan & Teri,” written award-winning Green Golly stories, and taught at prestigious institutions worldwide.
Marshall Coid’s “Dona Nobis Pacem” is a piece for countertenor solo, flute, and guitar, featuring alternating free and strictly notated sections, solos, and musical dialogue. Influenced by medieval music and ritualistic elements, it serves as a universal plea for peace, concert promoters said. Described by “The New York Times” as “astonishingly versatile,” Coid’s career spans counter-tenor, violinist, actor, director, stage designer, conductor, composer/arranger, writer, and educator, with performances and collaborations from Broadway to international stages and teaching at Columbia University.
Barbara Siesel’s “On a Smoke” is an evocative piece imagining the sounds of Old Testament verses, particularly the experience at Mt. Sinai when Moses received the Ten Commandments. It utilizes flute, electronics, sampled sounds, pre-recorded flute, reverb and looping. A pioneering new music performer and producer, Siesel co-founded ACT (Art Culture & Technology) to integrate new technology in the arts, commissioned works featured in the Museum of Modern Art’s Library, directed the Storm King Music Festival, co-owns “The Flute View” online magazine, and has performed internationally with the Green Golly Project. She lives in New York City and Gilbertsville with her husband, Keith Torgan.
Patrick Rost’s “cycles-i (August),” a co-composition with Barbara Siesel, gives a nod to early 20th-century 12-tone serialism, updated with modern synthesizers and effects. It explores the dialog between acoustic and electronic instruments. Described as an “electragician,” “grounder,” and “quieter,” Rost is a California native with degrees in music technology and a sustainable MBA. Now living in the Town of Butternuts, he works as a systems engineer while pursuing his passion for composing.
For further information, contact Concerts at the Dunderberg at (607) 783-2010 or visit www.dunderberggallery.com.
