TAK Editions Podcast

On this episode, Marina speaks with the members of sinonó, who will be joining us in concert this Saturday Oct. 7 at the Dimenna Center in New York City. sinonó is a brief submergence, a string of choices, a container for the communion of rigor and failure. This NYC-based trio, featuring Isabel Crespo Pardo (voice), Lester St. Louis (cello), and Henry Fraser (bass), performs graphic scores and poem-songs composed by Crespo. sinonó will release their debut album in early 2024. To learn more about sinonó, visit https://isabelcrespo.com/sinono to learn more about Interbeing, visit https://www.takensemble.com/being

Marina and Charlotte speak with Phong Tran about growing up on the internet, collaboration and simulation theory. Phong opened SWOONFEST, our tenth anniversary festival, one month ago today with a set of brand new original music created live on analog and modular synthesizers. The music from this episode is from Phong's album The Computer Room, hear the whole thing here: https://phongtran.bandcamp.com/album/the-computer-room for more about Phong: https://www.phongmusic.com/ for updates on his upcoming project with Ballet Collective, head to their website: https://balletcollective.com/ for more about TAK: http://takensemble.com

This week, Madison and Marina speak with Michelle Lou. TAK will be premiering Michelle's new work "In a Forest" on night 2 of SWOONFEST, May 5 + 6 at The Clemente on Manhattan's Lower East Side. For more information and to reserve your tickets, visit www.takensemble.com/swoonfest The music from this episode is a live recording of Michelle's piece "Different Furs," performed by Yarn/Wire. You can hear the complete performance here: https://yarnwire.bandcamp.com/track/michelle-lou-different-furs-2017 Check out her newest album, HoneyDripper: https://michellelou.bandcamp.com/album/honeydripper

This week on the podcast, Madison and Ellery interview Rodnie King and Riot Dent of Sour Spirit, a chaos noise rock duo based in Philadelphia. Sour Spirit will close out night 2 of SwoonFest, TAK's festival celebrating our 10th anniversary, May 5th and 6th at The Clemente in NYC. For tickets, visit www.takensemble.com/swoonfest – if you get your tickets by April 20th, you can take advantage of a very sweet discount! To hear more of their music, check out their their Bandcamp – especially their most recent album, LIVE DUSS III (featured in this episode): https://sourspirit.bandcamp.com/album/live-duss-iii For info on upcoming shows, be sure to follow them on socials @sourspirit

On this episode composer and performer Natacha Diels speaks with Ellery and Charlotte about electronics, collaboration, friendship, AI, fun and high stakes. Natacha will play her solo set Somewhere Beautiful (with assistance from TAK) on SWOONFEST, celebrating TAK's tenth anniversary, happening May 5 and 6 at The Clemente Center! Buy tickets and learn more about SWOONFEST here: https://www.takensemble.com/swoonfest Hear previews of Natacha's set here: https://soundcloud.com/natachadiels/somewhere-beautiful https://vimeo.com/762363167 https://vimeo.com/762343816

On this episode, Chris Williams speaks with Marina and Madison about time travel, the ethics of collaborating with the dead, and the spirituality of building a practice of breathing as a wind player. Chris will perform a solo set at SWOONFEST, a festival celebrating TAK's tenth anniversary, happening May 5 and 6 at The Clemente Center. Buy tickets and learn more about SWOONFEST here: www.takensemble.com/swoonfest Check out “Relay,” Chris's most recent release with Booker Stardrum, here: https://cachedmedia.bandcamp.com/album/relay And his album “Sans Soleil” with Patrick Shiroishi, here: https://chriswilliamstpt.bandcamp.com/album/sans-soleil And for more information about Chris, check out his website: https://www.chriswilliamssound.com/

On this episode, gabby fluke-mogul speaks with Laura and Charlotte about their work as an improviser, and how it relates to embodiment, infinite matrices of time and space, form, feeling, and boundaries. gabby will play in a trio with Tcheser Holmes and Mara Rosenbloom on SWOONFEST, a festival celebrating TAK's tenth anniversary, happening May 5 and 6 at The Clemente Center! Buy tickets and learn more about SWOONFEST here: https://www.takensemble.com/swoonfest Hear a live recording of the trio here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mBazukTKh3Q&t=579s gabby's solo album ‘Love Songs': https://flukemogul.bandcamp.com/album/love-songs gabby's ‘rue' presented by Roulette Intermedium: https://vimeo.com/696223673

In this episode, Madison speaks with Johnny Chang and Keir GoGwilt about their album ‘hope lies fallow', which was released on Another Timbre. The conversation encompasses their recompositions of Orlando di Lasso and Hildegard von Bingen, the sociological resonances of chamber music, instant ramen as a metaphor for art making, amidst much more. hear the full album at: https://anothertimbre.bandcamp.com/album/hope-lies-fallow for more about Keir GoGwilt: https://kgogwilt.com/ for more about Johnny Chang and the Viola Torros project: https://soundcloud.com/johnnychchang to donate to TAK's year-end fundraising campaign: https://fundraising.fracturedatlas.org/tak for more about TAK ensemble: http://takensemble.com

“My belief is that music was sort of a mediation between humanity and the wild world; a way of speaking back to the world that speaks so many languages.” In this week's episode, Charlotte and Laura speak with Nina Dante and Bethany Younge about their album Lizard Tongue, released a year ago on TAK Editions. We talk about intimacy with collaborators, listeners and nature; what fulfilling collaborations can look like and advice for non-male people working in the male-dominated realm of music technology. The music in this episode comes from Lizard Tongue. To listen to the album, head to: https://ninadantebethanyyounge.bandcamp.com/album/lizard-tongue For more about Nina Dante: https://www.ninadante.com/ https://www.instagram.com/thesnakesaidtotheriver/?hl=en For more about Bethany Younge: http://www.bethanyyounge.com/ For more about TAK Ensemble: https://www.takensemble.com/ For info about our upcoming concert on Wednesday Nov. 9, 2022: http://www.takensemble.com/tickets/tak-terrain-11922

“It is the act of people being together, and finding that space together that I find most fascinating, and it's the most difficult thing, I feel like I'm still learning how to do that and will be trying to do that for the rest of my life”. In this week's episode, Marina and Madison speak with Catherine Lamb about her extensive practice of composing and performing in rational intonation, Erv Wilson's proof of the harmonic series as a spiral, the process of tuning in as an expression of human agency in performance. We also talk about paradoxical roles of tones, her string quartet divisio spiralis, the Harmonic Space Orchestra, and tips for performers who are interested in deepening their relationship with rational intonation. The music at the beginning and end of this episode is from "divisio spiralis," performed by the JACK Quartet, from their 2021 album CATHERINE LAMB: String Quartets (Kairos) The music in the middle of the episode is an excerpt from "three bodies moving" from the 2019 album of the same name (Another Timbre), performed by Erika Duke-Kirkpatrick - cello; Eric km Clark - violin; and Phil O'Connor - bass clarinet For more information about Catherine Lamb, you can visit her website: https://www.sacredrealism.org/artists/catherine-lamb/

Charlotte and Laura speak with Eric Wubbels about the piece he's writing for TAK, titled 'Interbeing'. They talk about making music that responds on a deep level to what's going on in the world, about how debating with friends helps you to forge your own creative voice, how food relates to music, and many other things. We're giving the first public performance of 'Interbeing' this Saturday, May 21 at 8pm at the Dimenna Center! Tickets are PWYC and can be reserved here : https://www.takensemble.com/interbeing Eric's selected bibliography for Interbeing includes: Rirkrit Tiravanija- pad thai ; Untitled (1999) ; The Land Nicolas Bourriaud- Relational Aesthetics Melanie McLain- Uncoreographic Sculptures Thich Nhat Hanh- How to Love Anne Carson- Antigonick Rick Burkhardt- Great Hymn of Thanksgiving For more about Eric Wubbels: http://www.wubbelsmusic.com/ For more about TAK: tps://www.takensemble.com

Announcing TAK's newest release, Love Crystal and Stone! Ashkan Behzadi's composition stretches musical lyricism to its limit, imagining an impossibly radical, revolutionary folk music that pushes the individual and collective virtuosity of TAK ensemble to new heights. This concert length work is a sensual, intricately interwoven, and deeply philosophical setting of the poetry of Federico García Lorca. The CD is housed inside a book featuring paintings by Mehrdad Jafari, an original essay by Saharnaz Samaeinejad, poetry by Federico García Lorca & translations by Ahmad Shamlou. Pre-order the digital download or the gorgeous art book and CD here: https://takensemble.bandcamp.com/album/love-crystal-and-stone-2 Get info about our album release party on May 9 here: https://www.theinvisibledog.org/all/2022/5/9/tak-ensemble-amp-ashkan-behzadi-love-crystal-and-stone http://takensemble.com

In this week's episode, Marina and Madison interview Weston Olencki about his upcoming album "Old Time Music," coming out this spring on Tripticks Tapes. They also talk about Weston's relationship to country music, AI and machine learning, and more. The music on today's episode is from "Old Time Music," as well as Weston's piece "Virtual Chamber Music," performed live by Laura Cocks with an AI version of TAK Ensemble as their backing band. This episode was produced by Charlotte Mundy, Marina Kifferstein, and Madison Greenstone, and edited by Marina Kifferstein. For more about Weston Olencki: http://www.westonolencki.com For more about TAK: http://takensemble.com For more about Weston's collaborator Sam Salem: http://www.osamahsalem.co.uk/

In this episode, we're continuing a series of episodes focused on tuning practices, in celebration of Star Maker Fragment's first birthday! Today, Marina and Taylor speak with musicologist Jatin Mohan. Jatin is a Fulbright Scholar from New Delhi, India, studying at the CUNY Graduate Center. His research focuses on comparing tuning practices in Hindustani classical music and western music. The music featured at the beginning and end of this episode is Raag Multani (Vilambit Khayal), performed by Dr. Parminder Singh. The clip in the middle is from Debashish Bhattacharya's album, 'Calcutta Slide Guitar.' To learn more about TAK Ensemble, go to http://takensemble.com

On this episode we're celebrating Star Maker Fragment's birthday with vocalist and composer Jeffrey Gavett! A founding member of Loadbang and Ekmeles, and longtime collaborator of Taylor Brook, Jeff joins Taylor and Charlotte to talk about microtonal music, collaboration and digital nonsense. Star Maker Fragments: https://takensemble.bandcamp.com/album/star-maker-fragments Jeffrey Gavett: https://jeffreygavett.com/ Microtonal tools: https://www.steinberg.net/dorico/ https://www.huygens-fokker.org/scala/ https://www.plainsound.org/ https://www.modartt.com/pianoteq The Machine Stops by Taylor Brook, performed by Yarn/Wire and Jeff Gavett: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VMUGD8ZTsqY Virtutes Occultae, Microtonal Music for Six Pianos by Taylor Brook: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kpHSC8eWWL8 A Howl that Was Also a Prayer by Ekmeles: https://newfocusrecordings.bandcamp.com/album/a-howl-that-was-also-a-prayer To learn more about TAK, go to www.takensemble.com/

On this episode we celebrate the release of ‘field anatomies,' a collection of blisteringly physical works for flutes and electronics, featuring flutist and fearless leader of TAK, Laura Cocks. Laura and Charlotte Mundy speak with the composers featured on the album– David Bird, Bethany Younge, Jessie Cox, DMR and Joan Arnau Pamies–about space, time, embodiment, and magic. field anatomies comes out on Carrier Records today, February 22 2022! Link to field anatomies: https://lauracocks.bandcamp.com/album/field-anatomies David Bird: http://davidbird.tv/ Bethany Younge: http://www.bethanyyounge.com/ Jessie Cox: https://www.jessiecoxmusic.com/ DMR: https://www.dmr.land/ Joan Arnau Pamies: http://pamies.info/ Laura Cocks: http://www.lauracocks.biz/ To learn more about TAK, go to http://www.takensemble.com/

We're rebroadcasting this episode in preparation for the TAK ensemble music video drop of "8 minutes after boiling" by Julien Malaussena. Check it out on Sunday, October 31st at 4pm (or any time thereafter) at the following link: https://youtu.be/OO6qJKWsckY *** Julien Malaussena considers his compositional prism to be sound energy–not timbre nor time; not dynamics, pitch, nor the sound space, but rather this element straddling all of these, one less palpable, less quantifiable. He has been particularly influenced by the teaching of Chaya Czernowin and Pierluigi Billone. He also had master classes with Brian Ferneyhough, Raphaël Cendo, Alberto Posadas, Antoine Beuger, Dmitri Kourliandski, Georges Aperghis, Mark Andre, Beat Furrer, Franck Bedrossian, Rebecca Saunders and Ming Tsao. He has been selected for ‘Voix nouvelles' program at Fondation Royaumont, “Composers Academy in Tchaikovsky city”, Etchings festival, Schloss Solitude SummerAcademy, Tzlil meudcan festival and Sirga Festival. His music has been played by ensembles like Court-Circuit, Xasax, les Cris de Paris, 2E2M, L'imaginaire,Nikel, le Moscow Contemporary Music Ensemble, Ecce ensemble, Les solistes du Balcon, ensemble interface, ensemble Surplus, and Duo XAMP (microtonal accordions), in France, Israel, Switzerland, Belgium,Germany, Russia, Austria, Brazil, USA, Turkey and Spain. On this episode, Laura and Madison interview Julien about his piece '8 minutes after boiling,' composed for TAK in spring of 2020, and set for public release in spring 2021. To purchase Julien's music, go to enmossed.bandcamp.com/album/articula…d-sound-energy To hear the music of Agnes Hvizdalek, who inspired the voice part of '8 minutes after boiling,' go to @agneshvizdalek To listen to more music by TAK Ensemble, visit: takensemble.bandcamp.com Or visit us on the web: takensemble.com @TAKensemble

This week, we’re hearing from Diana Marcela Rodriguez, aka DM R, and James Diaz. They’ll give us a preview of a roundtable discussion they had with Jose Martinez from their group C3, the Columbian Composers Collective, alongside violinist Natalie Calma. This summer, we’ll air their full conversation as an audio episode in Spanish, alongside a video with English subtitles. For more information about DM R, visit her website: www.dmr.land/ For more information about James Diaz, visit his website: https://www.jamesdiaz.co/ Check out their collective, c3: https://c3tres.co/

Today's episode is a playlist of music we love. 0:48 CIHUANAHUALLI: Tlacualo (devorado / devoured) by Carmina Escobar 7:05 Delirious Delicacies by Nick Dunston 12:03 Pequeño tótem by Wilfrido Terrazas 18:20 and Dorothy never looked back by Patrick Shiroishi and Dylan Fujioka 25:41 7 fish in a desert byElena Rykova and Etienne Nillesen 32:21 for trumpet by Weston Olencki 37:44 Variation X by DM R --- CIHUANAHUALLI: Tlacualo (devorado / devoured) by Carmina Escobar https://awavepress.bandcamp.com/track/cihuanahualli-tlacualo-devorado-devoured Carmina Escobar is an extreme vocalist, improviser, sound and intermedia artist from Mexico City currently based in LA. https://carminaescobar.monster/ Justin Asher, Sound Engineer Scott Cazan, Mixing and Mastering --- Delirious delicacies by Nick Dunston https://outofyourheadrecords.bandcamp.com/album/atlantic-extraction Nick Dunston is an acoustic and electroacoustic composer, improviser, and bassist. His work also embraces the fields of tape and instrument building. http://www.nickdunston.org/ Louna Dekker-Vargas: flute Ledah Finck: violin Tal Yahalom: guitar Stephen Boegehold: drums Nick Dunston: composition, bass --- Pequeño tótem by Wilfrido Terrazas http://wilfridoterrazas.weebly.com Wilfrido Terrazas is a Mexican flutist, improviser, composer and educator, whose work finds points of convergence between notated and improvised music, and approaches collaboration and collective creation in innovative ways. https://wilfridoterrazas.weebly.com/ From the album Be Prepared (Ápice, 2019) Wilfrido Terrazas, bass flute Recorded by Jesús Segura, Estudio Horizonte, Ensenada, Mexico, December 2017. Mixed and mastered by Ramón del Buey at El Palacio de Asturias, Mexico City, Spring 2019. Produced by Wilfrido Terrazas and Ápice. --- and Dorothy never looked back by Patrick Shiroishi and Dylan Fujioka https://patrickshiroishi.bandcamp.com/album/no-no Dylan Fujioka is a drummer and composer born and raised in Los Angeles. Patrick Shiroishi is a Japanese American multi-instrumentalist & composer based in Los Angeles. Patrick & Dylan went to high school together where they first started making music together. dylan fujioka - drums & percussion patrick shiroshi - sax & voice recorded at Dylan's house on the 15th of February, 2021 --- 7 fish in a desert by Elena Rykova and Etienne Nillesen: https://soundcloud.com/elenarykova/elena-rykova-etienne-nillesen-7-fish-in-a-desert A composer and interdisciplinary artist Elena Rykova explores a wide variety of genres in music and visual art. She brings together instruments and found objects, extending one through another and creating performative musical situations with a strong visual aspect. https://www.elenarykova.rocks/ Etienne Nillesen is a performer and composer from The Netherlands currently based in Cologne/ Germany. His work involves elements of conceptual and spontaneous composition, structured improvisation, performance, and sound art. https://etiennenillesen.com/ --- for trumpet by Weston Olencki https://westonolencki.bandcamp.com/album/solo-works Weston Olencki is a musician and sound artist living in Brattleboro, Vermont. They make varied work loosely centered around psychoacoustic perception, questions of instrumental music and its contexts/constructs, sonic ecology, various mediated practices of listening and improvisation, and the technological, material, and cultural histories of rural space/time. http://www.westonolencki.com/ Recorded by Michael Coleman, assisted by Dominic Coles. Produced by Weston Olencki. --- Variation X by DM R From New 9 Variations: https://youtu.be/U6QZayX7Pgk Born and raised in Bogotá, DM R is currently based in NYC. She is a composer of electroacoustic music, a concert series curator in Columbia Composers, C3, CanvaSound, and a 90s anime aficionado. https://www.dmr.land/ released November 2, 2020 Composed, mixed by DM R Mastered by Murat Colak ® all rights reserved

Julien Malaussena considers his compositional prism to be sound energy–not timbre nor time; not dynamics, pitch, nor the sound space, but rather this element straddling all of these, one less palpable, less quantifiable. He has been particularly influenced by the teaching of Chaya Czernowin and Pierluigi Billone. He also had master classes with Brian Ferneyhough, Raphaël Cendo, Alberto Posadas, Antoine Beuger, Dmitri Kourliandski, Georges Aperghis, Mark Andre, Beat Furrer, Franck Bedrossian, Rebecca Saunders and Ming Tsao. He has been selected for ‘Voix nouvelles’ program at Fondation Royaumont, “Composers Academy in Tchaikovsky city”, Etchings festival, Schloss Solitude SummerAcademy, Tzlil meudcan festival and Sirga Festival. His music has been played by ensembles like Court-Circuit, Xasax, les Cris de Paris, 2E2M, L'imaginaire,Nikel, le Moscow Contemporary Music Ensemble, Ecce ensemble, Les solistes du Balcon, ensemble interface, ensemble Surplus, and Duo XAMP (microtonal accordions), in France, Israel, Switzerland, Belgium,Germany, Russia, Austria, Brazil, USA, Turkey and Spain. On this episode, Laura and Madison interview Julien about his piece '8 minutes after boiling,' composed for TAK in spring of 2020, and set for public release in spring 2021. To purchase Julien's music, go to https://enmossed.bandcamp.com/album/articulated-sound-energy To hear the music of Agnes Hvizdalek, who inspired the voice part of '8 minutes after boiling,' go to https://soundcloud.com/agneshvizdalek To download TAK's most recent album, Star Maker Fragments, go to http://takensemble.bandcamp.com/album/star-m…er-fragments http://takensemble.com

Charlotte Mundy is a vocalist who specializes in music that is new, daring and sublime. She has been called a "daredevil with an unbreakable spine" (SF Classical Voice). Recent performances include George Benjamin’s one-act opera Into the Little Hill at the 92nd Street Y and a set of music for voice and electronics presented by New York Festival of Song, described as "an oasis of radiant beauty" by the New York Times. In summer of 2021, Mundy will present a sound, light and smell installation called Light as a Feather at the Harvestworks House on Governor's Island. She is a core member of Ekmeles vocal ensemble. On this episode, Laura and Marina interview Charlotte about TAK's beginnings and about her life outside of TAK. To dive deeper into Charlotte's work, go to http://charlottemundy.com To download TAK's most recent album, Star Maker Fragments, go to https://takensemble.bandcamp.com/album/star-maker-fragments

This week, Isaac Jean-François interviews Jessie Cox about his TV series, "Space Travel from Home." About Jessie: “...some of the most experimental music of not just the day but the season... held a listener’s attention with surprises and delights aplenty.“ — LA Times Jessie Cox is a composer, drummer, and scholar, currently in pursuit of his Doctorate Degree at Columbia University. Growing up in Switzerland, and also having roots in Trinidad and Tobago, he is currently residing in NYC. He has written over 100 works for various musical ensembles including electroacoustic works, solo works, chamber- and orchestral works, works for jazz ensembles and choirs. As a performer he has played in Europe, Africa, the Caribbean and the USA; with musicians from all over the world. His scholarly writing has been published in the journal Sound American, and Castle Of Our Skins’ blog, a publication is forthcoming in Critical Studies in Improvisation; and he has presented his work at numerous conferences and festivals. For more about Jessie, visit: https://www.jessiecoxmusic.com/ Space Travel from Home, the complete series, can be viewed at: https://www.jessiecoxmusic.com/space-travel About Isaac: Isaac Jean-François (he/him) is a doctoral student in the joint degree program with African-American Studies and American Studies at Yale University. Jean-François’s research interests include black studies, phenomenology, psychoanalysis, queer theory, and sound studies. His research on composer and performer Julius Eastman is featured in an upcoming issue of Current Musicology in an essay titled, “Julius Eastman: The Sonority of Blackness Otherwise” (July 2020). Jean-François is committed to the intersection between academia and advocacy work and serves as the Secretary of the Board of Directors of the Stonewall Community Foundation based in New York City. Jean-François earned his B.A. from Columbia University in Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies, Cum Laude. He holds a Certificate of Study from the European Graduate School in Saas-Fee, Switzerland. Upcoming for Jessie Cox: 3/31/21, premiere at Issue Project Room: https://issueprojectroom.org/event/propositions-deadwip-sound-listening-jessie-cox 3/20/21: premiere at Maerzmusik on March 20th: https://www.berlinerfestspiele.de/en/berliner-festspiele/programm/bfs-gesamtprogramm/programmdetail_334357.html 3/26/21: record release with Infrequent Seams on March 26th: https://stringnoise.bandcamp.com/album/alien-stories This episode was recorded and produced by Jessie Cox and Isaac Jean-François, in collaboration with TAK Ensemble, and edited by Marina Kifferstein.

In this week's episode, Brad Garton interviews composer Taylor Brook and multi-media artist Lara Lewison about Star Maker Fragments, the new album from TAK Ensemble, out 3/3/2021. Lara Lewison creates audiovisual art for the web and for live performance, with a focus in networking, language, and creating live works that are dependent on exchanges between “performer" and “audience." She works with combinations of software and programming languages and has given unity workshops and lessons at Harvestworks, CUNY Tech, and Columbia. She holds a bachelors of arts in music from Columbia University and was the 2020 recipient of the Louis Sudler Prize in the Arts. Taylor Brook writes music for the concert stage, electronic music, music for robotic instruments, as well as music for video, theatre, and dance. He has worked with Ensemble Ascolta, JACK Quartet, Mivos Quartet, Nouvel Ensemble Moderne, Quatuor Bozzini, Talea Ensemble, and others. He has won numerous SOCAN Young Composers awards, including two first-place prizes and the grand prize in 2016 for Song, for solo cello. Brad Garton is an American composer and computer musician who is professor of music at Columbia University. He has written, or helped to write, a number of computer music applications, including Real-Time Cmix, music synthesis and signal processing language for real time composition. Star Maker Fragments: takensemble.bandcamp.com/album/star-m…er-fragments Star Maker World: laar.world/starmaker/ Lara Lewison: laar.world Taylor Brook: Taylorbrook.info Brad Garton: sites.music.columbia.edu/brad

Brandon Lopez is a bassist/improviser/composer who works at the intersection of jazz, free improvisation, noise and new music. He has been an artist-in-residence at Roulette and Issue Project Room, performed as a soloist with the NYPhilharmonic and in ensembles with Fred Moten, Okkyung Lee, Ingrid Laubrock, Tyshawn Sorey and Gerald Cleaver, who is his guest for this episode. TAK commissioned and performed Empty Church of Plenty with Brandon in the fall of 2019 at St. Mary’s Church in Harlem and on the 2020 New Ear Festival. Gerald Cleaver, a drummer/improviser/composer who’s worked with Henry Threadgill, Roscoe Mitchell, Muhal Richard Abrams, and William Parker. He’s the bandleader of Violet Hour, Black Host and he recently released an album of electronic music titled Signs. Gerald Cleaver's Signs: https://577records.bandcamp.com/album/signs Black Host: https://geraldcleaversblackhost.bandcamp.com/releases Brandon Lopez's bandcamp: https://nevernotagravedigger.bandcamp.com/ website: https://www.brandonlopez.nyc/ to learn more about TAK, go to http://takensemble.com

Bethany Younge’s acoustic and electronic music explores the manifold kinesthetic properties of musical performance. For her, the act of music-making cannot be divorced from the physical presence of the human instigator. Her works often incorporate instrumental deconstruction, exaggerated movement, motion tracking, sounding costumes, and/or other aesthetic devices to sonically heighten corporeal expressivity. Younge is currently pursuing her DMA in Music Composition at Columbia University in New York. Her works have been featured in the 2016 and 2018 International Summer Course for New Music Darmstadt, Resonant Bodies Festival, Gaudeamus Muziekweek, The 16th International Young Composers Meeting, and many other festivals. She has worked with many ensembles including JACK Quartet, Distractfold, ASKO|Schönberg Ensemble, TAK Ensemble, TILT Brass, Sputter Box, KLANG, Ereprijs Orkestra, Fonema Consort, AndPlay, Chartreuse, Gyre Ensemble, Ekmeles Vocal Ensemble, Inversion Ensemble, Mocrep, and others throughout Europe and the USA. In 2016, she was awarded the Stipend Prize at the International Summer Course for New Music Darmstadt. She was also awarded a commission prize by National Sawdust, in New York City and the 10th Mivos/Kanter prize. Bethany was one of TAK's commissioned composers of the 2019-2020 season, and we premiered her work "at midnight I walked into the middle of the desert" at Saint Mary's Church in Harlem last fall. On today's episode, Bethany speaks with Merche Blasco, a multimedia artist and composer based in New York. Blasco designs and builds imprecise technological assemblages that catalyze embodied forms of live electroacoustic composition and new modes of listening. Through her constructed devices, she attempts to establish a more horizontal relationship with other entities, distancing herself from parameters of precision, power, and control. As an alternative form of performance, she engineers collaborative spaces with instruments that are given their own agency, in compositions where her body and the live exploration of organic materials are central elements. She has presented her performances and installations at the Whitney Museum of American Art, Sonar Festival in Barcelona, La Biennale di Venezia, NIME conferences, Tsonami International Sound Art Festival in Chile, The High Line in New York, SONIC Festival, Mapping Festival (Geneva), Queens Museum of Art and the Museum of Contemporary Art in Santiago de Chile, among others. Her work has been featured in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and The Wire magazine. You can find Bethany online at: www.bethanyyounge.com You can find Merche online at: http://half-half.es/ https://soundcloud.com/mercheblasco @blasco.merche The music in this episode is all by Merche Blasco: RECONFIGURATIONS I: Conversations with Anette Shelley Hirsch – Voice Dafna Naphtali – Voice, electronics Levy Lorenzo – Percussion Dennis Sullivan – Percussion Merche Blasco – Anette Audio recording and mix: Yi-Wen Lai-Tremewan Bardenas, live performance by The Rhythm Method Leah Asher, violin Marina Kifferstein, violin Carrie Frey, viola Meaghan Burke, cello EEMF03: Rinoceronte azul Christa Robinson … Electric guitar + electric toothbrushes Alice Teyssier … Antenna and piezoelectric collar Mosa Tsay … Electric guitar + electric toothbrushes Viola Yip … Antenna and piezoelectric collar Viento y Sierra Merche Blasco - Electronics and musical saw Rehearsal saws - recorded in Cleft Ridge Span in Prospect Park Gryphon Rue - Musical saw Merche Blasco - Musical saw This week's episode was produced by Bethany Younge in collaboration with TAK Ensemble, and edited by Marina Kifferstein.

This week on the podcast, Ashkan Behzadi and Saharnaz Samaeinejad interview Marxist political theorist Alan Woods about art and socialism. Alan Woods was born in 1944 in Swansea, South Wales, into a working-class family with strong Communist traditions. At the age of 16 he joined the Labour Party Young Socialists and became a Marxist. He studied Philosophy and Russian at Sussex University, and later in Sofia (Bulgaria), and at Moscow State University (MGU). He has a wide experience of the international labor and solidarity movements, particularly in Latin America, Pakistan, Russia, and Spain, where he participated in the struggle against the Franco dictatorship. He is a member of the National Union of Journalists in the UK. Along with Ted Grant, Alan Woods was one of the main theoreticians of the Militant tendency in Britain in the 1970s and 1980s, and the editor of the Militant International Review. He is currently the political editor of the popular website In Defence of Marxism (www.marxist.com), and Secretary of the International Marxist Tendency (IMT). He is the author of hundreds of articles, pamphlets, and books, covering a wide range of issues including revolutionary politics and current events, economics, history, philosophy, art, music, and science. You can read some of Alan's articles on his website, In Defense of Marxism: https://www.marxist.com/tag/65-alan-woods.htm This episode was produced by Ashkan Behzadi and Saharnaz Samaeinejad in collaboration with TAK ensemble, and edited by Ashkan, Saha, and Marina Kifferstein.

Shaped by sonic sensitivity from a young age, Pittsburgh based composer/performer/artist Devon Osamu Tipp creates unorthodox musical environments from ostensibly incompatible realms. Tipp’s music draws influence from his Japanese and Eastern European roots, his experiences as a jeweler and painter, improvisations with plants, and his studies of gagaku and hogaku in Japan and the US. TAK had the pleasure of working with Devon earlier this year when we were in residence at the University of Pittsburgh, where he’s currently pursuing a doctorate in composition. On today's episode, Devon speaks with Dresden based composer, shō performer, and sound artist Chatori Shimizu. As the First Prize Winner of the 2016 Malta International Composition Competition, Shimizu's works have been performed and exhibited throughout Australia, Canada, China, France, Germany, Japan, South Korea, the Netherlands, Poland, Serbia, Thailand, United Kingdom, and the United States. For more information about today's guests, find them online at the links below. Devon's website: https://www.greengiraffemusic.info/ ... and his bandcamp: https://devonosamutipp.bandcamp.com/ Chatori's website: https://www.chatorishimizu.com/ Score follower of Mimi Spelunking (2019), by Chatori Shimizu, performed by Naoyuki Manabe (Shō), Tai Chihiro (Vla.) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uNpv7vCkzgM Today's episode was produced by Devon Osamu Tipp in collaboration with TAK ensemble, and edited by Marina Kifferstein.

Hannah Kendall is a composer whose work has been described as ‘…intricately and skillfully wrought’ by The Sunday Times. Her music has attracted the attentions of the London Philharmonic Orchestra, BBC Singers, Seattle Symphony Orchestra and Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, with performances at the Royal Festival Hall, Queen Elizabeth Hall, The Royal Opera House's Linbury Studio Theatre, Westminster, Canterbury, Gloucester and St Paul’s Cathedrals, Westminster Abbey and Cheltenham Music Festival. TAK was lucky enough to work with Hannah in early 2020 when we were in residence at Columbia University, where she is currently a Doctoral Fellow. On today’s episode, Hannah speaks with vocalist, movement artist and composer Elaine Mitchener, who has performed at venues including Aldeburgh Music, London Contemporary Music Festival, 56th Venice Biennale, ULTIMA Festival, and La Monnaie, and with musicians such as Moor Mother, Christian Marclay, Apartment House, George Lewis and Evan Parker. Hannah Kendall’s website: https://hannahkendall.co.uk/ Catch The Knife of Dawn / Royal Opera House performance on Oct. 24: https://www.roh.org.uk/tickets-and-events/new-dark-age-details Elaine Mitchener’s website: https://www.elainemitchener.com Watch SWEET TOOTH: https://www.elainemitchener.com/sweet-tooth Hear her recent performance at Donaueschinger Musiktage: https://www.swr.de/swr2/musik-klassik/-radiokonzert-elaine-mitchener-und-das-ensemble-mam-mit-auffuehrungen-zu-texten-der-jamaikanischen-schriftstellerin-sylvia-wynter-100.html Catch her Oct. 28 performance live on BBC radio3: https://londonsinfonietta.org.uk/whats-on/yet-unheard

This is a friendly lil teaser for some upcoming episodes of the TAK Editions Podcast! Every Tuesday for the next five weeks will feature conversations between a recent TAK collaborator and a guest of their choosing. We are so grateful to all of our guests for contributing their time and thoughts to the podcast, and super excited to share their brilliant convos with you. The music at the beginning and ending of this episode are from Sanctuary by Mario Diaz de Leon, recorded by TAK in 2017. Get the recording here: https://mariodiazdeleon.bandcamp.com/album/sanctuary

Marina Kifferstein is a violinist, composer, and a founding member of TAK ensemble and The Rhythm Method string quartet. She also performs regularly Talea, Wet Ink, and the International Contemporary Ensemble, and is a co-administrator of the Open Improvisations concert series. As a composer her work has been performed across the U.S. and Europe. Marina is currently a DMA candidate at the CUNY Graduate Center. She holds an MM in Contemporary Performance from the Manhattan School of Music, a BM in Violin from Oberlin Conservatory, and a BA in English from Oberlin College. On this episode, Charlotte and Madison interview Marina about TAK's beginnings and about her life outside of TAK. To dive deeper into Marina's work, go to http://marinakifferstein.com To download TAK's most recent album, Oor, go to http://takensemble.bandcamp.com/album/oor

Madison Greenstone is a clarinetist currently based between San Diego and New York City. Her creative practice encompasses contemporary & experimental music, improvisation, noise & acoustic feedback, and band-like collaborations with other creative performers. She has performed as a featured artist of the Darmstadt Ferienkurse für Neue Musik and the Lucerne Festival Academy. Notable performances have been as a soloist presented by ISSUE Project Room, as part of the Merce Cunningham Centennial in Los Angeles, and in recital at the Vigeland Mausoleum (Oslo). Madison is the clarinetist of TAK Ensemble, a founding member of the [Switch~ Ensemble], and can be heard on Wandelweiser Editions and Another Timbre. Madison is a doctoral candidate at UC San Diego and received her Bachelor's degree from the Eastman School of Music. In this episode, TAK flutist and Executive Director Laura Cocks and Technical Director Taylor Brook interview Madison, who is the newest member of TAK ensemble. This episode was edited by Marina Kifferstein with help from Alex Van Gils.

Tyshawn Sorey is a multi-instrumentalist and composer born in Newark, New Jersey, known for his mastery and memorization of incredibly complex scores. He has performed nationally and internationally with his own ensembles, as well as artists such as Roscoe Mitchell, George Lewis, John Zorn, Claire Chase, Evan Parker, and Anthony Braxton, among many others. He has been commissioned by The Spektral Quartet, Ojai Music Festival, International Contemporary Ensemble (ICE), and more recently Carnegie Hall and Opera Philadelphia. He was awarded a 2017 MacArthur Fellowship. In this episode, Laura Cocks and Charlotte Mundy of TAK talk to Tyshawn about “Ornations,” written for TAK and featured on their album, Oor. To stream and purchase Oor: http://takensemble.bandcamp.com More about Tyshawn Sorey’s music: http://tyshawnsorey.com

Natacha Diels is a composer and performer whose work combines choreographed movement, improvisation, video, instrumental practice, and cynical play to create worlds of curiosity and unease. With a focus on collage, collaboration, and the ritual of life as art, her compositions have been described as “a fairy tale for a fractured world” (Music We Care About). She is a member of the composer/performer collective Ensemble Pamplemousse and the performance duo On Structure, and she teaches composition and computer music at the University of California, San Diego. In this episode, Laura Cocks and Marina Kifferstein of TAK talk to Natacha about “The Colors Don’t Match,” written for TAK and featured on their recent album, Oor. To stream and purchase Oor: http://takensemble.bandcamp.com More about Natacha Diels’ music: http://natachadiels.ccom Ensemble Pamplemousse’s quadruple album Lost at Sea: https://pamplemoussies.bandcamp.com/ Music video for The Colors Don’t Match: https://youtu.be/cpfwPgiJ7GY

Erin Gee is a composer and vocalist who has created, in her Mouthpiece series, an ephemeral world that expands the possibilities of the voice, leaving behind the constrictive structure of language, and replacing histrionic female vocals with a virtuosic mouth and a tabula rasa for an emotional palate. Begun as one piece for solo voice in 2000, the list of Mouthpieces has grown to over 30 works for orchestra, opera, vocal ensemble, large chamber ensemble and string quartet, which have been performed internationally with some of the top ensembles for new music. On this episode, Ellery and Charlotte of TAK talk to Erin about her piece Mouthpiece 28, featured on TAK's recent album, Oor. To stream or download Oor: http://takensemble.bandcamp.com For more about Erin Gee: http://www.erin-gee.com/ To watch TAK's music video of Mouthpiece 28: https://youtu.be/NqZY9q0R3tE The Albertine Workout by Anne Carson: https://www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v36/n11/anne-carson/the-albertine-workout

Ashkan Behzadi’s music combines a miniaturist lyrical craft with an aim to invoke the collective-memory of folklore music through the use of allusion and pastiche. The question of genre-identity and genre-blurring and, in particular, the relationship between modern lyric and contemporary music is at the core of his aesthetic and artistic research. In this episode, Marina Kifferstein and Charlotte Mundy of TAK speak to Ashkan about his piece “Az hoosh mi..” for the violin and soprano, in which the musical dimension of the text, an erotic post-language Persian modern poem, expands in the texture of the music to create an elaborated heterophonic relationship between the voice and violin. “Az hoosh mi…” is featured on TAK’s recent album, Oor. To stream and purchase Oor: takensemble.bandcamp.com To learn more about Ashkan’s music: https://soundcloud.com/ashkan-behzadi

Ann Cleare is a composer whose work explores the static and sculptural nature of sound, probing the extremities of timbre, texture, colour, and form. She creates highly psychological and corporeal sonic spaces that encourage a listener to contemplate the complexity of the lives we exist within, exploring poetries of communication, transformation, and perception. On this episode, Laura Cocks and Charlotte Mundy of TAK speak to Ann about her piece “unable to create an offscreen world (c),” featured on TAK’s recent album, Oor. To stream and purchase Oor: http://takensemble.bandcamp.com To learn more about Ann’s music: http://annclearecomposer.com Hyperobjects by Timothy Morton: https://www.upress.umn.edu/book-division/books/hyperobjects Vibrant Matter by Jane Bennett: https://www.dukeupress.edu/vibrant-matter The photography of Andreas Gefeller: http://www.andreasgefeller.com/

David Bird is a composer and multi-media artist based in New York City. His work explores the dramatic potential of electroacoustic and mixed media environments, often highlighting the relationships between technology and the individual, and has been performed internationally by some of the best performers working in the field of contemporary music. He also happens to be director of Creative Research with TAK Ensemble, and a founding member of the group. On this episode, Marina Kifferstein and Ellery Trafford of TAK speak to David about his piece "Series Imposture," featured on TAK's recent album Oor. To stream and purchase Oor: http://takensemble.bandcamp.com To learn more about David's music: http://davidbird.tv To watch the Adam Curtis documentary The Trap: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BGJqU-JpbXw To learn more about Lewis Nielson's music: http://www.lewisnielson.com/

Brandon Lopez is a New York-based composer and bassist working at the fringes of jazz, free improvisation, noise and new music. His music has been praised as “brutal” (Chicago Reader) and “relentless” (The New York Times). On this episode, Ellery and Madison of TAK talk to Brandon about his new piece, "Empty and/or Church of Plenty," which TAK will premiere on December 14th at St. Mary's Harlem. Brandon's website - https://www.brandonlopez.nyc/ and Bandcamp - https://nevernotagravedigger.bandcamp.com/ Info about the December 14th premiere - https://www.facebook.com/events/712511089258696/ Anner Bylsma playing J.S. Bach Cello Suite 1 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qTVqjD4Yigg Cecil Taylor live in Munich in 1984 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iL0cqbWZYsE

Bethany Younge is a composer and performer whose work plays with anti-irony, nonsense as spiritual awakening, and the place between situations and theater. She builds incredibly individualized works, often simultaneously centered in the physiological dramaturgy of performance. On this episode, Laura and Charlotte of TAK talk to Bethany about her new piece “at midnight i walked into the middle of the desert” which TAK will premiere on December 14th at St. Mary’s Harlem. Bethany's website - http://www.bethanyyounge.com/ Info about the December 14th premiere - https://www.facebook.com/events/712511089258696/ Composer Sivan Cohen Elias website - https://www.sivancohenelias.com/