New York, NY
— The Contagious Sounds series will present works from two recently released
debut albums: Andy Akiho’s No One To Know One (Innova Records) which features Akiho on
the steel pan in a wide range of ensemble settings, and composer Ryan Francis’s Works for Piano
(Tzadik Records) which features Contagious Sounds director Vicky Chow on piano. The concert
will take place on Wednesday, June 1, 8:00 pm at the Gershwin Hotel, 7 East 27th Street, between
5th and Madison Avenues in Manhattan.
Contagious Sounds curator Vicky Chow is a longtime collaborator of both Francis and Akiho,
and she saw the near simultaneous release of both of their albums this past April provided an
exciting opportunity for the final concert of Contagious Sounds’ inaugural season.
The program will feature New York City’s most exciting performers, including Contagious Sounds’ (and Bang on a Can’s) own Vicky Chow, as well as Samuel Adams, Kenneth Salters, Mariel Roberts, Domenic Salerni, Josh Modney, Liesl Schoenberger, Edwin Kaplan, Raul Garcia, Maura Valenti, Andrew Kozar, Nicole Camacho, Alejandro Acierto, Ian Rosenbaum, Candy Chiu, Ian Rosenbaum, and the composers themselves, Akiho and Francis.
Tickets for the June 1 concert will be $5 students/$10 general at the door, and the albums will be for sale on site.
From innova Records about Akiho’s No One To Know One:
Akiho’s “No One To Know One”
Composer and steel pan virtuoso
Andy Akiho, whose work has been
called “mold-breaking” by the New York Times, presents No One To
Know One, his first disc of seductive, tuneful, and genre-bending
compositions. It is clear that Akiho and his multi-faceted ensemble
are serious about crashing through stylistic barriers in the service of
cutting-edge art. Willie Ruff, the Director of the Duke Ellington
Fellowship at Yale, and no stranger to landmark recordings, has said,
“These young musicians are creating some of the most exciting and
original music I’ve heard in a long time. I think we’re seeing history
being made by these composer-performers.”
From Tzadik Records about Francis’s Works for Piano:
Ryan Anthony Francis is a remarkable composer who was born in
Portland, Oregon, studied at Juilliard and now resides in New
York City. His work is brilliant and dynamic, combining the
imagination of Ligeti with the minimal language of Steve Reich
and John Adams. Fluid and fascinating, his work for solo piano is
some of his very best. Performed here by the virtuoso pianist
Vicky Chow, a long-time colleague of Francis, the music is lush,
beautiful and endlessly inventive.
For more
information about the Contagious
Sounds series, contact
Vicky Chow:
info@contagioussounds.net;
www.contagioussounds.net
Ryan Francis:
www.ryananthonyfrancis.com
Andy
Akiho:
www.andyakiho.com
