ABSTRACT:
Stanford University composer, improviser, instrument builder, visual artist, and professor of music Mark Applebaum presents several alarmingly diverse works that problematize the boundary conditions of music. The presentation will include a candid overview of dilemmas inherent in the works' generation, interpretation, and reception, with special attention paid to the role of narcissism and self-loathing. The works discussed include the chamber pieces "The Composer's Middle Period" and "Theme In Search of Variations III", "Straitjacket" for percussion ensemble (which will be performed at McGill on March 31), "The Concerto for Florist", "Tlön" for 3 conductors and no players, the mouseketier sound-sculpture (an instrument made of junk, hardware, and found objects mounted on electroacoustic soundboards), and the behemoth 72-foot graphic score "The Metaphysics of Notation." While the focus will be on ontological challenges in music, Applebaum will also discuss the so-called modal, contingent, and tactical problems in the reception of contemporary music.
ABOUT MARK APPLEBAUM:
Mark Applebaum is associate professor of composition at Stanford University. He received his Ph.D. in composition from the University of California, San Diego where he studied with Brian Ferneyhough. His solo, chamber, choral, orchestral, operatic, and electroacoustic music has been performed throughout the United States, Europe, Africa, and Asia with notable premieres at the Darmstadt sessions. He has received commissions from the Merce Cunningham Dance Company, the Fromm Foundation, and the Vienna Modern Festival, among others. Applebaum builds electroacoustic sound-sculptures and is active as a jazz pianist. His music can be heard on the Innova, Tzadik, Capstone, Everglade, and SEAMUS labels.