PETR KOTIK 80th BIRTHDAY CELEBRATION
“MANY MANY WOMEN”
SEP 29 AT ROULETTE, 6PM – MIDNIGHT
The Interpretations Series opens its 33rd season on Thursday September 29th, 2022 with Petr Kotík’s monumental, six-hour piece Many Many Women (1975–78) performed by members of S.E.M. Ensemble under the composer’s direction. The performance will begin at 6:00PM and conclude at Midnight and audience members are encouraged to come and go as they please. This unique staged performance of Kotík’s magnum opus by singers from New York and Graz marks the composer’s 80th birthday. The concert will take place at Roulette, 509 Atlantic Ave., Brooklyn, NY. Tickets are $20 for adults, $15 for students & seniors, available at Roulette.org and Interpretations.info.
A musical rendering of a novel/short story by Gertrude Stein, who has already provided inspiration for several pieces by the composer, the work will be presented in a new staged version that includes video projection, in collaboration with Berlin-based director Jo Fabian. The score of Many Many Women consists of 173 sections across 378 pages. The sections are distributed among all the performers, who shape the piece during the performance, improvising their entrances while creating a musical flow of unpredictable configurations.
In 1971, Kotik began composing for voice as a result of his close collaboration with the composer and singer Julius Eastman. From the first piece he composed for Eastman, Kotik was using the writings of Gertrude Stein. Many Many Women is the culmination of his series of Stein-related works. The music and stage direction is based on a concept of “Variable Situation” without a clear beginning or ending.
PLEASE NOTE: As of April 1st, 2022, vaccination and masks are recommended but no longer required to enter Roulette. Visit roulette.org/safety for the latest updates.
UPCOMING INTERPRETATIONS CONCERTS:
THURSDAY NOVEMBER 3,2022: SCOTT ROBINSON / WADADA LEO SMITH
THURSDAY FEBRUARY 9, 2023: TYSHAWN SOREY / ADAM RUDOLPH
THURSDAY MARCH 9, 2023: DAN JOSEPH / MICHAEL BYRON
THURSDAY APRIL 13, 2023: ALEXANDRA GARDNER / JOHANNES SIDENIUS
Petr Kotík (1942, Prague) has been an independent composer and musician throughout his professional life. As a conductor and flautist, he performs both his own compositions and works by composers whom he regards as relevant to his own musical concerns. Kotík’s activities have always been guided by his sense of contextual issues within contemporary art and music. His ability as a performer and organizer have enabled him to realize projects often thought to be unrealistic. The projects Kotík has undertaken succeed partly thanks to his association with outstanding musicians. He has founded and directed music ensembles both in the Czech Republic and the U.S. – Musica viva Pragensis (1961–1964) and QUaX Ensemble (1966–1969) in Prague, the S.E.M. Ensemble and Orchestra of the S.E.M. Ensemble (1970) in New York, Ostravská banda (2005) and ONO Orchestra (2017) in Ostrava – and numerous projects – the festival “Music of Extended Duration” (1997) in Prague, Ostrava Days (2001), New Opera Days Ostrava (2014), and Beyond Cage Festival (2012) in New York. Although Kotík can be identified as a self-taught composer, he studied composition in Prague with Vladimír Šrámek and Jan Rychlík (1960–1963), and later at the Akademie für Musik in Vienna with Karl Schiske and Hanns Jelinek (1963–1966). Since the early stages of his career, Kotík has been influenced by the ideas and concepts of John Cage and later drew his inspiration from Gertrude Stein, R. Buckminster Fuller, and Ezra Pound. His work spans symphonic compositions, chamber works and opera. Kotík is the artistic director of Ostrava Center for New Music and lives and works in New York City with occasional working visits to Ostrava and Prague.
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The Interpretations series, now in its 33rd season, is a New York-based concert series focusing on the relationship between contemporary composers and their interpreters. Sometimes the interpreters are the composers themselves; more often, the series features performers who specialize in the interpretation of new music. Since its inception in 1989, Interpretations has featured leading figures in contemporary music and multimedia, including Muhal Richard Abrams, Robert Ashley, Anthony Braxton, Thomas Buckner, FLUX Quartet, Joseph Kubera, Annea Lockwood, and Alvin Lucier, Roscoe Mitchell, Phill Niblock, Pauline Oliveros, Ursula Oppens, and Morton Subotnick.
Interpretations began as a collaboration with Robert and Helene Browning and the World Music Institute, presenting concerts at Merkin Concert Hall, then at Roulette, at its Greene Street location in Soho. When Roulette moved to the current space in Brooklyn, Interpretations moved with it. Interpretations is thrilled to co-produce at Roulette, which has developed into a premiere venue for new and innovative music, with excellent acoustics and world-class technical facilities.
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ROULETTE:
509 Atlantic Ave. Downtown Brooklyn
2, 3, 4, 5, C, G, D, M, N, R, B & Q trains & LIRR.
Tickets are $20 for adults, $15 for students for students & seniors, available at Roulette.org and Interpretations.info.
All concerts begin at 8pm unless otherwise noted.