Dither Electric Guitar Quartet to Perform World Premiere of "Mi-Go" by Joshua Lopes on November 16
and Music Department present
Dither Electric Guitar Quartet
Performance on Friday, November 16 to feature
World Premiere of "Mi-Go" (2012) by Joshua Lopes
Middletown, Conn., November 6, 2012— The 38th annual Crowell Concert Series presented by Wesleyan University’s Center for the Arts and Music Department continues with a performance by the group Dither, an electric guitar quartet, on Friday, November 16, 2012 at 8pm in Crowell Concert Hall located at 50 Wyllys Avenue on the Wesleyan campus in Middletown. Please see below for more details about the Crowell Concert Series.
Dither is a New York based electric guitar quartet dedicated to an eclectic mix of experimental repertoire, which spans composed music, improvisation, and electronic manipulation. Formed in 2007, the quartet has performed in the United States and abroad, presenting new commissions, original compositions, improvisations, multimedia works, and large guitar ensemble pieces. With sounds ranging from clean pop textures to heavily processed noise, from tight rhythmic unity to cacophonous sound mass, all of Dither’s music embraces the beautiful, engulfing, and often gloriously loud sound of electric guitars. The current members of the quartet are Taylor Levine, Joshua Lopes, James Moore and Gyan Riley.
At Wesleyan, Dither will perform the world premiere of "Mi-Go" (2012) written by quartet member Joshua Lopes, a progressive composition similar to works by Frank Zappa. Mr. Lopes states that "Mi-Go are interstellar fungoid beings found in the works of H.P. Lovecraft. As a young boy, I spent countless weekends seeking out weird horror paperbacks in the musty used bookstores in Providence, Rhode Island, where Lovecraft had penned his tales over six decades before. I remember reading a poem called 'Fungi from Yuggoth', under the shadow of a dilapidated Victorian Mansion that was now a record store on Thayer Street. The poem starts off describing a young man who had walked into a creepy used bookstore and found a mysterious book. I had just come from Cellar Stories on Matthewson Street, and bought a new (for me) collection of Lovecraft and a paperback copy of the Necronomicon with the cover ripped off. I remember wondering, this poem is not about me, right?"
Also on the program at Wesleyan are two of the four movements from the work entitled "Ones" (2012) by Wesleyan graduate Jascha Narveson MA '05 ("The Warped One" and "The Driving One"); "but because without this" (2006) by Wesleyan Assistant Professor of Music Paula Matthusen, who will be giving a pre-concert talk at 7:15pm; the early John Zorn game piece "Lacrosse" (1977); "The Garden of Cyrus" (1985) by Eve Beglarian; and "exPAT" (2007), written by Eric km Clark for Dither's debut concert at the New York City venue The Stone. Written for "as many guitarists as possible", "exPAT" features the unique practice of hearing deprivation—the performers' hearing is masked through the use of earplugs and headphones playing back white noise, depriving them of their ability to effectively coordinate with one another. "exPAT" has been a controversial highlight of many Dither concerts, including the Bang on a Can Marathon in 2009. Dither will be performing "exPAT" with assistance from guitarists from the Wesleyan community.
Dither is distinguished from classical/acoustic guitar quartets by their "major jump into a new sonic world", says quartet member James Moore. Marc Ribot was one of their primary influences, according to Mr. Moore, who met his Dither co-founder Taylor Levine at the Bang on a Can summer residency program in 2006, where they performed David Lang's duet "Warmth". Mr. Levine came up the group's name, which is a technical term for "intentionally applied noise".
Dither has worked with a wide range of artists, including Elliott Sharp, Fred Frith, Lois V. Vierk, Larry Polansky and Phill Niblock. Recent performances include the Performa Biennial, The MATA Festival, and the Whitney Museum of American Art. In the fall of 2008, the quartet traveled to Hong Kong to premiere an evening-length theatrical work by Samson Young, Hong Kong Explodes! In addition to concert programs, Dither conducts workshops with educational institutions across the country, and is a frequent visiting ensemble at Princeton University. Dither’s critically acclaimed debut album was released on Henceforth Records in June 2010.
Free Music Archive has said "the electric guitar quartet Dither, typifying this nebulous twenty-first century, brings massive chops with an egalitarian sense of purpose to every piece of music.”
Click here to watch a video of Dither performing Paula Matthusen’s “but because without this” on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rcqMFiS8yJQ
Click here to watch a video of Dither performing Eve Beglarian's "The Garden of Cyrus" on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QTVFrHk14Jc&feature=plcp
Click here to watch a video of Dither performing Eric km Clark's "exPAT" on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BdRawGVJbds
Tickets for the performance by Dither are $22 for the general public; $18 for senior citizens, Wesleyan faculty/staff, and non-Wesleyan students; and $6 for Wesleyan students. Tickets are available online at http://www.wesleyan.edu/cfa, by phone at (860) 685-3355, or in person at the Wesleyan University Box Office, located in the Usdan University Center, 45 Wyllys Avenue, Middletown. Tickets may also be purchased at the door beginning one hour prior to the performance, subject to availability. The Center for the Arts accepts cash, checks written to “Wesleyan University,” and all major credit cards. Groups of ten or more may receive a discount – please call (860) 685-3355 for details. No refunds, cancellations, or exchanges.
About the Crowell Concert Series
The Crowell Concert Series at the Center for the Arts features awide array of world-class musicians. This season's performances include the New England premiere of “Music at Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello” (February 1, 2013) and Hugh Masekela (April 19, 2013). Past artists that have performed on the Crowell Concert Series include Afro-Cuban All-Stars, Amelia Piano Trio, American Brass Quintet, AnDa Union, Anonymous 4, Ahmad Jamal, Balfa Toujours, Bang on a Can All-Stars, Bill Frisell Trio, Boston Chamber Music Society, Bulgarian Bebop, Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, Charles Lloyd Quartet, Cherish the Ladies, Claude Frank, Crooked Still, David Krakauer & Klezmer Madness, Don Byron: JungleMusic for Postmoderns, Donald Berman: Celebrating Chopin’s 200th Birthday, Dünya, Eddie Palmieri, eighth blackbird, Eileen Ivers, Entrequatre, Ernest Dawkins, Eugenia Leon, Fernando Otero Quartet, FleytMuzik, FLUX Quartet, Henry Threadgill, Joshua Roman, Kronos Quartet, Le Vent du Nord, Les Percussions de Strasbourg, Lionel Loueke Trio, Lionheart, Margaret Leng Tan, Maya Beiser & Anthony de Mare, Midori, Minneapolis Guitar Quartet, Near Eastern MusicEnsemble, Omar Sosa, Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, Otis Taylor, Parthenia, Paul Brady, Pedro Carboné, Peter Serkin, Randy Weston, Regina Carter Quintet, St. Lawrence String Quartet, San Jose Taiko, sfSoundGroup, Shanghai Quartet, Stanley Cowell Quartet, The American Piano, The Assad Brothers, The Baltimore Consort, The Hilliard Ensemble, The Mystical Arts of Tibet: Drepung Loseling Monastery, Thomas Mapfumo/Blacks Unlimited, Tiempo Libre, Tokyo String Quartet, Toumani Diabate, Trio Globo, Turtle Island String Quartet with Stefon Harris, Voices of Afghanistan, and Zakir Hussain & L. Shankar.
About the Performing Arts Series
The Performing Arts Series at the Center for the Arts brings a wide array of world-class musicians, cutting-edge choreography, and groundbreaking theater performances and discussions to Wesleyan University. This season's performances include the New England premieres of “Music at Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello” (February 1, 2013) and Gallim Dance’s “Mama Call” (February 8 & 9, 2013); the 14th annual DanceMasters Weekend Showcase Performance (March 9, 2013); and Hugh Masekela (April 19, 2013). For more information, please visit http://www.wesleyan.edu/cfa.
Save 15% when you buy tickets to four or more Performing Arts Series events. Call or visit the Wesleyan University Box Office at (860) 685-3355 to take advantage of these discounts.
About the Music Department
The Wesleyan University Music Department provides a unique and pioneering environment for advanced exploration committed to the study, performance, and composition of music from a perspective that recognizes and engages the breadth and diversity of the world's musics and technologies. As an integral part of one of the nation's leading liberal arts institutions, thedepartment has enjoyed an international reputation for innovation and excellence, attracting students from around the globe since the inception of its visionary program in World Music four decades ago.
Recent annual music festivals in partnership with the Center for the Arts have brought to campus a diverse array of artists, including Max Roach, Pete Seeger, Boukman Eksperyans (Haiti), and Boogsie Sharpe (Trinidad).
A recording studio, a computer and experimental music studio, the Center for the Arts media lab and digital video facility, the World Instrument Collection (which includes the David Tudor Collection of electronic musicalinstruments and instrumentation) and the Scores and Recordings Collection of Olin Library (which includes the World Music Archives) offer many learning opportunities outside of the classroom.
For more information about the Music Department, please visit http://www.wesleyan.edu/music/.