Kitchen House Blend performs new works

Kitchen House Blend performs new works by composers Susie Ibarra, Min Xiao-Fen and Lee Hyla…

Kitchen House Blend

New York, NY, April 26, 2004—Kitchen House Blend continues its on-going series of commissioned works with world premieres by three composers on the cutting-edge of musical experimentation: avant-jazz percussionist Susie Ibarra, virtuoso pipa player Min Xiao-Fen, and Lee Hyla, whose work deftly blends influences from Elliott Carter to Cecil Taylor to punk rock. Kitchen House Blend is a ten-piece ensemble that invites composers from diverse backgrounds to write a new work for a ten-piece band composed of some of downtown’s finest musicians/improvisers. Its ninth installment is scheduled for Friday & Saturday, May 21 & 22 at 8pm at The Kitchen (512 West 19th Street, New York City), with a special Lunch-break performance on Friday, May 21 at 12-Noon. Tickets are $15 for the evening performances and $10 for the lunch-break.

One of the most explosive, avant-jazz percussionists on the NY Downtown scene, Susie Ibarra will present Golden Dream, a piece threading three sections together with a motif that moves through different instruments. Virtuoso pipa player Min Xio-Fen, a fervent proponent of new music, will perform The Loneliest Monk, in which the ghost of America’s first jazz post-modernist haunts a lonely monastery near Nanjing, China. Finally, in Zurek (specifically dedicated to Kitchen House Blend), Lee Hyla takes elements from a number of different music styles to create a fully notated score interspersed with free sections that expand on the composed music. The piece takes its title from a soup found in southwestern Poland that is a unique mix of highly varied ingredients.

Kitchen House Blend’s musicians include Jennifer Choi (violin), Okkyung Lee (cello), J.D. Parran (woodwinds), Rudresh Mahanthappa (woodwinds), Curtis Hasselbring (trombone), Russ Johnson (trumpet), Jim Pugliese (percussion), Tony Lewis (drums), Kevin Ray (bass), and Kathleen Supove (piano)

Brainchild of former Kitchen’s music curator John King, KHB provides a unique opportunity for composers to experiment and discover new directions by writing for a large and versatile musical ensemble. For the audience, it is a way to enjoy a wide range of musical styles in one evening from a band with the versatility to play them all. Since its inception in March 2000, this 21st experimental ensemble has commissioned nearly 30 works, ranging from contemporary classical and avant jazz to World Music and electronica and mapping a vivid document of today’s most creative musical minds. Past installments have included artists such as Kitty Brazelton, Roy Campbell, Mary Ellen Childs, Anthony Coleman, Tiye Giraud, Craig Harris, Vijay Iyer, John King, David Krakauer, Frank London, Roy Nathanson, Daniel Bernard Roumain, William Parker, Zeena Parkins, Marina Rosenfeld, Matthew Shipp, Lois V. Vierk, and Evan Ziporyn.