For Immediate Release MEREDITH MONK PIANO ELLENEllen Jacobs JACOBS Associates SONGS ASSOCIATES611 Broadway Suite 403 New York, NY 10012 USA URSULA T: 212.245.5100 F: 212.397.1102 OPPENS
[email protected] BRUCE www.ejassociates.org BRUBAKER photo credit : Julieta Cervantez “PIANO SONGS,” A COMPILATION OF PIANO MUSIC BY MEREDITH MONK, PERFORMED BY URSULA OPPENS AND BRUCE BRUBAKER, TO BE RELEASED BY ECM IN US, MAY 6 Piano Songs, a newly released ECM CD containing some of Meredith Monk’s most beloved compositions for the instrument, features new music pianists Ursula Oppens and Bruce Brubaker. Marking one of the rare times others have recorded the celebrated composer’s work, Piano Songs underscores the music’s vibrant and independent life. Ten years ago, WNYC radio host John Schaeffer suggested that Monk seek artists not usually associated with her music to perform as part of her 40th anniversary concert at Zankell Hall. Ursula Oppens, perhaps. Monk and Oppens were instantly smitten with each other’s talents. It was also at Zankell that Oppens first teamed up with Brubaker -- a dream team to-be. Monk discovered her fascination with two-piano musical composition when she created “Ellis Island,” first playing one part, recording it, then overdubbing the other. Questions rapidly arose: What are the relationships and possibilities between the two pianos? How do you create dialogues between the instruments? What about interlocking phrases? “In some pieces, I emphasized the individuality of each piano, writing for one player as the ‘singer,’ the other as the ‘accompaniment;’” Monk wrote in the CD’s liner notes, “in other pieces I wanted the two pianos to make one large sound.” Oppens and Brubaker’s natural affinity for both each other’s musicianship and Monk’s music made them a natural choice.