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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Isabelle Deconinck La PR - Press & Marketing for the Arts 646-623-1709

S.E.M. presents BEYOND CAGE Festival " at 100 / Music at 2012" , October 22 – November 7

HIGHLIGHTS:

* Major large-scale works by John Cage, including Atlas Eclipticalis and Winter Music heard together in their entirety for the first time, and the N.Y. premiere of his last orchestra work, 103 (for a 103-piece orchestra); solos Freeman Etudes and Music of Changes

* American premieres of 's Violin and Orchestra and Flute and Orchestra

* World Premiere of Christian Wolff's individuals, collective, his first major symphony orchestra work presented in North America

* World premieres by Roscoe Mitchell, Alex Mincek, and Kate Soper, among others

* First U.S. staged production of Salvatore Sciarrino's” one-act ecstasy” chamber opera Infinito nero

* Works by Earle Brown, Petr Kotik, Christian Marclay, , , and

Stern Auditorium / Perelman Stage at Carnegie Hall; Alice Tully Hall, Lincoln Center; The Graduate Center, CUNY; Roulette; ISSUE Project Room; Paula Cooper Gallery; Bohemian National Hall; Willow Place Auditorium

“It is the polemical work that becomes the spokesman for any age – like the music of John Cage.”—Morton Feldman

NEW YORK, NY, August 13, 2012—In conjunction with the centennial of John Cage’s birth, artistic director Petr Kotik and S.E.M. Ensemble, Inc present “BEYOND CAGE – John Cage at 100 / Music at 2012”, a festival highlighting some of Cage’s most significant works and his legacy in the music of our time. In the mid-20th century, Cage created pieces that opened a new path to the composition, performance, and perception of music. The festival’s nine programs will span four generations from Cage and his close associates (Morton Feldman, Christian Wolff and Earle Brown) to young emerging composers, and will display the composer’s broad and lasting influence on today’s composition. BEYOND CAGE will feature longtime collaborators and interpreters, including Joseph Kubera, Christian Wolff, Petr Kotik, and Talujon Percussion Ensemble, among others. All the living composers will participate in the realization of their work.

“John Cage’s music is challenging to perform and impossible to imitate and his ideas have been part of the discourse not only among composers, but also among artists and intellectuals for more than sixty years,” Artistic Director Petr Kotik says. "The idea behind the festival is to present Cage in the context of today's music and to show that influence is not imitation."

Performing ensembles include The Orchestra of the S.E.M. Ensemble, Janacek Philharmonic Ostrava (Czech Republic), FLUX Quartet, Talujon Percussion Ensemble, S.E.M. Ensemble, and Ostravská banda. Soloists are Ursula Oppens and Joseph Kubera (Piano); Hana Kotková and Conrad Harris (Violin); Katalin Károlyi (Mezzo Soprano); Erin Lesser (Flute); Roscoe Mitchell (Saxophone), and Petr Kotik (Conductor).

Co-producers for BEYOND CAGE include The Graduate Center, CUNY; Paula Cooper Gallery; ISSUE Project Room; Interpretations Series at Roulette Intermedium; Czech Center at Bohemian National Hall; Talujon Percussion Ensemble; and Ostrava Center for New Music.

Kicking off BEYOND CAGE at Stern Auditorium / Perelman Stage at Carnegie Hall on October 22, the 86-piece SEM Orchestra conducted by Petr Kotik will perform Cage’s first large orchestra work, Atlas Eclipticalis (1961-62), simultaneously with Winter Music (1957), featuring pianists Ursula Oppens and Joseph Kubera. Twenty years ago, Kotik presented the same program at Carnegie Hall as part of “Tribute to John Cage” in honor of the composer’s 80th birthday, with as soloist. This 1992 concert, which marked the debut of the SEM Orchestra, turned out to be an international sensation with audiences and critics from across the U.S., Europe and Japan. BEYOND CAGE’s opening program will also include Christian Marclay’s Shuffle (2007), in a first orchestrated version using 75 musicians.

For BEYOND CAGE’s final concert, the Janacek Philharmonic Ostrava will present the N.Y. premiere of Cage’s last orchestra work, 103, a 90-minute work for 103 musicians, commissioned by WDR (Cologne, Germany) for the composer’s 80th birthday and which Cage never got to hear. This program will also feature the world premiere of individuals, collective by Christian Wolff, sole surviving member of the (Cage, Feldman Wolff, Brown and Tudor), and the American premiere of the Czech composer Lucie Vítková’s (b. 1985) Accept, for accordion, drum set and symphony orchestra (Bohemian National Hall, Nov. 7). This performance will mark the first time a large-scale orchestral work by Wolff is presented in North America.

Other festival highlights include the American premieres of Morton Feldman’s monumental Violin and Orchestra and his Flute and Orchestra – two works almost never heard due to the staggering complexity of the scores. The 100-piece Janacek Philharmonic Ostrava will perform these works with Czech/Swiss violinist Hana Kotková and Canadian flutist Erin Lesser (Alice Tully Hall, Lincoln Center, Nov. 5). The most recent performance of Flute and Orchestra was in 2009 by the Janacek Philharmonic Ostrava (Petr Kotik, flute; Peter Rundel, conductor). The Alice Tully Hall concert will mark the first time an entire program of Feldman’s major orchestra works is presented in the U.S.

BEYOND CAGE will also offer the opportunity to hear compositions that are rarely performed. At Roulette (Nov. 4), the program will feature Cage’s epic solo pieces Music of Changes (Joseph Kubera, piano) and Freeman Etudes (Conrad Harris, violin), in addition to his Concert for Piano and Orchestra (Ostravská banda, Joseph Kubera). The evening will also feature Kotik’s flute solos from There is Singularly Nothing, and the premiere of a new solo by Roscoe Mitchell, Red Flower On A Bamboo , performed on the saxophone by the composer. At ISSUE Project Room (Oct. 30), Ostravská banda (Petr Kotik, conductor) will perform the US premiere of Salvatore Sciarrino’s stage version of his “One-act Ecstasy” chamber opera, Infinito nero (1998), with acclaimed mezzo-soprano Katalin Károlyi. BEYOND CAGE will also include two major pieces by Petr Kotik, both at Paula Cooper Gallery: the “classic” 6-hour work Many Many Women (1975-78) on the text by Gertrude Stein (Nov. 2) and Torso (2011/12) for string quartet (Oct. 27). In addition, the festival will showcase new works by emerging composers, including 2012 Guggenheim Fellows Alex Mincek and Kate Soper, among others (Willow Place Auditorium, Oct. 28).

Petr Kotik’s association with John Cage began in 1964 when he was asked to perform (with Cage and Tudor) Atlas Eclipticalis, as part of Merce Cunningham Dance Company’s “Event No. 1” in Vienna. Kotik became then an active proponent of Cage’s music as a performer, conductor, and presenter, and is one of the composer’s oldest living collaborators. Kotik was first personally introduced to Morton Feldman by in 1966. Kotik conducted his first concert of Feldman’s work in 1970 in Buffalo, New York, and in 1973, Feldman composed Instruments I for Kotik’s newly formed S.E.M. Ensemble (both composers lived at that time in Buffalo). Other longtime collaborators of Cage and Feldman participating in BEYOND CAGE include Christian Wolff; Joseph Kubera, who performed with both composers since the early 70s; and Richard Kostelanetz, the author of numerous books written with and about Cage.

In addition to the public concerts, BEYOND CAGE will host “John Cage’s Musical Legacy”, a panel discussion on performance practices in Cage’s music with Christian Wolff, Petr Kotik, Joseph Kubera, Richard Kostelanetz, and Joel Chadabe (Oct. 26, The Graduate Center, CUNY). The festival will also feature a presentation by Czech composer Peter Graham, “September 1964: Cage, Cunningham & Rauschenberg in & Ostrava”, which will include an audio sample of a talk Cage gave in Prague in 1964.

For more information, visit: www.semensemble.org

BEYOND CAGE is presented by S.E.M. Ensemble, Inc., with the generous support of the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew Cuomo and the New York State Legislature; with public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council; The Office of the Brooklyn Borough President, Marty Markowitz; Trust for Mutual Understanding; Phaedrus Foundation; Dedalus Foundation; Foundation for Contemporary Arts; the City of Ostrava; Petr Kajnar, Mayor; The Graduate Center (City University of New York); Czech Center New York. Additional support has been provided by Agnes Gund, Thomas Buckner, Christian Wolff, Noni Pratt, Stephen Deutsch, Raymond Learsy & Melva Bucksbaum, David Vaughan, Ivan Grunberger, Rackstraw Downes, Reneé Levine-Packer, Robert Levinson, and Francesco Pellizzi.

BEYOND CAGE: Schedule of events New York, October 22 – November 7, 2012

MON., OCT. 22, 8 p.m. Carnegie Hall / Stern Auditorium 57th Street and Seventh Avenue, NYC

The Orchestra of the S.E.M. Ensemble Joseph Kubera, Piano • Ursula Oppens, Piano • Petr Kotik, Conductor

John Cage Atlas Eclipticalis (1961-62) & Winter Music (1957) performed simultaneously Christian Marclay Shuffle (2007)

Tickets: $100 Patron Tickets / $25 General / $15 Students www.carnegiehall.org | CarnegieCharge 212-247-7800 | Box Office at 57th and Seventh

FRI., OCT. 26, 6:30 p.m. Elebash Recital Hall, CUNY Graduate Center 365 Fifth Avenue @ 34th Street, NYC

Panel Discussion: “John Cage’s Musical Legacy” Christian Wolff, Petr Kotik, Joseph Kubera, Richard Kostelanetz, Joel Chadabe

Co-presented by The Graduate Center, CUNY Free and open to the public Reservations: http://www.gc.cuny.edu/publicprograms

SAT., OCT. 27, 8 p.m. Paula Cooper Gallery 534 West 21st Street, NYC

FLUX Quartet Tom Chiu & Conrad Harris, violin • Max Mandel, Viola • Felix Fan, Cello

John Cage Four (1989) Luigi Nono Fragmente – Stille. An Diotima (1980) Morton Feldman Structures (1951) Navigations for Strings (1991) Petr Kotik Torso (2011-2012) Earle Brown String Quartet (1965)

In Partnership with Paula Cooper Gallery Tickets: $15 General / $10 Festival Pass, Students, Seniors www.semensemble.org/tickets

SUN., OCT. 28, 8 p.m. Willow Place Auditorium 26 Willow Place, Brooklyn

New Works by Emerging Composers S.E.M. Ensemble • Yarn/Wire • Ian Antonio, Percussion • Kate Soper, Voice An evening of World Premieres

Michael Winter half-normal (2012) Alex Mincek V (2012) Kate Soper The Crito. (2012) David Kant Composed Listening (2012) Natacha Diels Panik(bread) (2012)

Tickets: $10 www.semensemble.org/tickets

TUE., OCT. 30, 8 p.m. ISSUE Project Room 22 Boerum Place, Brooklyn

Ostravská banda & Talujon Percussion Katalin Károlyi, Mezzo Soprano • Petr Kotik, Conductor John Cage Imaginary Landscape No. 1 (1939) – live realization First Construction (in Metal) (1939) Inlets (1977) Water Walk (1959) Cartridge Music (1960)

Karlheinz Stockhausen (1951) (Talujon Percussion with Ostravská banda)

James Tenney Three Pieces for Drum Quartet (1974)

Salvatore Sciarrino Infinito nero (1998) FIRST U.S. STAGED VERSION “One-act Ecstasy” chamber opera

Co-presented by Ostrava Center for New Music, and co-produced by ISSUE Project Room and Talujon Percussion Tickets: $20 General / $15 Festival Pass, Students, Seniors www.issueprojectroom.org/events | 1-800-838-3006

FRI., NOV. 2, 7 p.m.—1 a.m. Paula Cooper Gallery 534 West 21st Street, NYC

Many Many Women by Petr Kotik

S.E.M. Ensemble Lisa Bielawa, Michele Eaton, Sopranos William Zukof, Countertenor; David Vanderwal, Tenor Elliot Z. Levine, Baritone; Steven Hrycelak, Bass Petr Kotik, Martha Cargo, Flute Kyle Resnick, Thomas Verchot, Trumpet William Lang, James Rogers, Trombone

Petr Kotik Many Many Women (1975-78) Text by Gertrude Stein

In partnership with Paula Cooper Gallery Tickets: $15 / $10 Festival Pass, Students, Seniors www.semensemble.org/tickets

SUN., NOV. 4, 5 p.m. Roulette 509 Atlantic Avenue, Brooklyn

Cage & Kubera: Grand Piano Solos with solos by Conrad Harris, Petr Kotik, and Roscoe Mitchell

The Orchestra of the S.E.M. Ensemble & Ostravská banda Joseph Kubera, Piano Conrad Harris, Violin Roscoe Mitchell, Saxophone Petr Kotik, Flute & Conductor

John Cage Concert for Piano and Orchestra (1957-58) Petr Kotik There is Singularly Nothing (1971-73) John Cage Freeman Etudes, Book IV (1981) Roscoe Mitchell Red Flower On A Bamboo Pole (Solo Saxophone) WORLD PREMIERE John Cage Music of Changes (1951)

Co-presented by Interpretations Series and Roulette Tickets: $15 / $10 Festival Pass, Students, Seniors www.roulette.org | 917-267-0363

MON., NOV. 5, 8 p.m. Alice Tully Hall, Lincoln Center 1941 Broadway, NYC

Morton Feldman: Major Orchestral Works

Janácek Philharmonic Ostrava, Petr Kotik, Conductor Hana Kotková, Violin • Joseph Kubera, Piano • Erin Lesser, Flute

Morton Feldman Piano and Orchestra (1976) Structures for Orchestra (1960-62) Flute and Orchestra (1978) AMERICAN PREMIERE Violin and Orchestra (1979) AMERICAN PREMIERE

Co-presented by Ostrava Center for New Music Tickets: $100 Patron / $25 General / $15 Festival Pass, Students, Seniors www.lincolncenter.org | 212-671-4050 | Box Office at 1941 Broadway For $100 patron tickets with preferred seating, contact the SEM office: 718/488-7659 | [email protected]

TUE. NOV. 6, 7 p.m. Czech Center New York, Bohemian National Hall 321 East 73rd Street, NYC

“Cage, Cunningham & Rauschenberg in Prague & Ostrava (1964)” A talk and presentation by Peter Graham

Co-presented by Czech Center New York and Bohemian National Hall Free and open to the public

WED., NOV. 7, 8 p.m. Ballroom, Bohemian National Hall 321 East 73rd Street, NYC

Janácek Philharmonic Ostrava Lucie Vítková, Accordion • Petr Kotik, Conductor

Christian Wolff individuals, collective WORLD PREMIERE Lucie Vítková Accept (2011) AMERICAN PREMIERE John Cage 103 (1991) NEW YORK PREMIERE One11 (1992) (film by Cage, realized by Henning Lohner)

Co-presented by Ostrava Center for New Music, Czech Center New York and Bohemian National Hall Tickets: $25 / $15 Festival Pass, Students, Seniors www.bohemiannationalhall.com | (646) 422-3399

For more information, visit: www.semensemble.org