Music marries well with works of Joseph La Piana, whose show Kinetic State at Robert Miller Gallery is the intriguing backdrop of the first two nights of this year's Look & Listen Festival. To begin and end the evening, So Percussion corralled groups of bells, gongs, pieces of metal and a toy piano for Jason Treuting's Amid the Noise, an electic assemblage of short works exploring noise "conceived as soundtracks for everyday moments in everyday life." In the second half Zeena Parkins added some gorgeous growls from an amplified harp.
Cello and percussion duo Odd Appetite also did two works, starting with Nathan Davis's Yebyar Untai (2005) for amplified cello and hammered dulcimer, each in shimmering microtones. Cellist/composer Ha-Yang Kim offered Oon (2004) influenced by Balinese music, for cello (with wah-wah pedal) and percussion. And in between, the Biava String Quartet did a fiery reading of Kodály's 90-year-old String Quartet No. 2, followed by singer/violinist Carla Kihlstedt and 2 Foot Yard in five works showing among other things, the group's facility with complex rhythmic changes.
The festival continues tonight and tomorrow, with performances by counter)induction, Split Second, the Contemporary Ensemble at Purchase, Mark Stewart, Daedalus String Quartet, Electric Kompany and Ethel. And with a ticket price of $10, I don't want to hear anyone complaining that groovy listening in New York is too expensive.
[Photo: "Isabel" (2007, enamel, ink and shellac on canvas) by Joseph La Piana, at Robert Miller Gallery]
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