Ben Kreith at CNMAT

Saturday night I heard violinist Ben Kreith play a solo program of new music. There were 6 works of differing moods, & the performance lasted about an hour. Mr. Kreith's playing was sincere & purposeful. Filipina para violín a la memoria de Felipa Martín by Javier Arias Bal had a deliberative mood & contained a lot of double stops & straight tones. Fun in the Sun by Laurie San Martin is a short piece with fast notes, abrupt chords, & a suddenly calm coda. Bluescape by David del Puerto had a recurring 2-chord motif that indeed sounded bluesy & melancholy. The brief Berceuse by Anton Vishio felt thoughtful & restful.

The 10-minute My New Address by Scodanibbio is ferociously virtuosic, like an extended Paganini Caprice. The violinist has many high, glassy passages. The performance left Mr. Kreith winded. Composer Daniel Cullen controlled the electronic portion of his Stream, a 20 minute series of tiny musical events, coming from the violinist & from speakers in front & behind the audience. The piece was quiet. Afterward, Mr. Cullen showed me the iPad app he used to control the sound samples. Randomness is built into the patterns, so no 2 performances have the same sequence of sounds.

The Center for New Music & Audio Technologies is a converted house with Gothic windows a couple of blocks from the UC Berkeley campus. The concert took place in what was probably the front room. There was a small but appreciate audience of about a dozen, most of whom seemed to be academics. Composers Laurie San Martin & Anton Vishio were present & took bows with Mr. Kreith. A wine & cheese reception followed in the same room as the concert.

§ Benjamin Kreith, solo violin

Filipina para violín a la memoria de Felipa Martín (2009)
Javier Arias Bal

Fun in the Sun (2009)
Laurie San Martin

Bluescape (2007)
David del Puerto

Berceuse (2000)
Anton Vishio

My New Address (1988)
Stefano Scodanibbio (1988)

Stream (2011/12)
Daniel Cullen

CNMAT
Saturday, October 13, 2012, 8 PM