12 Views on Life: premiere recording
Composers: Youshin Gim, Anthony R. Green, Dorothy Hindman, Han Hitchen, Howie Kenty, Tyler Kline, Emily Koh, Soobin Lee, Robert McClure, Seokmin Mun, Sangbin Rhie, Benjamin D. Whiting
Performers: Jamie Jordan, Zach Hale, Kevin von Kampen, Eunmi Ko, Robert McCormick, Katherine Weintraub
Recording: John Z. Stephan
Mastering: Erdem Helvacioglu
Additional Editing and Mastering: Rich Wattie
Commissioned by Eunmi Ko (solo piano) and Contemporary Art Music Project (ensemble)
Oct 5 & 6, 2022 Child on the Death of Songs, Ko-pu-ri, Young-Seon, at the end of recorded in USF Concert Hall
Oct 7, 2023 and my body’s cells keep ticking recorded in USF Barness Recital Hall
Dec 16, 2023 Untitled VI recorded in USF Barness Recital Hall
Sep 9, 2023 SPAM! recorded at CAMPGround
I had two major projects in 2020 and 2021 – SPAM! for solo piano and Project GŪT for ensemble. Those were difficult years for us all. As the unprecedented number of deaths were counted every day, I meditated on the meaning of life and death. As isolation became a norm, I questioned my identity as a performer who needed the stage, audience, and spotlight.
Stuck at home for those lockdown months, I heard and noticed all kinds of sounds that I had not paid attention to – cars passing by outside, floorboard squeaking, refrigerator running, and other noises from living mundane life. SPAM! is a project that embraces the ordinary noises in the extraordinary circumstance (pandemic) and transforms them into an integral part of music and performance.
Project GŪT was an ensemble project inspired by the Korean traditional ritual ceremony 굿GŪT. In 2021, The Contemporary Art Music Project (CAMP) remotely collaborated with four Korean composers – Youshin Gim, Soobin Lee, Seokmin Mun, and Sangbin Rhie – to have a fresh look at the old ritual. Led by a shaman, GŪT is a ritual act that mediates the deceased and living. Accompanied by music and dance, GŪT is a theatrical work that can be performed by professional performing artists on a stage. Each composer had a unique view on GŪT, referenced different parts of the ceremony, and wrote ensemble works for CAMP performers soprano Jamie Jordan, percussionists Zach Hale, Kevin von Kampen, and Robert McCormick, saxophonist Katherine Weintraub, and myself.
I decided to alternate between works from each project, blending views on life and death. With this album we embrace the noisy and unsettling! – Eunmi Ko
12 Views on Life
i am going mad (libs) for solo piano
text by Anthony R. Green and Eunmi Ko
music by Anthony R. Green and performer (and more…)
I wrote this piece in 2020, at a time when the world had officially gone mad! I figured: why not embrace this madness with some Mad Libs? I have fond memories of filling out these wonderful games when I was younger, and when commissioned by Dr. Eunmi Ko to create a covid-quarantine piece for this period of 2020, I immediately thought about turning the idea of Mad Libs into a piece for her in some way! The process began with me creating the Mad Lib text, then asking Eunmi to fill in the text and translate the text into Korean! Then I laid out the structure of this piece, considering elements that could be chosen by the pianist in a manner reminiscent of filling out a Mad Lib! While engraving the music, I thought – why not pay homage to the Netherlands, the country where I am composing this piece? So I translated the Mad Lib text (with Eunmi’s answers!) to Dutch. This piece is dedicated with love and madness to Eunmi. – Anthony R. Green
text
I live in a cave in my liver.
My teal turtle gives me hope.
When will I return to Bhutan and smell the magnolias and taste the seaweed soup?
Now it is impossible for me to use my Segway or else I’ll get an 18 dollar fine.
The police are fickle; they shouldn’t have cleaned that innocent person.
The president can’t go; the president can’t do much of anything because his mind is secretive.
When will my scientist zoom again?
When will the world’s womb wash the way it used to?
Should we return to the way things were?
죽은 노래를 그리는 아이 Child on the Death of Songs for voice and two percussions
text and music by 이상빈 Sangbin Rhie
During the COVID-19 crisis, live music making vanished from the concert hall. For those years, I missed the concert experience – listening to music with strangers and breathing the same air in the concert hall without any obstacles such as viruses and masks… Child on the Death of Songs is a lament for the death of music and public musical events during the pandemic. In this piece, I went back to my earlier composition style, using more transparent texture and quintessential material to focus on the savage energy from the massive and powerful percussion and human voice. I borrowed some musical ideas from Korean, Japanese, and Tibetan traditional ritual music to match the text which is a fusion of several poems by the Korean avant-garde poet/writer 이상 Yi Sang(1910-37). – Sangbin Rhie
text
death, doom, passing, big sleep, demise, perishment, finis, pop off, quietus, loss, exitus, mors, mortality, utterance, grave, light out
d-e-a-t-h, d-o-o-m, g-r-a-v-e , l-o-s-s, e-x-i-t-u-s,
kingdom come, defunctness, happy release…
death will be delivered to me like, delivered like naked postcard.
Neon sign got emaciated like saxophone.
Look! These neon signs looks like just standing and nothing special externally.
However, neon gas is always flowing inside the tube.
However, life and breath are always flowing inside the tube.
d-e-a-t-h death!
Neon sign…
razor…
My mind looks for a razor… razor… razor’s blade won’t come outside now.
I roar desperate for blade and death. I force the folded razor into myself.
Suppress my pain. P-A-I-N
Blade opens and grazes me, I bleed. But I have nothing to cut my flesh open. There is no way for, no way for my evil spirit to escape. My body gets heavier because of my…my…imprisoned suicide.
I can write only limited words…
Cave Paintings of Discourse for piano, performer Eunmi Ko, kitchen appliances and utensils, and SPAM
Benjamin D. Whiting
Cave Paintings of Discourse was commissioned by Eunmi Ko for her live-streamed SPAM! salon concert event during the period of isolation we all experienced at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. In this piece, the domicile is the instrument; the piano is only incidentally there. – Benjamin D. Whiting
고풀이 Ko-pu-ri for voice, tenor saxophone, and piano
이수빈 Soobin Lee
고풀이[Ko-pu-ri] is a part of 굿GŪT ceremony, a Korean traditional ritual performed by a shaman. “Ko-pu-ri” is a performance that releases the deceased from pain and sorrow, and eventually sends it off to the spiritual world. Like a shaman in the ceremony, the soprano here uses straight tones avoiding the typical Western style with vibrato and bel-canto technique. While my piece Ko-pu-ri was inspired by ritual, it is also intended for a concert program.
I dedicated Ko-pu-ri to Kim Mi-Soo, a South Korean actress and model, who passed away in 2021. A few years before her death, we collaborated on a play, “The Ugly Girl.” I admired her artistry and passion for theatre. Rest in Peace. – Soobin Lee
text
풀로가자 pul-ro ka-ja (let’s free you)
산신님아 san-sin ni-ma (dear god)
고풀어 만고풀고 ko-pu-ro man-ko-pul-ko (let’s free you from thousands of pain) *고[ko] in this verse was translated to pain
하늘이 울고 ha-neul-yi ul-ko (the sky is crying)
땅이 울고 ddang-yi ul-ko (the earth is crying)
saturation temp! for piano and recorder keyboard (one player)
Emily Koh
saturation temp, short for saturation temperature, is the technical term for ‘boiling point’. In this piece, water is at the brink of boiling constantly, but instead of reaching its saturation temperature, that benchmark is moved again and again, and water is always at the brink of boiling, but never really boils. This is a commentary of current social standards, in which something ridiculous that should have caused major uproars and protests are swept under the rug in yet another news cycle of more crazy and unbelievable things. The benchmark for sanity has shifted and moved, and what used to be the breaking point in a previous timeline, is now just the absurd normal. – Emily Koh
Untitled VI for baritone saxophone, percussion, and piano
Dorothy Hindman
Shadow of My Former Self is a collection of works exploring questions of identity, story and personal history under the self-secluding name Untitled.
In Untitled VI, I used digital recordings of both baritone saxophone and piano multiphonics from my work Untitled VII, and vibraphone multiphonics recently discovered by Michael Edward Edgerton and Olaf Tzschoppe. I analyzed all of these and created a progression where an overtone of the saxophone multiphonic became the fundamental of the vibraphone’s next multiphonic and vice versa. Piano harmonic multiphonics provided additional overtones augmenting the complex sonorities. The analysis, deconstruction, and regeneration of these sounds to create new ones is like the renewal of my past music in my present music. It is an attempt to create something different from the ashes of the troubled past that defines me, and that I carry with me in the present, that others do not see.
Untitled VI for baritone saxophone, vibraphone, gong and piano was commissioned for the CAMP performing artists Kevin von Kampen, Eunmi Ko, and Katherine Weintraub. Untitled VI was completed in August 2022. – Dorothy Hindman
Ursus maritimus for solo piano
Han Hitchen
Ursus maritimus is a work for solo piano commissioned by pianist Eunmi Ko, as a part of her project SPAM! This work is inspired by my struggle with “artist’s block” during summer 2020, as a result of stress surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic. As I would try to compose, I would find myself more easily distracted. This made it extremely difficult to stay on task, and ultimately finish or continue working on any of my projects. This struggle is musically portrayed by the separation of varying compositional material into their own brief sections, each being short and/or unfinished. These sections are interjected with the performer fidgeting in various ways. – Han Hitchen
용선 Yong-Seon for voice, tenor saxophone, and percussion
김유신 Youshin Gim
The word 용선 “Yong-Seon” is known as a part of the Korean ritual ceremony 굿GŪT. 용선 Yong-Seon is a boat that transports the deceased from the living world to the spiritual world. This piece has three parts following the ceremony – 1) the boat (Yong-Seon) starts its journey to the spiritual world – I wanted to create a solemn atmosphere in the opening of the piece. All instruments, including voice express grieving through sharing the similar musical gestures 2) the deceased and the living accept the loss/death and celebrate life – with quicker and more lively rhythmic gestures, the piece makes a sudden transition from the somber to festive. 3) sending off the deceased – a waterphone is used to signal that the deceased reached the spiritual place. – Youshin Gim
text
나무아미타 Namu Amita (I faithfully depend on Amitabha to guide me… )
길이나닦세 Gil-Ina ddak se (pave the pathway)
금일망재여 Geum-Il Mang-Jae yeo (dear deceased)
씻김받고 Sit-Kkim Bat go (let’s get cleansed)
극락가세 Geuk-rak Ga se (and go to the paradise)
positiveIncrease for piano solo, with pianist speaking
Howie Kenty
This piece was composed in 2020, during the strange and frightening depths of the pandemic’s first year. It is named for one of the fields in the COVID Tracking Project’s freely downloadable dataset: positiveIncrease, the daily increase in new positive cases reported nationwide. This piece takes that data from its first available date, January 22, 2020, through August 22, 2020, tracking seven months of trends in the spread of the virus. The number of new daily cases begins as an initial trickle in January, rapidly accelerating to a peak around the beginning of April. It dips slightly by the middle of June following widespread lockdowns and other safety precautions, ascends even more rapidly to July’s peak following large-scale nationwide reopening, and drops slightly through August following the re-institution of some preventative measures. These daily numbers and the overall contour of this graph are mapped to many parameters within the piece, determining overall form, tempo, pitch, dynamics, and to some extent register, with a number of musical liberties taken. In general, each quarter note’s worth of time corresponds to one day, with not infrequent rhythmic stretching and compression in service of musical gestures, and to express the subjective experience of living through this bizarre time.
Though the COVID Tracking Project stopped collecting data in 2021, information on it and the public data set used can be found here: https://covidtracking.com/data.
and my body’s cells keep ticking for voice, alto saxophone, and piano
Robert McClure
i. where atoms hover, quivering
ii. and my body’s cells keep ticking
iii. disappear to sky
and my body’s cells keep ticking was commissioned by Eunmi Ko and the Contemporary Art Music Project (Tampa, FL). It is a set of three songs with text by Alix Anne Shaw that prompts a reassessment of the self. Who am I? And what is “I”? Am I my body’s “tangled microbiome”? Am I the images I select to represent myself? Am I my faulty memories? These ideas are juxtaposed with images of organisms for who “I” is not a useful construct: trees, mosses, fungi, etc. Shaw writes, “Because we are not, after all, such isolates of mind, not lonesome kings enthroned above the body’s unattended factories.”
Text for these songs was excerpted from Shaw’s poems “Rebewilderment”, “The Core is Molten, Though the Crust Has Cooled”, and “Where Truth Lies”. – Robert McClure
basil eyes for piano and recorder keyboard
Tyler Kline
Composed for one performer to play on recorder keyboard and piano, basil eyes is a short piece inspired by a small, sweet animal with pale green eyes. The primary musical idea is a blending between the two instruments where the recorder keyboard sound blossoms out of the decaying piano resonance. – Tyler Kline
at the end of for tenor saxophone, percussion, and piano
문석민 Seokmin Mun
The year 2020 was eventful globally and personally. I had difficult times on a personal level. Among all troubles, what frustrated me the most was lack of creative juices and motivation. The artist’s block kept me from composing, I did not seem to have either mental capacity or time to work on a new piece. In 2021, Project GŪT offered me momentum to compose a new work. at the end of rescued me from the long tunnel of frustration. I hope the momentum will never be ceased, so I can keep making music… –Seokmin Mun
COMPOSERS
The creative output of Anthony R. Green (b. 1984; composer, performer, social justice artist) includes musical and visual creations, interpretations of original works or works in the repertoire, collaborations, educational outreach, and more. Behind all of his artistic endeavors are the ideals of equality and freedom, which manifest themselves in diverse ways in a composition, a performance, a collaboration, or social justice work. As a composer, his works have been presented in over 25 countries across six continents by various internationally acclaimed soloists and ensembles, with support from the Argosy Foundation, the Fromm Foundation, and the National Endowment for the Arts, among others. Venues where his many projects have been presented include Jordan Hall (Boston), Symphony Space and Lincoln Center (New York), Spike Gallery (Berlin), the Milwaukee Art Museum, Cadogan Hall (London), and Elbphilharmonie (Hamburg, Germany), amongst many others. As a performer, he has appeared at venues in the US, Cyprus, France, the Netherlands, Germany, Switzerland, Norway, Turkey, South Korea, Ghana, and more, premiering original works and working with student, emerging, and established composers such as David Liptak, Renée C. Baker, and George Crumb for various performance presentations. He is the co-founder of Castle of Our Skins: celebrating Black Artistry through Music. Currently, he serves as visiting professor at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland (Glasgow), and is also faculty of the Cortona Sessions as both a lecturer and an administrator.
Sangbin Rhie is a composer and computer music theory researcher. He writes music for all media and ensembles. Sangbin’s musical interest ranges from functional harmony to audio distortion and music of Iannis Xenakis, Luigi Nono, and György Kurtág.
His music having been described as “marvelously intriguing” and “evocative” in a Fanfare review, composer and improviser Benjamin D. Whiting is perpetually seeking to find new and exciting ways in which technology can assist composers and performers by augmenting their expressive and creative potential.
Whiting has presented his electroacoustic work at major conferences and festivals across North America and Europe. He has given lectures, workshops, and concerts at public institutions, such as the University of Central Florida, the University of South Florida, Wayne State University, and the University of Chicago. In addition to his activity as a composer, Whiting is a co-founding member and Vice President of the non-profit organization, the Contemporary Art Music Project (CAMP).
Recordings of his music can be found on the ABLAZE Records, Navona Records, Music From SEAMUS, Odd Pop, and Neuma Records labels.
Soobin Lee is a composer and entrepreneur based in Seoul, South Korea. Soobin collaborates with film directors, dancers, writers, and other artists and curates a wide range of music from traditional repertoire to new compositions for concerts. His works have been premiered/performed at Festival Présences 2023 (France), the USF New Music Festival, the University of North Georgia, the Contemporary Art Music Project, and among others. Soobin was the executive director for “Project GŪT (remote collaboration and virtual premiere concert),” “Project 1.5ºC & 34.7ºF (six world premieres in Seoul)”, and more. He has worked with many soloists and new music ensembles, including Ensemble Modern, TIMF Ensemble, Contemporary Art Music Project (CAMP), Odelya Trio, among others. Currently, he is on the faculty at the Korea National Institute for the Gifted in Arts. Since 2020, his works have been published by BabelScores.
Emily Koh (b.1986) is a Singaporean composer based in Atlanta, Georgia whose music reimagines everyday experiences by sonically expounding tiny oft-forgotten details, and explores binary states such as extremities/boundaries and activity/stagnation. She especially enjoys collaborating with creatives of other specializations.
Described as “the future of composing” (The Straits Times, Singapore), Emily is the recipient of awards such as the Copland House Residency Award, Young Artist Award, Yoshiro Irino Memorial Prize, ASCAP Morton Gould Young Composer Award, Prix D’Ete (Peabody), and the Macagnoni Prize for Innovative Research (University of Georgia). Her work is supported by the National Endowment of the Arts, National Arts Council (Singapore), Opera America, New Music USA, MacDowell, the Barlow Endowment for Music Composition, American Composers’ Orchestra, Women’s Philharmonic Advocacy and others. Described as “beautifully eerie” (New York Times), and “subtly spicy” (Baltimore Sun), Emily’s music has been performed around the world, and can be heard on the Innova, XAS, New Focus, and Ravello labels.
Described as “bright with energy and lilting lyricism” (New York Classical Review), “dramatic, highly strung” (Fanfare), and “utterly rich with purpose and heart” (Huffington Post), Dorothy Hindman’s music has been featured at Carnegie Hall, the United Nations, Amsterdam’s Muziekgebouw, Havana Contemporary Music Festival, and more. Commissions include Miami Light Project Here and Now 2021, NODUS 2022 Fundacio Caixa Castello, Bent Frequency, Empire City Men’s Chorus, Corona Guitar Kvartet, and more. Awards and grants include Mellon Foundation, Miami-Dade County Department of Cultural Affairs, Alabama State Council for the Arts, Seaside Escape2Create Fellowships, the American Prize, Iron Composer, the Nancy Van de Vate International Composition Prize for Opera, International Society of Bassists Composition Competition, NACUSA, and more. Her works are available on innova, Albany, and Capstone, and at Universal Edition, Subito, NoteNova, and dorn/Needham. She is Associate Professor at the Frost School of Music.
Han Hitchen (b. 1997) is a composer who writes for a wide range of genres, including various acoustic settings, and electroacoustic works for fixed media and live processing.
Hitchen’s music has been presented at several festivals and workshops, including MUSLAB: Complex Planet, New Music Mosaic’s TImbre: Vol 3, Penn State New-Music Festival and Symposium, MuSE Sound of Arts Festival, the International Computer Music Conference (ICMC), and Electronic Music Midwest (EMM). His music has been performed throughout the United States, as well as in Ecuador, South Korea, Japan, and Mexico.
Hitchen is pursuing an MM in Composition at Penn State, where they study with Baljinder Sekhon and Sarah Genevieve Burghart Rice. He also holds a Professional Performance Certificate in Music Composition and Technology from Penn State University and a Bachelor of Music in Composition from the University of South Florida.
Born in Yeongwol, South Korea, composer/pianist Youshin Gim’s music was performed at several festivals, including Pan Music Festival Korea, St. Petersburg Music Festival, Barcelona Modern 22, VIPA, Seoul New Music Festival, among others. His music was performed by SONOR XXI ensemble (composer-in-residence), Klangforum Wien, Spółdzielnia Muzyczna Contemporary Ensemble, Ensemble EINS, Mivos Quartet, Bulgarian Symphony Orchestra, Syntagma Duo, Contemporary Art Music Project, and more. Youshin holds degrees from the Korea National University of Arts for Bachelor of Music Composition(2015-19) and Musikene: Centro Superior Música País Vasco(2022/23). In 2024, he will pursue his Master’s Degree at Hochschule für Musik Carl Maria von Weber Dresden(Germany) under the guidance of Mark Andre, Stefan Prins, and Manos Tsangaris. Youshin has been the artistic director of the Yeongwol Contemporary Music Festival since 2022.
Howie Kenty, aka Hwarg, is a Brooklyn-based composer and performer. His music, called “remarkable” with “astonishing poetic power” (International Compendium Prix Ars Electronica), is stylistically diverse, embracing contemporary classical, electronic, rock, ambient, and sound art, often with multimedia elements.
Besides regularly composing and performing his own music, Howie is half of Ju-eh+Hwarg, whose The Living Dying Opera was “a profoundly entertaining, interactive night of operatic fun” (New York Music Daily). He plays guitar and composes in the progressive rock group The Benzene Ring, whose Crossing the Divide was hailed as “a true masterpiece” and a “gorgeous piece of experimental rock/metal” (Recyclable Sounds; Progarchy). Howie earned his Ph.D. in Music Composition from Stony Brook University and is on the faculty at Purchase College. Past highlights include a Carnegie Hall performance by PUBLIQuartet, first prize at Shanghai Electronic Music Week, a residency at Copland House, and performing his raucous experimental political art at National Sawdust.
Robert McClure’s music attempts to discover beauty in unconventional places using non-traditional means. His work has been featured at festivals including NYCEMF, Beijing Modern Music Festival, ISCM, TIES, SEAMUS, and ICMC. His works may be found through ADJ∙ective New Music, Bachovich Music Publications, Resolute Music Publications, and Tapspace Publications as well as on ABLAZE, Albany, and New Focus Record labels.
Robert received his doctorate from Rice University’s Shepherd School of Music. Robert has previously held positions at the Shanghai Conservatory of Music and Soochow University in Suzhou, China. He serves as Associate Professor of Composition/Theory at Ohio University.
Tyler Kline (b. 1991; he/him/his) is a composer, audio engineer, and radio broadcaster whose work is deeply influenced by the ideals of Wabi-Sabi, a Japanese aesthetic and worldview that values transience, imperfection, and impermanence. This manifests in Tyler’s music in a variety of ways: the use of extended sounds/techniques in order to obscure musical textures; rhythmic dissonance that disconnects melodic and harmonic lines from the overall pulse; and fleeting gestures that evoke the natural world. His work has been performed widely throughout the United States and internationally in 17 countries. In addition to his work as a composer, Tyler is the host and producer of Modern Notebook, a nationally-distributed weekly radio program highlighting the work of living composers.
Seokmin Mun is interested in discovering unusual sonorities from instrumental/vocal extended techniques.
Seokmin’s works have been performed by the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra, Divertimento Ensemble, Ensemble Mise-En, mdi ensemble, Neo Quartet, Trio Catch, Ensemble TIMF, Studio for New Music Ensemble, and others. His music has been presented at Festivalis Druskomanija, Mise-En Festival, Newmusic Week Roma, Contemporanea 2018, PAN Music Festival, and Studio2021. He is the winner of the Composition Competition of Weimarer Frühjarstage, Città di Udine International Composition Competition, International Edison Denisov Young Composers Competition, and Sun River Prize. His mentors have included Martin Bresnick, Unsuk Chin, Francesco Filidei, Michael Finnissy, Fabien Lévy, Erik Lund, Dieter Mack, and Simone Movio.
Seokmin collaborates with Asian traditional instrumentalists, visual artists, choreographers, and other artists.
PERFORMERS
Jamie Jordan, voice
Jamie Jordan devotes herself to music of the 20th and 21st centuries. Ms Jordan has collaborated with NY Philharmonic musicians on CONTACT!, the Orchestra’s new-music series, and their chamber music series at Merkin Hall. Other ensembles she has worked with include American Composers Orchestra, Bob Becker Ensemble, Ensemble Signal, Experiments in Opera, LA Phil New Music Group, Mantra Percussion, New York New Music Ensemble, Talea Ensemble, Talujōn.
Jamie has appeared at the American Academy in Rome, Cornell University, Eastman School of Music, Ithaca College, University of Notre Dame, New York University, Syracuse University, University of Maryland, and University of Pennsylvania, among many others. She has performed with Alia Musica Pittsburgh, Baltimore Lieder Weekend, Bargemusic, Bang on a Can Marathon, Brooklyn Philharmonic Chamber Music Series, CAMP (Contemporary Art Music Project, Tampa, Fla.), FeNAM (Festival of New American Music, Sacramento State University), June in Buffalo, Music on the Edge (University of Pittsburgh), NYCEMF, NOCCO (Seattle), Resonant Bodies Festival, String Orchestra of Brooklyn, and Unruly Music Festival (University of Milwaukee).
Jamie Jordan is profoundly grateful for the profound vocal artistry and wisdom of Judith Kellock, Lauralyn Kolb, and Susan Davenny-Wyner. She is passionate about music literacy and teaches piano and voice throughout the NY metropolitan area.
Zach Hale, percussion (Child on the Death of Songs and Yong-Seon)
Zachary Hale is a percussionist, composer, and software developer who bridges the gaps between music technology and music performance. After having played and recorded with the McCormick Percussion Group as well as in Broadway theatre productions such as Legally Blonde and South Pacific, he moved to Montréal, Quebec to study with Aiyun Huang and Fabrice Marandola. While in Montréal he performed with Ensemble Paramirabo, Ciao Rhino, Sixtrum, Architek Percussion, and the McGill Percussion Ensemble. He holds a Bachelor of Music in percussion, composition, and electronic music from the University of South Florida, and a Master of Music in percussion from McGill University. He currently resides in Clearwater, FL.
Kevin von Kampen, percussion (Child on the Death of Songs and Untitled VI)
Kevin von Kampen is an active percussionist and educator based in Tampa, FL. He is currently on the music faculty at the University of South Florida teaching percussion. He holds a Doctor of Musical Arts degree in Percussion Performance from the University of Cincinnati College–Conservatory of Music, a Master of Music in Percussion Performance from the University of South Florida, and a Bachelor of Music Education from the University of Nebraska – Lincoln. Kevin was previously the Percussion Director for the University of South Florida Herd of Thunder Marching Band, a percussion instructor for the University of Cincinnati Bearcat Marching Band, the director of the Cincinnati Youth Percussion Ensemble through CCM Prep, and a middle school and high school music teacher in the Hillsborough County Public School District.
As a performer, Kevin is active in solo, concerto, chamber, and large ensemble works. He appears on Baljinder Sekhon: Places and Times released by Innova Recordings, Globe, Travel, Homeland released by Ravello Records, the McCormick Percussion Group recordings Plot: Music for Unspecified Instrumentation and Plugged and Unplugged: The Music of Ciro Scotto both released by Ravello Records, and Patterns: Chamber Works released by Navona Records. Kevin is also active in commercial music, performing with touring artists such as “Weird Al” Yankovic, Michael Bolton, Irish Tenors, and Michael Amante, and with shows such as “In Dreams” – Roy Orbison Hologram Tour, Video Games Live, 4U: A Symphonic Celebration of Prince, Cirque Musica, and Rocktopia. His primary teachers include Rusty Burge, Jim Culley, Robert McCormick, Al Rometo, Tony Falcone, and Dana Murray.
Robert McCormick, percussion (at the end of)
Robert McCormick is currently a freelance musician and founder/director of the McCormick Percussion Group. He served as principal percussionist/assistant timpanist with the Florida Orchestra for 20 seasons and taught at the University of South Florida for 45 years. He is a former member of the Harry Partch Ensemble and often performs with high-profile artists of all genres. In 2010, he conducted the premiere performance of Chan Hae Lee’s Korean folk opera Simcheongga at the National Center of Performing Arts in Seoul. In March 2014 Robert performed the world premiere of Baljinder Sekhon’s Double Percussion Concerto at Carnegie Hall with percussionist Lee Hinkle. His myriad recordings with the McCormick Percussion Group, McCormick Duo and others continually receive the highest critical acclaim from composers and scholars. Robert was the founder/host of the annual McCormick Marimba Festival which attracted major artists from around the world. Robert was the 2006 recipient of the Florida Music Educator of the Year Award; the 2007 Grand Prize in the Keystone Percussion Composition Award, the 2010 University Distinguished Teacher Award and the 2015 Percussive Arts Society Lifetime Achievement in Education Award. He has also received several Global Music Awards for his CD recordings, many published on the Ravello label and distributed by Naxos. Bob is most proud of the many highly successful students he has had the opportunity to work with over the years.
Katherine Weintraub, saxophone
Dr. Katherine Weintraub (a native of Sarasota, Florida) is a decorated performer and passionate educator. She has been praised by composer Libby Larson for her “technical brilliance” and her “uncanny ability to communicate the music directly to the heart of the listener”. Dr. Weintraub is currently a private studio instructor and freelance performer residing in Tampa, Florida. She also serves as the Adjunct Professor of Saxophone at The University of South Florida and Southeastern University in Lakeland, Florida. From 2016-2018, Dr. Weintraub served as the Visiting Assistant Professor of Saxophone at Florida State University. She has been named winner of several international competitions, including the 2020 Matthew Ruggiero International Woodwind Competition and the 2014 International Saxophone Symposium and Competition. Dr. Weintraub received her Doctorate of Musical Arts (with Performer’s Certificate) from the Eastman School of Music (where she studied with Dr. Chien-Kwan Lin), and her Bachelor’s and Master’s of Music from the University of Michigan (where she studied with Donald Sinta). She is also a Selmer Performing Artist.
Eunmi Ko, piano
Hailed as “exceedingly interesting” by the New York Concert Review and “kaleidoscopic” by the San Francisco Classical Voice, pianist/entrepreneur Eunmi Ko concertizes as a recitalist and chamber musician throughout Asia, Europe, and the Americas. As a sought-after collaborator and champion of new music, she works with contemporary composers, ensembles, and performers from around the world. Ko holds graduate degrees (MM and DMA) from the Eastman School of Music. She is the Founder and President of the Contemporary Art Music Project (CAMP).