Miranda Cuckson, violin
“The title comes from a soliloquy from Shakespeare’s The Tempest, and the piece is very much like a soliloquy, with the electronics responding to the ideas stated by the violin. These ideas are impassioned and expansive, and Ms. Cuckson delivers them accordingly.” (Steve Hicken, burning ambulance)
Elizabeth McNutt, flute, and Esther Lamneck, clarinet
As a ferocious wind storm spins up all things in its path, The Tornado Project, conceived by composers Ricardo Climent and Paul Wilson, cuts a path through the repertoire of 21st-century electroacoustic music, presenting a collection of works for flute, clarinet, and computer-generated sound that explore the chaotic beauty of this trio. With performances by two American wind virtuosi – clarinetist Esther Lamneck and flutist Elizabeth McNutt – these works showcase the skills of the musicians, their dynamic relationships with the computer, and the composers’ innovative, colorful, and resourceful styles.
Mark Hetzler, trombone
A wonderful collection featuring the trombonist, composer, and multimedia artist Mark Hetzler, released in 2010. My piece Arcturus was commissioned and premiered by Mark, who performs it with a richly layered abstract video of his own construction.
Esther Lamneck, tárogató
“Robert Rowe provides a fitting continuation of this reflective quality apparently so characteristic of the instrument in his work Shells (1992). Here the tárogató is paired with a computer running the composer’s interactive environment, Cypher. The tárogató’s leaps, slides, and rapid gesticulations are paired with ostinato reactions and accompanying drones and counterpoint as Cypher listens to the instrument’s performance and joins in with a variety of textural and timbral contributions. There are several very successful passages in the work where a balance is reached between the respective contributions of the tárogató and Cypher, and the final moments of the work find Cypher effectively shadowing the restrained, descending melodic lines of the wind instrument.” [Laurie Radford review in Computer Music Journal 29:4 (pp. 84-85)].
Michael Lowenstern, bass clarinet
Shells, the same work performed on tárogató by Esther Lamneck on the recording above, here receives a beautiful and sensitive interpretation by Michael Lowenstern on bass clarinet.
Mari Kimura, violin
Maritime is performed by the artist for whom it was written, the composer and interactive performer extraordinaire Mari Kimura.
“Robert Rowe’s Submarine is one of the most picturesque works on the disc. The signal processing seems tightly controlled while maintaining a healthy amount of spontaneity. This work also takes advantage of Ms. Kimura’s “subharmonic” technique in which she is able to play her G string an octave lower by some mystical bowing method. The growly low Gs are peppered throughout the CD but are most featured on this selection.” [Sequenza 21 review]
Nancy Cirillo, violin & Sandra Hebert, piano
Le Chant du Monde LDC 278051/52
Live recording of Flood Gate with the premiere performers, Nancy Cirillo and Sandra Hebert, released on a disc of the winners of the 1990 Bourges International Electroacoustic Music Competition. Flood Gate won in the “live electroacoustic” category (“musique electroacoustique en direct”).