Composers Concordance in co-production with Access Contemporary Music Present Breaking Halloween

For Immediate Release – New York, NY – On October 31st at 7pm Composers Concordance & Access Contemporary Music present ‘Breaking Halloween’. This salon event, at Kostabi World in Chelsea will feature the Kahlo String Quartet performing the composition ‘Breaking Screens’ by Gabriel Prokofiev as well as his works for cello and electronics, with the composer performing the live electronics. This will be Gabriel’s first event in NYC in over 7 years. The event will also feature works by New York composers Seth Boustead, Dan Cooper, Mark Kostabi and Gene Pritsker. The composition ‘Deal With The Devil’ especially written by Pritsker for this event, will be premiered.

Please join us for this limited seating event at the intimate Kostabi World in Chelsea. This being a Halloween event, audience members are encouraged to come dressed in costume for the occasion.

Listing Information

Composers Concordance / Access Contemporary Music
Breaking Halloween
Monday, October 31st, 2022
7pm ET

Kostabi World
225 W 22nd St, NYC

TICKETS
$20 in advance; $30 at the door
Facebook
Live Stream

Composers:
Seth Boustead, Dan Cooper, Mark Kostabi, Gene Pritsker, Gabriel Prokofiev

Performers:
Gabriel Prokofiev: live electronics
Mark Kostabi: piano
Kahlo String Quartet:
Manuela Romero Gonzalez: violin
Daniela Diaz-Peter: violin
Freddy Contreras: viola
Francis Carr: cello
Breaking Screens is a musical response to important themes of contemporary life in the 2020s: the ubiquity of technology and screens, internet populism, dystopian fears of overpopulation, the climate crisis, and the search for calm and escape into nature. To connect classical music with contemporary culture, I have put classical strings directly interacting with sounds & textures from electronic dance music. So the title Breaking Screens also refers to breaking the barriers between electronic dance and classical dance; breaking down musical boundaries and questioning concepts of what is high or low art; challenging those distinctions which often represent more than just stylistic differences but also racial, social & even political divisions.

Gabriel Prokofiev is composer & producer of electronic & classical music, and founder of Nonclassical label & events, where he is resident DJ. Through Nonclassical, he has been one of the leading proponents of presenting classical music in non-traditional venues, & created remixes of classical which are the central focus of his DJ sets. He has composed 9 concertos; his Concerto for Turntables has been performed by over 30 orchestras word-wide. He cut his musical teeth in the 00s producing electronic music & Grime, before returning to his classical roots with a new urban-influenced vocabulary.

The Kahlo Quartet began its journey around a shared vision that everyone should have access to meaningful musical experiences, and a shared mission to create a bridge between the typical classical canon and Latin American music. Now based in Philadelphia, the Kahlo members work regularly with community partners in pursuit of these core values. For the Kahlo Quartet, success is measured by audience connection and community impact.

Members Audrey Lee (United States), Manuela Romero (Cuba), Freddy Contreras (Venezuela), and Andrea Beltran Landers (Peru) are eager to explore the chamber music repertoire from their respective cultural backgrounds. Because storytelling through music is a living and changing art form, the Kahlo String Quartet actively seeks collaborations with composers around the world.

Staying in rotation for 39 years in NYC is a rare feat. In the case of a new music presenting organization, it requires not only diligence and cognizance of achievements of the past but also an ethic of keeping one’s ear to the ground for emerging stylistic and technological developments, as well as talented new composers on the scene. Composers Concordance,founded in 1984 by Joseph Pehrson and Patrick Hardish, advised by Otto Luening, strives to present contemporary music in innovative ways, with an emphasis on thematic programming. Directors Gene Pritsker and Dan Cooper co-curate the programs and lead the CompCord Ensemble, Chamber Orchestra, String Orchestra, and Big Band. Associate Directors are Milica Paranosic, Peter Jarvis, Debra Kaye, and Seth Boustead. Composers Concordance has also created a Naxos-distributed record label: Composers Concordance Records, co-directed by Peter Jarvis. Composers Concordance’s overriding vision is to promote contemporary music, composers, and new works as a rightful and respected part of society. Good music performed and recorded well, pushing the boundaries of sound and composition.

“Composers Concordance..a veritable New York new music institution of concerts, album production and multiple ensembles under a sweeping, tenacious brand, thriving on the emulsion of contemporary classical, free improv, jazz and rock, overt humor and fearless political statements, all very much in evidence..The ensemble..was masterful throughout.”- John Pietaro, The New York City Jazz Record

“An unwavering force in giving composers exposure through concert bookings and its own record label, the intrepid new-music organization Composers Concordance” – The Brooklyn Rail

“The Composers Concordance folks are unpredictable and at times refreshingly irreverent in a reverent sort of way….ingenious fun” – Classical-Modern Music Review

“Enterprising new music organization” – The New York Times

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