by Mike Telin
Composer and flutist Hong-Da Chin has carved out a unique career. His music is influenced by folk music from his native Malaysia as well as Chinese and Indian cultures. A specialist in contemporary music, he is equally at home on modern and traditional Chinese flutes.
by Mike Telin
Although great strides have been made in audio technology, latency issues (lag in time due to internet connection) still prevent musicians from seamlessly passing musical lines from multiple locations in real-time. In their most recent collaboration, “New Sound Worlds,” Cleveland-based No Exit and St. Paul-based Zeitgeist bring life to a new work by Scott Miller during which members of both ensembles perform from their homes and studios. The concert is available on-demand here.
Aside from that, the beautifully curated program primarily features captivating performances of solo works that are presented in a logical progression of sound and temperament. [Read more…]
by Daniel Hathaway
The new music ensemble No Exit continues its longstanding collaboration with Zeitgeist, their counterparts from Minnesota’s Twin Cities, with “New Sound Worlds,” a free online concert that debuts on Friday, May 21 at 7:00 pm.
No Exit founder and artistic director Timothy Beyer said in a recent phone conversation that the mostly solo works on the program “get outside the traditional mold and deal with sound more than formal structure. They’re immersive, but cerebral, and they also force more active listening.”
The exception is Frederic Rzewski’s Down by the Riverside, the piano work that Nicholas Underhill will play at the beginning of the program. “He presents the tune in kind of a literal way, then he goes nuts,” Beyer said. [Read more…]
by Jarrett Hoffman
Plenty of pre-recorded concerts have offered audiences some sort of new and compelling experience. But few organizations have mined that format with as much joy and silliness — and in general, personality — as Cleveland’s new music ensemble No Exit. That trend continues with their latest video, released on March 26 and centered around music by Cleveland-area composers.
You won’t want to miss the opening remarks, which turn the obligatory into a comedy routine. One of the best lines delivered by the shadowy head of artistic director Tim Beyer: “Recently, we’ve been flooded with letters from little boys and girls from around the country, all of them asking the same question: Tim, how can we give money to No Exit?”
by Daniel Hathaway
New music concerts can run the risk of sinking under the weight of their own self-importance, especially when “world premieres” are involved. Happily, while No Exit takes itself seriously, it goes about its business with a redemptive playfulness, as demonstrated in several of the entries in the hour-long concert that debuted on the ensemble’s YouTube channel on January 29.
Artistic director Timothy Beyer set the tone for the opening work by Jeremy Rapaport-Stein, appearing like the floating head of the Wizard of Oz in a quasi-film noir introduction. Beset with a parched throat, he turned the emcee job over to a ventriloquist’s dummy, who carried on in time-honored vaudeville style while Beyer drank a glass of water. [Read more…]
by Mike Telin
“Like for a lot of ensembles, this season turned out differently than what we had imagined it would be,” No Exit artistic director Timothy Beyer said during a recent telephone conversation. “All of the music we had planned, we couldn’t do. They were all ensemble pieces, and we are not getting together as an ensemble this season, so we had to commission solo pieces on the quick — we needed to find composers who would not only write something good but also deliver it on time.”
On Friday, January 29 at 7:00 pm, No Exit will present “New Year, New Works — a Virtual Concert + Commentary Experience.” The program will feature world premieres by Tyler Adamthwaite, Inga Chinilina, and Jeremy Rapaport-Stein as well as music by Iannis Xenakis and Giancinto Scelsi. The free performance and program book are available on the ensemble’s website and Facebook page.
“Tyler, Inga, and Jeremy are very gifted and wrote some interesting pieces,” Beyer said. “I’m sure that listeners are going to really enjoy what they experience.” [Read more…]
by Mike Telin
At a time when just about everything is being scaled down, the one-hour concert sans intermission has become the norm, which is, quite honestly, a good thing. In their latest pre-recorded concert that debuted on November 27, No Exit takes things a step further. At 30 minutes in length, “Concert à la miniature” features solos and duos of five minutes or less, and the engaging diversity of the program coupled with stellar performances by members of the ensemble is a testimony to the cliché that good things come in small packages. Click here to access the performance on demand. [Read more…]
by Jarrett Hoffman
When multiple forms of art come together in a single work, there is the potential for something fascinating to unfold, but there are also unique challenges that arise. Both sides of that coin are on display in Julie and Cheri Johnson’s recent fusion of narrative and music, Crocus Hill Ghost Story (2017), which the St. Paul-based new music ensemble Zeitgeist performed on November 13 in a pre-recorded concert presented by Cleveland’s No Exit.
by Mike Telin
Friday the 13th — the mere mention of this day conjures up fear for those suffering from triskaidekaphobia. Or perhaps that fear stems from seeing one or more of the twelve slasher films. And, we must not forget that Italian composer Gioachino Rossini died on that most unlucky day.
On Friday, November 13 at 7:00 pm, St. Paul-based Zeitgeist will present Crocus Hill Ghost Story, the first of three broadcasts as part of the “Here and There 2020” collaboration with Cleveland-based No Exit. Listeners can access the free, pre-recorded performance at No Exit’s website or Facebook page on the night of the concert.
During a recent telephone conversation, No Exit artistic director Timothy Beyer confessed that the date is a coincidence. He also noted that this year is different from the previous “Here and There” collaborations. “Since we can’t get together to perform, Friday will be only Zeitgeist. Later this month, we (No Exit) will perform alone, and in January we’ll do an online concert together.”
Crocus Hill Ghost Story is a tale about a house possessed. Inspired by the author’s experiences of living in a St. Paul mansion during the 1980s, the piece follows the relationship between two longtime friends, and how that relationship evolves as they find themselves in the midst of a haunting. The work features an original story by Cheri Johnson, music by Julie Johnson, sound design by Eric M.C. Gonzalez, and video by FIX Agency. Performers include Heather Barringer and Patti Cudd (percussion), Pat O’Keefe (woodwinds), Jill Dawe (piano), and Krisanne Weiss (narration) of Zeitgeist.
by Mike Telin
With the onslaught of streamed concerts, whether live or pre-recorded, ensembles are now faced with the task of deciding how to present themselves on-screen to an at-home audience.
On Friday, October 2, No Exit debuted their 12th season with a pre-recorded program featuring a winning variety of music that showcased each of the members performing from their homes. As we have come to expect from the ensemble, the playing was superb, and the sound and video were high quality. But it was the production’s “film noir” concept that seamlessly wove each portion of the show into 65 minutes of viewing pleasure.