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No Exit: “Surreal Games” (Oct. 14)

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by Mike Telin

To celebrate their 15th anniversary No Exit has created their most ambitious project to date. Their season-long series Surreality encompasses a range of artistic media to present an immersive, multidisciplinary exploration of surrealism as expressed in music, art, film, poetry, literature, and performance art.

The series kicked off with “Surreal Games,” which took its inspiration from the parlor games and thought exercises employed by the Surrealists. The program featured world premieres of musical works interspersed with poetry, as well as a corresponding art installation titled Collaborage, which was on view at Heights Arts. I attended the performance at SPACES on October 14.

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Surreality: No Exit explores the irrational, illogical, and inexplicable

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by Mike Telin

What does someone mean when they say, “Now that was surreal.” Well, that depends. “One of the things about surrealism is that it’s really an ideology,” No Exit artistic director Timothy Beyer said during an interview. “It’s not a style that is attached to a methodology, therefore you can apply it to almost anything.

To celebrate their 15th anniversary No Exit has created their most ambitious project to date. Enter Surreality, a season-long series that encompasses a range of artistic media to present an immersive, multidisciplinary exploration of surrealism as expressed in music, art, film, poetry, literature and performance art. “We hope people will enjoy exploring the irrational, illogical, inexplicable, strange, and utterly fantastical world that is surrealism.”

If you think this may be too academic, not to worry, “It’s an experiential thing,” Beyer said. “Whether you know a lot or nothing, you should be able to enjoy it. We even say in our program note: ‘this will tell you everything or nothing that you need to know to comprehend the following events.’ Surrealism does cover the gamut of the arts and more, and I think that has been a big part of its lasting relevance.” [Read more…]

No Exit: season highlights at Heights Arts (May 13)

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by Kevin McLaughlin

No Exit gave another of their enticing concerts on Saturday in one of Cleveland’s friendliest of venues, the Heights Arts Gallery on Lee Road. Highlighting selections from the ensemble’s 2022-2023 season, the May 13 program featured music for solo clarinet, string duo, and percussion, all written during the last two decades or so.

If there was anything to complain about, it was the loud air fan in the gallery ceiling that just…never…stopped. The lasting impression of this No Exit concert, however, was of interesting new works played by musicians who really knew what they were doing.

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No Exit presents andPlay

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This article is posted with the permission of No Exit

andPlay is the New York City-based duo of Maya Bennardo (violin) and Hannah Levinson (viola), who first met as students at Oberlin Conservatory. The two musician-educators are committed to expanding the existing violin/viola repertoire by commissioning new works (over 40 to date) and actively collaborating with living artists. On Thursday, May 11 at 7:00 pm the duo will present their latest project Translucent Harmonies at SPACES. Th concert is free

We caught up with andPlay to discuss past and present projects, including Translucent Harmonies, their immersive No Exit Presents concert program of two complementary works composed in just intonation. [Read more…]

No Exit: a conversation with composer Chris Neiner

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This weekend, No Exit continues their series of concerts featuring world premieres by Robert Honstein, Victoria Cheah, and Connie Converse. Performances are on Friday, April 14 at 7:00 pm at Heights Arts and Saturday, April 15 at 7:30 pm at Kent State University.

The program also includes the world premiere of Chris Neiner’s Time Machine Hyperboles. I caught up with the Cleveland-based composer by phone and began our conversation by asking him to expand on his composer note, where he says: “….it’s a long title for a short piece, but it captures the underpinning duality of the music and its non sequitur behavior.”

Chris Neiner: The piece has two distinct types of music. One is very fast — kinesthetic and rambunctious. The other is the opposite — very slow and drawn out, fragile and quiet. Going back and forth between the two is almost like a movie with jump cuts between different kinds of music.

Mike Telin: You do compare it to Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey.

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No Exit to present April Series

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For their April series, No Exit will present a collection of diverse new works from some remarkable artists. Featured on the program will be world premiere pieces by Victoria Cheah, Jeremy Siskind (a “shining example of chamber music”– Downbeat), Robert Honstein ( “smart, appealing works”—The New Yorker) and Cleveland-based composer Chris Neiner.

The program will also feature two extraordinary special guests, pianist Shuai Wang (“her musicality flowed effortlessly, undaunted by any of the dense technical work”—Cleveland Classical) and vocalist Lauren Pearl (“Soulful and engrossing depth of tone”—The Philadelphia Inquirer).

The program will be presented on Friday, April 7 at 8:00 pm at SPACES, Friday, April 14 at 7:00 pm at Heights Arts, and on Saturday, April 15 at 7:30 pm at Kent State University School of Music. All performances are free. [Read more…]

Stephen Haluska: Harpist, Improviser, and Experimentalist  

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This article is posted with the permission of No Exit

On Saturday, March 4 at 8:00 pm, at SPACES, No Exit Presents will host harpist Stephan Haluska in a free concert that will include music by Carol Finer, Yasunao Tone, Rhodri Davies, and Stephan Haluska.

No Exit’s Laura King caught up with the improviser and experimental musician.

Laura King: The harp has ancient origins and is such a unique instrument. Can you give us a short overview of its early manifestation in Mesopotamia and its evolution?

Stephan Haluska: What a question about the harp that I don’t get asked very often. Let’s simply define a harp. We might say it’s a plucked instrument with strings stretched between a resonating body and supported by some kind of post. Using this definition, anthropologists generally regard harps as one of the most primitive instruments invented. Harps were independently invented all over the world, in ancient Egypt, sub Saharan, East Asia, and I believe the oldest were found in Mesopotamia. Those Mesopotamian harps evolved into the harps described in the Bible and spread to ancient Greece, which then further spread throughout the European continent.

In medieval Europe, there was a desire to play more complex music on the harp and various developments were added—first they added more strings and then added sharpening levers. Pedal harps, the kind of harp used in classical music and seen in orchestras were developed by various instrument builders throughout the 18th century and by the end of the century, Sebastian Erard refined the design into what we consider to be the modern pedal harp.

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Published on ClevelandClassical.com March 1, 2023.   

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No Exit and Zeitgeist: together again

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by Mike Telin

It’s no secret that the pandemic caused many arts organizations to alter their plans. And while presenting concerts online was a suitable and often enjoyable alternative, they were no replacement for the shared experience of live performances.

On Thursday, February 2 at 8:00 pm at Cleveland State University’s Drinko Recital Hall, No Exit and St. Paul’s Zeitgeist will once again share the stage. “This is the first time in a few years that we’ll be performing together live and in person, and we’re really looking forward to it,” No Exit artistic director Timothy Beyer said during a recent telephone conversation.

The concerts are part of the two ensembles’ annual “Here and There” concert series. No Exit will perform a recent composition by Luis Daniel Jiménez Rojas and give the world premiere of works by Philip Blackburn and Jonathan Posthuma. Zeitgeist will present music by Alvin Lucier and Frederic Rzewski, and the ensembles will collectively perform George Lewis’s Shadowgraph, 5. The program will be repeated on Saturday at 7:00 pm at Heights Arts, and both are free.

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No Exit to host Genkin Philharmonic

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by Mike Telin

No Exit’s season-opening trifecta of concerts concludes on Friday, November 4 at 8:00 pm at the Bop Stop with the Genkin Philharmonic, a ten-piece electroacoustic chamber ensemble based in Buffalo. The concert is free.

Founded in 2000 by trumpeter Jon Nelson, the group was originally conceived as a class at the University at Buffalo — a class that would provide an opportunity to study and perform contemporary music that draws on multiple genres as well as improvisation. Today the Genkin draws its membership from a pool of musicians including UB Faculty and alumni, the Buffalo Philharmonic, and the Hallwalls Arts Collective.

What makes the Genkin Philharmonic distinct from most contemporary music ensembles is what they play. Their repertoire includes arrangements that preserve the technical virtuosity of music by the likes of Jimi Hendrix and Frank Zappa, the creation of original works by living composers, and arrangements of works from the classical canon that remain faithful to the composers’ scores.

“We’re kind of different from everything else out there,” Nelson said during a telephone conversation. [Read more…]

No Exit kicks off season 
with a quartet of events

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by Mike Telin

During the past couple of years, No Exit has taken the online concert format to a new level. As ClevelandClassical.com’s Jarrett Hoffman noted: “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.”

Keeping that tradition alive, the ensemble chose to open their 2022-23 season with an online concert in collaboration with St. Paul-based Zeitgeist. “As far as the presentation goes it’s probably the best online concert we’ve ever done,” No Exit artistic director Timothy Beyer said during a recent telephone conversation.

The playlist includes Stephen Dembski’s Alta, Per Nørgård’s Night Descending, and the world premiere of Nasim Khorrassani’s Primary Call. That concert, released last week, is available for viewing on No Exit’s website. Click here to watch. 

Beyer noted that beginning this week, the ensemble will put on its presenter hat. “I’m very excited about the next three events, because each one will be amazing. I know we’re always saying that, but it’s really true.” 

[Read more…]

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