SLAM Festival

Presented by Nonsequitur and Washington Composers Forum. In celebration of Hispanic Heritage Month the Seattle Latin-American Music Festival offers three nights of contemporary music by composers hailing from Argentina, Costa Rica, Cuba, Ecuador, Mexico, and Puerto Rico. Conceived and organized by pianist Cristina Valdés, the inaugural SLAM festival features composer-in-residence Carlos Sánchez-Gutiérrez, and some of the Seattle area's most dynamic classical instrumentalists. Read the Seattle Times' preview.

Thursday, September 27; Solo Piano Extravaganza with pianists Amy Rubin, Oksana Ezhokina, Cristina Valdés, Harumi Flesher, and Chadd Merrigan. Program: Astor Piazzolla - Leija’s Game,
Adios Nonino; Egberto Gismonti - Frego; Mauricio Kagel – A Deux Mains; Mario Lavista – Simurg; Tania León – Momentum; Alberto Ginastera – Danzas Argentinas; Roberto Sierra – Piezas Imaginarias; Orlando Jacinto Garcia – Oscurecimiento gradual ; Carlos Sánchez-Gutiérrez - Mano a Mano

Friday, September 28; Seattle Chamber Players with friends Ben Hausmann (oboe), Michael Jinsoo Lim (violin), Matthew Kocmieroski and Rob Tucker (percussion), and Cristina Valdés (piano). Program: Ricardo Zohn-Muldoon - Jácaras; Jorge E. CamposQuartet; Eddie Mora Bermudez – Two Portraits; Sergio Barroso – Sandunga; ; Carlos Sánchez-Gutiérrez – M.E. in Memoriam

Saturday, September 29; Electro-Acoustic Works + More Chamber Music with flutist Paul Taub, violist Melia Watras, violinist Michael Jinsoo Lim, viola, piano and electronics ensemble Dúo Juum, and pianist Cristina Valdés. Program: Dúo Juum - i. Instante crónico; ii. La equivocación de una hoja; iii. Tornillos de la memoria; Nicolas Varchausky - The Chapel Sessions; Mario Davidovsky – Synchronisms No. 9 for violin and tape; Juan Pampin – Nada for viola and live electronics; Carlos Sánchez-Gutiérrez - Twittering Machines for flute and piano

Pilgrimage: a Butoh Mexicano Ritual Dance

Presented by AzucarAcida. In Pilgrimage, AzucarAcida and Diego Piñon offer an open and integrated view into the realm of Butoh Mexicano Ritual Dance. Piñon incorporates over 25 years of experience and practice in the fields of Mexican energetic traditions, Japanese Butoh, ritual dance, contemporary/modern dance and theatre. Pilgrimage features local performers Sheri Brown, Diana Garcia-Snyder, Vanessa Skantze, Alex Haverfield, Ariel Denham, Alan Sutherland, and Nalla Walla with musicians Tiffany Lin (piano), Paul Kukuchi (percussion), Rosalyn deRoos (clarinet), Andy Zadrozny (bass), and Monica Schley (harp).

Gamelan Pacifica

Presented by Nonsequitur. Seattle's venerable Indonesian classical percussion ensemble Gamelan Pacifica, directed by composer and Cornish professor Jarrad Powell, presents Crosscurrents: traditional styles and new directions in gamelan music. They will be joined by renowned Javanese musician and composer Sutrisno Hartana for a program of traditional and contemporary music from Java and the US, including Sutrisno's composition Ganjil, recently commissioned by Gamelan Pacifica as part of a project celebrating 25 years of gamelan in Seattle.

Seattle Composers Salon

The Seattle Composers' Salon is a bi-monthly, informal presentation of new music by Seattle composers, featuring finished works, previews and works-in-progress in a casual setting that allows for discussion and experimentation. Joins us for our season kickoff party with composers Scott Adams, Brad Anderson, Ron Pilcher, Steve Scribner, Hope Wechkin.

Satoko Fujii and Natsuki Tamura

Earshot Jazz and Nonsequitur present the Japanese duo of pianist Satoko Fujii and trumpeter Natsuki Tamura. Pianist/composer Satoko Fujii's music spans many genres, blending jazz, contemporary classical, and traditional Japanese folk music into an innovative synthesis. Trumpeter/composer Natsuki Tamura is internationally recognized for his ability to blend a unique vocabulary of extended techniques with touching jazz lyricism.

Dean Moore & Sha’ari Garfinkel: Gong Music

An evening of collaborative gong play with versatile percussionist Dean Moore and music therapist Sha’ari Garfinkel, plus a special guest. The audience will be surrounded by gongs and bells of all sizes and shapes from all over the world. Two improvised sets, one of which will be a long, hypnotic meditation. Please feel free to bring a mat and/or pillow to relax on the floor (chairs also provided).

Subtext: Lissa Wolsak & Robert Mittenthal

Presented by Subtext.

Lissa Wolsak lives in Vancouver, BC and is the author of several long poem sequences and essays; Squeezed Light: Collected Works 1994 - 2005 is forthcoming from Station Hill Press in the Fall of 2007 as well as various ana of the forthcoming Of Beings Alone from TinFISH. Robert Mittenthal is a curator of the Subtext reading series. He is author of Martyr Economy, Ready Terms, and the forthcoming chapbook Value Unmapped (Nomados). His poems have appeared in a variety of publications including Golden Handcuffs, Bird Dog, Sugar Mule, W, Alterra, and KSW's Writing Class Anthology.