Founded in 2003, Atlanta-based Bent Frequency brings the avant-garde to life through adventurous and socially conscious programming, cross-disciplinary collaborations, and community engagement. One of BF’s primary goals is championing the work of historically underrepresented composers - music by women, composers of color, and LGBTQIA+. Hailed as “one of the brightest new music ensembles on the scene today” by Gramophone magazine, BF engages an eclectic mix of the most adventurous and impassioned players.

PATTERNS & INTERIORS

With special guests: Marc Fleury and Kellen King

This program is supported by the Georgia State University College of the Arts, the City of Atlanta Mayor’s Office of Cultural Affairs, and the Fulton County Board of Commissioners.

Program:

Settle by Sarah HENNIES (b. 1979)

Red by Marc MELLITS (b.1966)

I. Moderately Funky

II. Fast, aggressive, vicious

III. Moderate, with motion

IV. Slow, with motion

V. Moderate, with motion

VI. Fast, obsessive, bombastic, red

Stuart Gerber and Kellen King Percussion

–      Intermission –

Interiors by Church of Space

Marc Fleury synthesizers and electronics, Stuart Gerber percussion

Program Notes:

Settle was one of the first pieces I composed that began over a decade of mining the sonic potential of the vibraphone. Originally composed a simple piece to be played first on a concert to focus listeners for what came next, the instrument quickly revealed itself to be full of rich harmonic potential and strange and beautiful acoustic phenomena. Settle is a foundational piece in my work as a composer and is deeply tied to my identity as an artist and human being.

–Sarah Hennies

Red is comprised of six short movements, each relating to each other much like a baroque suite. The overall structure of all six movements together forms the pacing and strategy of the music. Both Marimbas remain interlocked to one another and create a musical fabric by combining their sonorities in tightly woven patterns. There is no moment in the work where one instrument could survive without the other. Together, these two ‘brothers’ work hand in hand to form a single musical mind. Red was composed entirely in Bucharest, Romania, in the summer of 2008. I was experiencing tremendous and unusual writers block at the time. After struggling with ideas, I met my hero journalist and NPR celebrity, Andrei Codrescu, one night on the streets of Bucharest, completely by chance. I wrote the entire piece in the following week, thus ending my block.

–Marc Mellits

In music patterns are created through repetitive sequences, harmonies, and rhythms, providing a structure that guides the listener through a given sonic landscape. These patterns, whether subtle or pronounced, create a sense of familiarity and organization within a specific piece. Simultaneously, within the music there are hidden dimensions and textures that lie within the sounds created. This interior world shares a profound similarity with the vastness and nature of the universe. Both encapsulate a depth and complexity that extends well beyond immediate perception. Within the intricate tapestry of sound and the vastness of the universe, there exists a spectrum of frequencies, harmonies, and resonances. As sound waves travel through a space, echoing and reverberating, they create an immersive experience and act in a way that mirrors the formations of galaxies, stars, and cosmic events of an ever-expanding universe. Both the space “within” sound and the vastness of the universe invite exploration and contemplation, where the interplay of resonances and vibrations reveals the interconnected beauty of existence.

–Stuart Gerber