Several of composer Gene Pritsker’s compositions, which include the accordion, will be performed in December on the East Coast.
Gene Pritsker is a very prolific composer for various types of instrumental ensembles. He has composed many compositions for and including the accordion. He Gene Pritsker (born 1971) is a Russian-born composer, guitarist, rapper and record producer living in New York City. He moved to the United States with his family in 1979 and lived in Sheapshead Bay Brooklyn.
He attended the Manhattan School of Music from 1990 to 1994 where he studied composition with Giampaolo Bracali. While attending Manhattan School of Music he co-founded the Absolute Ensemble with Kristjan Järvi and formed Sound Liberation, which has released cd’s on Col-legno, Composers Concordance Records and Innova Recordings. Gene’s music has been performed by the Adelaide Symphony, MDR Symphony Orchestra, Athens Camarata, Brooklyn Philharmonic and the Berlin Philharmonic. He worked closely with the Austrian-American jazz keyboardist and composer Joe Zawinul and has orchestrated Hollywood movies.
His compositions are published by Falls House Press, Gold Branch Music, Periferia Sheet Music and Calabrese Brothers Music, LLC.His compositions and performances can be heard on Col Legno, Enja Records, Eutrepe, Wergo, Innova Recordings, Composers’ Concordance Records, and Capstone Records labels. He is a member of Broadcast Music, Inc..
From the website of Gene Pritsker: Composer/guitarist/rapper/Di.J. Gene Pritsker has written over six hundred compositions, including chamber operas, orchestral and chamber works, electro-acoustic music and songs for hip-hop and rock ensembles. All of his compositions employ an eclectic spectrum of styles and are influenced by his studies of various musical cultures.
Composer/guitarist/rapper/Di.J. Gene Pritsker has written over five hundred seventy compositions, including chamber operas, orchestral and chamber works, electro-acoustic music and songs for hip-hop and rock ensembles. All of his compositions employ an eclectic spectrum of styles and are influenced by his studies of various musical cultures.
He is the founder and leader of Sound Liberation; an eclectic hip hop-chamber-jazz-rock-etc. ensemble who have released cd’s on Col-legno, Composers Concordance and Innova Records. He is also the co-director of Composers’ Concordance, a new music presenting organization with a 30 year history of producing concert in NYC. Other organization he is associate with include the Grammy nominated Absolute Ensemble, which he co founded in 1993 with Kristjan Jarvi and has been a composer in residence and guitarist with ever since.
Gene’s music has been performed all over the world at various festivals and by many ensembles and performers, including the The Adelaide Symphony, MDR Symphony, The Athens Camerata, China Philharmonic Orchestra, Brooklyn, Shanghai and Berlin Philharmonics, Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, St. Lukes Chamber Orchestra, Sinfonietta Riga, Orchester des Pfalztheaters, Yomiuri Nippon Symphony Orchestra, Anhaltische Philharmonie as well as such soloists as Anne Akiko Meyers, Lara St. John, Sarah Chang, Kathleen Supové, Martin Kuuskmann and Simone Dinnerstein. He worked closely with jazz fusion legend Joe Zawinul and has orchestrated major Hollywood movies, including ‘Cloud Atlas’, for which he wrote additional music and composed his ”Cloud Atlas Symphony’.
The New York Times described him as “…audacious…multitalented.” Joseph Pehrson, writing in The Music Connoisseur, described Pritsker as “dissolving the artificial boundaries between high brow, low brow, classical, popular musics and elevates the idea that if it’s done well it is great music, regardless of the style or genre”. Raul d’Gama Rose writes in All About Jazz: “Barring the obvious exceptions, much of 21st century composition appears to be thinning in significance, but this might be about to change. Gene Pritsker is one of a very spare handful of composers effecting this change.”
Organizations he is associated with include: Co-director of Composers Concordance & Composers Concordance Records, co-founder/guitarist of Absolute Ensemble and artist-in residence at the Austrian Outreach Festival. Gene Pritsker’s music is published by: Falls House Press, Gold Branch Music, Periferia Sheet Music & Calabrese Brothers music. Recorded on: Col Legno, Enja, Eutrepe, Wergo, Innova , Composers’ Concordance Records, SONY Classical, and Capstone record labels.
December 2017 performances include:
12/2
Rocco Jerry performs ‘Stressor’ for solo accordion and ‘Curves’ for accordion and Samplestra, at the Troy Library, in Troy NY.
12/8
Rocco Jerry performs ‘Stressor’ for solo accordion and ‘Curves’ for accordion and Samplestra, at Time and Space limited, in Hudson, NY
12/9
Sophie Dunér Meets Mark Kostabi & Gene Pritsker at Kostabi World Uptown. The songs ‘In Hours’, ‘Immortality’, ‘Renascence’ and ‘Funeral Blues’ for voice, guitar and Di.J. are performed. Also with: Sean Satin, Juecheng Chen.
12/10
‘Revealed Knowledge’ for sop. sax, sitar, guitar and perc. premiered as part of Composers Concordance ‘All About India’ concert.
With: Payton MacDonald, Lukas Ligeti, Edmundo Ramirez, Daniel Schnyder, Dan Cooper, Milica Paranosic.
12/12
Performing Clap and ‘Cold Wisdom Waiting II” at Connecticut College with Peter Jarvis and John Clark as part of the New Music Chamber Ensemble concert at Evans Hall
12/14 & 17
Performing with Absolute Ensemble at the Russian Embassies in NYC and Washington.
12/23
The Other Elements Trio & Operatic Electric perform at The Delancey. Premiere of the trio ‘Elements’, as well as performances of ‘SLI #6’ and ‘Dowland Meditations Electronic’ With: Keith LeBlanc, Juecheng Chen, Mark Kostabi, Laurence Goldman
For further information: genepritsker@gmail.com
