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I hope that your summer was relaxing and full of good things. Fall beginnings invariably leave me inspired. This time around, with the upcoming elections in the US and, at the same time in my home country, I find myself mega resolved to continue to believe in the power of the arts to reach places where fear runs strongest, and to deepen that which we know of each other and of ourselves. I hope that you'll find a balanced footing in what lies ahead, and that my last and current season's music goings-on will be of use and interes
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"The action grows more urgent, even frantic, impelled by Svjetlana Bukvich’s dramatic, special-effects score... “Traces” brought the evening to a stimulating conclusion." - Robert Johnson, NJArts.Net
"Bukvich depicts an illusory, sensuous performance - a night fantasy, as Aristotle would say." - Anna Frants, Cyland Media Arts
"[Bukvich combines] tuning, text, uptown-downtown dialogue, dance trip hop music, highly trained classical musicians, sophisticated approach to electronics, Balkan influences and a lot of American avant-garde training." - David Weinstein, Clocktower Radio
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Traces in New York, New Jersey and Sarajevo
Much of my inspiration for Traces came from the late novelist Wallace Stegner's epigraph: “There is a sense in which we are all each other’s consequences.” Commissioned by Carolyn Dorfman Dance, Traces "explores the forces that create and change us - divide and connect us. It delves into our roots and foundations and our contemporary collective journey." (Dorfman)
The premiere took place at NJPAC and at the La Guardia Performing Arts Center (LPAC) in NY with some fabulous musicians who helped me bring to life the 30-minute score: Susan Aquila, electric violin viper, Jacqueline Kerrod, electric harp, and Wylie Wirth, drums and percussion. I played the minimoog synthesizer and music directed. The Traces soundtrack features Philip Hamilton on vocals, myself on piano, vocals and zither harp, and David Rozenblatt on percussion. Traces received grants from O'Donnell-Green Music and Dance Foundation, Inc. and New Music USA, 2016 Live Music for Dance. Video by Kate Freer and Dave Tennent. Watch the short trailer here.
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Arguably some of the wildest music I've written to date, Hard Rain, Johnny for bassoon and electronic sound was a commission I received last spring from the American Festival of Microtonal Music. The piece had its premiere at Micro-Fest in Berlin played by the virtuoso bassoonist Johnny Reinhard. Club Sowieso hosted the evening of Euro-American microtonal fireworks with pieces and improvisations by Skip La Plante, Philipp Gerschlauer, Jeroen Paul Thesseling and Harry Partch. I look forward to the work's New York premiere in spring 2017.
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Otto Luening Tribute in New York
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Pianist Jai Jeffryes gave a beautifully nuanced premiere of my piece The Period of Forgetting for piano and analog tape performed as part of Composers Concordance Presents 'Happy Birthday Otto Luening'. The concert was held at Faust Harrison Pianos in NYC and also included works by George Boziwick, Gloria Coates, Dan Cooper, David Shohl, Gene Pritsker, and Dave Soldier. Pianists Geoffrey Burleson and Eduard Laurel added their magic to the concert which was the pick of the week in the I Care If You Listen new music zine.
You can hear the piece here.
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Patterns of the Mind in Brooklyn
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My piece Sabih's Dream was presented in the exhibit Patterns of the Mind at the Rubelle and Norman Schafler Gallery in Brooklyn, NY curated by Anna Frants of Cyland Media Arts. I was excited to share the bill with some excellent multimedia artists from Russia and the US.
Cover art by Carla Gannis.
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Balkanicus in Minneapolis
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The day after Prince died I was in Minneapolis for the first time, feeling a sense of huge loss, and premiering
Tattoo 2 for tenor, electronic sound and video projection at the Lloyd Ultan Recital Hall, University of Minnesota School of Music. Balkanicus, now in its 12th season, is a chamber concert series created by the Bulgarian cellist Nickolai Kolarov to showcase contemporary music inspired by the spirit of the Balkans. Also on the program were works by David Esra Okonsar, Vassil Kazandjiev, Antun Tomislav Šaban and Dušan Bogdanović. Tenor John De Haan sang the piece beautifully in a program full of vigor and finesse. For more information, please go here!
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I was happy to share my thoughts on the challenges and rewards of writing for contemporary dance. Thank you, Denise Marsa and KeyMediaProductions! You can read the interview here.
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Radio Interview
Expertly hosted by David Weinstein, and featured in the Clocktower Radio's Impossible Music series, Svjetlana Bukvich, Beyond Evolution is a conversation about my work since "the beginnings" with a wide swath of musical offerings, including excerpts from my recent release on The NYFA Collection: Volume Two (Innova Recordings) and the Berlin premiere. Thank you David, and Clocktower Radio! I so enjoyed this talk. Other stations that spun my music in the last few months are WQXC 90.7 FM in Hudson New York, WFCF 88.5 FM in St. Augustine, FL and SoundArt Radio 102.5 FM in Devon, UK.
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Ladies First at Opera America
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This Sunday, Oct 2 2016 at 7pm you can catch my music for piano, video projection and tape in the Ladies First 2016: We're All Immigrants concert at Opera America in NYC. My collaboration with video artist Igor Molochev (video still from the piece courtesy of artist) and pianist Marija Ilic will be presented along the works by composers and performers Lynn Bechtold, Valerie Dee Naranjo, Jennifer DeVore, Adam Kent, Tania Leon, Nika Leoni, Cecilia Mandrile, Jessica Meyer, Tamar Muskal, Milica Paranosic, Kamala Sankaram, Michiyo Suzuki, Susan Hwang, Mioi Takeda, Karen Tanaka, Yasuyo Tanaka, Re'ut Ben-Ze'ev and Keve Wilson. Expect a festive evening full of wonders and superheroines. For tickets, please go here.
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Upcoming are collaborations with Janis Brenner and Dancers, Ethel string quartet, speaking at the New School University in NYC, and a new album. More on all that soon, and in the meantime, be well, thank you for reading and please stay in touch!
Yours,
Svjetlana
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