[null point] curates a concert of music that explores severe limitations upon material, instrumental technique, and form. In these works, restrictions both close off and open up possibilities: for instance, in the extremely quiet music of Ben Isaacs, limitations upon volume facilitate a sonic delicacy and fragility that could not be achieved otherwise; other works on the program likewise thematize the dialectic between lack and excess.

The concert features world premieres of works by emerging composers Ben Isaacs and Colin Tucker together with US premieres of works by G. Douglas Barrett and Charlie Sdraulig and a rare performance of B. A. Zimmermann's Sonata for Solo Cello. The event places this music alongside the sound poetry of Christian Bök and Gerhard Rühm, which places constraints upon linguistic materials in order to de-emphasize their meaning while calling attention to their sound. Additionally, UB musicology professor James Currie, whose provocative research on the personal and political consequences of limitations in the arts has been widely discussed across the humanities, is scheduled to give a talk on these topics.

Concert Program:

G. Douglas Barrett - Two Voices for two sound sources (2008)

Christian Bök - from "E" from Eunoia (poem) (2001)

Ben Isaacs - I want to tell a story that cancels itself as it goes I replied for cello (2011) (WORLD PREMIERE)

Gerhard Rühm - sound poems TBA

Charlie Sdraulig - few for voice (2013) (US CONCERT PREMIERE)

Colin Tucker - distances swarming and encompassing for electric guitar (2011/2013) (WORLD PREMIERE)

B. A. Zimmermann - Sonata for Solo Cello (1960)

[null point]:

Ethan Hayden, voice/sound poetry
Zane Merritt, guitar
TJ Borden, cello
Colin Tucker, cello & curator

With a special guest appearance by musicologist/performance artist James Currie.

[null point] is a platform for contemporary music in Buffalo, NY with an emphatically international focus. [null point] events are thematically integrated, semi-staged, site-specific productions (often in spaces other than concert halls), wherein music is often programmed alongside associated art-forms (sound art, sound poetry, performance art, media art, etc.).

a platform for new music in Buffalo, NY nullpointseries.wordpress.com facebook.com/nullpointseries - See more at: http://www.hallwalls.org/music/5493.html#sthash.ZaE5Zzkf.dpuf