 Applebaum displays an electro-acoustic instrument he built out of junk, hardware and found objects for use as compositional and improvisational tools. In 1996, Innova Records released "Mousetrap Music," a CD of his sound-sculpture improvisations. He will present a sound sculpture improvisation, "Sonic Circuits 5," Feb. 10 at the Giles Hall auditorium. The 7:30 p.m. event also will feature music education faculty members Dr. Douglas McConnell and Gail Levinsky, art instructor Paras Kaul and student Chris Bogen, a senior computer science major. |
A Mississippi composer and jazz pianist is being commissioned to write a major piece for the 1998 Piano Spheres, a Los Angeles concert series of 20th century music.
Dr. Mark Applebaum, assistant professor of music education, has been selected to write a piece for Gloria Cheng-Cochran, a world-class pianist who performs with the Los Angeles Philharmonic and is active in promoting contemporary music.
Cheng is one of five pianists who will perform in Piano Spheres, which focuses on works that are technically and musically challenging. Applebaum is the only composer commissioned to compose a new work for this year's festival.
"I received the commission from Los Angeles philanthropist Betty Freeman after she and festival founder Leonard Stein heard one of my compositions on tape," Applebaum said.
The 1997 festival featured works by composers ranging from Bela Bartok and Cesar Franck to William Kraft and Wendy Carlos.
A composer whose works have been performed throughout the United States, Europe and Japan, Applebaum is composing a five-movement work inspired by Birmingham, Ala., jazz musician Sun Ra.
"He was a visionary composer and pianist born in 1914 who developed his own self-mythology," Applebaum said. "The structure of my work, tentatively called 'Disciplines,' is inspired by him."
A native of Chicago, Applebaum holds degrees from Carleton College and the University of California at San Diego, where he studied with Brian Ferneyhough, Joji Yuasa, Roger Reynolds, and Rand Steiger.
He has received commissions from the Merce Cunningham Dance Company, the Paul Dresher Ensemble, the American Composers Forum, and the Jerome Foundation, among others. His work has been premiered at the Darmstadt, Germany, Summer Sessions; the Young Nordic Music Festival in Sweden; and the Festival Spaziomusica in Italy.