Nief-Norf presents its first Virtual Marathon Concert on Sunday, July 12, 2020 from 3-9pm EDT. This six-hour marathon celebrates the Nief-Norf Summer Festival’s 10 years of gathering the brightest minds in contemporary music for performance, composition, discussion, and study. It will feature 30+ performances and 10+ interviews with past festival alumni, guest artists, and collaborators, spread out across the country.
Viewers and listeners are welcome to drop in and out of the marathon throughout the day to hear works by Wadada Leo Smith, Sarah Kirkland Snider, Annea Lockwood, Carolyn Chen, George Lewis, Alvin Singleton, Nathalie Joachim, Yaz Lancaster, Joseph C. Philips Jr., and many more performed by Nief-Norf members, alums, and our broader community including: Ashley Walters, Jordan Munson, Annie Jeng, Nicole DeMaio, Nicholas Bruce, Michael Truesdell, Anna Meadors, Corey Martin, Lily Shababi, Kennedy Dixon, Allie Porter, Brianna Matzke, and more.
“This year marks 15 years as an organization and 10 years hosting a summer festival,” says Artistic Director Andrew Bliss. “Looking back on those years––and the hundreds of musicians that have participated in Nief-Norf’s activities––I’m overwhelmed with joy and gratitude. Like many arts organizations nationwide, we are experiencing extreme financial strain due to the ongoing pandemic and economic recession. Rather than cancel our festival completely, we decided to move our marathon concert online and turn it into a fundraising concert. This way, we can stay connected to the Nief-Norf community, and raise funds to keep our organization going.”
“The marathon lineup features past guests, alumni, and other collaborations that have grown out of the festival’s annual gatherings. We hope that our Sunday marathon can bring our community together and help support each other, as we strive to continue sharing creativity during these trying times.”
Tickets for the Marathon are $8.65 and all of the proceeds from the full Dots fundraising campaign will support Nief-Norf’s future cutting-edge performances, adventurous programming, and outstanding educational experiences. Nief-Norf was hit particularly hard by the negative effects of COVID-19, along with the entire arts community. In addition to Nief-Norf’s own fundraising, our marathon audience can donate directly to marathon musicians and composers via Venmo/Paypal.
Full Line-Up:
3:00 PM
Prelude (Welcome): Steve Gisby, Luis Rivera, D. Edward Davis
Steve Gisby’s symmetry I reflection (selected movs.) performed by Justin Alexander & Luis Rivera
Marcos Balter’s ignis fatuus performed by Andrew McIntosh
Christopher Adler’s Zaum Box (selected movs.) performed by Katelyn King
Annea Lockwood’s Red Mesa performed by Andrea Lodge
Interlude (Interview): Will Yager
Benjamin Patterson’s Variations for Double-Bass performed by Will Yager
4:00 PM
Prelude: Michael Truesdell, Omar Carmenates
Peter Kramer’s Circle Circle performed by Thea Mesirow
Nathalie Joachim’s Brown Squares performed by Joshua Weinberg & Philip Snyder
Interlude: Nicholas Deyoe, Ashley Walters
Nicholas Deyoe’s Another Anxiety performed by Ashley Walters
Elliot Cole’s Facets performed by Brianna Matzke
Scott Deal’s Goldstream Variations performed by Scott Deal
5:00 PM
Prelude: Andrea Lodge & Jay Sorce
Joseph C. Phillips Jr.’s Scission performed by Andrea Lodge & Jay Sorce
Louise Fristensky’s Singing Underwater performed by Louise Fristensky
George Lewis’s Shadowgraph, 5 performed by Alex Gray & Eric Retterer
Interlude: Tonia Ko
Tonia Ko’s Negative Magic performed by Michael Compitello
Robert Honstein’s An Economy of Means (selected movs.) performed by Kyle Flens
Anna Meadors’s time forage performed by Anna Meadors
6:00 PM
Prelude: Allie Porter & Carolyn Chen
Carolyn Chen’s Mom and Dad Are Not at Home performed by Neil Beckmann
Stephen Downing’s So many moving parts performed by Phoebe Bognár
Interlude: Christopher Adler
Alvin Singleton’s Greed Machine performed by Andrew Bliss & Christopher Adler
D. Edward Davis’s unconformity performed by Abby Fisher
Sebastian Zel’s Fever Dream performed by Georgia Mills
7:00 PM
Prelude: Kennedy Dixon & Lily Shababi
Lily Shababi’s is it pretty enough? performed by Will Yager
Kennedy Dixon’s Pretty on Paper performed by Kennedy Dixon
James Falzone’s Now Here This performed by James Falzone
Huijuan Ling’s A Secret Garden of Great Beauty performed by Huijuan Ling
Pre-Recorded Interview: Sarah Kirkland Snider & Annie Jeng
Sarah Kirkland Snider’s The Currents performed by Annie Jeng
Yaz Lancaster’s dis[armed] (selected movs.) performed by Nicholas Bruce & Michael Truesdell
James Falzone’s Sema performed by Nicole DeMaio & Bradley Frizzell
Sophie Mathieu’s a lady performed by James Meade & Allie Porter
8:00 PM
Prelude: Corey Martin & Jordan Munson
Erin Rogers’s Light on Light performed by Popebama - Erin Rogers & Dennis Sullivan
Vicki Leona Double Slit performed by Corey Martin
TBA performed by Jordan Munson
Pre-Recorded Interview: Mark Applebaum
Mark Applebaum’s Entre Funérailles II performed by Logan Ball
Christopher Adler’s The Clockmaker's Torment performed by Andrea Lodge
Erin Rogers’s Chronophobia performed by Elena Stabile
Interlude: Ashley Walters
Wadada Leo Smith’s Blue Bird, a Dance in Three Forms performed by Ashley Walters
About Nief-Norf: Nief-Norf is a Knoxville-based, multi-tiered contemporary music organization devoted to fostering creative collaboration among musical interpreters, composers, and scholars. Nief-Norf celebrates experimental music through their Knoxville Concert Series, annual Summer Festival, Call for Scores, and Research Summit, an embedded academic conference on special topics surrounding the experimental music tradition.
