Composition and Improvisation Residency

This project consists of a residency with the guest artist Greg Stuart. The residency is a part of the CCCP (Cornell Contemporary Chamber Players) series, organized by the DMA composition students of the music department.

Greg Stuart is a widely recognized percussionist and improviser who has been working with composers of experimental music for many years. Although he has a particular style within the world of percussion music, his main interest is in the experimentation process that comes with every piece. The culmination of this residency is the presentation of new works by Cornell graduate composers as well as a solo concert by Greg Stuart. This solo concert presents pieces by local composer and performer Sarah Hennies, and California-based composer, Michael Pisaro-Liu. The student showcase consists of the diverse styles, interests, and backgrounds of the Cornell composition students, in the hands of a truly creative and experienced artist.

Greg Stuart

Greg Stuart is a percussionist whose work draws upon a mixture of music from the experimental tradition, Wandelweiser, improvisation, and electronics. His performances have been described as “a ghostly, gorgeous lesson in how close, concentrated listening can alter and enhance perception” (The New York Times). Since 2006, he has collaborated extensively with the composer Michael Pisaro, producing a large body of music comprised of pieces that focus on the magnification of small sounds through recording and layering, often in combination with field recordings and/or electronic sound. His role as an interpreter of Pisaro’s compositions has been called “a David Tudor to Pisaro’s Cage” (The Boston Globe). Stuart’s most recent collaboration with the composer, Continuum Unbound, a three-disc box set on Gravity Wave, grew out of the pair’s field recording work in Congaree National Park and was selected by The Wire as one of the best albums of 2014.

María Alejandra Bulla Clavijo

María Bulla is a music maker interested in the creation of flexible performance situations that allow individuals to experience art in a personal way. From the construction of miniature objects to oversized scores, instrumental pieces and field recordings, she attempts to create experiences in which music becomes part of everyday situations. María holds a bachelor’s degree in piano performance from the Pontificia Universidad Javeriana (Bogotá D.C., Colombia), and an MFA in Composition and Experimental Sound Practices from the California Institute of the Arts.