A captivating concert by the S.E.M. Ensemble orchestra, conducted by Petr Kotík, with special guests Amina Claudine Myers and Kamala Sankaram.
REGISTRATION
With the arrival of spring, Petr Kotík's American music ensemble returns to the Bohemian National Hall with a program of avant-garde and experimental contemporary classical music. The concert will explore a wide spectrum of ideas and concepts in music composition, from computer process (Lejaren Hiller, Charles Ames) to microtonality (Judith Berkson), intuitive approaches (Amina Claudine Myers), and chance and process (Christian Wolff, Petr Kotík).
Featuring:
Orchestra of the S.E.M. Ensemble
Amina Claudine Myers — voice and piano
Kamala Sankaram — voice
Petr Kotík — conductor
Musical Program:
Lejaren Hiller — String Quartet No. 5 (1962)
Judith Berkson — Phase (2024)
Charles Ames — Divergence (2025)
Amina Claudine — Myers Knowledge Of The Known And Unknown (-2025)
Christian Wolff — I Like to Think of Harriet Tubman (1984)
Petr Kotik — The Gate (2025)
Lejaren Hiller (1924 – 1994) was one of the pioneers in composing with the aid of a computer. His Illiac Suite for string quartet (1957) marks the start of computer generated composition. In 1968-69, he collaborated with John Cage on the multi-media work "HPSCHD." His micro tonal String Quartet No. 5 is one of the hallmarks in music that crosses the threshold of computer-generated processes and intuitive structuring.
Judith Berkson (b. 1978) is a Los Angeles and New York-based composer and performer who explores microtonal writing for acoustic instruments. Her other projects include Liederkreis for voice and electronics that draws inspiration from noise, 19th century lieder and experimental idioms. Phase explores a set of intervals and their enharmonic microtonal permutations, focusing on the slight differences in pitch that distinguish their sameness.
Charles Ames (b. 1955) studied Stanford University with John Chowning at MIT with Barry Vercoe, before earning a PhD in composition with Lejaren Hiller and Morton Feldman at SUNY Buffalo. Ames’ focus turned from computer synthesis to computer composition, and ultimately to the application of problem-solving algorithmic techniques. Divergence for string quartet and piano is a collection of studies generated using a series of computer programs.
Christian Wolff (b. 1934) belongs to the “New York School” group of composers (John Cage, Morton Feldman, Earle Brown and Christian Wolff). Wolff is basically self-taught as a composer. He was the "Ford Composer" at Mills College and also lectured at the Internationale Ferienkurse für Neue Musik in Darmstadt, among others. I Like to Think of Harriet Tubman (1984) is a setting for a woman’s voice and three instruments. Harriet Tubman (1812-1913) was an ex-slave who risked her life and freedom to bring others out of slavery. For most slaves the only hope for freedom was to escape.
The composer and improviser Amina Claudine Myers (b. 1942) is well known for her music that includes works for choirs, voices, and instrumental ensembles. As a musician, Ms. Myers began in her preteens, singing and playing gospel and rhythm and blues. She is a classically trained piano and organ player. She was recently honored to receive the NEA “Jazz Master 2024“ award and the 2025 Mellon Foundation Award for her contributions to Jazz, blues and gospel music. Ms. Myers will be performing her own music as well as the solo in I Like to Think of Harriet Tubman by Christian Wolff.
Petr Kotik (b. 1942) is the founder and director of the S.E.M. Ensemble, the oldest new music group in the U.S. Born in Prague, Czechoslovakia, Kotik has lived and worked in the USA since 1969. The Gate, Kotik’s new composition, is based on the simultaneous performance of separately composed sections, including parts for soprano and narrators. The texts are short excerpts from writings by R. Buckminster Fuller and a brief entry from a 1955 diary of the Czech composer Jan Rychlík.
