11.12.2019 ENS New Music Series ft Florent Ghys

NEW MUSIC AT WCU Jacob Cooper and Van Stiefel, Directors Florent Ghys, double bass

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 12, 2019 WARE FAMILY RECITAL HALL SWOPE MUSIC BUILDING 8:15 PM

Tonight’s program will feature pieces from the album Télévision French double bassist and composer Florent Ghys’ music has been described as “highly contrapuntal, intelligent and inventive...” (WQXR-FM), and a “thrilling breed of post-minimal chamber music” (Time Out NY). His pieces “blend elements of minimalism, pop music, and a dose of extravagant wit” (John Schaefer, WNYC).

Ghys has written music for some of today’s most influential ensembles and soloists, including the Bang on a Can All-Stars, New Jersey Symphony Orchestra, So Percussion, Nick Photinos, Jack Quartet, Bearthoven, Kathleen Supove, and Dither Quartet. His music has been performed at the Lincoln Center, BAM, the Barbican Center, MIT, Sydney Opera House (in Australia), San Martin Theater (in Buenos Aires), and the Muziekgebouw (in Amsterdam).

As a film composer, his collaboration with writer/director Isabelle Solas, “En un Temps Suspendu” won the Sacem prize for short films. “L'âme de la Forêt,” a short by Julien Paumelle, was selected for the Short Film Corner at the Festival de Cannes. He has written numerous scores for ARTE channel, most recently a documentary about the Riot Grrl movement by filmmaker Sonia Gonzalez.

As an experienced arranger and producer, Florent has worked with artists from a variety of genres, including French singer-songwriter François Cha, broadway singer John Lloyd Young, and composer Steve Reich.

As a Max MSP programmer, he has developed several applications, including one for the piece “Piano Counterpoint” by Steve Reich which was published on Boosey & Hawkes. As part of his doctoral dissertation at Princeton University, he is working on a library of Max For Live midi devices for algorithmic composition and processed-based music, as well as a library for real-time video playback in Ableton Live.

As a double bassist, Florent has performed with the Paris Opera Orchestra, the Wordless Music Orchestra, the ensemble Ear Heart Music, and the band Build, and has released 3 solo albums on the label Cantaloupe Music. A fourth album – with his low string quartet, Bonjour – was released in 2016 (also on Cantaloupe Music).

As a video director and editor, Florent has produced music videos for the bands Gutbucket and Goldfeather. He also produces his own video works on a regular basis, such as the video-album “Télévision” released in 2014 with 13 music videos, and the large-scale multimedia work (in progress) “November Foxtrot” for the duo New Morse Code.

Ghys holds a Maîtrise from the University of Bordeaux in ethnomusicology with a focus on Egyptian music; a Diplôme d'Études Musicales in double bass performance from the Conservatoire de Saint- Maur-des-Fossés and the Conservatoire de Bordeaux; a M.M. in music theory and composition from New York University; and a Masters of Fine Arts from Princeton University. He has received fellowships from the McDowell Colony, the Norton Stevens Fellowship, and the Procter Fellowship from Princeton University’s Graduate School. He is currently a PhD candidate in music composition at Princeton University.

Please silence all cell phones and electronic devices.

UPCOMING WELLS SCHOOL OF MUSIC EVENTS For full event details visit wcupa.edu/music or call (610) 436-2739 Wednesday, November 13, 2019, 8:15 PM Guitar Ensemble Recital David Cullen, director Ware Family Recital Hall Swope Music Building Thursday, November 14, 2019, 7:30 PM Recital Choir Concert David P. DeVenney, director Ware Family Recital Hall Swope Music Building Friday, November 15, 2019, 7:30 PM *WCU Opera Tutti: Menotti's "The Old Maid and the Thief" Heidi Starr, director Madeleine Wing Adler Theatre Performing Arts Center Sunday, November 17, 2019, 3:00 PM Harp Festival Gloria Galante, director Madeleine Wing Adler Theatre Performing Arts Center Sunday, November 17, 2019, 7:00 PM Brass Ensembles Concert Jonathan Fowler, director Madeleine Wing Adler Theatre Performing Arts Center

*Tickets required for this event.

Events at the Wells School of Music are often supported by individual donors and organizations.

Contributions to the Wells School of Music may be made out to: WCU Foundation, 202 Carter Drive, West Chester, PA 19382 Please include “School of Music Deans Fund� in the memo line.

For further information, please call (610) 436-2868 or visit wcufoundation.org A majority of performances are available to watch via live stream at Facebook.com/ArtsAtWCUPA and LiveStream.com/wcupa.

Mr. Robert Rust, Audio & Visual Technician Steinway & Sons Piano Technical, Tuning and Concert Preparations by Gerald P. Cousins, RPT If you do not intend to save your program, please recycle it in the baskets at the exit doors.

The Wells School of Music | West Chester University of Pennsylvania Dr. Christopher Hanning, Dean