Ohm speakers are performing LIVE

Ohm speakers are performing LIVE: On February 27 at the NYU’s Skirball Hall with the FLUX string quartet playing Spencer Topel’s composition for a string octet (four live and four speakers, each ghosting a live performer), as part of “Spatialized 2015.” Tickets are available here.

The FLUX Quartet, “one of the most fearless and important new-music ensembles around” (Joshua Kosman, San Francisco Chronicle) “who has brought a new renaissance to quartet music” (Kyle Gann, The Village Voice), has performed to rave reviews in venues of all sorts, from Carnegie’s Zankel Hall and Kennedy Center, to influential art institutions such as EMPAC, The Kitchen, and the Walker Art Center, to international music festivals in Australia, Europe, and the Americas.

Strongly influenced by the irreverent spirit and “anything-goes” philosophy of the “fluxus” art movement, violinist Tom Chiu founded FLUX in the late ‘90’s. The quartet has since cultivated an uncompromising repertoire that follows neither fashions nor trends, but rather combines yesterday’s seminal iconoclasts with tomorrow’s new voices. A noted champion of new music, violinist and composer Tom Chiu has performed over 200 premieres worldwide by influential composers. Mr. Chiu’s violin will be picked up and manipulated in real time by composer Spencer Topel and then “ghosted” by an Ohm Walsh 1000.

When we say “ghosted,” we do not mean just playing through a public address system. Each performer will be playing without sound reinforcement. Their playing will be changed in various ways, in real time, by the composer (each in a different manner) and this new part is played back on a separate Ohm Walsh speakers. The manipulation is both different for each performer and also changes as the group progress through the piece. It changes over 120 times during the piece.

They become a true octet.

Violinist Conrad Harris has performed new works for violin at the Darmstadt Ferrienkürse für Neue Musik, Gulbenkian Encounters of New Music, Radio France, Warsaw Autumn, and New York’s Sonic Boom Festival. In addition to being a member of the Flux Quartet, he is concertmaster of the New York based S.E.M. Ensemble and the Ostravska Banda, founded in the Czech Republic. Mr. Harris’s violin will also be picked up and manipulated in real time by composer Spencer Topel and then ghosted by a second Ohm Walsh 1000.

Canadian violist Max Mandel is one of the most acclaimed and active chamber musicians of his generation. Mr. Mandel is a fan of all kinds of music from Mozart to Feldman to Ghostface and considers himself very fortunate to have collaborated with great artists in many genres from Vera Beths to Ornette Coleman to Kirk Hammett of Metallica. Mr. Mandel plays on a 1973 Giovanni Battista Morassi generously loaned to him by Lesley Robertson of the St. Lawrence Quartet. He resides in Brooklyn, NY. Mr. Mandel will be ghosted by an Ohm Walsh 2000.

Felix Fan’s versatility has made him one of the most sought after cellists of his generation. As a chamber musician, he has performed with Yo-Yo Ma, Gil Shaham, and Janos Starker, in venues such as Carnegie Hall, The Kennedy Center, Musikverein and Royal Festival Hall. In 1998, Fan founded Muzik3, performance series and commissioning foundation dedicated to the advancement of modern music with an emphasis on integrating theater, dance, and video. Muzik3 led to the formation of cello/percussion/piano trio Real Quiet, which has premiered over 20 works and recorded music by Marc Mellits (Endeavour Records) and David Lang (Naxos). Mr. Fan’s cello will be ghosted by an Ohm Walsh 3000.

NYU’s Skirball Hall is located just off Washington Square Park, at 566 LaGuardia Place, between West 3rd and West 4th streets. (212) 992-8484 Tickets are available here.

John Strohbeen Author

John Strohbeen was the President and Chief Engineer of Ohm Acoustics from 1978-2023.