The Now Hear Ensemble presents a concert at the Lotte Lehmann Concert Hall at the UC Santa Barbara Department of Music. The third installment of the Not for the Ears Alone series, the program features music that exploits the potential for creativity using both the stage space and the performers’ bodies. These works make powerful musical statements, yet they are best experienced with eyes wide open. For this show, the ensemble will make use of chalkboards, a boombox, animated videos, sandpaper, samplers, and toy guitars.

The title of this concert series is a quote from Björn Heile, who used it to describe the music of Mauricio Kagel during the 1960’s—found in The Music of Mauricio Kagel. The ensemble finds a connection between those works by Kagel, usually referred to as “instrumental theater”, and the spirit of the works included in this series.

Basica presents a futurist tale showcasing an eSport music competition. Shlomowitz combines gestures and sounds in a sampler-inspired work. Llach and Goldberg depict life cycles by exploring contrasts in audio and visuals. Jacob TV and Nas delve into the connection between language and music by manipulating voice samples from life-sentenced prisoners and unveiling confessions that cool-headedly dissect and expose human morality.

Constantin Basica: Championship
flute, clarinet, viola, performer, commentator and video

Matthew Shlomowitz: Letter Piece No. 8
3 performers

Jacob TV: Grab it!
electric guitar and boombox

Federico Llach & Gaby Goldberg: This Time Around
viola, flute, video and electronics

Mayke Nas: I Delayed People's Flights by Walking Slowly in Narrow Hallways
4 performers, blackboards and chalk + electronics

Jonathan Morgan, viola/violin
Adriane Hill, flute
Amanda Kritzberg, clarinet
Anthony Paul Garcia, percussion/electronics
Rob Moreno, guitar

Not for the Ears Alone at Lotte Lehmann Concert Hall, UC Santa Barbara Department of Music. Thursday, May 19, 2016. 7:30 p.m. Admission is free. For more information, please click here.