Gentle Gazzetta Readers,

I miss you so much! I’ve been paddling my way through this dense pool of time – the consistency of firm jello – working hard to start and complete one project after another, and I’ve scarcely had a moment to come up for air, let alone write to you. But here I am now, attempting to deliver a short report about what I’ve been up to since we last spoke, while the world has been performing an astonishing series of sinister tricks, tomfoolery, impractical jokes, and the occasional miracle.

New Works and Endless Streaming Appearances
As I mentioned in the last Gazzetta, I’ve been working my way through some tightly scheduled, back-to-back composing deadlines, on a calendar that’s also peppered with live-streaming performances, lecture-demos, symposia, and panels – almost too numerous to keep track of.

The new works I’ve created during this extended lock-down period are currently all available for streaming online, as are several of the concerts I performed and talks I gave. If you hurry, you can still hear my newest piece – a sound work created in collaboration with theater artist Geoff Sobelle as part of New York’s PROTOTYPE Festival. That piece, Times³, is designed to be heard through headphones (either while strolling through Times Square, or while seated comfortably at home.) The audio stream will be available through February 28th, so make sure you check it out before then. By the way, The New York Times ran a very nice piece on me, in connection with this premiere, in thier 1/8/21 edition.

My other recently completed pieces – Simultaneous (a sound work made for radio) and And and And (a work for cello, sampling, and tape, composed for cellist Amanda Gookin) – are archived (indefinitely, as far as I know) on the web sites of the commissioning organizations.

PZ performing Blink in Rutgers concert

Shinichi and Dana Iova-Koga of Inkboat

AO Scott in conversation with Rome Prize Fellow Garrett Bradley

The lovely and talented Hauschka plays Bang on a Can

Kathy Supové at Soapbox Gallery

Miya Masaoka and Pamela Z giving a joint talk for Yale CCAM

Rinde in Breathing at the Boundaries

Taylor Mac in astounding costume and makeup

Yuka Honda and Nels Cline playing Bang on a Can

PZ performing Rotary Telephone in
Mills Music Now concert

Also archived online is a solo concert of works for voice, processing, gesture controllers, interactive video, and samples, which I created in my studio for Mills College’s “Mills Music Now” concert series. Scroll down to the details section of this Gazzetta, for links and information about these archived events.

It never ends...
And, as you probably suspected, there are more things coming up. I have several commissioned works that I need to compose in the coming months – including pieces for violinist Kate Stenberg and pianist Sarah Cahill (Stenberg|Cahill Duo), the new music choral ensemble Volti, Kaleidoscope Chamber Orchestra, and mezzo soprano Julia Bullock (with members of the San Francisco Symphony), to name just a few. I also have some online performance events approaching, including solo voice & electronics concerts as well as streaming performances by chamber ensembles, of some of my existing works. (Details below!)

Art continues virtually...
I’ve attended as many performances, talks, and online exhibitions as I could manage in these strange (and stranglely busy) times. Some have been extraordinary, and some have made strikingly clever use of the bizarre new venue we’re all gigging at these days. I saw a captivating and absurdly playful piece by members of inkboat (Shinichi and Dana Iova-Koga) and Ann Carlson in which, among other things, the performers kept stopping mid-action as if the Zoom feed had frozen, thus messing with our perceptions of what was real and what wasn’t.

I also saw Volti perform a charming work by composer Danny Clay which utilized a video-animated graphic score. And both Meredith Monk and Ann Hege created live ensemble works that played with the looseness of time – making deliberate use of the latency inherent in Zoom calls.

I attended a number of episodes of Rinde Eckert’s bi-weekly “Toybox” performances, saw a couple of fine solo concerts by Alvin Curran (streaming from Rome), and a truly grand and poetic work of dance theater by Magaret Jenkins Dance Company and the Paul Dresher Ensemble (with Rinde as a special guest). Bang on a Can continued to present streaming marathons well into Fall – always delightful and diverse – and Claire Chase presented the latest iteration of her colossal Density 2036 project as a ceremoniously staged streaming event.

I've spent what might seem like an inordinate number of hours seeing art streamed over the Internet these recent months. But this is the stuff that brings inspiration and, I dare say, substance to my own work, while providing anchoring mile-markers along the way, to help structure this seemingly endless period of solitude. I know that many of you have been joining me in those front-row seats in the Zoom concert hall, and I look forward to perhaps meeting you during intermission at the next one, for a glass of bubbly in the virtual lobby.

Love,

PZ

gazzetta | event highlights | news travels goings-on | event details | past gazzetti | pamelaz.com

upcoming (and ongoing archived) event details:

Available through February 28, 2021

The PROTOTYPE Festival (Beth Morrison Projects and HERE) presents: Times³

This sound work is designed to be experienced through headphones
(either in Times Square NYC, or in the comfort of your home)

Launched Saturday January 9, the work is available through February 28, 2021

Enjoy the World Premiere streaming sonic experience Times³ (Times × Times × Times), created by composer/performer Pamela Z and theater artist Geoff Sobelle.

Don your best headphones and sit in a comfortable place at home or take a walk in Times Square and hear a score that draws together past, present, and future. Imagine a city carved by countless hands from a place once thick with trees…which may be headed that way again.

For your free ticket, click here. (Please note each ticket purchase allows for unlimited access to Times³ through February 28.)

To stream the experience, please go to https:bit.ly/2XqfvFw. If you have any issues, please reach out to tickets@prototypefestival.org.

We recommend wearing headphones for the best sonic experience.
You can peruse the program for Times³ here.

The duration of Times³ (Times × Times × Times) is approximately 30 minutes.

top

Composers Now Presents:
2021 Composers Now Festival Opening Event

Saturday January 30, 2021
4pm PST / 7 pm EST | $10