This program is supported by the Georgia State University College of the Arts, the City of Atlanta Mayor’s Office of Cultural Affairs, and the Fulton County Board of Commissioners. With additional funding from, the Amphion Foundation, and the Alice M. Ditson Fund
Program Note
I began working on Timber in 2009 at the invitation of the Dutch-based dance group, Club Guy & Roni, and the percussion ensembles Slagwerk Den Haag and Mantra Percussion. I had written many orchestral works over the decade, beginning with Decasia in 2001 up to Dystopia in 2007, and I wanted to clear my mind of pitches and orchestration.
For that reason, I decided early on that Timber would be for non-tuned percussion and that each percussionist would play one instrument only. I thought of composing this music as being like taking a trip out into the desert. I was counting on the stark palette and the challenge of survival to clear my brain and bring on visions.
I imagined that the six instruments would go from high to low, and that, through a shifting of dynamics from one instrument to the next, the group could make seamless and unified descending or ascending patterns. After working on rhythmic sketches with Mantra Percussion in early 2009, I went to Amsterdam in June to workshop my ideas with Slagwerk Den Haag. I had the plan but I was searching for the right instruments.
After some experimentation, Slagwerk’s Fedor Teunisse brought out a set of wooden simantras. These slabs of wood, which looked like standard building materials from a lumberyard to me, had a gorgeous sound. It was distinct enough so that the clarity of the percussive hits could be heard, and was also extremely resonant, producing a complex field of overtones. With inspiration from this discovery, I returned to New York to finished the music for Club Guy & Roni’s extravaganza ‘Pinball and Grace,’ which premiered in October of 2009.
—Michael Gordon
Artist Profiles
Lauded as having “consummate virtuosity” by The New York Times, percussionist Stuart Gerber has performed extensively on international stages both as a soloist and chamber musician. He has worked with such noted composers as Karlheinz Stockhausen, Kaija Saariaho, George Lewis, Georgie Crumb, and Steve Reich and has recorded for the Stockhausen Complete Edition, Innova, Mode, Bridge, Telarc, Code Blue, Centaur, and Albany Records. Recent appearances include The Kuala Lumpur Experimental Film, Video, and Music Festival, the Montreal New Music Festival, Electronic Music Malta Festival, The Eduardo MATA Festival (Mexico), the Cervantino Festival (Mexico), the Now Festival (Estonia), the Spoleto Festival (US), and the Savannah Music Festival.
Stuart studied at the Oberlin College Conservatory, the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, and the Hochshule für Musik in Hannover, Germany. He is Professor of Music at Georgia State University and co-artistic director of the Atlanta-based contemporary music ensemble Bent Frequency.
Caleb Herron is an energetic performer of the new and unheard. He was born with an ear for unique sounds and feeds this intrinsic sense through his passion for contemporary music. From this passion, Caleb has commissioned more than twenty new works from composers such as Christopher Adler, Marc Yeats, Anthony Donofrio, Daniel Swilley, Drew Baker, Carolyn Chen, Drew Dolan, and Michael Vincent Waller. Caleb is a founding member, percussionist, and Artistic Director of Chamber Cartel, a contemporary music group based in Atlanta. Through innovative programming the Cartel has brought several important pieces of contemporary repertoire to Atlanta and has commissioned more than twenty new works since 2012. He has been fortunate to study under the direction of Dr. Stuart Gerber at Georgia State University and Dr. Morris Palter at the University of Alaska Fairbanks. Caleb teaches percussion at Georgia State University, Perimeter College.
Jeremy Muller is active as a percussionist, composer, and multimedia artist. He’s been described as “highly creative” by Take Effect and has performed as a featured soloist at many venues throughout the United States, Canada, and Australia including International Computer Music Conference, The Banff Centre for the Arts (Canada), Transplanted Roots (Australia), MoxSonic, NYC Electroacoustic Music Festival, ZeroSpace (University of Virginia), Northern Illinois University, Southwest Electroacoustic Festival, Jacksonville Electroacoustic Music Festival, UNC Pembroke, Balance-Unbalance International Conference, the Musical Instrument Museum, Phoenix Art Museum, and PASIC. He has given world premieres of works by many composers including Matthew Burtner, Alexandre Lunsqui, Cristyn Magnus, and an evening-length tour de force solo work by Stuart Saunders Smith.
As a composer, his music has been performed by Arcomusical, Heartland Marimba Quartet, Arizona Contemporary Music Ensemble, Crossing 32nd Street, Manuel Rangel, clarinetist Robert Spring, Sam Houston State University, Glendale Community College Percussion Ensemble, and many other universities across the U.S. Jeremy recently released his debut solo percussion album on Albany records which includes several recording premieres, and his music can also be heard on Arcomusical’s third album “Emigre & Exile.”
Khesner Oliveira is a performing artist and educator based in Atlanta, who maintains an active career in musical performance and artistic collaborations. He has performed in Europe, United States and all across Brazil, his native country. Khesner has performed with many ensembles including Impact(o) Percussion, KataGata, Sankofa, Música Íntima, Banda Pequi, Bent Frequency, among others. He has been very active in promoting Brazilian premieres of important percussion works from John Luther Adams, James Wood, Olivier Messiaen, Helmut Lachenmann, Michael Pisaro, amongst others. Khesner holds a Bachelor of Music degree in performance from the Universidade Federal de Goiás and is currently a Master of Music in performance candidate at the Georgia State University.
Joseph Petrasek was appointed Principal Percussionist of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra in 2017, and Principal Percussionist of the Colorado Music Festival in 2019. Previously, he served as Associate Principal Percussionist of the Kansas City Symphony for 8 seasons, and as a percussion fellow in the New World Symphony in Miami Beach, Florida. Joseph has appeared as Guest Principal with the San Francisco Symphony, and has also performed with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, The Cleveland Orchestra, and the Los Angeles Philharmonic. Mr. Petrasek is also on the percussion faculty at the University of Miami Frost School of Music.
Originally from Southern California, Joseph earned his bachelor's degree at UCLA studying under Mitchell Peters, former Timpanist of the Los Angeles Philharmonic. He went on to receive a master's degree at Temple University, studying with Philadelphia Orchestra percussionists Alan Abel and AngelaZator-Nelson.
Mr. Petrasek lives in Atlanta with his wife, Jessica, and their daughter, Sophia. He enjoys cookingand learning about wine from Burgundy
Modern percussionist Victor Pons "stretches the bounds of electronics and vibraphone" -ArtsATL. He is dedicated to advancing new music in confluence with today’s technological trends. The Goat Farm Arts Center describes him as being “amongst the radicals reshaping musical parameters.” He is an active freelance performer, clinician and lecturer around North America.
He received his Bachelors in Music performance from the University of South Florida and both his Masters in Music performance and Artist Certificate from Georgia State University, and is ABD at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He is a former percussion faculty member at Georgia State University and The Westminster Schools. Currently he teaches computer applications in music at GSU and is a Learning Design Consultant for Gallup. He is also Chair of the Music Technology Committee for the Percussive Arts Society, a Black Swamp Percussion Concert Artist and a USA ambassador for Resta-Jay Percussions.
Founded in 2003, Atlanta-based Bent Frequency brings the avant-garde to life through adventurous and socially conscious programming, cross-disciplinary collaborations, and community engagement. One of BF’s primary goals is championing the work of historically underrepresented composers - music by women, composers of color, and LGBTQIA+. Hailed as “one of the brightest new music ensembles on the scene today” by Gramophone magazine, BF engages an eclectic mix of the most adventurous and impassioned players.
BF has partnered with internationally acclaimed ensembles, dance groups, and visual artists in creating unique productions ranging from traditional concerts to fully staged operatic works, to concerts on the ATL streetcar, to a band of 111 bicycle-mounted, community performers. BF’s programming, educational outreach, and community events aim to be inclusive of the diverse and dynamic communities they are a part of.
BF is ensemble in residence at Georgia State University and run by Co-Artistic Directors Jan Berry Baker and Stuart Gerber.
Based in Atlanta, Chamber Cartel been hailed as “contemporary classical heavyweights” and “the darlings of Atlanta’s [New Music] scene” by the Goat Farm Arts Center. Chamber Cartel employs a flexible instrumentation and has performed over sixty concerts of unique programming since 2012 including more than twenty commissioned works. The Cartel has collaborated with artists such as nobrow.collective, Margot Rood, the A/B Duo, Bent Frequency, Stephanie Aston, Peter Ferry, Stacey Mastrian CORE Performance Company, Lotte Betts-Dean, Sonic Generator, and Transient Canvas. Chamber Cartel has been fortunate to give the Atlanta Premieres of several important pieces such as The Brightest Form of Absence, For Philip Guston, Vexations, Le Marteau sans Maître, Pleiades and more! The Cartel is currently getting ready for their 11th season that will begin in Spring of 2023.