Heaven’s Door
Heaven’s Door is the fourth piece from Stockhausen’s unfinished Sound cycle, which features a piece for each hour of the day. The door of the title is customized with twelve panels of different woods, each yielding a different timbre. A percussionist exhausts himself by knocking on the door in every pattern he can think of before it finally opens for him. He walks through the door and, unseen by the audience, plays a collection of cymbals and a siren to evoke the clangorous sound of Heaven. Finally, a little girl emerges from the audience and walks through the open door without a struggle.

Cosmic Pulses
Cosmic Pulses is the thirteenth piece from Stockhausen’s Sound cycle, and it marks the halfway point in the series. It is the composer’s last electronic composition. Each of the remaining pieces in the unfinished Sound cycle use partial mixdowns of Cosmic Pulses as accompaniment for live performers.

The piece is structured in 24 different layers of sound, which travel through the 8 sound channels at breakneck speed. The result is a sonic roller coaster that orients the listener to an entirely different reality.

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Stuart Stuart Gerber, percussion

  Recently lauded as having “consummate virtuosity” by the New York Times and for giving “the best contemporary music show of 2008” by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Stuart Gerber is Assistant Professor of Percussion at Georgia State University in Atlanta and has performed extensively throughout the US, Europe, Australia, and Mexico.

As an active performer of new works, Dr. Gerber has been involved in a number of commissions and world-premiere performances. He gave the world premiere of Karlheinz Stockhausen’s last solo percussion work Himmels-Tür in Italy, as well as his percussion trio Mittwoch-Formel at the annual Stockhausen-Courses in Kürten, Germany. He has also given the US and Australian premieres of Stockhausen’s duo version of Nasenflügeltanz for percussion and synthesizer, and the US premiere of his solo percussion work Komet. Dr. Gerber has been the faculty percussionist for the Stockhausen-Courses since 2005 and has recorded a number of pieces for the Stockhausen Complete Edition.

In addition to his work with Stockhausen, Dr. Gerber has worked with many other notable composers, such as Kaija Saariaho, Steve Reich, Tristan Murail, Frederic Rzewski, George Crumb, Tania Lèon, Michael Colgrass, Ricardo Zohn-Muldoon, and John Luther Adams.

Recent performances include: solo performances at the Gulbenkian Center in Lisbon, Portugal, the South Bank Centre in London, a performance with Stewart Copeland (the legendary drummer for The Police) at the Savannah Music Festival, a solo performance at the Ultraschall Festival in Berlin, as well as an appearance at the Spoleto Festival, where his performance was described as having “consummate virtuosity” by the New York Times. He also is featured on the world-premiere recording of John Luther Adams’ Strange and Sacred Noise with the Percussion Group Cincinnati (Mode records) and Adams’ Qilyaun released by Code Blue records. Stuart has extensive recording experience and can be heard on recordings released by Capstone Records, Telarc, Wesleyan University Press, Albany records, and Vienna Modern Masters.

As pedagogue Dr. Gerber has recently presented a lecture-recital at the Percussive Arts Society International Convention (PASIC) and a scholarly paper at the Hawaii International Conference on Arts and Humanities in Honolulu. He has given numerous master classes at conservatories and universities around the US and abroad. Recent engagements include appearances at the Eastman School of Music, the Manhattan School of Music, the University of Texas-Austin, the University of Florida, the University of South Florida, Lynn Conservatory, the University of Nebraska-Omaha, the University of Montreal, the Southbank Centre (London), and the Sydney Conservatory and the Victoria College of Arts in Australia.

Dr. Gerber is a founding member of the Atlanta-based new music group Bent Frequency, performs internationally with the Australian pianist Michael Fowler in ENSEMBLE SIRIUS, and is regularly heard as extra percussionist with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra.

Dr. Gerber received his Bachelor of Music degree from the Oberlin College Conservatory where he studied with Michael Rosen, and was awarded a Master of Music and Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music (CCM). His teachers at CCM were Allen Otte, Russell Burge, and James Culley of the Percussion Group Cincinnati. He has also done advanced studies at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater in Hannover, Germany, with Professor Andreas Boettger.

Joe

Joe Drew, trumpeter & composer

Joe Drew is a veteran of the new music & experimental concert scene, as well as New York’s downtown rock clubs. He has toured with musikFabrik and Cursive.

 

In 2004, Joe helped establish ARTSaha!. He has been at the helm of some of festival’s most memorable events, doing everything from curating a program of Samuel Beckett’s short plays, to arranging a Rameau ballet-opera, and conducting Ballet Mecanique. He projected the US premieres of Karlheinz Stockhausen’s Cosmic Pulses and Friday Greeting at ARTSaha! 2008.

 

Joe moved to New York City after receiving his masters degree from the Yale School of Music. He frequently performs as a keyboardist in bands or on his recitals. He has given 9, 12 & 24-hour solo organ performances of John Cage’s ASLSP.