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Composition Studio Recital

Featuring original compositions by:
Daria Tennikova
Erika Pirnes
Ben Yats
Matthew Blair
Isabelle Kramar
Reed Christian
Joachim Austin

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Program

Untitled for violin and piano      Reed Christian (b. 2003)

Sonhos e Memórias for vibraphones and percussion    Ben Yats (b. 1991)

Jonas and the Sea for full orchestra (video format for concert)       Isabelle Kramar (b. 2002),

Anxiety for violin and cello      Erika Pirnes (b. 1989)

Setämiehen elämänohje for piano, voice, and flute    Erika Pirnes

Five Shadows for piano and audio media     Matthew Blair (b. 1994)

Squartet for string quartet     Joachim Austin (b. 1989)

Prelude. Day 231 for piano     Daria Tennikova (b. 1989)

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Matt Blair is a pianist, composer, and educator living in Madison, Wisconsin. His work draws upon diverse musical traditions such as contemporary classical, electro-acoustic improvisation, free jazz, minimalism, and noise. In addition to his practice as a pianist, he incorporates extended electronic processing of the Fender Rhodes, synthesizers, and the computer in his music.

Since 2018, Matt has been releasing music on his label, Scribbled Fang Records. Recent releases have included Shadow Sets, a collection of compositions for solo piano that was produced by Dave King (The Bad Plus, Happy Apple), Post Rock Lately, the debut record of Collector, an improvising trio featuring Jakob Heinemann on bass and Devin Drobka on drums and electronics, and Flights and Poor Health Good Spirits, both releases by Big Thanks, a Minneapolis-based Trash House trio featuring Miles Allen on saxophone and clarinet and Jack Lussenden on drums. Other recent releases have included After Party (out on Dinzu Artefacts), the debut record of Yins, an electronic duo with Devin Drobka, and Resorts (out on Shifting Paradigm Records), a piano trio featuring Devin Drobka’s compositions with Aaron Darrell on bass.

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Erika Pirnes is a composer, songwriter and a mathematics graduate student. Growing up in Finland, music was always present in her life. Her main instruments are piano and flute, but she has also learned the basics of bassoon, flugelhorn, and cello. Erika considered herself a 100% classical musician until the year 2020 when she started writing songs, not really fitting inside the classical genre. Currently, she is doing a doctoral minor in music composition, and she is interested in combining different styles of music.

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Joachim Austin is a doctoral student studying music composition at UW-Madison with Dr. Laura Schwendinger. He holds a bachelor’s degree in music composition from Brigham Young University and a master’s degree in composition from UW-Madison. He has been composing, playing piano, and singing tenor for over twenty years. He has lived in Wisconsin since 2017 and currently works as a graduate teaching assistant in the Mead Witter School of Music.

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Isabelle Kramar, a second-year undergrad, has been surrounded by music for as long as she can remember; she started her musical journey on piano at age four and cello at age 9. As a cellist, she is a member of the University Symphony Orchestra. As a composer, Isabelle has received several awards and recognitions at an international, national, and regional level, including; Finalist in the 2020-21 Marvin Hamlish International Music Awards, Finalist in the 2019 National Young Composer’s Challenge, and has been recognized in various categories by the National Federation of Music Clubs and Wisconsin School Music Association. Isabelle loves telling stories through music and is excited to share her latest film score. She would like to give a special thanks to her personal midi orchestra for the phenomenal performance of this original score.