Lucie Vítková / Melinda Faylor / Steve Long's PRNCX

Lucie Vítková is a composer, improviser and performer (accordion, hichiriki, synthesizer, harmonica, voice and tap dance) from the Czech Republic, living in New York. Their compositions focus on sonification (compositions based on abstract models derived from physical objects) while in their improvisation practice Lucie works with characteristics of discrete spaces through the interaction between sound and movement. In Lucie’s recent work, they are interested in the social-political aspects of music in relation to everyday life and in reusing trash to build sonic costumes.

Pianist Melinda Faylor premieres a new work that is part of a series of “game pieces”. Game Piece #3: “Folie à Deux” is for prepared piano and voice. With hypnotic vocals and extended piano techniques (such as preparation of the strings with objects and bowing of the strings), the players create a shared dream/delusion. The score is semi-improvised and was created through a session of automatic writing. She will also present an excerpt from her solo project “Piano Lounge” in which she weaves together dense and mercurial sound worlds using field recordings and piano.

PRNCX is the large ensemble project of composer and pianist Steve Long. The group regularly appears as a small collection of 3-6 players, with larger iterations of 16+ players participating for special events. At its core, this group, and the compositions written for it, bring the members of disparate Queer American Experimental lineages, such as John Cage, Julius Eastman, Pauline Oliveros, and Cecil Taylor, into direct conversation with both the metaphysical and practical procedures of the Ellingtonian bigband. Blurring the lines between composition and improvisation is more than merely invoking a “liminal space”, since composition and improvisation do not necessarily exist as polarities on the same spectrum. Through juxtaposing, uniting, and/or accentuating the differences between several modes of improvisation, composition, and notation, PRNCX walks a thin line between coherence and chaos.