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Seda Röder improvizes first-ever electro-acoustic cadenza for a classical concerto

In this video, New Music Pianist Seda Röder improvises the first-ever electro-acoustic cadenza for a classical concerto!

Röder, who specializes on bringing contemporary music to new audiences, says that “the public at Beethoven’s time would have expect the soloist to improvise in the cadenzas. I wanted to do the same, but in a style that is my own and entirely modern.”

To turn this vision into reality, Seda worked together with Mexican composer Edgar Barroso who provided an electro-acoustic framework that she could use for her improvisations.

When Röder was approached by Harvard conductor Hanjay Wang with the suggestion to perform with the Chinese Symphonic Masterpieces Orchestra, the unusual idea finally came to life!

To find out more about this very special project, please listen to the latest episode of Seda’s podcast in which the pianist shares her thoughts on the unusual performance.

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Blackbox #011: Beethoven and Electronics

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In this episode I would like to invite you to my upcoming concert with Beethoven’s 5th piano concerto. The concert is taking place on Friday, April 15th at Harvard’s Paine Hall. I will also talk a little bit about what makes this concert so special.

Those of you who can make it to the concert on Friday will hear something very extraordinary. I will be improvising a contemporary cadenza to the first movement of Beethoven’s 5th concerto using a live-electronics framework by composer Edgar Barroso.

In the concert on Friday I will insert an electro-acoustic improvisation into the middle of Beethoven’s notated cadenza demonstrating how different elements from within the concerto are perfectly suitable for such an experiment.

I hope to see many of you at the concert on Friday, if you cannot make it to the concert you will be able to hear a recording on my website, www.sedaroeder.com. I am really excited about this unprecedented experiment, and am looking forward to your comments.

Fri, April 15
8:00 PM
Paine Hall, Harvard University
$5 students
$8 general

Tickets can be purchased at the Harvard Box Office, or at the door.

Presented by the Harvard-Radcliffe Chinese Students Association.
Chinese Symphonic Masterpieces II
proudly presents:

Plum Blossom Country
composer Masaaki Hayakawa

Journey to the West
Double Concerto for Flute and Erhu
World Premiere; Co-commissioned by CSM
composer Oliver Caplan (Harvard SEAS Staff)
soloists Kevin Leu ’11, Flute; Charles Vanijcharoenkarn ’11, Erhu

Allegro from Piano Concerto No.5, Op.73 “Emperor”
composer Ludwig van Beethoven
soloist Seda Röder (Harvard Music Department), Piano

Music director Hanjay Wang ’11

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Blackbox #010: New sounds … New techniques …

Blackbox 010: New sounds... New techniques... [ 6:06 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

By the end of the 19th century we already start seeing composers like Berlioz and Debussy experimenting more and more with the characteristic sounds and colors of different instruments. As a natural result of thinking more in color and effects the instruments had to be forced to their sonic extremes, to create a new sound world. The composers started to explore and expand the sonic possibilities of instruments and pushed these to previously uncharted territories.

In this episode of Blackbox, I would like to give you a short introduction on the development of new playing techniques to create such new sounds. I will also show you a two examples for such interesting sounds from my own repertory: the “fishing line” section from “Lacrymae” by Murat Yakin and the “e-bow+mallet+plucking+whistling” section from “Drifting through the Echoes of Time” by Turgut Erçetin.

Enjoy!
-Seda

Links for further exploration:

  • Stephen Scott’s “Bowed Piano Ensemble”
  • How to use an e-bow on a piano
  • Preparing the piano for “Sonatas and Interludes” by John Cage
  • “Aeolian Harp” (1923) by Henry Cowell
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    Blackbox #004: My Chamber Music Partner is a Computer!

    Blackbox #004: My Chamber Music Partner is a Computer! [ 0:01 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

    Hans Tutschku - http://www.tutschku.comWelcome to the fourth episode of Blackbox. This episode of Blackbox will introduce a composition that employs not only solo piano but also live-electronics: Zellen-Linien (Cells and Lines), composed by one of the most important electronic music composers of our time: Hans Tutschku. I will particularly focus on one fascinating aspect of this composition which is the interaction between computer and performer, and how this interaction affects the aural outcome of each performance.

    Here is the full recording of the piece from my performance at the New York City Electroacoustic Music Festival:

    <a href="http://music.sedaroeder.com/track/hans-tutschku-zellen-linien">Hans Tutschku &#8211; Zellen Linien by Seda Röder</a>

    If you would like to listen to a live performance of Zellen-Linien, you are kindly invited to my upcoming performance at MIT’s Kilian Hall on September 25, at 8pm.

    I am looking forward to seeing you there, and as always please let me know if you have any comments on this podcast either by simply emailing me at seda@sedaroeder.com or using the comments field below.

    – Seda

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    The next episode of Blackbox…

    … will be about Hans Tutschku’s Zellen-Linien which is a piece for piano and live-electronics. You can listen to my live recording of Zellen-Linien at the New York City Electroacoustic Music Festival here.

    <a href="http://music.sedaroeder.com/track/hans-tutschku-zellen-linien">Hans Tutschku &#8211; Zellen Linien by Seda Röder</a>

    If you have any particular questions about this piece, please post them here by using the comments field below, or email me directly at seda@sedaroeder.com, and I will then try to address your questions in my upcoming podcast.

    I am looking forward to your input:-)
    - Seda

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