Infinity Avenue: A Concert, Retrospective, and 70th Birthday with Robert Carl at Real Art Ways

  “Robert Carl’s music, to my ear at least, has always felt like the work of a particularly sensitive sonic observer of the world. Originally a student of history before he refocused his efforts into music, his interest in time, memory, and space are veins running through his compositions, his work more given to conjuring imagery than narrative plot. And whether inspiration is mined in the wake of a seascape or travelers on a speeding bullet train, the resulting music tends to carry a distinct organic beauty and rich, encompassing depth.” – Julia Lu, NewMusicBox Robert Carl has been in Hartford for 40 years, and while he has been all over the world presenting his music, this has been his home base. He’s also had a similarly long relationship with Real Art Ways, going back to the 1980s. This concert celebrates Robert’s time here with a program of five recent pieces. Three were released last year on a CD by Neuma Records, featuring live acoustic instruments with computer-assisted electronic accompaniment. The other two are world premieres! —

Program:

1. Updraft (2013) for trombone and electroacoustic accompaniment Matt Russo, trombone 2. Splectar (2021) for electric guitar with Max-computer processing Matt Sargent (co-composer) 3. Infinity Avenue (2015) for open-form ensemble Robert Carl, laptop Steve Bonacci, saxophone Matt Sargent, electric guitar Kyle Grimm, contrabass 4. Wanderers* for extended pianist (2023) Robert Carl, piano 5. Haiku from a Horrible Year* for soprano and five instruments (2020) Texts by William Deatherage Gilda Lyons, soprano Allison Hughes, flute Alex Kollias, clarinet Selah Kwak, violin Roselyn Hobbs, viola Kyle Grimm, contrabass *Premiere —

Robert Carl’s music is performed regularly throughout the US and abroad. It concentrates on solo, chamber, orchestral, vocal, choral, and electroacoustic media. Its aim is to create a sense of space that provides the listener with a sense of freedom and openness. He has received awards from the National Endowment for the Arts, Chamber Music America, and the American Academy of Arts and Letters (the 1998 Charles Ives Fellowship as well as a 2106 Arts & Letters Award).

Residencies include MacDowell, Yaddo, UCross, Djerassi, Millay, Bogliasco, Camargo, Copland House, Tokyo Wonder Site, and Bellagio. He lived in Japan for three months as an Asian Cultural Council Fellow in 2007.

New World Records has released three CDs of his works (music for strings; electroacoustic pieces inspired by Japan; and large ensemble/orchestral). Neuma has just released a two-disc retrospective featuring music in precise tuning with technological extensions. In 2021, an all-orchestral CD was released by the Boston Modern Orchestra Project; and Harmony, an opera based on the meeting of Charles Ives and Mark Twain, with libretto by Russell Banks, premiered in August 2021.

Robert writes regularly on new music in a variety of forums and magazines and is the author of Terry Riley’s In C (Oxford University Press). In 2016, Bloomsbury Press released Jonathan Kramer’s posthumous text Postmodern Music, Postmodern Listening, which Mr. Carl edited. In fall 2020, Bloomsbury also published a book of his essays titled Music Composition in the 21^st Century: A Practical Guide to the New Common Practice.

He was chair of Composition at The Hartt School, University of Hartford, from 1992-2022. In Fall 2022, he was Slee Professor of Music at the University at Buffalo.

Learn more about Robert here: http://www.robertcarlcomposer.com