Acclaimed Synergy Vocals to Join CME and WE in Performance of Contemporary Works on Friday, March 10, 8 p.m., in Finney Chapel Story by Claire Chase and Emily Manzo
	*The De Stij movement was initiated by artists Piet Mondrian and Theo van Doesburg, and expanded by architects Gerrit Thomas Rietveld and Robert Van't Hoff. Mondrian simplified art and design into a vocabulary of geometric forms, employing only the primary colors -- red, blue, and yellow -- plus black and white. Mondrian's design relied on a vertical and horizontal grid, often dynamically broken by a curve or a circle or a diagonal line. Rather than enclosing forms, his compositions seemed to open out into the space around them.		Synergy Vocals takes a break from rehearsing at Finney Chapel Synergy Vocals, the London-based a cappella group acclaimed for its versatile performances of contemporary repertoire, made its debut in 1996 singing Tehillum with David Robertson and the London Symphony Orchestra. The ensemble's performance was glowingly received, and the group was immediately flooded with propositions for additional Tehillum performances around the globe. Synergy Vocals soon thereafter established itself as a leading advocate of contemporary vocal music, and now performs regularly with such acclaimed ensembles as the Brooklyn Philharmonic, the London Sinfonetta, the Ensemble Intercontemporain, and the Ensemble Modern. Synergy Vocals will perform Tehillum again, this time in Oberlin, when the group joins forces with the Oberlin Contemporary Music Ensemble (CME) and the Oberlin Wind Ensemble (WE), under the direction of Timothy Weiss, on Friday, March 10, 8 p.m., in Finney Chapel for a performance of two landmark late-twentieth century works by Steve Reich and Louis Andriessen. For Synergy Vocals, Tehillum is an old friend; for CME, the work is dauntingly new. "Sunday should make for an interesting, and charged performance on both ends," predicts Weiss. Additionally, local audiences will have an opportunity to hear members of Synergy Vocals give a master class and lead a discussion about their experience in the work force of new music on Wednesday, March 8 at 6:15 p.m. in Warner Concert Hall. Both events are free and open to the public. Given the reputation of Oberlin's CME and its impressive roster of recent guest artist collaborations, it wasn't surprising that Synergy Vocals agreed to perform the work with a student ensemble. "The women of Synergy Vocals are all young themselves," explains Weiss, associate professor of wind conducting, and director of both CME and WE, "and they're eager to share their specific field of expertise with other young people." The Program Broadway Boogie Woogie, by Piet Mondrian "The first work on the program, De Stijl* [see side bar] by Louis Andriessen, takes its title from the art movement that was based around the work and philosophy of Piet Mondrian," explains Weiss. "The rhythmic structure of De Stijl," continues Weiss, "was created by looking at a painting of Mondrian's, and deciphering exact relationships between lines in the painting, and creating rhythmic durations out of those relationships. The text is all about readings from an art theorist, quoting things like 'The line of a perfect order is not a circle,' and other such scholarly stuff." The academic atmosphere suddenly takes a turn for the wild when, as Weiss describes, "two-thirds of the way through the piece, an upright piano breaks into a boogie-woogie tune, and a woman comes out of the back of the hall, holding her arms out in the shape of a T. Mirrors are supposed to be set up on stage, reflecting her T in different directions, which is supposed to represent the ultimate perfect line. "This is a huge work," Weiss says. "It employs a lot of straight-style jazz, jazz that's European in style, in sort of the 'Don't touch my monkey' manner. It should be a blast." Steve Reich's Tehillum, which literally means "psalms" in Hebrew, was written in 1985-86, and uses straight-tone voices that carry the work virtually non-stop through its 35-minute duration. "The piece is great fun, and we're very excited about doing it with Synergy Vocals, who has performed it dozens of times over the years," says Weiss. The vocal part in Tehillum requires virtuosic agility, accuracy and spans a near three and a half octave range. Steve Reich has said, "It is vital that the singers use a style which is close to the non-vibrato style of early music than to opera, are artistically committed to the work and the importance of the ensemble." Student Composers Join in Performance Weiss decided to include three composition students in the ensemble - junior Walter Scharold (Houston, Texas), senior Robert Reich (Syosset, New York) and junior Du Yun (New York, New York) - to provide for them an experience of performing new music that appeals to their generation of composers. "De Stijl is amazing," says Scharold, who, along with Reich, plays electric guitar on De Stijl. "I love the 'pop' influence in Andriessen's writing for obvious reasons. Part of my own compositional aesthetic is to include what I consider the inevitable influence of popular culture in my creative work. Andriessen has done this very successfully by borrowing melodic and rhythmic ideas from pop music and combining them with the complex harmony and thematic development found in 20th century classical music and jazz. It's also really fun to play." "It has been the trend for composition students to be involved in free improvisation and performance art," says pianist Du Yun. "I think it is important for us to be involved in performing written music, as well." "I'm really glad to be performing this piece," adds Robert Reich. "Not only is it a relatively new piece, but it sounds very different from the music normally played in the Conservatory. This is 'new music' that most people my age can relate to because it rocks, it grooves, and it's really loud."
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