Less is more for Red Note's Autumn Tour 2010

LESS IS MORE FOR RED NOTE’S AUTUMN TOUR 2010
 
Gabriel Jackson New Work for Strings
John Adams Shaker Loops
Gavin Bryars’ Jesus’ Blood Never Failed Me Yet
 
 
Once again Scotland’s most inimitable contemporary music ensemble, Red Note, are taking their unique brand of music and performance on tour around Scotland. This autumn, John Adam’s brilliant Shaker Loops for single strings and Gavin Bryars’ evocative Jesus’ Blood Never Failed Me Yet have been paired with a new Red Note/sound Festival commission for Gabriel Jackson.
 
Dedicated to developing and performing interesting and significant contemporary music, co-directors John Harris and Robert Irvine are, this autumn, celebrating classic minimalism, an underground music scene that started in the early 1960’s in San Francisco and New York and then soon became the most popular experimental music style of the late 20th century.  This October the Red Note Ensemble are delighted to be opening the 6th sound Festival in Aberdeen on Wednesday 20th October with the World Première of Gabriel Jackson’s new work alongside two of the greatest minimalist pieces ever composed.
 
John Adams is one of America’s most admired and respected composers, a musician of enormous range and technical command and one of the founders of Minimalism. His works, both operatic and symphonic, stand out among contemporary classical compositions for their depth of expression, brilliance of sound, and the profoundly humanist nature of their themes. Shaker Loops was composed in the autumn of 1978 using fragments from a string quartet, Wavemaker and featured in the cult movie Barfly with Mickey Rourke and Faye Dunaway.
 
Whilst living in London, Gavin Bryars was working on a film about people living rough in the area around Elephant and Castle and Waterloo Station. In the course of being filmed, an old man started to sing the religious song "Jesus' Blood Never Failed Me Yet". Later at home and on noticing the first section of the song – 13 bars in length - formed a loop, Gavin improvised a simple accompaniment.

 
Red Note will be joined by AberdeenUniversity music students Rona Cook on horn and Immanuel Voigt on piano for their performance of Gavin Bryars’ evocative Jesus’ Blood Never Failed Me Yet.

 
The Red Note autumn tour will give audiences witnessing these pieces close up for the first time a powerful experience. The music doesn’t pull any emotional punches, it is stunningly virtuosic to play, and enthralling to watch and listen to. Expect an intense, magical musical experience.
  

 
Tour Dates and booking details:
 
Wednesday 20th October 2010 - 7.30pm Woodend Barn, Burn O'Bennie, Banchory, AB31 5QA Ticket Prices: £10, £8 conc, £2 students, jobseekers and under 18
Tickets & Information: 01330 825431 / www.woodendbarn.co.uk
Thursday 21st October 2010 - 7.30pm Concert Hall of the RoyalScottishAcademy of Music and Drama, 100 Renfrew St, GlasgowG2 3DB
Ticket Prices: £9, £6 conc
Tickets & Information: 0141 332 5057 / www.rsamd.ac.uk
 
Friday 22nd October 2010 - 8:00pm Traverse Theatre, 10 Cambridge St, EdinburghEH1 2ED
Ticket Prices £16, £12 conc (school groups 6 / ticket) + HOT TICKETS! Limited number of discounted tickets, £10 (£6) purchased before Friday 15th October.
Tickets & Information: 0131 228 1404 / www.traverse.co.uk
 
 
 
Red Note Ensemble Ltd is a Scottish-based professional music ensemble, dedicated to developing and performing contemporary music to the highest standards, and taking the music out to audiences around and beyond Scotland.
 
Founded in 2008 by Scottish cellist Robert Irvine (Artistic Director) and co-directed by John Harris (Chief Executive) they perform the established classics of contemporary music; commission new music; develop the work of new and emerging composers from around the world; and work hard in new spaces to find new audiences. Their performing ensemble is drawn from the deep talent pool of Scottish new music expertise and count amongst the players some of the very finest performers working in the UK today.
 
Red Note made its debut in May 2008 with a recording of Eddie McGuire’s Carrochan suite for Delphian records, and since then the ensemble has rapidly gained profile and support. They aim to tour Scotland twice each year, in the spring and autumn, and run a regular new music series showcasing the work of new composers (Noisy Nights and What Happened) bi-monthly in Edinburgh and Glasgow. They also work to develop the work of new composers, particularly at GlasgowUniversity and the RoyalScottishAcademy of Music and Drama.
 
 
The ensemble for the autumn tour will be:
 
Jackie Shave
Kay Stephen
Donald Grant
Jane Atkins
Robert Irvine
Louise McMonagle 
Rick Standley
 
Web addresses: www.rednoteensemble.com