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Lukas Ligeti

Transcending the boundaries of genre, the Austrian, New-York-City-based composer-percussionist Lukas Ligeti has developed a musical style of his own that draws upon downtown New York experimentalism, contemporary classical music, jazz, electronica, as well as world music, particularly from Africa. Known for his non-conformity and diverse interests, Lukas creates music ranging from the through-composed to the free-improvised, often exploring polyrhythmic/polytempo structures, non-tempered tunings, and non-western elements. Other major sources of inspiration include experimental mathematics, computer technology, architecture and visual art, sociology and politics, and travel. He has also been participating in cultural exchange projects in Africa for the past 15 years.

Born in Vienna, Austria into a family from which several important artists have come including his father, composer György Ligeti, Lukas started his musical adventures after finishing high school. He studied composition and percussion at the University for Music and Performing Arts in Vienna and then moved to the U.S. and spent two years at the Center for Computer Research in Music and Acoustics at Stanford University before settling in New York in 1998.

His commissions include Bang on a Can, the Vienna Festwochen, Ensemble Modern, Kronos Quartet, Colin Currie and Håkan Hardenberger, the American Composers Forum, New York University, ORF Austrian Broadcasting Company, Radio France, and more; he also regularly collaborates with choreographer Karole Armitage.

As a drummer, he co-leads several bands and has performed and/or recorded with John Zorn, Henry Kaiser, Raoul Björkenheim, Gary Lucas, Michael Manring, Marilyn Crispell, Benoit Delbecq, Jim O’Rourke, Daniel Carter, John Tchicai, Eugene Chadbourne, and many others. He performs frequently on electronic percussion often using the marimba lumina, a rare instrument invented by California engineer Don Buchla.

His first trip to Africa, a commission in 1994 by the Goethe Institute to work with musicians in Côte d’Ivoire, embarked him on an exploration of cross-cultural collaboration that continues to this day. In Abidjan he co-founded the experimental, intercultural group Beta Foly which led to the release of his first CD as a bandleader, Lukas Ligeti & Beta Foly in 1997. He has worked with Batonka musicians in Zimbabwe; collaborated with Nubian musicians in Egypt which culminated in a concert at the Cairo Opera; and composed a piece for musicians from various Caribbean cultures which premiered in Miami Beach. In 2005, Lukas was featured at the Unyazi festival in Johannesburg, the first electronic experimental music festival in Africa, and in 2006, he was composer-in-residence at the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg. Lukas traveled to Uganda in 2007 to collaborate with the music/dance/theater group, the Ndere Troupe. In 2008, he taught composition at the University of Ghana at Legon (Accra), and in 2010 he collaborated with musicians in Lesotho, focusing on the lesiba, a rare traditional instrument that is in danger of extinction.

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8
Album Review

Lukas Ligeti: That Which Has Remained …

Read "That Which Has Remained …" reviewed by Mark Corroto


That Which Has Remained ... documents a sound installation created by composer-percussionist Lukas Ligeti at the POLIN Museum of the History of Polish Jews. The concert performance premiered in November 2015 at a location that was once the Warsaw Ghetto. It was followed by this recording the next day at the Polish National Radio studio. Ligeti, artist in residence at the POLAN Museum, explored Jewish life in Eastern Europe through recorded interviews with residents aged 20 to 98. The participants ...

1
Album Review

Lukas Ligeti, Thollem McDonas: Imaginary Images

Read "Imaginary Images" reviewed by Alberto Bazzurro


Entrambi prossimi alla cinquantina (Ligeti, figlio di György, la varcherà a giugno), i due performer qui riuniti si confrontano sul terreno della libera improvvisazione, pratica di cui d'altro canto il catalogo Leo pullula. Lo fanno attraverso pezzi tutto sommato brevi (dai tre ai nove minuti), il che--specificatamente in presenza di questa economia di mezzi--non può che giovare (a meno di non essere dei giganti) all'esito globale della musica. Anche perché, poi, i procedimenti sono (gioco forza? forse ...

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Event

The Göz/Kurtág Jr./Lukács Trio & Lukas Ligeti at Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) on May 20, 2017 at 7:30 pm

The Göz/Kurtág Jr./Lukács Trio & Lukas Ligeti at Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) on May 20, 2017 at 7:30 pm

Source: Isabelle Deconinck

A double bill featuring THE LÁSZLÓ GŐZ / GYÖRGY KURTÁG Jr. / MIKLÓS LUKÁCS TRIO—an opto-acoustic experimental music performance & THE WORLD OF COMPOSER LUKAS LIGETI With Ariadne Greif (soprano), Ji Hye Jung (marimba), Members of wild Up and Ligeti’s ensemble Notebook Bing Theater at Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) Saturday, May 20, 2017 at 7:30 pm Balassi Institute–Hungarian Cultural Center in New York and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) are pleased to ...

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Performance / Tour

Composer/Percussionist Lukas Ligeti Celebrates 50th Birthday With Premiere-filled Concerts June 11 + 14

Composer/Percussionist Lukas Ligeti Celebrates 50th Birthday With Premiere-filled Concerts June 11 + 14

Source: AMT Public Relations

Composer/Percussionist Lukas Ligeti Celebrates 50th Birthday With Two Premiere-Filled Concerts June 11 + 14 New York City, NY: On the occasion of his 50th birthday (June 13, 2015), the Austrian Cultural Forum New York presents an unprecedented overview of composer/percussionist Lukas Ligeti's work as a composer including new pieces written specifically for the occasion. The concert series opens June 11th at the ACFNY, with performances of Lukas’ solo and small ensemble works (performers include Thomas Bergeron, Candy Chiu, Jennifer Hymer, ...

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Performance / Tour

Composer/Percussionist Lukas Ligeti 50th Birthday Celebrations

Composer/Percussionist Lukas Ligeti 50th Birthday Celebrations

Source: AMT Public Relations

Special Performances, Recordings, and Events to Celebrate the 50th Birthday of Innovative Composer/Percussionist Lukas Ligeti New York City, NY — Composer/percussionist Lukas Ligeti today announced a robust 2015 season in anticipation of his 50th birthday (6.13.15). A champion of intercultural music and arguably one of the world’s most ingenious composers, Lukas is celebrating with world premieres at Roulette, two album releases, live performances with his jazz hybrid trio Hypercolor, a weeklong Stone residency, and more. See below for a complete ...

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Performance / Tour

Composer/percussionist Lukas Ligeti Performs Throughout Nyc May - July

Composer/percussionist Lukas Ligeti Performs Throughout Nyc May - July

Source: AMT Public Relations

Composer/percussionist Lukas Ligeti Showcases New Works throughout Manhattan This Summer THU 5.31 @ The Stone w. Lukas Ligeti Quintet THU 6.14 @ Gershwin Hotel w. Lukas Ligeti’s Notebook JUNE-JULY @ Café Orwell’s Weekly Concert Series Just off a 3-month long tour in Europe and India, composer/percussionist Lukas Ligeti returns to his hometown of New York City with a trio of live performances ranging from avant-jazz collaborations to a curatorial concert series in Brooklyn. One of the most innovative composers and ...

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Radio

The Jazz Session #282: Lukas Ligeti

The Jazz Session #282: Lukas Ligeti

Source: AAJ Staff

Drummer Lukas Ligetis most recent recording is Pattern Time (Innova Records, 2011). In this interview, Ligeti talks about his travels in Africa and how theyve influenced his writing, particularly his approach to rhythm; how he crosses musical and cultural boundaries; and a fascinating analysis of swing.Drummer Lukas Ligetis most recent recording is Pattern Time (Innova Records, 2011). In this interview, Ligeti talks about his travels in Africa and how theyve influenced his writing, particularly his approach to rhythm; how he ...

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Recording

Composer/Percussionist Lukas Ligeti Releases "Pattern Time" (Innova)

Composer/Percussionist Lukas Ligeti Releases "Pattern Time" (Innova)

Source: AMT Public Relations

Lukas Ligeti: PATTERN TIME CD Release 4/26 Composer/Percussionist Lukas Ligeti Explores Varying Rhythmic Patterns in Experimental Improvisation and African Jazz “[Lukas] Ligeti isn't trying to create some globally homogenized soundworld...his music is defiantly individual...—The Guardian (UK) NEW YORK, NY—Composer/percussionist Lukas Ligeti lays the foundations for a new idiom in the realm of creative improvised music and African-influenced jazz in his latest album, PATTERN TIME (Innova Recordings). United by a shared interest in rhythmic explorations in improvised music, Lukas assembles a ...

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Performance / Tour

Composer/Percussionist Lukas Ligeti Tours Afrikan Machinery This Spring 2010

Composer/Percussionist Lukas Ligeti Tours Afrikan Machinery This Spring 2010

Source: AMT Public Relations

Composer/Percussionist Lukas Ligeti Continues a Nationwide Tour of Afrikan Machinery Brilliantneatly bridges the classical-modernist-world-music divide. - The Scotsman (U.K.) Fresh off his first ever UK solo performances, composer/percussionist Lukas Ligeti continues to wow audiences with his post-minimalist polyrhythmic music in a nationwide Spring 2010 concert tour (see schedule below). Performing selections from his most recent album, Afrikan Machinery (Tzadik), Ligetis live repertoire for electronica percussion, specifically the Marimba Lumina (an innovative mallet instrument invented by legendary synthesizer pioneer Don Buchla), ...

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