Peri Mauer

Peri Mauer / Press "The program included ….Peri Mauer, All Along the Heights (World Premiere)...Pat Glunt kept tight ensemble as conductor, and the orchestra performed with verve, particularly in the outstanding premiere by Ms. Mauer. Her piece, All Along the Heights (2016), commissioned by this orchestra, opens with an amiable dance, with some mariachi percussion, and various syncopations, which expands into a series of lyrical and colorful vignettes – akin to Aaron Copland’s Americana style, with a very light and lively touch at orchestration that is of the same caliber of that great master’s

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Peri Mauer / Press "The program included ….Peri Mauer, All Along the Heights (World Premiere)...Pat Glunt kept tight ensemble as conductor, and the orchestra performed with verve, particularly in the outstanding premiere by Ms. Mauer. Her piece, All Along the Heights (2016), commissioned by this orchestra, opens with an amiable dance, with some mariachi percussion, and various syncopations, which expands into a series of lyrical and colorful vignettes – akin to Aaron Copland’s Americana style, with a very light and lively touch at orchestration that is of the same caliber of that great master’s. Some passages presented dissonances, although most of the piece was consonant – the balance and variety of this through-composed excursion in musical exploration is delightful. Both the members of the orchestra and the audience seemed to love the piece and praised it." Mark Greenfest - soundwordsight.com "Peri Mauer’s Thought’s Torsion led, with Michael Laderman, flute, Gregor Kitzis, viola, and Dave Eggar, cello. …..[she] writes with authenticity and careful attention to detail. I have invariably found her pieces to have a lot of integrity and emotional focus…...Ms. Mauer’s writing is sophisticated, intelligent, direct and beautiful." Mark Greenfest - soundwordsight.com "Peri Mauer’s Red Sky for trumpet was performed by soloist Alexandria Smith. The composition was finely constructed and unflaggingly interesting, as have been all the pieces I’ve heard by Ms. Mauer. Ms. Smith played an extended line made up of parts divided across the trumpet register. She then inserted a mute and played another line, but of an occluded relationship to what had come before. The whole piece suggested to me the provocative experience of examining an object under two different lighting conditions, and wondering whether the object you see now is really the same as the one you saw before." David Mecionis - soundworsight.com "While Peri’s playing is beautiful, the highlights of the afternoon came in the haunting quality of her own compositions which followed. Journey (a lovely Virginia Chang Chien on oboe), Red Sky (a sonorous Lynn Chao on trumpet – seen at right) and Morning in Minute and Quietly, at Dusk (ethereal playing by Medina Crystal-Gloria on clarinet) are compositions that demand attention. Her style is unique and original. Classical and Jazz influence marry beautifully in her works." Ladd Boris - soundwordsight.com "Peri Mauer’s Trumpet Trio (World Premiere)...writes very interesting music. Her pieces tend to have a clearly focused line, a persuasive emotional content, and sufficient complexity to be interesting, without being too dense or overwhelming. Her World Premiere piece for this appealing trio got a well-deserved standing ovation from the audience, who appreciated fresh and exciting music." Mark Greenfest - soundwordsight.com "Peri Mauer’s “Morning, Night, & Noon” for clarinet duo followed next, juxtaposing a flexible and creative treatment of this pairing of instruments with the engaging spectacle of their quality performance by the duo of Vasko Dukovski and Ismail Lumanovski." Roger Blanc - The Glass "….Irrepressibly tuneful composer Peri Mauer" delarue - New York Music Daily/Lucid Culture "This was followed by Peri Mauer, Journey, (Virginia Chang Chien, oboe), in which long sonorities glide in a mysterious way, with short, hopeful chirping passages cascading in the lyrical and thoughtful flow. This exceptional piece for solo oboe is a new work in one movement, “inspired by the soulful sound of the oboe, it is intended to convey a pensively evocative expression of delight, introspective and magnetic,” according to Ms. Mauer, who is also a professional cellist, and has a degree from Bard and a masters in composition from the Manhattan School of Music." Mark Greenfest - www.soundwordsight.com “The centerpiece of the program was a commissioned work for the band by composer Peri Mauer, called Red Sky, conducted by Dr. Richard Titone. Ms. Mauer orchestrated her prior work for solo trumpet of that name and revised it for a full ensemble. It was technically challenging, but the young musicians rose to the occasion after diligent rehearsals... It’s in two movements – Awakenings, in which Ye Huang, clarinet, and Hao Wang and Brandon Papaleo, trombones, were the soloists, and In the Brilliance of the Afternoon Sun. I find it an exciting and invigorating piece that is excellently well-written. The piece got deserved and enthusiastic applause from the audience.” Mark W. Greenfest, independent concert reviewer - soundwordsight.com "The next piece on the program was a work for solo oboe by Peri Mauer aptly called “Journey”. A fanciful piece that explored the full range and colors of the instrument, it was a beautifully vivid journey through sound and time." Dave Hall - The Glass "Peri Mauer’s piece, Red Sky, is inspired by the changes of sky in pictures of Ms. Coffin’s country home on Lake George. Its mercurial mood changes and atmospheric changes are manifest through a very focused and coherent forward-driving line, requiring virtuosic technique, yet paying off with emotionally fascinating rewards. The composer writes “The vibrant and peaceful beauty of the red sky is seen as a continuous shift of varied shades of color, enlivened by changing cloud formations throughout the day.” This piece is neither nocturnal nor pastoral; it is beautiful and rousing." Mark Greenfest - soundwordsight.com "Following, was the first performance of Peri Mauer’s At Home with Allen Ginsberg, a song cycle inspired by Ginsberg’s readings of his own poetry. The five evocative songs – including the dramatic “Sunset”, recounting the moving premature death of a young son – were brought to unique life by Daniel Neer’s expressive and dynamic baritone paired with Christopher Berg’s skillful flow at the piano." Ted Gorodetzky - The Glass ““Peri Mauer’s ‘A Little New Year’s Flair’ played by the rhythmically astute Blair McMillen, investigated structure and rhythm…So did Don Byron’s ’3 Etudes’…Mr. McMillen — who also had to vocalize and sing in these — brought out their dry wit.”” Corinna da Fonseca-Wollheim - New York Times "Peri Mauer's music, intensely personal, yet written to be shared as a collective experience, with technical challenges for the performers and an intense emotionality - akin to a Van Gogh painting - is beginning to take on the kind of reputation it deserves. I won't pass judgment on whether it's very, very good music or whether it's great - as it's intensely personal work - but it's written with brilliant craft and intense passion, and, I suspect that in time, Peri's rep will grow like Mahler's..." Mark W. Greenfest, freelance contributor New Music publications - https://www.facebook.com/mark.greenfest "Peri Mauer’s polyrhythmic, spatially shifting work Life on Earth, alternating configurations from among 15 instrumentalists a la Lisa Bielawa’s recent explorations." delarue - Lucid Culture “I consider myself fortunate to have been a part of Peri Mauer’s Life On Earth in Music With a View 2013, June 19th at The Flea Theater in Tribeca. The foundation of the piece is a series of structured solos and duets, interspersed with background free improvisations by individuals and groups of instrumentalists using melodic and rhythmic motifs found in the structured sections. The material is beautifully written, with expressive melodies and intricately woven rhythmic subtleties. The overall effect is of major events taking place amidst a constant stream of small ordinary happenings, all based on the same short motifs. Ms. Mauer both played cello and conducted, shaping sections between the major events for a range of tone colors and dynamics. It was exciting to hear the lines and motifs pass from one player to another...with accents and tempi shifting as each interpreted the material. Lighting effects–changing colors and intensities–added to the dramatic effect.” Sandra Coffin - SoundWordSight an arts magazine “Peri Mauer’s Illuminations of the Night...received its shining world premiere by the New York Repertory Orchestra....Mauer’s musical nightscape pulses with the insistent rhythms and syncopated energies of late night New York. She offers up a vision of New York City swathed in terrifying darkness but lit up from within by streaks, sparkles, glints, and flashing of light. The piece beautifully exploits dark orchestral hues and textures to achieve a haunting luminosity. Mauer first began sketching the work while she was a student at the Manhattan School of Music. In her program notes on the piece she relates how she would compose until “the low-pitched screeching of garbage trucks making their early morning rounds signaled that it was time to go to sleep.” Fittingly the piece came to a close with a screeching halt, but after such an invigorating piece who could think of sleep? - Scottie Roche THE GLASS May 28, 2013” Scottie Rochie - THE GLASS "The program opened boldly with the world premiere of Peri Mauer’s Illuminations of the Night, a work drawing its inspiration from observations by the composer of changes in the city as she often worked through the night composing. Not surprisingly, this Manhattan cityscape even alludes to such familiar urban night sounds as garbage trucks and passing sirens, as well as serene and suspended interludes of relative quiet. The orchestration was expert, and the formal structure of the piece clearly defined. Beginning dramatically with aggressive brass and percussion, such challenging statements gave way to a beautifully transparent interlude before the city seemed once again to awaken in all its vitality." - Andrew Rudin soundwordsight.com May 27, 2013 Andrew Rudin - SoundWordSight an arts magazine "David Leibowitz conducts the world premiere of Illuminations of the Night, a new piece by skillful cellist and composer Peri Mauer"-Time Out NY Steve Smith - Time Out New York “The New York Repertory Orchestra proudly presents its 2012-13 season finale featuring a world premiere by Peri Mauer alongside works by Jean Sibelius and Claude Debussy. Led by conductor David Leibowitz, the concert features guest artist, violinist Airi Yoshioka, and takes place on Saturday, May 18th at 8pm at The Church of St. Mary the Virgin in Times Square. ” Music News Desk - BroadwayWorld.com "...followed by the world premiere of Peri Mauer's colorful, spirited "Pixeliance" for flute, harp and marimba, expertly performed by Mary Barto, Ashley Jackson and Mike Truesdell." Leonard J. Lehrman - New Music Connoisseur Spring/Summer 2012 “Peri Mauer’s innovative compositions are at the forefront of contemporary music, and Nudibranch Friday is clearly one of her most captivating and imaginative compositions.” David M. Abrams - Sound Word Sight “'Dutchess Starlight Revisited' by Peri Mauer/cello, with Elliott Sharp/guitar and Art Baron/trombone, was a beautiful piece that exuded a sharp tenderness matched only by its near perfect arrangement. The combination of the three musicians brought out the joy and heartache of the composition, its notes reverberating in the air like ripples on the surface of a pond. Peri's playing was superb, her cello hummed with the gentle yet powerful vibration of her soul. http://studiophoenix.blogspot.com/2012/02/composers-concordance-festival- part_11.html” Kerwin Williamson - Studio Phoenix Blogspot "Peri Mauer’s “Rhapsodance,” vibrantly interpreted by Moran Katz, a clarinetist, and Alexandra Joan, a pianist, set a tart chromatic melody dancing to frisky rhythms akin to Poulenc." http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/05/arts/music/the-here-and-now- series-at-bargemusic-review.html?_r=3&ref=music Steve Smith - The New York Times “REVIEW (excerpt): BLOGARHYTHM, Peri Mauer, composer and conductor Music With A View, April 1, 2011 "The piece opened with an enormous wavelike crescendo, arching together the polyrthyms of multiple musical lines, in one energetic gesture - Ms. Mauer said that this was inspired by walking through the Times Square subway station at rush hour. The powerful opening was quite exhilarating and raucous, yet it was amazing how articulate it was, and the lines held together (much like a Mahler ending, except more so). This wave was repeated throughout the piece, in gentler and rhythmically appealing form; and, it alternated with lyrical solo and other passages that were lovely, and which showcased the fine musicianship of the individual performers. The effect was both energetic and mesmerizing - the rhythmic 'blog' wave of the complex urban world in contrast to the beautiful voices of the individual instruments." ” Mark Greenfest, freelance contributor New Music Connoisser. April 5, 2011 "Peri Mauer has the soul of a poet" John Eaton, New York Composers Circle “AFTERWORDS, a concise, gripping trio by composer Peri Mauer.” Suzanne Mueller, CROSS ISLAND January 23, 2011 "Morning Night and Noon for two clarinets by Peri Mauer stood out as appealing and original. Ismail Lumanovski and Vaski Dukovski reacted to each other and to the music with imagination and energy. In Night one truly felt midnight’s eerie darkness. Her portrayal of the composer David Noon (Ms. Mauer’s former teacher) was vibrantly eccentric and electrically charged. The music displayed creativity throughout the triptych." ~ La Folia Online Music Review May 2010 La Folia Online Music Review

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