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Vierk
Ms. Vierk received her BA (major in piano and ethnomusicology) from UCLA in 1974. She then studied composition at the California Institute of the Arts with Mel Powell, Leonard Stein and Morton Subotnick, receiving her MFA in 1978. For ten years, she studied gagaku (Japanese court music) with Suenobu Togi in Los Angeles, and for two years, in Tokyo with Sukeyasu Shiba, the lead ryuteki flautist of the Imperial Court Orchestra.
Ms. Vierk has spent most of her career in New York City. Her music has achieved an impressive international reputation, and has been performed by the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, the Kronos Quartet, electric guitarists Seth Josel and David Seidel, cellist Ted Mook, the Paul Dresher Ensemble, the Reigakusha Ensemble of Tokyo, and the Relâche Ensemble, among others.
Among the many performers who have commissioned Ms. Vierk are cellist Maya Beiser, accordionist Guy Klucevsek, pianists Ursula Oppens, Frederic Rzewski, Aki Takahashi, and Margaret Leng Tan, and percussionist Steven Schick. The Bang on a Can Festival, Ensemble Modern, l'Art pour l'Art, Music from Japan, and the Paul Dresher Ensemble have also commissioned works from her. Co-creations with tap dance choreographer Anita Feldman have been commissioned by the American Dance Festival, the Mary Flagler Cary Charitable Trust, Meet the Composer, and others.
Ms. Vierk's music has been performed at major venues worldwide, including the Adelaide Festival, Carnegie Hall, Darmstadt, the Edmonton New Music Festival, Glasgow, the Huddersfield Festival, Lincoln Center, Radio Bremen, the Schleswig-Holstein Festival, and the Suntory Festival (Tokyo). Her music is available on CDs from CRI, OOdiscs, Sony Classical, Starkland Records, XI Compact Discs, and most recently, Tzadik.
Her latest work, Deep-water Waves, was written for the Paul Dresher Ensemble, and was premièred on October 4, 2001 in San Francisco. Her next work will be for cellist Maya Beiser - a duo for cello and piano.
She is self-published.
CONTACT INFORMATION
E-mail address: LVVVV@aol.com
Street address: Ms. Lois V Vierk, Times Square Station, PO Box 2652, New York, NY 10108
COMPLETE LIST OF WORKS
STAGE: HEXA (choreography by Anita Feldman), 3 tap dancers on Tap Dance Instrument (patented), percussion, live electronics, 1988; Twister (choreography by Anita Feldman), 2 tap dancers on Tap Dance Instrument, cello, marimba, 1993; Swash (choreography by Anita Feldman), 2 voices, 2 tap dancers, 1994; Shoo (choreography by Anita Feldman), 2 tap dancers on Tap Dance Instrument, percussion, 1998
ORCHESTRAL: Devil's Punchbowl, 1993; Silversword, gagaku orchestra, 1996; Glacier Voices, symphonic band
CHAMBER MUSIC: Tusk, 18 trombones, 1981; Go Guitars, 5 electric guitars, 1981 (title uses a Japanese character that means 5 and is pronounced "go" in Japanese); Hyaku Man No Kyu (One Million Spheres), 8 ryuteki flutes, 1983; Crane with 1,000 Wings, 8 violins, 1984; Manhattan Cascade, 4 piano accordions, 1985; Simoom, 8 celli, 1986; Cirrus, 6 trumpets, 1987; Red Shift, electric guitar, cello, synthesizer, percussion, 1989; Jagged Mesa, 2 trumpets, 2 tenor trombones, 2 bass trombones or larger brass ensemble, 1990; Red Shift 2, 2 celli, synthesizer, percussion, 1990; Red Shift 3, trumpet, electric guitar, cello, synthesizer, percussion, 1991; Red Shift 4, trumpet, electric guitar, piano/synthesizer, percussion, 1991; Timberline, flute, clarinet, bassoon, viola, double bass, piano/synthesizer, percussion, 1991; River Beneath the River, string quartet, 1993; Into the Brightening Air, string quartet, 1994, revised 1999; Dark Bourn, 4 bassoons, 4 celli, 1995; Blue Jets Red Sprites, accordion, 1996; Demon Star, cello, marimba, 1996; Europa, French horn, 2 trumpets, trombone, tuba, 1997; Io, amplified flute, electric guitar, amplified marimba, 1999; Deep-water Waves, bassoon, electric guitar, violin, keyboard, 2 percussion, 2001
VOCAL: Attack Cat Polka, voice, accordion, ensemble, 1988
PIANO: Yeah Yeah Yeah, 1990; To Stare Astonished at the Sea, inside piano, 1994; Spin 2, 2 pianos, 1995
SELECT DISCOGRAPHY
Go Guitars; Cirrus; Simoom - Simoom. David Seidel, electric guitars; Gary Trosclair, trumpets; Ted Mook, celli (XI: CD 102, 1990, available through XI Compact Discs at: EIF, 224 Centre Street, New York, NY 10013; telephone: 212 431 5172; fax: 212 431 4486)
Manhattan Cascade - Manhattan Cascade. Guy Klucevsek, accordion (CRI: 626, 1993, available from www.composersrecordings.com)
Red Shift 4 - Bang on a Can Live, Volume 2. A Cloud Nine Consort (CRI: 646, 1993, available from above)
Timberline - Outcome Inevitable. Relâche Ensemble (OOdiscs: 17, 1994, available from www.oodiscs.com)
Go Guitars - Go Guitars. Seth Josel, electric guitars (OOdiscs: 36, 1998, available from above)
River Beneath the River; Into the Brightening Air; Jagged Mesa; Red Shift - River Beneath the River. Eva Gruesser, Patricia Davis, violins; Lois Martin, viola; Bruce Wang, cello; Gary Trosclair, trumpets; Bruce Eidem, tenor trombones; Christopher Banks, bass trombones; David Seidel, electric guitar; Ted Mook, cello; Lois V Vierk, synthesizer; Jim Pugliese, percussion (Tzadik: 7056, 2000, available from www.tzadik.com)
(Last updated on November 8, 2001)
