Composer Charles Nichols and violinist Sarah Plum
Charles Nichols
Composer, violinist and computer music researcher Charles Nichols is an assistant professor of composition and music technology at the School of Performing Arts and the Institute for Creativity, Arts and Technology at Virginia Tech University. He has earned degrees from the Eastman School of Music, Yale University and Stanford University, where he studied composition with Samuel Adler, Martin Bresnick, Jacob Druckman and Jonathan Harvey, and computer music with Jonathan Berger, Chris Chafe, Max Mathews and Jean-Claude Risset.
Sarah Plum
Sarah Plum began her performing career by winning first prize at the International Stulberg Competition in 1984. Her performances have been praised as “consistently stunning with works that demanded conventional virtuosity but also great skill in unconventional techniques” (third coast journal) and “extraordinary, meaningful and magnificent music” (Berlin Tageszeitung). As a new music specialist Plum has performed worldwide at festivals and venues such as Ars Musica (Brussels), Cite de Musique (Paris), Ankunft:Neue Musik (Berlin), Unruly Music (Milwaukee) Spectrum (New York) and The Luzern Festival among others as a soloist and with noted ensembles. In the past 3 years alone Plum has commissioned Sidney Corbett, Christopher Adler, Laurie Schwartz, Mari Kimura, Sidney Boquiren, Mari Takano, Charles Nichols and Jeff Herriot to write pieces for her. Plum’s collaborations with composers have led to projects such as her CD Absconditus, music of Sidney Corbett for violin, which was called “a gem” by the American Record Guide.
Program
- Charles Nichols: Il Prete Rosso, for amplified violin, motion sensor, and interactive computer music
- Sidney Corbett: Polydorus Echoes, for solo violin
- Kurt Rohde: Night Vase, for solo violin
- Mark Engebretson: Rock Star, for violin and interactive electronics
- Eric Lyon: New Work
- Jeff Herriot: After time a resolution, for violin and interactive computer music