Jean-Francois Charles

You might remember the premiere performance of composer Davide Ianni's Dedalo Nero, for contralto clarinet . With Davide Ianni, we had the great pleasure of sharing behind-the-scenes details about the piece during the International Clarinet Association New Music Weekend 2024 . You will find below the video of this masterclass:

I loved meeting with Mike Viola, a passionate musician . We had an enlightening conversation with great questions from the audience. I think that a fan made a video of the interview, but I'm not sure it's available online. Don't hesitate to link it if you stumble upon it!

I met Steven Schick when I attended the Centre Acanthes in 2000 . Among other pieces, he had performed Bone Alphabet , which Brian Ferneyhough had written for him. Steven Schick was a guest at the University of Iowa in October : he was born in Iowa and got a Bachelor and a Masters at the University. It was a treat to hear him perform Bone Alphabet again, but I also enjoyed a lot hearing two performances of Karlheinz Stockhausen's Zyklus , a wonderfully playful piece. Steven Schick also conducted a beautiful rendering of Varèse's Ionisation , a sensitive piece of percussion chamber music. I had the pleasure of performing with the Center for New Music conducted by David Gompper . The most important piece on the concert was George Lewis 's Soundlines , a piece during which Steven Schick tells the story of a walk he took from San Diego to San Francisco. During the summer, I re-built the live electronics set-up designed by George Lewis; I took care of the live sound perfor...

If you live neat Iowa City, consider attending the International Screendance Festival at FilmScene on September 28 at 6pm. Our Agnus Dei music video, a musical setting of François Villon's Ballade des pendus, has been chosen in the Official Selection! Tickets are available at FilmScene . P.S.: the video is also online: Agnus Dei, musical setting of François Villon's Ballade des Pendus .

Following-up on a great 2022 concert , Timothy Gill and David Gompper recently released the album Exchanges on Albany Records. They included my composition Petrified, for cello & live electronics (link to score & Max patches) . I love how the amazing Timothy Gill made the interpretation his own. He really contributed his original creativity in the three improvised cadenzas. This work fits in the long tradition of compositions for cello and electronics. A classic one is Kaija Saariaho 's Petals for Solo Cello and Electronics (1988). Listen here to a recording by cellist Madeleine Shapiro on Albany Records. Brian Ferneyhough composed Time and Motion Study II for cello and live electronics (1973-76). The piece uses tape delays and ring modulation, very much in the tradition. Here is a recording showing the score . Dai Fujikura 's The Spirit of Beings is composed for cello and fixed electronics (backing track). Here is a live recording . Composer Kar...

Like most genres of music, Reggae is a hybrid. I was lucky this year to add to my collection the 3-CD edition of Bob Marley and the Wailers's Catch a Fire - an album to listen to! Then, reggae has been hybridized with other genres, for instance from pop or hip-hop cultures. Here are a few tracks from 2001 to 2016 that I find interesting, enjoyable, and very well crafted! Jay-Z : Hola' Hovito , in The Blueprint , 2001 Produced by Timbaland Britney Spears : Showdown , in In The Zone , 2003 Produced by Bloodshy & Avant Lady Gaga : Dancin' In Circles , in Joanne , 2009 Produced by Jeff Coplan, Robert Ellis Orrall Rihanna : Man Down, in Loud , 2010 Produced by Sham, Kuk Harrell, Bobby Campbell Madonna : Unapologetic Bitch , in Rebel Heart , 2014 Produced by Madonna, Shelco Garcia & Teenwolf, BV, Diplo, Ariel Rechtshaid Beyoncé : Hold Up, in Lemonade , 2016 Produced by Diplo, Beyoncé, Ezra Koenig

When we performed at the Stanley Museum of Art, there was quite a bit of ambient noise. This pushed us to create music like we had never made together yet. Especially, the second part of the concert ended with an incredible constellation of sonic stars . Here is the video: You could already listen to the first part of the concert .