Gene Pritsker
| Gene Pritsker | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1971 (age 43–44) |
| Genres | Various |
| Occupation(s) | Composer, guitarist, rapper |
| Instruments | Guitar, piano |
| Labels | Composers Concordance Records, Col Legno, Enja Records, Eutrepe, Wergo, Innova Recordings |
Gene Pritsker (born 1971) is a Russian-born composer, guitarist, rapper and record producer living in New York City. He moved to the United States with his family in 1979 and lived in Sheapshead Bay Brooklyn. He attended the Manhattan School of Music from 1990 to 1994 where he studied composition with Giampaolo Bracali. While attending Manhattan School of Music he co-founded the Absolute Ensemble with Kristjan Järvi and formed Sound Liberation, which has released cd's on Col-legno, Composers Concordance Records and Innova Recordings. Gene's music has been performed by the Adelaide Symphony, MDR Symphony Orchestra, Athens Camarata, Brooklyn Philharmonic and the Berlin Philharmonic. He worked closely with the Austrian-American jazz keyboardist and composer Joe Zawinul and has orchestrated Hollywood movies.
His compositions are published by Falls House Press, Gold Branch Music, Periferia Sheet Music and Calabrese Brothers Music, LLC.[1] His compositions and performances can be heard on Col Legno, Enja Records, Eutrepe, Wergo, Innova Recordings, Composers' Concordance Records, and Capstone Records labels. He is a member of Broadcast Music, Inc..[2]
Reception
Pritsker contributed to Absolute Bach Reinvented, a collection of works based on Johann Sebastian Bach's keyboard inventions. Pritsker's "Bach-derived framework" was always evident in his Reinventions as he played an "art-metal guitar solo" that included "flamboyant tango rhythms."[3]
Pritsker's 2006 composition, Self Laceration, was positively reviewed in the New York Times, which noted that it "begins with a rhythmically insistent, irresistibly zesty movement in which the focus moves briskly around the ensemble." [4] Another 2006 citation in the New York Times, by Brian Wise[5] cited Pritsker's Cauldron of Unsatisfied Hatred as the "highlight of the evening" and referred to the piece as a "pulsating duet." Wise went on to say that "Mr. Pritsker expressed skepticism about whether a deep connection could be drawn between music and pugilism." During a performance of Terry Riely's In C at Governors Island the New York Times noted that "Probably no one had more fun than the guitarist Gene Pritsker."[6]
In 2012 he released the chamber opera William James’s Varieties of Religious Experience with Composers Concordance Recordings. In a review for NewMusicBox, Frank J. Oteri described its blurring of boundaries as "the only possible reaction to being surrounded by all of these sounds and the musical styles from which they [composers] originate."[7]
Compositions - selected
Samplestra is pre-recorded electronics (as in an orchestra of samples, notated in score format.)
Solo
- Modified #4 (2012) for clarinet and samplestra or triggered samplestra - composed for Marianne Gythfeld
- Deep Time (2009) for multiple percussion solo - composed for Peter Jarvis
- A 21st Century Reconstruction of J. S. Bach (2005) for bass trombone and samplestra - composed for David Taylor
Chamber
- Recycle (2012) for soprano, baritone, electric guitar, double bass and percussion - composed for Composers Concordance Ensemble
- Herky-Jerky (2012) for chamber ensemble - composed for Composers Concordance Ensemble
- Roundelay (2011) electric guitar and drum set - composed for the Jarvis/Pritsker Duo
Chamber Orchestra
- Songs So Wild and Wayward (2012) for Chamber Orchestra - composed for the Composers Concordance Chamber Orchestra
- 40 Changing Orbits (2012) for chamber orchestra - composed for the Absolute Ensemble
Concertos
- Songs so Wild and Wayward (2012) for solo violin and chamber orchestra - composed for Lara St. John
- Incantation (2011) for solo violin and chamber orchestra - composed for Miltiades Papastamou
Orchestra
- Cloud Atlas Symphony (2012) for full orchestra - composed for the MDR Symphony Orchestra
- Without The Support of the External Senses (2000) for full orchestra
- Fanfare 4 1/2 Billion (2000) for full orchestra
Opera
- William James' Varieties of Religious Experience [7](2009) - libretto by Gene Pritsker
- Money Ii (2007) - libretto by Gene Pritsker
Discography - selected
- Solo-Duo-Trio-Quartet-Quintet:[8] Chamber Electronic Music of Gene Pritsker performed by Sweet Plantain String Quartet (Artist), International Street Cannibals. Composers Concordance Records #comcon003
- William James's Varieties of Religious Experience:[7] a chamber opera by Gene Pritsker performed by - Sound Liberation. Innova Recordings #innova235
Film DVDs - selected
2012
- Cloud Atlas[9]
Pritsker was invited to orchestrate and compose additional music for the screenplay adaption of the novel Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell. The screenplay was written by Lana Wachowski, Tom Tykwer and Andy Wachowski.
Bibliography
- Pritsker, Gene (2014): Composing Cloud Atlas Symphony. In: Stoppe, Sebastian (ed.), Film in Concert: Film Scores and their Relation to Classical Concert Music, pp. 145-160. ISBN 9783864880605.
- Pritsker, Gene (2014): On Film Music in the 21st Century. In: Stoppe, Sebastian (ed.), Film in Concert: Film Scores and their Relation to Classical Concert Music, pp. 125-130. ISBN 9783864880605.
References
- ↑ "Pritsker, Gene (b. 1971)". Calabresebrothersmusic.com. Retrieved 2013-01-13.
- ↑ "BMI, music royalty, music publishing, music licensing, songwriter, copyright, composer". BMI.com. Retrieved 2013-01-13.
- ↑ Smith, Steve (April 12, 2009). "Improv, Techno-Tricks and a Bach Framework". The New York Times. Retrieved January 9, 2013.
- ↑ Kozinn, Alan (November 23, 2006). "World Premieres, Sure, but Room for Older New Music Too". The New York Times. Retrieved January 9, 2013.
- ↑ Wise, Brian (October 15, 2006). "Gleason’s Ring Cycle". The New York Times. Retrieved January 12, 2013.
- ↑ Smith, Steve (July 3, 2011). "Summertime Anarchy, but of the Guided Kind". The New York Times. Retrieved January 12, 2013.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 Oteri, Frank J. (September 25, 2012). "Sounds Heard: Gene Pritsker—William James's Varieties of Religious Experience". NewMusicBox. Retrieved January 9, 2013.
- ↑ Rose, Raul (May 7, 2011). "The International Street Cannibals: The Chamber and Electronic Music of Gene Pritsker (2011)". All About Jazz. Retrieved January 12, 2013.
- ↑ "Gene Pritsker". IMDb. Retrieved 13 January 2013.