Upcoming (2023):
My piece Constellation #6: The Cicadas will be premiered by the Cleveland Chamber Symphony on Sunday 10/29/23, at Gamble Auditorium at Baldwin Wallace College. Link for more info HERE - you can read more about this piece on my BLOG too!
My piece Money is the Devil was premiered in Turin, Italy on 9/28/23! See my BLOG for more information and background on this piece. Thank you to Luciano Chessa for programming this work on the concert series!
Past Events (2022):
I composed a new work for the Ekklesia Reed Quintet which was premiered on two concerts presented by the Cleveland Composers Guild on 2/24 and 2/27/22, at the Kent State Stark Campus and Cleveland State University. I’ve also recently completed a new work for solo guitar, in memory of my father who passed away in 2019. The piece is also dedicated to Hilary Field, a wonderful guitarist based in Seattle. Stay tuned for future performance recordings!
Past Events (2019):
Premiere performances of Silver Mountain by the No Exit Ensemble, February and March 2019
The wonderful No Exit Ensemble recently premiered my new work Constellation #2: Silver Mountain on their 10th anniversary celebration series, in February and March 2019, at SPACES gallery, Heights Arts Gallery, and Wolfs Gallery. A review of the concert at SPACES can be read here.
Premiere performance of Constellation #1: The Violin by Isabel Trautwein of the Cleveland Orchestra
Another premiere! Cleveland Orchestra violinist Isabel Trautwein premiers my Constellation #1: The Violin at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Cleveland Heights, OH on Sunday 2/24/19. Premiere performance was presented by the Cleveland Chamber Collective! Concert program may be found here.
Past Events (2017):
I curated a sound art exhibit at Heights Arts gallery in September 2017. Titled Sound and Vision, it showcased homemade musical instruments and rare finds from other parts of the world, along with graphic scores and recordings of instruments in the exhibit for patrons. More info can be found at this link.
Blue Kaleidoscope premiered on 6/25/17
Violinist Isabel Trautwein (of the Cleveland Orchestra) and harpist Jody Guinn (of the Akron Symphony Orchestra) premiered my work Blue Kaleidoscope at Happy Days Lodge on 6/25/17.
JC is Not God (Homage to John Cage) in visual art exhibition
My musical score JC is Not God (Homage to John Cage) was included in the summer exhibit The Artist's Trust, a collection of over 300 self-portraits created by Cleveland-area artists. Exhibit was curated by Liz Maugans and was on display at MOCA Cleveland from June 2 - September 17, 2017, as part of a larger exhibition titled Constant as the Sun.
Guitarist Hilary Field performs Dorian Gray
Hilary Field performed my work Dorian Gray at the Northwest Guitar Festival, Portland State University, Portland OR, on 4/3/17. Program here!
I created a few string arrangements for a hip hop album
Check out my work on Beans’ album HAAST, released in March 2017! Beans was a founding member of the seminal hip hop trio the Anti-Pop Consortium, and has since gone on to create a string of excellent solo albums. This was a fun project, for sure.
Title: Spaces to SPACES, a Roving Housewarming ; FREE for All (SPACES Grand Opening Open House)
Date: Saturday, January 14 - Sunday, January 15, 2017
Location: SPACES Gallery's new location, Van Rooy Coffee Building, 2900 Detroit Ave., Cleveland, OH 44113
Time: 6 pm - midnight, 1/14/17; noon - 5 pm, 1/15/17
I'm thrilled to unveil my audio installation Blue Light Special at SPACES Gallery's grand opening of their new locale in the Van Rooy Coffee Building! Saturday's event (1/14) is ticketed while admission is free on Sunday 1/15. You can also download the press release for these events here.
Past Events (2016):
Title: Community Jam Session with the Quiet Trance Ensemble, featuring Daniel Gray-Kontar
Date: September 17, 2016
Location: SPACES Gallery
Time: 8:00 pm
Admission: Free; bring a noise making device of your choosing and be ready to make music!
The Quiet Trance Ensemble, led by myself, is a contemporary music group devoted to performances of contemplative, subtle music which takes risks and challenges listeners. A combination of local experimental/electronic musicians plus musicians who specialize in performing new music, the QTE embraces a wide creative spectrum, from free improvisation to performing intricate, fully notated works of contemporary music.
QTE hosts its first ‘community jam session,’ free for anyone to attend. The only requirements: to bring a found object or two that is capable of making interesting sounds (this could be anything), to bring an open mind, and be willing to engage openly in the improvisational process with the ensemble’s musicians. Also included on the concert are two premieres: my Tabletop Neumes and my String Quartet No. 2.
Local poet and community activist Daniel Gray-Kontar will lead discussions on a variety of issues, using participants’ personal noisemakers as a starting point for open conversations about ‘found history,’ family, neighborhood, and other topics of community. In this way, QTE and Gray-Kontar aspire to use music and open dialogue as a hammer, an agent of positive social change.
Info on inaugural performance by the Quiet Trance Ensemble at SPACES Gallery, 9/17/16: http://www.spacesgallery.org/events/community-jam-session-with-the-quiet-trance-ensemble-featuring-daniel-gray-kontar-09-17-2016
Pianist Brianna Matzke premiered my work The Slow Waltzes on 6/12/16 at the BOP STOP, Cleveland, OH: http://www.themusicsettlement.org/calendar/2016/06/12/matzke-premieres-piano-music-by-auerbach-brown-bop-stop
I organized and participated in performances of music by Mark Mothersbaugh at MOCA Cleveland, OH on 5/27/16: http://www.mocacleveland.org/exhibitions/mark-mothersbaugh-myopia
Images from my installation Boundaries at SPACES Gallery, 11/18/11 - 1/20/12. Images include: overall installation, Age Beauty (victrola, amplifier, contact microphones), Me Too (three radios, antenna), Line in the Sand (picture of microphone preamps in Altoids tins). All photos by Jerry Mann.