Brook / Mazzoli / Young Streya CD

Austro-Italian violinist Olivia de Prato has been an active performer in New York City's contemporary music community since moving there in 2005 As a member of critically acclaimed ensembles, the Mivos Quartet, Ensemble Signal, and Victoire, de Prato has been involved in commissioning, premiering, and recording countless new compositions, with a range of figures spanning the diverse landscape of new music. Streya is a document of some of that work, with a program of six beguiling pieces by figures from Manhattan School of Music faculty member Reiko Futing to avant-garde improviser extraordinaire Ned Rothenberg to Mannes School of Music faculty and composer/songwriter/bandleader Missy Mazzoli. The works and performances herein display de Prato's versatility as well as the flexible reach of programming in today's New York concert community. Samson Young's 'Ageha. Tokyo' deftly merges extended violin timbres with electronics and places the listener in a futuristic tech landscape. Lowrie's 'Streya' contains some of the most conventional violin music on the album. Ned Rothernberg leans on his background as a free jazz clarinetist to generate a through composed piece that retains a sense of spontaneity. The remaining works utilize multi-tracking possibilities, sampled keyboards, delay and distortion, and quality writing. This is all violin for a new age.