SASSAS Kicks Off
2012 sound. Concert Series With

myrmyr

An Experimental, Post-Classical Duo
In Its LA Debut
Saturday, June 30, 2012

LOS ANGELES, CA – June 14, 2012 – SASSAS’ concert series, sound., returns for a 14th season, kicking off with the Los Angeles premiere performance of Oakland-based experimental duo myrmyr at the Kings Road Park Pavilion on Saturday, June 30, 2012.  Produced by the Society for the Activation of Social Space through Art and Sound (SASSAS), the sound. concert series pushes new music boundaries by creating unique listening experiences for audiences that combine experimental music and unconventional settings.  Known for entrancing ambiences and intricate layered melodies, myrmyr creates an intimate post-classical atmosphere inspired by folk elements of the duo’s common Eastern European ancestry.  The June 30th myrmyr sound. event starts at 5:00pm.  Advance tickets are $12, $10 for SASSAS members/students/seniors, and can be purchased at www.sassas.org/sound/2012.  Tickets are $15 at the door.  Kings Road Park Pavilion is located at 1000 North Kings Road, West Hollywood, CA 90069.  For more information on this concert as well as other upcoming SASSAS events, please call 323-960-5723 or visit www.sassas.org.

“myrmyr’s music is distinguished by being uncompromisingly experimental yet at the same time wholly accessible, and at no time does the group’s music lose its clear sense of musicality and purpose.” 
– Textura

myrmyr (photo courtesy of the artists)

myrmyr –
myrmyr occupies an exceptional space in the burgeoning neo-folk music movement.  Utilizing equal parts violin, cello, harp, bells, percussion, voice, and live electronics, their music explores the roots of traditional Eastern European folk music from a classically trained vantage point.  The duo is comprised of Agnes Szelag and Marielle Jakobsons, who met as students in the Mills College Electronic Music program.  Since 2004, they have performed across the US and in Poland, collaborated with dozens of musicians and filmmakers, and premiered several works for large ensembles such as sfSound and the Oakland Active Orchestra.  Their most recent CD, Fire Star (under Spire Recordings), was described as “an alternately enchanting and disturbing suite of classical-damaged drone pieces” (Brainwashed).  myrmyr.net

Artist Bios –

Marielle V. Jakobsons is a sound artist and violinist based in Oakland, California.  She releases recordings on Digitalis, Mexican Summer, Root Strata, Aphonia, and Students of Decay, and tours extensively across the Americas & Europe.  A classically-trained violinist and pianist, yet sound designer by trade, she collaborates extensively in new music/media, improvisation, and experimental pop.  Together with Gregg Kowalsky, Jakobsons’ band Date Palms creates a sound of psychedelic minimalism and has released two LP’s on Mexican Summer and Root Strata.

Her first solo album, Ore, was released by Digitalis Recordings under the moniker darwinsbitch and has been described as “one singularly scary, fully-formed, and brilliant work” (Brainwashed), “consistently rewarding” (Boomkat), “quite the accomplishment” (Aquarius), and a “tour de force” (Textura).  Jakobsons’ second solo album, Glass Canyon, is due out on Students of Decay in 2012.  She received the Elizabeth Mills Crawford Award in Composition at Mills College, NEXMAP’s Sounding Out California Composers’ Award, and American Composer’s Forum Subitor Grant, among other distinctions.  www.mariplasma.com

Agnes Szelag is a sound artist and performer who composes music and designs video scores and installations.  As a composer, Szelag writes for her own performances and releases as well as on collaborations with myrmyr, Dokuro, Evon, Oakland Active Orchestra, and other ensembles.  She performs using cello, voice, and electronics – often incorporating visual media into her solo performances.  As an installation artist, Szelag prefers to work with specific, forgotten sites, but has also transformed gallery spaces.

Szelag has performed or shown work internationally at the San Francisco Electronic Music Festival, Soundwave Series, Untwelve, 60×60, Audio Art Festival, Cologne Online Film Festival, The Streaming Festival, de Young Museum, THE LAB, ICMC, and The Stone in NY.  She has performed or collaborated with: Terry Riley, Fred Frith, James Tenney, Frances-Marie Uitti, Pauline Oliveros, Torben Ulrich, Henry Grimes, Jon Raskin, Phillip Greenlief, Miya Masaoka, Double Vision, Capacitor, Oakland Active Orchestra, and many others.  She studied film/video at Northwestern University and received her MFA in Electronic Music and Recording Media from Mills College.

Szelag’s music has been hailed as “a distinctive voice in the electro-acoustic field” (Textura) and “gorgeous” (XLR8R). Her duo with The Norman Conquest, Dokuro, was described by The Wire as “discreetly sculptured.”  Currently Szelag resides in Kraków, Poland and is a visiting Fulbright scholar at the Academy of Music in the Electroacoustic Studio. www.agnesszelag.com

myrmyr (photo courtesy of the artists)

Additional 2012 SASSAS Events –

Sun. June 24, 2012, 1:00 – 4:00pm
soundShoppe –
A free monthly unstructured sound workshop/jam for experimental musicians and sound artists presented by SASSAS and Center for the Arts, Eagle Rock (2225 Colorado Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90041; 323-226-1617; www.centerartseaglerock.org).  www.sassas.org/soundshoppe

Sun. July 22, 2012, 1:00 – 4:00pm
soundShoppe –
A free monthly unstructured sound workshop/jam for experimental musicians and sound artists presented by SASSAS and Center for the Arts, Eagle Rock (2225 Colorado Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90041; 323-226-1617; www.centerartseaglerock.org).  www.sassas.org/soundshoppe

Sun. July 22, 2012, 4:00-8:00pm
Listening Party with Catherine Opie, Stephen Prina and Michael Ned Holte –
SASSAS Listening Parties are casual dinners in intimate settings with sound and music shared by well known and emerging artists. Proceeds benefit the sound. concert series and other SASSAS programming. The July 22nd party is hosted by MOCA Co-Chair David Johnson and his wife Suzanne at their Lloyd Wright-designed home in Brentwood, CA. The $125 ticket includes dinner and drinks; seating is very limited for these special events.  www.sassas.org/listeningparty (Address provided with ticket purchase.)

Sat. August 25, 2012, 2:00 – 8:00pm (tentative time)
sound. at the Schindler House: Tape Music –
Dust off your reel-to-reel decks so that SASSAS can realign your heads!  The unique architecture of the Schindler House creates multiple listening spaces to revisit this historic concert form featuring a new commission from John Wiese, a historic work from Pauline Oliveros, and selections from Gary Todd’s Cortical Foundation label that were composed for tape, on tape, and originally presented on tape.  Presented in conjunction with the MAK Center for Art and Architecture (R.M. Schindler House).  Event is at the Shindler House (835 North Kings Road, West Hollywood, CA 90069; 323-651-1510; www.makcenter.org/MAK_Schindler_House.php).  Street parking is available or at the public parking garage on the northeast corner of Kings Road and Santa Monica Boulevard.  www.sassas.org/sound/2012

Sun. August 26, 2012, 1:00 – 4:00pm
soundShoppe –
This special edition of the SASSAS free monthly unstructured sound workshop/jam for experimental musicians and sound artists will focus on “tape music” and feature a demonstration of looping, cutting and working with reel-to-reel tape.  Presented by SASSAS and Center for the Arts, Eagle Rock (2225 Colorado Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90041; 323-226-1617; www.centerartseaglerock.org).  www.sassas.org/soundshoppe

sound. –
Cindy Bernard first initiated the experimental sound. concert series in 1999 in order to facilitate relationships between diverse groups of musicians, guarantee fair compensation for artists, and provide a suitable location for focused listening.  In 2000, sound. moved to the MAK Center for Art and Architecture (R.M. Schindler House) in West Hollywood where the indoor/outdoor nature of the Schindler House enabled audiences to experience the fusion of numerous experimental forms within a seminal example of modern architecture.  Building on the success of sound., SASSAS was incorporated and a Board of Directors formed in 2002.  2012 marks the 14th season of sound. and the 12th year of SASSAS.  Over the years, SASSAS has presented sound. concerts throughout the city in both traditional venues, such as the Roy and Edna Disney/CalArts Theater (REDCAT), the Ford Amphitheatre and the Steve Allen Theater, as well as more unconventional locations, such as the Baldwin Hills Scenic Overlook, the historic 1922 Merry-Go-Round at the Santa Monica Pier, and the Welcome Inn, Eagle Rock.  sound. 2012 is curated by Cindy Bernard, Scott Benzel, Gregory Lencyzcki, Joseph Potts and Dawson Weber.

SASSAS –
The Society for the Activation of Social Space through Art and Sound (SASSAS) is a 501(c)(3) charitable organization that serves as a catalyst for the creation, presentation and recognition of experimental art and sound practices in the Greater Los Angeles area.  Inspired by the resonance that occurs when experimental music is combined with unconventional performance environments, SASSAS seeks to foster new collaborations and improvisation to spark further exploration in the field. Programs include the sound. concert series; soundShoppe, a monthly workshop for experimental musicians; Ad Hoc, a new project supporting touring musicians seeking to perform in Los Angeles, online concert archives at www.sassas.org and www.youtube.com/sassasdotorg; and soundNet recordings, CD compilations drawn from sound. concerts.

The organization is supported in part through grants from the City of Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs, the Foundation for Contemporary Arts, the Good Works Foundation, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors through the Los Angeles County Arts Commission, the Mike Kelley Foundation for the Arts, and the West Hollywood Arts and Cultural Affairs Commission.

For more information, images, or to request an interview, please contact Green Galactic’s Lynn Tejada at 213-840-1201 or lynn@greengalactic.com.