Percussionist Peter Ferry and virtuosic video artist Xuan at USC March 30-April 1
Earsight Duo, winner of the 2015 SAVVY Chamber Competition, is back in Columbia for their 2016 residency at the School of Music, March 30 – April 1. Percussionist Peter Ferry and virtuosic video artist Xuan create programs that unite music and visuals with extraordinary skill, humor and sophistication.
Founded at the Eastman School of Music in 2010, Earsight Duo grew out of Peter and Xuan’s shared impulses to experiment with music and film. After conservatory rehearsals and avant-garde film courses, they worked together to create artistic projects springing from their own imaginations.
Earsight’s unusual combination will take their residency beyond the School of Music’s doors into the USC School of Visual Art + Design’s mixed media class where they will share with students their journey from inception to award-winning duo.
Fresh off their performance at the national Chamber Music America pre-conference showcase in New York this past January, Earsight will reprise old works and debut new pieces in their expanding repertoire.
A free public concert takes place Friday, April 1 at 7:30 p.m. In the University of South Carolina School of Music Recital Hall (813 Assembly Street).
Wednesday, March 30
Seminar Class
1:10 p.m., Room 016
Winners of the 2015 SAVVY Chamber Competition, Earsight Duo, demonstrate and discuss
core elements of their collaborative art. Students encounter a new, innovative performance
combining music and imagery into an art experience.
Mixed Media Class
4:40 p.m., McMaster Building, room 214
Combining classically trained musicianship with cutting edge video techniques is an
evolutionary process. Earsight Duo provides overviews of, not only how they create
their multi-dimensional pieces, but why. Follow as they share their journey from inception
to award-winning duo.
Thursday, March 31
The 21st-Century Performer
8:30 a.m., room 106
Join Earsight Duo as they explore what it means to be a 21st-century performer by
examining aspects of their professional careers: collaboration, teaching artistry,
concert and tour booking, and moving beyond the purely musical concert experience.
Master Class: Percussion
4:45 p.m., room 059
Eastman percussion graduate, Peter Ferry of Earsight Duo, works with students during
this master class led by USC’s Scott Herring. Xuan, virtuosic video artist and fellow
Eastman graduate, will join to share how video and percussion collide to create dynamic
works of art.
Friday, April 1
Seminar Class: Composition
2:30 p.m., room 210
Eastman graduates, Xuan and Peter Ferry, provide insight into the complications, challenges,
and rewards of creating and discovering compositions for piano, percussion and video.
Fri. April 1, 7:30 p.m.
Southern Exposure New Music Concert: Transforming the Concert Experience
USC School of Music Recital Hall
This concert promises to be in some respects its most adventurous: it features a world-renowned
clarinet soloist and up-and-coming young percussion/video design duo, both of whom
present striking, original visions of the concert experience – in addition to flat-out
playing great. The Czech performer Dohnal, one of the world’s leading clarinetists,
will present his engaging, critically-acclaimed interpretation of Karlheinz Stockhausen’s
Harlekin (Harlequin, 1975), a costumed piece that includes elements of dance and pantomime
– it was written for dancing clarinetist!
Earsight Duo, Peter Ferry and Xuan, winners of USC’s 2015 Savvy Musician in Action Chamber Music Competition, are a duo that challenges the conventional notions of a chamber music partnership. Ferry, a virtuoso percussionist, has significant video and technology chops. Xuan, an acclaimed video designer, is also a classically trained pianist and is unusually well-suited to interpret music on the big screen. As a team, they create performances that blend percussion and video (and occasionally piano) with extraordinary sophistication, beauty and humor.
Karel Dohnal’s appearance is made possible through funding by the USC Clarinet Association, a USC Student Government organization.