Featured Artists

Clarence Barlow	Katherine Arthur
Hilary Clark	Gareth Davis
Pascal Fendrich	Bernd Härpfer
Seth Josel	Philipp Richardsen
David Lee Ruest	Hillary Schoap

Clarence Barlow

Clarence Barlow has been appointed to the Corwin Chair of Composition, in succession to the two previous holders, Peter Racine Fricker and William Kraft.

Chair Lee Rothfarb comments, "From its inception, the Corwin Chair has been an important post for promoting the creation and performance of contemporary music, for making regional, national, and international connections with other composition programs, for bringing noted composers to UCSB as guests to broaden students' horizons, and for attracting students to UCSB. Clarence Barlow's career achievements fulfill the Corwin's vision of fostering a link between continuing excellence in traditional approaches to composition while also recognizing the emerging role of music in the media arts and technology."

Barlow's past and current teaching posts include twelve years as Professor of Composition and Computer Music at the renowned biennial International Music Institute at Darmstadt (1982-1994); over twenty years as Lecturer in Computer Music at the Cologne Musikhochschule (1994 to the present); four years as Artistic Director at the Institute of Sonology at The Hague's Royal Conservatory (1990-1994); and over ten years as Professor of Composition and Sonology at the Royal Conservatory (1994 to the present). Other posts include Visiting Professor of Composition and Acoustic Art at the Folkwang University in Essen, Germany (1990-1991), and most recently, Visiting Professor of Composition at the Conservatory of Music and Dramatic Arts in Portugal (2005-2006).

Barlow, who studied composition under Bernd Alois Zimmerman (1968-1970) and Karlheinz Stockhausen (1971-1973), is a universally acknowledged pioneer and celebrated composer in the field of electroacoustic and computer music. He made groundbreaking advancements in interdisciplinary composition that unite mathematics, computer science, visual arts, and literature. While he has been a driving force in interdisciplinary and technological advances, his music is nevertheless firmly grounded in tradition and thus incorporates much inherited from the past. His works, primarily for traditional instruments, feature a vocabulary that ranges from pretonal, nontonal, or microtonal idioms, and may incorporate elements derived from non-western cultures.

Between 1961 and 2004, Barlow has produced 60 works of various types: 3 orchestral (2 piano concertos, and a work for large orchestra); 16 chamber works for various groups of traditional instruments, including 2 string quartets; 2 choral pieces; 3 vocal works with instrumental accompaniment; 17 piano pieces; 2 organ works; and 15 electroacoustic works, a few of which fall into the category of radio plays and music theater. Between 1976 and 2005, 27 concerts in Germany and elsewhere have been devoted entirely to Barlow's music. Several works have been recorded.

In addition to his renown as a composer, Barlow has also attained high distinction as an interdisciplinary researcher, author, and software developer. His numerous publications include an extensive study on tonality, Bus Journey to Parametron. Additional publications are the software that Barlow has written as aids for composing and notating music. These include Autobusk, a modal and metric pitch and rhythm generator, the notation program, ?SC. He is currently collaborating with a German mathematician on algorithms for solving problems in music theory.

Katherine Arthur

Soprano Katherine Arthur holds a Master of Arts degree in Voice from the University of California Santa Barbara. She has been teaching voice at Cal Poly since 2002. She has appeared as a soloist with the Southwest Chamber Music Ensemble, Santa Barbara Oratorio Society, Pacific Repertory Opera, and many others. She has been a guest artist in Europe, where she recorded works for the Austrian Radio, and a solo CD with ORFEO records. She has performed in song recitals at international music festivals and was a featured soloist in Oratorio and Opera performances. Arthur is also a certified Alexander Technique teacher.

Hilary Clark

Hilary Clark received her BA from the University of California, Santa Cruz, and her MM in cello performance from Western Michigan University. Upon completing her Master of Music degree, Hilary moved to Chicago and was active in the freelance scene for 6 years, playing in orchestras including the Civic Orchestra of Chicago, South Bend Symphony, Illinois Philharmonic, and Principal Cello in the Elmhurst Symphony. She is currently in the DMA program at the University of California, Santa Barbara where she is the recipient of a Young Artist String Quartet Fellowship. She was featured in the 2006 Primavera Festival on George Crumb’s Cello Sonata.

Gareth Davis

Clarinetist Gareth Davis studied with Antony Pay and Roger Heaton in London and then with Harry Sparnaay in Amsterdam. The French cellist Alain Meunier, invited him to attend the Accademia Chigiana di Siena on a Scholarship and study chamber music with Yuri Bashmit, Katia Labeque, Tshaikovsky Prize winner Mario Brunello and the Italian composer, Luciano Berio.
Since his debut, at the age of 18, at London’s Wigmore Hall, Gareth has gone on to play throughout Europe, the Americas and Asia. He has played under conductors including Riccardo Chailly, Sir Simon Rattle, Diego Masson and Roger Norington with orchestras and ensembles including Ensemble Modern, Asko, The Nieuw Ensemble, Sinfonietta, La Scala and the Nederlands Radio Orkest. As a dedicated performer of contemporary music he has had a large number of pieces written for him by many composers such as Salvatore Sciarrino, Jonathan Harvey, Helmut Lachenmann, Toshio Hosokawa, Gavin Bryars and Misato Mochizuki, while at the same time working with the improvising jazz musicians Jon Balke and Terje Rypdal and electronic artists including Robin Rimbaud (aka Scanner), Christian Fennesz and Mika Vainio.
Gareth has performed at many festivals including the Holland Festival, Ultima, Biennale diVenezia, Prague, Warsaw, Vienna, Stockholm, World Music Days and Salzburg and records with the Stradivarius and Sargasso labels. He has performed both contemporary and traditional repertoire on modern and period instruments and on folk instruments including the Romanian Taragota and Turkish Sol.

Pascal Fendrich

Pascal Fendrich, born in 1972, is a video and photo artist. He studied Fine Arts, French and Biology at the University of Heidelberg and Media Arts at the Academy of Media Arts in Cologne. His work includes classical picture formats and linear video projections as well as experimental projects, large multi channel video installations and mixed media environments. Central to his art are conceptual and formal approaches that often emphasize the materiality of the image carrier. Fendrich’s work has been shown in numerous international exhibition and screenings, mainly in Europe and in Eastern Asia.

Bernd Härpfer

Bernd Härpfer (born 1967) is a composer and producer of electronic and instrumental music. He also creates sound installations and videos. He studied electronic composition at the Institute of Sonology in The Hague, Netherlands, as well as musicology and philosophy at the University of Cologne, Germany. His broad approach to composition was developed further during studies with Clarence Barlow in algorithmic composition and sound synthesis. Härpfer is particularly interested in developing custom software that forms the basis of his musical works. In recent years digital transformation of natural sounds and the use of computer-controlled acoustic instruments have been recurring aspects of his music. Apart from his artistic work, Härpfer organizes computer music and digital art events. He is a board member of the GIMIK Initiative for Music and Informatics Cologne.

Seth Josel

Seth Josel - originally from New York, now residing in Berlin - has become one of the leading instrumental pioneers of his generation. As a soloist he has concertized in Belgium, Germany, Great Britain, France, Israel, Italy, The Netherlands, Switzerland, the US and Canada. He has performed as a guest with leading orchestras and ensembles of Europe, including the BBC Symphony Orchestra (London), the RSB Berlin, the Deutsches Symphonie Orchester Berlin, the South German Radio Choir, the Staatskappelle Berlin and the Schönberg Ensemble of Amsterdam, and has appeared at several major European festivals including the Salzburg Festspiele, Ars Musica, Donaueschingen, The Holland Festival, Munich Biennale and London's South Bank Festival. From 1991 till 2000 he was a permanent member of the Ensemble Musikfabrik NRW, a State-subsidized ensemble devoted to the performance of contemporary music. In recent seasons he has been guesting regularly with KNM Berlin, Ensemble SurPlus of Freiburg as well as with the Basel Sinfonietta.

As ensemble player and soloist Seth Josel has been involved in the first performances of more than one hundred works. He has collaborated and consulted closely with such composers as Louis Andriessen, Mauricio Kagel, Helmut Lachenmann and James Tenney. In addition, he has been highly committed to working with several of the leading young composers of our time, including Peter Ablinger, Richard Barrett, Sidney Corbett, Chaya Czernowin, and Manfred Stahnke, all of whom have written works featuring his talents.

He has recorded for radio stations throughout Europe, and he appears as ensemble/chamber music performer on CDs released by Nonesuch, CPO, Col Legno, Cybele Records, HetHut, New World Records, Touch Records and Winter & Winter. In 1995 he released his first solo CD on CRI (Composers Recordings, Inc.) featuring works of contemporary American composers. His second solo CD appeared in April 1998 on O.O. Discs, Inc., as well with music of American composers. He recorded Berio's "Sequenza XI" for the complete Sequenza-Cycle which was released on Mode Records during the Spring, 2006.

In addition to having published articles which concern issues related to New Art Music, Seth Josel is co-founder of "www.sheerpluck.de", a website dedicated to contemporary guitar music which has been online since the summer of 2003.

After acquiring his Bachelor of Music degree at the Manhattan School of Music Seth Josel enrolled at Yale University and earned the Master of Music, the Master of Musical Arts and the Doctor of Musical Art degrees. His teachers included Manuel Barrueco, Eliot Fisk and harpsichordist Richard Rephann; as well, he has participated in the master classes of Oscar Ghiglia and Andrés Segovia. He is recipient of numerous awards and prizes including a Fulbright-Hays grant from the United States government and an Artists Stipend from the Akademie Schloß Solitude, Stuttgart.
photo

Philipp Richardsen

Philipp Richardsen was born in Vienna, Austria, and received his first piano lesson at the age of five. A prize winner at the Austrian National Music Competition, he began his studies at the prestigious Vienna University of Music and Performing Arts, where he earned his Bachelor and Master of Music degrees. Serving on the faculty of the Pasadena Conservatory of Music until 2004, he is currently pursuing his doctorate in music at the University of California - Santa Barbara, where he studies with Canadian pianist Paul Berkowitz and also works as a teaching assistant for piano. Additionally, Philipp has received coachings from numerous world-renowned pianists, including Richard Goode (New York), Murray Perahia (London), Pascal Devoyon (Paris/Berlin), Andrzej Jasinski (Warsaw), Elisso Virsalzdze (Moscow), and André Watts.

Philipp has been a recipient of a full scholarship and the Dean’s Fellowship at UCSB, the Erno Daniel Memorial Award, the Martin Kamen Fellowship in Piano, and the Dorothy Artaud Award. A list of competition successes includes top prizes and awards at the Vienna International Piano Competition, the Los Angeles International Liszt Competition, the UCSB Concerto Competition, the Performing Arts Scholarship Foundation Competition, and the Palma d’Oro Prize (Italy). His recent victory at the United States Open Music Competition in San Francisco was preceded by a first prize at the International Piano Competition in New York, launching a series of concert engagements. An acclaimed 2005 debut at Carnegie Hall was hailed by the critics as “a scintillating blend of poetry and passion” and as “mastery at the dawn of a promising career.” Philipp’s life and career have also been featured on television in the United States, where his appearance on UCTV’s “Soundscape” series was broadcast nationwide.

David Lee Ruest

David Lee Ruest, originally from South Korea, has studied violin at The Peabody Conservatory, and violin and piano at The Julliard School. He has performed in master classes for solo and chamber music for renowned musicians such as Shirley Givens, Julian Martin, Leon Fleisher, Pamela Frank, Mirian Hahn, Paul Hersh, and Ian Swensen. He has also worked as piano accompanist at the Manhattan School of Music and has attended esteemed summer festivals such as the Aspen Music Festival, Texas Music Festival, Heifitz Institute, Hartwick Music Festifal and the Saratoga Orchestral Institute. Ruest is currently studying violin with Yuval Yaron at UCSB, and is a member of UCSB’s scholarship ensemble, the Young Artists String Quartet.

Hillary Schoap

A native of Portland, Oregon, violist Hillary Schoap began musical instruction on first piano, then violin at a very early age. She studied violin under Eileen Deiss, a member of the Oregon Symphony Orchestra, and fell in love with orchestral playing after winning an opportunity as a young girl to play alongside members of the Oregon Symphony. She studied viola under Joel Belgique, the Oregon Symphony’s principal violist, and has since performed numerous times with the Oregon Symphony Orchestra. She has also worked with the Central City Opera Company as a baroque specialist, the Oregon Ballet Theatre, the Eugene Symphony Orchestra, the Oregon Mozart Players, as well as many others. She is currently the recipient of the Young Artist String Quartet Fellowship at UCSB, where she studies with the incomparable Helen Callus.