Contact: Genepritsker@gmail.com
Gene Pritsker Composer
“Mischief-maker and cultural blender-in-chief, Pritsker is a serious artist, yet much of his work is witty and irreverent.” Anyone can draw a mustache on the Mona Lisa, but few musicians draw it as artistically and creatively as Gene Pritsker.”
- Raymond Tuttle, Fanfare Magazine
"...audacious...multitalented."
- The New York Times
'The shape-shifting Gene Pritsker is one of the only composers who continues to break down the barriers that still exist in the sometimes water-tight compartments that industry marketers revel in."
- Raul d'Gama Rose, All About Jazz
'Intending to make music
dangerous again.”
- Sequenza21
Featured Videos
“Mischief-maker and cultural blender-in-chief, Pritsker is a serious artist, yet much of his work is witty and irreverent.” Anyone can draw a mustache on the Mona Lisa, but few musicians draw it as artistically and creatively as Gene Pritsker.”
- Raymond Tuttle, Fanfare Magazine
"...audacious...multitalented."
- The New York Times
'The shape-shifting Gene Pritsker is one of the only composers who continues to break down the barriers that still exist in the sometimes water-tight compartments that industry marketers revel in."
- Raul d'Gama Rose, All About Jazz
'Intending to make music
dangerous again.”
- Sequenza21
Featured Videos
Gene Pritsker Composer
Recent & Upcoming
Performances:
2024
April
4/4
'Detektive Thumb and The Infinity House' for a silent film premiered at the Music Box Theater Chicago as part of the 'Sound Of Silence' Festival.
4/11
Concert in Ingolstadt, Germany at the State Gallery with 'Ljiljana Winkler, Peter Oswald and the Solenne Band. Many of Gene's compositions are performed.
4/13
Concert at the Wittelsbacher Schloss in Friedberg, Germany with 'Ljiljana Winkler, Peter Oswald and the Solenne Band. Many of Gene's compositions are performed.
4/15
Sound Liberation feat. soprano Ljiljana Winkler performs a concert at ZWE in Vienna, austria.
4/19
Premiere of 'Every Man Over Forty Is a Scoundrel' for Di.J.. trumpet, horn, bass trombone with B3+ at Composers Concordance Album Release of CompCord@40
Anniversary CD Party
as part of Composers Concordance 12th Annual CompCord Festival –CompCord @ 40–
at Shapeshifter Lab in Brooklyn
4/23
Premiere of '40oz (With Brown Paper Bag Applause)' for mezzo soprano, baritone and Di.J. at the 14th AnnualComp-Play-Comp Marathon
'40 Ounce' as part of
Composers Concordance 12th Annual CompCord Festival –CompCord @ 40–
At DROM
4/27
Premiere of '1984 - A Year In Music' and 'A Story Dystopian Nineteen Eighty-Four'
Feat: CompCord Ensemble as part of
Composers Concordance 12th Annual CompCord Festival
At Loft 393
May
5/3
Premiere of 'Quodlibet Sextetand' and 'Thick City' for string quintet, bass and drums as part of Composers Concordance and Harlem Jazz series presents The Jazz Influence With Strings
at Mount Morris Ascension
Presbyterian Church
5/5
Premiere of ''Ali Baba & The 40 Thieves Haikus for solo Di.J. as part of Composers Concordance 12th Annual CompCord Festival
Ali Baba & the 40 Thieves
at Rockwood Music Hall
5/9
Premiere of 'Stop Suite' as part of Composers Concordance Presents 'Steve Sandberg - piano & Gene Pritsker - guitar' at Kostabi World
5/10
Goldberg Blues Variations performed by Kai Schumacher and the Signum Saxophone Quartet
at Kammgarn Kaiserslautern in Schaffhausen Switzerland as part of The 30th International Bach Festival Schaffhausen
5/18
'The Flute Of The Infinite ' for 6 flutes performed as part of Composers Concordance presents 'Flautos & Flautists' at St. John's in The Village
5/16
Low Key Chamber Concert #34 with
David Cossin - percussion,
Robert C. Ford, Imelda O'Reilly - poets.
5/19
Premiere of 'In Memory Of Sean Satin' as part of A Celebration Of Life Event for Sean! At Superfine in Brooklyn
With Greg Baker
5/25
Premiere of 'Monster' for clarinet and piano performed as part of Composers Concordance presents 'Charlie Neidich - Eclectic Vistoso' at Kostabi World
5/31
'Detektive Thumb and The Infinity House' for a silent film performed at Symphony Space as part of the 'Sound Of Silence' Festival.
June
6/1
'Detektive Thumb and The Infinity House' for a silent film performed at Culture Lab as part of the 'Sound Of Silence' Festival.
6/2
Sound Liberation Di.J. Quartet performs as part of Composers Concordance presents 'Eclectic Bands' at NUBLU
6/8
'An An Anachronistic Melody' and 'Fugue For Sean' premiered as part of Composers Concordance presents 'A Knack for Anachronism' at St. John's in The Village
as well as an arrangement of a transcription of Thelonious Monk's solo version of 'Tea For Two'
6/13
Low Key Chamber Concert #35 with
Funda Cizmecioglu - violin,
Robert C. Ford & John Pietaro - poets
6/20
Multiple compostions performed as part of Composers Concordance presents 'Strings & Poems' at Jim Kempner Gallery
Including the premiere of 'Solstice Haikus' and 'Kyoshi's Seasons (summer)' and performances of 'In Memory Of Sean Satin', 'Water, Frog, Bird'
6/23
'Louder, Please, My Watch Can’t Hear You' a mini opera on words of John Pietaro and 'Deserts Lullaby' on wards of Roger Aplon performed as part of Composers Concordance presents 'CompCord Ensemble @ Howland Cultural Center' in Beacon NY
6/27
'Fugue For Sean' and 'Canons For Guitars' premiered a part of Composers Concordance presents 'Imitations' at Greenwich House.
6/29
'LittleBig Blues' the songs 'Cool It Out' and 'Swing Like Animals' and an arranrement of Eric Dolphys 'Miss Ann' premiered as part of Composers Concordance presents 'LittleBig Band'' at Loft 393
July
7/7
Clair Obscur Saxophone Quartet performs 'Elegant Piles Of Refuse' at the Gedächtniskirche in Berlin, Germany.
7/8
Saxophonist Martin Stier perform 'Maggots' baritone sax concerto as part of his masters recital in Hochschule für Musik, Theater und Medien Hannover.
7/10
Performances of various compositions as part of EMX presents a concert at Panda Platforma in Berlin, Germany
7/17-18
Concerts in Cephalonia, Greece with violinist Tasos Papstamou and soprano Ljiljana Winkler
721 - 8/11
Gene is back at the Outreach Festival in Schwaz, Austria. Concert with Sound Liberation at the main Festival s well a with the Outreach Orchestra. Other concerts, composition classes, and workshops.
7/21
‘Let the Rain Sing You A Lullaby’ for solo bassoon premiered by Scott Pool as part of the 53rd annual Double Reed Society Conference in Studio Theater at Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, Arizona
7/25
Premiere of 'Spark Fanfare' for 3 trumpets and bari sax as part of the Music Power in the Park feat. Outreach’s SPARK Orchestra concert at the Outreach Festival 2024
7/27
Concert with the Outreach Workshop band as part of Outreach Festival 2024. Gene will have many compositions performed.
7/26
'More Love Is Better' for solo accordion is premiered by William Schimmel to a video by Graham Elliott.as aprs of the 2024 Accordion Seminars, An online event
Aug
8/2
Sound Liberation performs a set of Gene's music as part of Outreach Festival 2024.
Premieres include the song 'Delaing With it' and 'More Iguanas'.
8/16
Low Key Chamber Concert #35 with Stephanie Susberich
8/27
Suite #1 and other compositions performed as part of Composers Concordance presents 'Tango Prism' with Machiko Ozawa and Jai Jeffryes
8/30
CompCord Ensemble in Vermont. Composers Concordance presents a chamber ev net at Capital City Grange
Sept.
9/5
Sound Liberation performs an event at Birdland, presented by Composers Concordance. A CD release concert for 'Gene & The Strings' and Genes Birthday celebration
9/15
Composers Concordance presents 'In Memory of Sean Satin' at Greenwich House As part of the Village Trip Festival
9/2
New composition premiered as part of Composers Concordance presents 'Interpretations of Chuck Connelly's Paintings' at his home in Pennsilvania
9/28
Composers Concordance Presents
'World Central Kitchen Fundraiser' at St. John's church in the Village
As part of the Village Trip Festival
About
Composer Gene Pritsker has written over nine hundred compositions, including chamber operas, orchestral and chamber works, electro-acoustic music and songs for hip-hop and rock ensembles. His compositions employ an eclectic spectrum of styles, that are influenced by his studies of various musical cultures.
He is the founder and leader of Sound Liberation, an eclectic hip hop-chamber-jazz-rock-etc. ensemble. He also Co-Directs Composers Concordance and is a co-founder and composer-in-residence of the Grammy nominated Absolute Ensemble. Gene's music is performed all over the world at internationally recognized festivals and by highly respected ensembles and performers.
"My music is extremely eclectic, for me music has no bounds - I view the world of music as one big genre. My motto for my art is 'ending the segregation of sound vibration.'"
Gene is also a guitarist/rapper/Di.J./ and producer and incorporates each of these musical attributes to create music that is “not designed for easy listening or to melt into the background. It is insistent. It demands attention and curiosity."
- New York Newsday.
Gene worked closely with jazz fusion legend Joe Zawinul and has orchestrated major Hollywood movies, including 'Cloud Atlas', for which he wrote his ''Cloud Atlas Symphony’ and the 2021 film The Matrix Resurrections
PROJECTS
Sound Liberation / Recordings / Film/Commercial / Money (hip-hop opera) VRE Suite / solo, duo, trio... / Cello Lounge / William James's... opera
Di.J. Noizepunk / Cloud Atlas Symphony / Samplestra / Reinventions / DAYS Composers Concordance & Comp Cord Records / EMX / Maggots / Concertos
RiteOfSpring..Eclectic / Manhattan in Charcoal / Melodies Alone.. / EroicAnization / Groove Possessed / Trump Concerto / Blog
Sound Liberation Di.J. Quartet Gene Pritsker - Di.J. / guitar Peter Oswald - trumpet Clemens Rofner - bass Simon Springer - Drums
'Blues from an Airport Bar' by Gene Pritsker is a song cycle based on 4 poems of Jacob Miller. The music is inspired by the blues, but with very extended harmony and melody.. The song ‘Path’ is originally written as an r&b track, here it is transformed into a jazzy/operatic chamber piece that features the brilliant voice of Ljiljana and the groovy ensemble playing of the Solenne Band
On ‘Better Now’ Gene Pritsker’s compositions explore soul, hip-hop, modern jazz, cross over classical, blues, r&b, jazz fusion and more. Recorded over a period of two years in various locations and studios, some tracks recorded remotely some in a studio station. The album takes you on a no holds bar genre defying journey that is the defining style of Sound Liberation.
Composer/bass trombonist Dave Taylor and composer/guitarist Gene Pritsker present a full album of duets for this unique instrumental combination. The album was mostly recorded remotely during the pandemic, some of the music was newly written for the project and many of the pieces Dave and Gene performed together before. The whole album was inspired after the duo recorded Gene’s ‘Pandemic Dance #22’, which was part of his Pandemic Dances project.
‘Only A Game’ was a commission by Robert Shannon Fields, to write music for his ballet libretto that he wrote decades ago in the former east Germany. I wrote this string trio inspired by the actions and words of Robert's ballet scenario. The music flowed to the imaginary dancers in my mind that were swaying, jumping acting out Robert's story; the 3rd act starts with a scene called 'A Special Game’. Here the solo cello delves into Shostakovich like chromaticism and lyricism, playing a game with
Soubrette auf der Toilette
‘Let’s Save the World Suite’ is a seven movement composition based on three poems of Erik T. Johnson. It is scored for a quintet of trumpet, sax, electric guitar, electric bass and drum set, with a narrator reciting the poem in three of the movements.
CLOUD ATLAS SYMPHONY
Duets For The End Of The World' is a collaboration between alto saxophonist Todd Rewoldt and composer/guitarist Gene Pritsker, recorded remotely during the pandemic. The album emphasizes duets Pritsker wrote for Rewoldt and himself, but also features Gene’s music for solo alto sax and electronics, larger chamber ensembles, and a composition by composer Seth Boustead.
'Stray-in-Place Song Cycle' is an album of six eclectic songs by Gene Pritsker, based on the poetry of Erik T. Johnson and inspired by the lockdown of 2021. Three of the songs are rock-influenced and the others have jazzier roots. All are performed by world-class musicians. A variety of singers add their unique styles to six pieces, giving the recording an extra-eclectic flavor. They are: Stefanie Egger (Austria); Sophie Dunér (Sweden); Berzan Önen (Turkey); Yelena Dudochkin (USA); and Stefani
Protest
GP Trio
EroicAnization
Maggots and other Chamber music of Gene Pritsker
MONEY A Chamber Hip-hop Opera By Gene Pritsker Performed by Sound Liberation:
An All Gene Pritsker compositions album featuring members of EMX (Eclectic Music eXtravaganza)
Albums
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