AMY X NEUBURG & THE CELLO CHIXTET
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NEW CD!
"The Secret Language of Subways" is finally available on CD, released on MinMax Music and distributed by Starkland.
Chosen as one of the Top 10 Classical CDs of 2009 by Joshua Kosman, San Francisco Chronicle.
For reviews, go to the Press room.

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ABOUT
"The Secret Language of Subways" -- A song cycle about the inane and perpetually unfinished businesses of love and war and New York
For voice, cello trio, electronic percussion and live looping/processing

Conceived largely while riding on New York subways, "The Secret Language of Subways" uses urban imagery and metaphors of war to explore the deceits, battles and triumphs within personal relationships. Using drum pads, faders and pedals, Neuburg processes both her voice and the cellos with effects and real-time looping, to build up layered harmonies and counterpoints live on stage.
In Amy's words: ³The idea of a song cycle for voice and cello trio began in 2003 when I fell in love with the expressive voice-like quality, enormous pitch range and dramatic look of the cello. I then conceived of most of these songs while sitting on the subway during a 3-year period when I lived bi-coastally in New York and Oakland. I was inspired by the rhythmic lull of the train, the fragmented meanderings of my thoughts, the dramas of recent world and personal events, and the deluge of sensory input that is New York itself.²

Words and music by AMY X NEUBURG
Featuring the Cello ChiXtet: JESS IVRY, ELAINE KRESTON, and BETH VANDERVENNET
Produced by BRUCE KAPHAN and AMY X NEUBURG
Recorded and mixed by BRUCE KAPHAN
Mastered by KEN LEE
Artwork by KIRSTEN SIMS
Photography by REBECCA HENRY

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SONG EXCERPTS
Difficult
Dada Exhibit
Hey
Shrapnel
More excerpts at the Amazon and CD Baby links below.

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PURCHASING OPTIONS
Directly through MinMax Music
Amazon
CD Baby

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Top secret Subways Lyrics page

PERFORMANCES, past & future -- in reverse chronological order

ABOUT AMY X NEUBURG & THE CELLO CHIXTET

Amy formed the Cello ChiXtet for the express purpose of bringing "The Secret Language of Subways" to life. Since the work's SF premiere at Dance Mission Theater -- documented on KQED TV's "Spark" program -- the ensemble has opened for The Tubes at The Independent, sold out the Freight & Salvage and The Great American Music Hall, was presented by Paul Dresher at Project Artaud and by John Adams at the LA Phil West Coast Left Coast Festival, and opened for Juana Molina at Yerba Buena Center. Recently the ensemble has begun to incorporate new repertoire including cello trio compositions by composers Dohi Moon and Moses Sedler, classic works for voice and cello (such as William Sydeman's "Songs After Emily Dickinson"), structured improvisational works, and new songs by Amy and by ensemble members.

ABOUT THE TECHNOLOGY
In live performance of "The Secret Language of Subways" all of the sounds are either played live, looped (recorded in real time, then instantly played back and layered to build up harmonies and counterpoints) or triggered with a drum hit. For each individual song or song section, Amy has programmed 12 drum pads to perform a variety of functions such as triggering a synth sound or sample, instructing the looper to begin recording or overdubbing, or sending messages to a digital mixer to change levels or effects. As Amy cycles through the songs using a foot pedal, a completely new setup of drum pads, effects and electronic sounds becomes available.

PERFORMER PROFILES

AMY X NEUBURG (composer / vocalist / live electronics performer) has developed a unique career bridging the boundaries between classical, experimental and popular musics. Her 'avant-cabaret' songs combine her interests in poetry and language, expressive use of music technology, and exploration of multiple genres using the many colors of her four-octave vocal range. As soloist she has performed at venues as diverse as the Other Minds and Bang on a Can new music festivals, the Berlin International Poetry Festival, the Wellington and Christchurch Jazz Festivals (NZ), electronic music festivals, colleges, clubs and concert halls throughout the U.S. and abroad. As composer, commissions for voices and chamber ensembles (often with live looping electronics) include Robin Cox Ensemble, Present Music, Santa Cruz New Music Works, Solstice vocal ensemble, Christchurch Arts Centre chorus, Pacific Mozert Ensemble and Del Sol Sring Quartet. She has also composed extensively for theater and visual media, including Mondomedia's irreverent "Piki & Poko" web animations and numerous onstage collaborations with modern dancers. A classically trained vocalist, Amy has been featured in contemporary operas and recordings including works by Robert Ashley, Culture Clash and Guillermo Galindo. Throughout the '90s she sang and played electronic drums with her art-rock band Amy X Neuburg & Men. Amy received degrees in linguistics and voice from Oberlin College and Oberlin Conservatory and an MFA in electronic music from the Mills College CCM. Her many grants and honors include Arts International, Zellerbach, William & Flora Hewlett, Meet the Composer, The U.S. Embassy New Zealand, LEF, SF Friends of Chamber Music, Phi Beta Kappa and Pi Kappa Lambda.

JESSICA IVRY (cellist) is a freelance cellist and instructor at the College of Marin. She plays with the Real Vocal String Quartet -- an original world music ensemble -- and has played and toured with singer/songwriter Vienna Teng, composer Beth Custer and the Balkan women's choir Kitka. For SF's A Traveling Jewish Theatre Jessica scored and performed original music for "The Bright River" -- a hip-hop retelling of Dante's Inferno -- and for Arthur Miller's "Death of a Salesman." Jessica recorded on the Grammy-nominated album "Blueprint of a Lady" for jazz vocalist Nneena Freelon and has played with legendary goth band Bauhaus. She holds degrees from Skidmore College and the San Francisco Conservatory.

ELAINE KRESTON (cellist) has performed and recorded throughout the U.S. and Europe with a variety of musicians from Rod Stewart to Frederica von Stade, and she was principal cellist for the United Nations 60th Anniversary Celebration. She is a founding member of the classical Maybeck Trio and the cello/poetry duo RumiCello, and has improvised and recorded with Krishna Das, Adyashanti, Eckhart Tolle and the meditative duo TranslucenT. Elaine received a bachelor's degree from the New England Conservatory and a master's from UT-Austin. She currently leads a teaching studio in the Bay Area and frequently visits schools to perform, teach and inspire.

ELIZABETH VANDERVENNET (cellist) is principal cellist of the Vallejo Symphony and a member of the Oakland, Santa Rosa and Marin symphonies. She has toured Japan, Europe and the U.S. with a number of ensembles including her pagan lounge band Rosin Coven, the Sartory String Quartet and the Lake String Quartet (with whom she performed over 60 summer concerts at Yellowstone Park). She co-founded The Sequoia Trio-specializing in women's music-and the wonderfully original Luna Nova Quartet. Elizabeth received a bachelor of music from the University of Michigan and a masters in cello performance from Carnegie Mellon.

PRESS ROOM
Click on the links to read the full articles.

REVIEWS OF LIVE SHOWS

Joshua Kosman, SF Chronicle 2009 -- Neuburg's new song cycle teeters beguilingly on the boundary between pop and avant-garde performance art, and to hear it complete and in sequence is to marvel at the grace and elegance with which Neuburg walks that tightrope."

Joshua Kosman, SF Chronicle 2008 -- ³A wonderful composer-performer... Her songs channel the rhythms of urban life through the seriocomic sensibility of a born entertainer... Neuburg's musical inventiveness proves a delight throughout."The most striking song is the closer ("Shrapnel"), in which Neuburg layers her own singing voice into a rich chorale touching eloquently on loss and regret. It's a funny, devastating little miracle.²

Composer John Adams, in his blog -- "Don't miss the spectacular Amy X Neuburg. She's the best thing to come out of Oakland since Jack London."

Craig Matsumoto, KZSU -- "The whole thing was amazing, even triumphant... Ambitious and soaring."

REVIEWS OF CD "THE SECRET LANGUAGE OF SUBWAYS"

Strings Magazine -- "Theatrical, outrageous, and contagious -- scoot over Bang on a Can."

Will You Miss Me When I'm Gone? -- "Her wonderfully inventive mind and obvious love of all sort of musical styles make her a delight to hear and see... TSLOS is Amy¹s best work yet. The 13-song cycle works well as a story arc -- a sort of unstaged musical -- but the individual songs are so finely crafted and tuneful that they can stand on their own quite well... Many of the numbers would be perfectly at home on a Broadway stage, while others sound like... a jam session with Iva Bittová."

Audiophile Audition -- "It's Neuburg's application of electronics and multi-layered lyrics that captures the imagination and captivates the listener... an overflow of auditory input that parallels New York itself... but Neuburg manages to make each intricate and enigmatic moment approachable... Neuburg takes full advantage of the cello's myriad tonal qualities, expressive characteristics, ample pitch range and dramatic attributes."

The Big City -- "Very much cabaret and also very much a new thing.... The songs have a narrative complexity that goes beyond superficial slogans into personal searching and (un)intentional confession, the music works its way through styles, not only from song to song but within songs... It¹s one for listening all the way through, and that is a truly moving experience... dazzling, exquisite and powerful."

The Man in the Grey Flannel Suit -- "Just when I start to pat myself on the back for expanding my musical horizons, along comes an album like TSLOS to set me straight. ... this album is definitely Art with a capital A.... The topper is Neuburg¹s arrangement of ³Back in NYC² from the classic Genesis album... a triumph for Neuburg and the ChiXtet."

Delire Musical -- "In a nutshell: Amy X Neuburg¹s best record to date and the best Genesis cover version ever recorded!... It brought tears to my eyes."

Chosen as one of the Top !0 Classical CDs of 2009 by Joshua Kosman, San Francisco Chronicle.


ARTICLES

New Music Box article and podcast interview

Clouds and Clocks (Italy) interview


DOWNLOAD PRESS RELEASE for "The Secret Language of Subways" June 4 CD release concert at Great American Music Hall
PDF (will open in new window)  •  TEXT (will download immediately)

VIDEOS/PHOTOS

See 3 ChiXtet PERFORMANCE VIDEOS on Youtube

See 10-min. ChiXtet DOCUMENTARY on KQED TV'S "Spark" Program

CHIX PIX 2009 by Rebecca Henry
Click to open 300 dpi versions 

Featured photos

L to R: Jessica Ivry, Elaine Kreston, Elizabeth Vandervennet, Amy X Neuburg. Photo by Rebecca Henry.

L to R: Elaine Kreston, Elizabeth Vandervennet, Jessica Ivry. Amy X Neuburg. Photo by Rebecca Henry.

More photos

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LIVE SHOTZ 2006 (Lo-res -- OK for web)
These photos are stills from video shot by Ben Pierce

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CHIX PIX 2006 (Hi-res) by Emily Bezar
Click to open 300 dpi versions

ChiXtet L to R:
Elizabeth Vandervennet, Jessica Ivry, Elaine Kreston

BOOKING

For bookings please contact Amy X Neuburg -- info is at the KONTAKT page.

The fiscal sponsor of AXN & the ChiXtet is the San Francisco Friends of Chamber Music.

TECHNICAL REQUIREMENTS

Load-in and setup time: 1-1/2 to 2 hours (depending on schlep distance, available assistance, etc.)

Sound check time with house engineer: 1 hour
Necessary to set balance between electronic and acoustic instruments, monitor mixes, house EQ

House system: stereo speakers placed in front of stage (to avoid looping feedback)
Monitors: 4 monitors, 2 separate mixes

6 line-level output signals consist of:
1 channel dry vocals (Amy brings her own mic)
3 channels dry cello outputs
2 channels stereo mix of ALL electronic sounds including looping playback, reverb & processing, synth and drum sounds
For larger spaces 3 cello mics are also required -- to be supplied by venue

3 chairs
3 music stands
1 table to hold mixer and laptop

* * * SnaX * * *

ESOTERIX
Amy uses Mobius software to loop the performers in stereo using 2 separate cross-fadeable loop mixes. All processing and electronics are mixed by Amy on stage and routed through a digital mixer using the MLAN system.
Her on-stage equipment consists of:
• DrumKat percussion pads
• Dedicated PC computer running Mobius software and MLAN Graphic Patchbay
• Yamaha 01X MLAN mixer/interface
• Mac PowerBook (for hosting sounds)
• MOTU 828 interface for Mac
• Yamaha I88X MLAN routing box (for custom outputs)
• Proteus 2000 synthesizer
• Alesis DM-Pro drum synth

© 2007-10 Amy X Neuburg