FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

sTRANGEmUSIC
Phone: (212) 421-9342
Email: iNFO@strangemusic.com
Website: http://www.strangemusic.com

The World Premiere of
GENOME: The Autobiography of a Species in 23 Movements

In commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the discovery of DNA and the double helix, sTRANGEmUSIC presents the world premiere of GENOME: The Autobiography of a Species in 23 Movements. Composed and directed by Patrick Grant, it is based on the book by award winning science author Matt Ridley. The work will be given two performances on February 27 and 28 (the latter date being the actual anniversary of the discovery) at 8:00 PM on each night at the ANNINA NOSEI GALLERY located at 530 West 22nd Street, New York City (10th & 11th Aves.) on the 2nd floor. Tickets are $15 at the door ($12 students and seniors) and the telephone for the gallery is (212) 741-8695.

The structure of the piece is in 23 parts in that each section represents a chromosome in the human genome. This musical work takes the title of each of its parts after Ridley's naming of chapters in his book where he emphasizes a particular characteristic of each one in order to create a narrative. They are: Life, Species, History, Fate, Environment, Intelligence, Instinct, X and Y Conflict, Self-Interest, Disease, Stress, Personality, Self-Assembly, Pre-History, Immortality, Sex, Memory, Death, Cures, Prevention, Politics, Eugenics, and Free Will. The music will be performed by Grant's own ensemble the Patrick Grant Group where he will be joined by Kathleen Supové and Jed Distler on keyboards and John Ferrari on percussion.

Patrick Grant "... a modern electronic master...(he) is a totally wired contemporary musician who combines live performance with cutting edge technology", writes The New Music Connoisseur about this emerging American composer. According to the Village Voice, Grant's distinct sound has "...a driving and rather harsh energy redolent of rock, as well as a clean sense of melodicism ... the music's momentum and intricate cross-rhythms rarely let up, making the occasional infectious tunes that emerge all the more beautiful for surprise." He has created music for the Cornell University Gamelan Ensemble, the musée du Quai Branly in Paris for the Louvre Museum, theatrical visionary Robert Wilson for The Watermill Center, The Storm King Music Festival 2003, the Living Theatre, and the Prix de Lausanne International Concours for Dance. His works have been performed by and at the Bang on a Can Annual Marathon, Music at the Anthology (MATA), Celebrate Brooklyn!, Gamelan Son of Lion, Music Under Construction, and the Harvard-Radcliffe Project 4 New Music.

Mr. Grant is founder and artistic director of sTRANGEmUSIC, an organization dedicated to compelling new works, with performances and installations in New York and around the world. Born in Detroit and living in NYC since 1985, Grant studied at Wayne State University, the Juilliard School, and has been a student of gamelan and the Indonesian performing arts during three residencies in Bali.

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