Ana Milosavjevic at Le Poisson Rouge
February 16, 2011
By Cornelius Dufallo
Violinist and composer Ana Milosavjevic presented a program of violin music at Le Poisson Rouge on February 16, in celebration of her new CD, Reflections (Innova Recordings). Ms. Milosavjevic performed five recent compositions, the oldest of which dates from 2006. The small, hip venue was packed with enthusiastic listeners.
Ms. Milosavjevic, originally from Serbia, has lived in New York City for more than a decade, and she is becoming a regular presence in New York’s new music scene. She plays both amplified acoustic violin and electric violin, and uses her laptop computer to create live electronics and to trigger pre-recorded samples. Ms. Milosavjevic is one of a growing number of young performers who program their own compositions alongside the works of other composers.
Ms. Milosavjevic began the program with Aleksandra Vrebalov’s The Spell III, an austere, spooky piece for amplified violin and computer. Vrebalov’s work combines pre-recorded voices and digital looping to create an otherworldly background texture, over which the violinist layers mournful glissandi and arpeggiated tremoli. The result is closer to a soundscape than a concert piece: rather than following the development of musical material over the course of a recognizable structure, the listener is immersed in a sonic atmosphere that changes slowly over time.
Ms. Milosavjevic followed this with her own composition, Reflections (the title track of her CD), a lyrical, heartfelt set of variations for violin and piano inspired by the Serbian folksong, Djurdjevdan. Kathleen Supové contributed a subtle and sensitive piano accompaniment.
In another of her own compositions entitled Zajdi, Zajdi, Ms. Milosavjevic was joined by Kristen Arnold and Kile Hotchkiss, two dancers from the TAKE Dance company, who performed choreography of Takehiro Ueyama. Ms. Milosavjevic used a solid-body electric violin for this piece, on which she produced persuasive distortion and delay effects.
Eve Beglarian’s I’m worried now, but I won’t be worried long, for amplified violin, electric bass, and electronics, was unfortunately obscured by a loose cable connection that caused repeated glitches in the sound production. Technical problems such as this are a well-known risk of technology – heavy concerts. Ms. Beglarian (who performed the bass part) and Ms. Milosavjevic fielded the situation with poise and professionalism, and the strength of Ms. Beglarian’s music was evident despite the pops and crunches.
Ms. Milosavjevic seemed beautifully in her element during Svjetlana Bukvich-Nichols’s composition, Before and After the Tekke. Scored for amplified violin, keyboard, electronics and voice (Ms. Bukvich-Nichols provided the keyboard, electronics, and vocals), the work fuses driving rhythms and non-western microtonal tunings with a groove – filled background track that at times crosses into the genre of ambient electronica. The result is a pleasing blend of Eastern European flavors and vibrant urban energy. Ms. Milosavjevic and Ms. Bukvich-Nichols delivered a compelling performance, bringing out the sensuality, exoticism, and vitality of the music.