Event Detail

Music 541 presents: Dustin Donahue, Pablo Gomez Cano, Scott Worthington

New works for percussion, guitar, and double bass by Stanford graduate composers: Constantin Basica, Eoin Callery, Andrew Greenwald, Alexandra Hay, Jessie, Marino, Iván Naranjo, Laura Steenberge

ABOUT THE ARTISTS

Original, distinctive, and unconventional, Pablo Gomez's guitar is one of the most remarkable sounds of today's music scene. Decidedly different and away from all conventions, his repertoire includes various aesthetic tendencies: from classics of the twentieth century and contemporary pieces to works written expressly for him by renowned Mexican and international composers. His repertoire includes solo guitar; electro-acoustic music; duets with vocalist, percussion, and violin; and concerts with chamber ensembles and orchestras. This a musical diversity that has taken him to performances in concerts in the United States, Sweden, France, London, Germany, Austria, Spain , Canada, Latin America Chile, Venezuela, Iceland and in several cities in Mexico. He has shared the stage with world class performers, such as Susan Narucki, Christophe Desjardins, Steve Schick, Magnus Andersson, among others. He has been soloist with the Camerata de Las Americas, the Philharmonic Orchestra of Mexico City, the Orchestra of the University of Cincinnati, Carlos Chavez Orchestra and the Chamber Orchestra of Fine Arts in Mexico City to name a few and has participated in various ensembles: The Contemporary Ensemble of Montreal (ECM)and the Kore Ensemble of Canada, the Ibero-American Ensemble of Madrid, the Latin American Quartet, Onix, Palimpsest Ensamble among others. He has performed in the Cervantino Festivals, Festival de México, Festival Internacional de Morelia as well as other dedicated to new music, including the Ferien Kurse für Neue Musik Darmsatadt, Radar, the Manuel Enriquez New Music Forum, the V Search Event in San Diego, and the Festival A Tempo in Caracas and Paris, among others. Pablo Gomez began his musical studies at the (Ollin Yoliztli) School Introduction to Music and Dance with maestro Gerardo Carrillo. He received his professional education at the National School of Music at the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) where he graduated with honors. He also had private studies with Federico Bañuelos. With the support of Mexico's National Fund for Culture and the Arts (FONCA), he attended a two-year specialization program in contemporary music in Stockholm, Sweden, with Magnus Andersson. He produced a CD Tañendo Recio, under the Quindecim label and has participated in various other professional recordings. Recently the label World Records produced the CD Miliou that includes a solo work perfumed by Gomez. In 2012 he received the "Interpreters with relevant Career" grant from Mexico's National Fund for the Arts. He currently teaches at UNAM's National School of Music and is pursuing a doctoral degree at the University of California at San Diego.

Scott Worthington (b. 1987) is a double bassist and composer based in Los Angeles. As a chamber musician and soloist he largely focuses on contemporary music and frequently commissions and premieres new works. These commissions have resulted in solos and concertos by Robert Morris, Juan Trigos, and numerous young composers. Upcoming premieres include works with electronics by Clarence Barlow, Brenna Noonan, and Gary Philo. Worthington is a founding member of ensemble et cetera, a trio for clarinet, percussion, and double bass. Since 2010, eleven works have been composed for their unique instrumentation and they have realized many open-score works by composers such as John Cage and Earle Brown. In 2013, &c. held an international composition competition which received over 250 applications and they currently working towards a studio recording of the winners' works. His other engagements span a variety of areas in contemporary music. Worthington’s interest in concert-length music led to many performances of Wolfgang von Schweintz's epic Plainsound Glissando Modulation, an eighty-minute duet in just intonation, with violinist Andrew McIntosh. Through his interest in electronic music, he has worked as a sound engineer for performances of a variety of electro-acoustic works by Boulez, Lucier, Meadowcroft, Reynolds, Sciarrino, and Stockhausen. He is also active in promoting contemporary music as a concert organizer. He served on the board of Ossia New Music for two years helping to expand their concert series and present 20th century repertoire pieces alongside premieres. In 2013 he co-founded wasteLAnd, a concert series in Los Angeles which presents Southern-Californian composers and performers. Worthington has performed around the world at the the Carlsbad Music Festival, the Chihuahua International Festival, June in Buffalo, the Lucerne Festival, Monday Evening Concerts, MicroFest, and the WithOutWalls Festival and spent three summers at the Lucerne Festival Academy working with Pierre Boulez and Ensemble Intercontemporain. His music has been performed around the United States by ensembles and soloists in art galleries, concert halls, and venues such as the Carlsbad Music Festival, the DiMenna Center, The Stone, and Roulette. He can be heard on Albany Records, Bridge Records, Hat Hut, Naxos, Populist Records, and Tzadik. Worthington studied at the Eastman School of Music with James VanDemark and the University of California, San Diego with Mark Dresser. While in San Diego, he also studied the Alexander Technique with Eileen Trobermann. He performs on a copy of a Lorenzo Carcassi bass built for him by Barrie Kolstein.

Dustin Donahue is a percussionist residing in San Diego, California. He is currently a doctoral student at the University of California, San Diego where he studies with Steven Schick and performs with the percussion group red fish blue fish. Prior to his arrival in southern California, Dustin studied with Anthony Di Sanza at the University of Wisconsin, Madison. As a chamber musician, Dustin has performed in venues across North America, such as the Park Avenue Armory in New York City, the Ojai Music Festival, the Banff Centre, the Aspen Music Festival, and Disney Hall in Los Angeles. With red fish blue fish, he has performed alongside Dawn Upshaw, Eighth Blackbird, the Bang on a Can All-Stars, and the International Contemporary Ensemble. Dustin has also appeared as a soloist at the Los Angeles Museum of Contemporary Art, the Carlsbad Music Festival, and the soundSCAPE Festival in Pavia, Italy. Dustin has recorded for Populist Records as part of composer Nicholas Deyoe's debut album, with throbbing eyes. He also appears on several upcoming releases from Mode Records, including the late works of Iannis Xenakis and the complete percussion works of John Cage. Devoted to the creation of new art, Dustin enthusiastically seeks collaboration with composers and artists. Recent premieres include works by John Luther Adams, Lewis Nielson, and Michael Pisaro, as well as a multitude of new pieces by young composers across the country.