Aaron Meicht : bio

I have released several albums on Scrapple Records, notably, Everyone is Happy with AB Duo and Loud Like Hemlocks with The Meicht Group. I somtimes collaborate with musicians in groups: The Meicht Group (an acoustic trio with Brendan Dougherty and Seth Meicht since 1998), Kaktus (an acoustic trio with Lars Halle and Matt Mitchell since 1999), Feigner (an electro-acoustic trio with Brendan and Matt since 2001), and AB Duo (an electro-acoustic duo with Brendan since 2002). My music has been presented at ABC No Rio, the Munich Experimental Music Festival, Kulturhaus Mitte (Berlin), the BOA Festival (Antwerpen), Falaises (Paris), Studio des Islettes (Paris), The Khyber (Philadelphia) Les Variations Anecdotiques (Paris) Cafe Uebereck (Berlin) and the Knitting Factory. I was the composer-in-residence at the Rattlestick New Music Series in 2007-2008.

My interest in electro-acoustic music has presented a great stimulus to my improvised music. The variety of sounds available with the addition of electronic sounds has necessitated a clarity of presentation. The ambiguity felt when noises are considered part of the spectrum of sound at a composers disposal creates a challenge for the composer and audience to differentiate the music from the sound. I have been working in 2007 and 2008 on a large work currently called Bernal Project. The sections completed as of May 2008 include:

formula
for tenor saxophone, trumpet
(first performance 8 October 2007, NYC)
scene 2
for trumpet, chimes, computer playback
(first performance 3 December 2007, NYC)
scenes 5-7
for 2 violins, trumpet, alto & tenor saxophone, 2 clarinets, electric guitar,
2 acoustic guitars, synthesizer, computer playback, 2 actors
(first performance 9 May 2008, NYC)
scene 8
for 2 violins, trumpet, tenor saxophone, computer playback
(first performance 18 February 2008, NYC)

I will be adding more information about this project as it develops (look for video clips and sound examples in the coming months).

My ensemble music is created mostly through free improvisation and the method is very similar in each group I work with, but, as might be expected in a deeply personal process, each group represents a slightly different tradition. Most of my music has emerged from the years of development of this rigorous method of free musical improvisation.

I have always sought colleagues who could engage in the kind of dialectic necessary to develop final compositions through a collaborative process. The process by which I approach music making with each of these ensembles is quite varied. However, there are certain methodological guidelines that are consistent. Before the inception of what will become "the work", there is no discussion about musical ideas or cues. The ensemble starts each composition in silence, allowing the first sounds of any of the players to be the launching pad for a musical discussion leading to the creation of a complete work. Afterwards, in the case of rehearsal, we debate the results. Ultimately, this process leads to a deeper understanding of our own group psychology and its influence on the creative product. Therefore, each new work represents a long and unique evolution through the rehearsal process.

The Meicht Group embraces the jazz origins implicit in this process. In fact, it is a deep connection to the jazz tradition and, more specifically free jazz, and the effort to extend that tradition that is the focus of this ensemble.

Kaktus maintains an interest in what some call sound-based composition. In this way, the players are drawing from late-twentieth-century European music and the American experimental impulse that confronts and interrogates convention.

AB Duo is the exploration of noise--noise in the technical definition of unwanted sounds. "Unavoidable" sounds of the instruments have led Brendan and I to become more careful with the sounds that are presented. The early drumset, for example, was an assortment of small and large percussion instruments that were clamped, lashed and screwed together in an often haphazard manner. This naturally created many smaller sounds each time an instrument was struck. Also, the physical body of the trumpet or flugelhorn can be utilized in a variety of ways to accentuate the noises created by the clanging of brass against brass, or clicking of mutes. These small sounds are of supreme interest to the group--these are sounds that helped to differentiate jazz from other music.

I have always been interested in other disciplines and have developed the ability to collaborate with different artists. I began a special mission to make not only music that stands alone, but also works in conjunction with other forms. My theater music has been the most rewarding outlet for this. In this capacity I was forced to compromise some of my musical ideas and put myself at the mercy of the narrative drama. I have nurtured my interest in the theater through ongoing collaborations with the directors Jackson Gay, Daniel Goldstein, and Henry Wishcamper. Working in the theater--observing the craft and theories that support the production of a stage play--has informed my composition with the principles underlying dramatic structure. I have made music for theater productions in New York for Rattlestick Theater, Katharsis Theater Company, the Women's Project, SPF, The Flea, Keen Company and Prospect Theater as well as regional companies including the Westport Country Playhouse (Connecticut) and The Shakespeare Theater Company of Washington D.C. Theater awards include the Drama League's New Directors/New Works Fellowship in 2002 and 2006 and a nomination for NYIT Awards. I have composed music for film for Vinyl Foote Productions and Dedalus Films.