Just Strings
Biography Just Strings
Just Strings
is a unique ensemble that specializes in the performance of music in just intonation. Since its formation in 1991 to perform the music of Lou Harrison and Harry Partch, the ensemble has gone on to commission and premiere works by John Luther Adams, Sasha Bogdanowitsch, Mamoru Fujieda, Larry Polansky, James Tenney, and others. They per- formed throughout Japan under the auspices of the American Embassy’s prestigious Interlink Festival, as well as Chamber Music in Historic Sites, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, UCLA’s Partch Centennial Celebration, Sacramento’s Festival of New American Music, Minnesota Public Radio’s American Mavericks, the Songlines series at Mills College, MicroFest, and the Getty Center. Their CD Just West Coast was CD Review’s “CD of the Year” in 1994 and inducted into Fanfare’s “Classical Hall of Fame,” while other recordings include Sasha Matson’s The Fifth Lake (New Albion Records), Just Guitars (Bridge Records), and the all-Lou Harrison album Por Gitaro (Mode Records).
John Schneider
is the Grammy winning guitarist, composer, author, and broadcaster whose weekly television and radio programs have brought the sound of the guitar into millions of homes. He holds a Ph.D. in Physics & Music from University College Cardiff (Wales), music degrees from the University of California, the Royal College of Music (London), and is President Emeritus of the Guitar Foundation of America. A specialist in contemporary music, Schneider’s The Contemporary Guitar has become the standard text in the field. Called “A delight” by the New York Times and a “Microtonalist maven” by the Wall Street Journal, Fanfare declared, “Schneider creates elegant dynamic levels and layers on his solo guitar, and he always projects the poetry of the music.” He has performed in Europe, Japan, Vietnam & throughout North America, and been featured by New Music America, the DaCamera Society, Southwest Chamber Music, New American Music Festival, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, San Francisco Symphony, Other Minds, and the BBC. He is the founding artistic director of MicroFest, PARTCH, and can be heard weekly on Pacifica Radio’s The Global Village (www.kpfk.org). His recordings can be found on Bridge, Cambria, Etcetera, Innova, MicroFest, Mode, New Albion, and Pitch record labels.
Alison Bjorkedal
is a Grammy winning harpist and established orchestral, opera, chamber, and recording musician (San Diego, Pasadena, & Long Beach Symphonies, L.A. Opera, Long Beach Opera, Southwest Chamber Music, MUSE/IQUE, Golden State Pops Orchestra), as well as a passionate educator. A sought-after interpreter of contemporary music, her world premieres include William Kraft’s Encounters XII for harp and percussion, Wadada Leo Smith’s Ten Freedom Summers, and U.S. premieres of works by Unsuk Chin, Anne LeBaron, Lou Harrison, Ton That Thiet, Nguyen Thien Dao, and Ga- briela Ortiz. In addition to the harp, Alison also plays the 72-string Kithara with the multiple Grammy Award nominated ensemble PARTCH.
T.J. TROY
combines an eclectic knowledge of percussion from around the world with his innate musicality to create a distinct and powerful voice in modern music. He has appeared in some of the most prestigious festivals of traditional and contemporary music worldwide, performing with PARTCH, MESTO, Ustad Aashish Khan, Mamak Khadem, Omar Faruk Tekbilek, Karima Skalli, Adam Rudolph, and Cirque du Soleil, and was a featured performer/lecturer at the 2015 Seattle World Rhythm Festival. An award-winning composer, T.J.’s music comes to life through his ensemble, Run Downhill, cross-contextualizing Americana/folk music, comic book art and narrative, and multi-media live performance; his revolutionary SPURS #1 album/motion comic was an official selection at the Seattle Transmedia and Independent Film Festival (STIFF 2015).
