Lukas Ligeti
Composer and percussionist LUKAS LIGETI (Vienna, Austria) studied at the Vienna Music University and spent two years as a visiting scholar at the Center for Computer Research in Music and Acoustics at Stanford University. His main interests include areas such as cultural exchange, polyrhythms/polytempo structures, and non-tempered tunings, and his music ranges from the through-composed to the free-improvised. As a composer, he has been commissioned by the Vienna Festwochen, Ensemble Modern, Kronos Quartet, American Composers Forum, New York University, and many others. His compositions have been performed by the Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra, Orchestre National de Lyon, London Sinfonietta, San Francisco Contemporary Music Players, Amadinda Percussion Group and others at major festivals worldwide. As a drummer, he has played and/or recorded with artists such as Michael Manring, Benoît Delbecq, John Tchicai, Elliott Sharp, Jim O'Rourke, Fred Frith, Chris Cutler, etc., and performs solo concerts on electronic percussion. He is also highly active in cultural exchange. In 1994, commissioned by the Goethe Institute, he conducted a workshop in Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire, which led to the founding of the experimental, intercultural group Beta Foly. He has also collaborated with Nubian musicians in Egypt, including a joint concert at the Cairo Opera and composed a piece for musicians of different Caribbean cultures.
Works (selection): Pattern Transformation for 4 players on 2 marimbas (1988), Oblique Narratives for two pianos (1989-1990), Frozen State of Song for saxophone quartet (1990–1993), Tonga Tango for mixed choir a cappella (1993), Moving Houses for string quartet (1996), Phrase Drum for Yamaha Disklavier automatic piano (1997), Two Pieces for solo electronic drums (1997), New York to Neptune for string quartet with drum machine or tape (1998), Propeller Island for DVD-audio via 5.1 surround sound system (2000), Independence for percussion quartet (2002), Delta Space for pianist on Yamaha Disklavier, plus electronics (2002), Trinity for piano solo (2003), Stroboscope for percussion quartet (2003).
It is no coincidence that the Amadinda Percussion Group has named itself for a xylophone from Uganda. They are uniquely qualified to play this music which derives its complexity from the combination of diverse schools of thought. Amadinda has been performing my piece Pattern Transformation – my first using African influences – for many years now. Armed with lots of new ideas and experiences, I herewith come full circle to the departure point of this development.
Independence can suggest lots of things: the so-called independence of the limbs of a drummer; the apparent independence in metric perception of the ensemble members, who harness beats and tempos that chase one another, cross-pollinate, and clash; independence from aesthetic traditions and their expectations; and even independence from one's own ancestors, no matter how much one feels connected with them and to the continuation of their worlds of thought.
And in our "globalized" world today, each culture depends on others to create its independent identity. Therefore, again: we agree to differ, and we differ to agree.
Lukas Ligeti
(shortened)