Harris, Conrad (1969-Present)

Violinist from Kansas City, Missouri, who has worked with the Burgett Ensemble, Either/Or, the FLUX Quartet, the Locrian Chamber Players, the New York Pops, the Ostravska Banda, the S.E.M. Ensemble, String Noise, and the STX Ensemble.

On 18^th March 2004, he gave the world premiere of “Yawawot” by Gordon Mumma at Merkin Concert Hall in New York.

The FLUX Quartet celebrated the 100^th birthday of Giacinto Scelsi by performing all five of his string quartets at Miller Theatre on 4^th November 2005.

On 20^th December 2005, the S.E.M. Ensemble appeared at Paul Cooper Gallery in a program that comprised “Concerto No. 2, Op. 10” (“La Notte”) by Antonio Vivaldi, “Mikka” and “Mikka ‘S’” by Iannis Xenakis, the world premiere of “Spheres & Attraction” by Petr Kotik, and “…what won’t come…” by Sam Hillmer.

The Ostravka Banda offered up wall-to-wall Galina Ustwolskaya on 21^st January 2010 at Auditorio Nacional de Musica in Madrid, Spain. It included “Composition No. 1” (“Dona Nobis Pacem”, “Duo for Violin and Piano”, “Grand Duet”, “Symphony No. 4” (“Prayer”) and “Symphony No. 5” (“Amen”).

On 16^th March 2010, the Orchestra of the S.E.M. Ensemble returned to the Paula Cooper Gallery where they reprised “Mikka” and “Mikka ‘S’” by Xenakis, which was sandwiched between “The Passion” by Somei Satoh and “There is singular nothing” by Kotik.

Members of the Burgett Ensemble descended on St. Thomas More Church on 5^th December 2010 where they performed Johannes Brahms’ “Clarinet Quintet” and the world premiere of Harvey Burgett’s “De Spiritu Sancto: Three Portraits of Mary”.

On 21^st April 2011, the FLUX String Quartet took center stage in Sadler Center at William & Mary where they played Morton Feldman’s “String Quartet No. 2”… all five hours and 42 minutes of it.

Conrad and pianist Daan Vandewalle delivered the world premiere of Mumma’s “Comitatus 2” at the Ostrava Festival on 30^th August 2011.

On 31^st August 2011, he earned his keep at Ostrava Days where he performed Petr Cigler’s “Entropic Symphony”, Ben Irwin’s “Synecdoche”, Jiri Kaderabek’s “Technological Progress”, David Kant’s “Paths Through an Ordered Field” and Scelsi’s “Anahit: Lyric Poem Dedicated to Venus” with the Ostravska Banda. Just when he thought his day was over, it was time for a midnight performance of Feldman’s “Trio”… all two hours of it.

He and fellow violinist Pauline-Kim Harris premiered Michael Vincent Waller’s “Music for the first 13 primes: Glissando Phase III” on 23^rd October 2011.

In November 2011, he interpreted works by Robert Ashley, including “How Can I Tell the Difference” with Tom Hamilton, “in memoriam… Esteban Gomez” with the FLUX Quartet, and “Trio III” with guitarists Taylor Levine and James Moore.

The Orchestra of the S.E.M. Ensemble was back at Paula Cooper Gallery on 13^th December 2011 for a recital that included “Atlas Eclipticalis” by John Cage, the New York premiere of “cipher” by Kate Soper, “Kontrabandt” by Kotik, “hay que caminar” by Luigi Nono, and “Sacrae Symphonie” by Giovanni Gabrieli.

On 27^th February 2012, he appeared at Frederick Loewe Theatre on the campus of New York University in an all-Nono affair that comprised “Con Luigi Dallapiccola”, “La Fabbrica Illuminata”, “Ricorda cossa ti hanno fatto in Auschwitz” and “sofferte onde serene…”.

He and Alvise Vidolin teamed up for Nono’s “La lontananza nostalgica utopica future—Madrigal per piu ‘caminantes’ con Gidon Kremer” at Judson Church on 28^th February 2012.

On 27^th April 2012, Either/Or appeared in the Kitchen where they served up “Fontana Mix Feed” by Cage & Max Neuhaus, “Periodes” by Gerard Grisey, the New York premiere of “stirrings still” by Rebecca Saunders, “Thistledown” by George Lewis, and the world premiere of “Venus & Jupiter” by Elliott Sharp.

The Locrian Chamber Players were at Riverside Church on 31^st May 2012 for a recital that included “Duo” by Russell Platt, “Etudes” by Jason Freeman, “Gently, Like the Trickling of Melted Snow” by Rita Ueda, “Lullaby” by Ned Rorem, “Piano Trio No. 2” by Judith Weir, “Prestissimo” by David Macdonald, and the New York premiere of “Sotto Voce” by Yao Chen.

On 8^th June 2012, Conrad and pianist Jenny Linn presented an all-Mumma recital at the Darmstadt Institute that featured “Comitatus 2”, “11 Note Pieces & Decimal Passacaglia”, “Etude on Oxford Changes”, “…jardin…”, “7 Dedications”, “Sixpax Sonatas”, “Suite for Piano”, “Threesome” and “Yawawot”.

The FLUX Quartet participated in the John Cage Centennial Celebration on 6^th July 2012 where they interpreted Earl Brown’s “String Quartet”, Cage’s “Four” and “Speech, for 5 Radios and Newsreader”, Feldman’s “Three Pieces for String Quartet” and Christian Wolff’s “Lines”.

In addition to his busy performing schedule, Conrad has somehow found time to perform in Broadway shows and appear on several recordings.

His theatrical credits include Children and Art, Fiddler on the Roof, Nine and A Tale of Two Cities.

He can also be heard on the following recordings: Dream Tigers by Matthew Welch; FLUX Quartet Plays Vito Ricci; Johann Sebastian Bach: Concerto in C minor for Oboe, Violin, Strings, Basso Continuo by Elaine Comparone and the Queen’s Chamber Band; Kraanerg and Xenakis Complete Vol. 2—Iannissimo! by the STX Ensemble; Mother of Balloon Music by Judy Dunaway; Pathological Curves by Elizabeth Hoffman; Prisoner of Love by Tiny Tim; The Somewhere Songs by “Blue” Gene Tyranny; and, Still and Moving Lines of Silence in Families of Hyperbolas by Alvin Lucier.

He performs here…

Sources:

Harris, Conrad (1969-Present)

Navigation