The NYU New Music Ensemble, featuring students from Woodwinds, Piano, Jazz, and Songwriting, and led by the ensemble’s artistic director and Woodwind Studies program director Esther Lamneck, has released a recording created remotely from three continents. Evanescent Encounter uses manipulations of the recording of a spontaneous improvisation by Dr. Lamneck and frequent collaborator David Durant as the source material for many of the samples used in the creation of the fixed audio for the work. According to Dr. Durant, “The title refers to an encounter which is soon fading or passes out of existence quickly. I use this as a metaphor for our mind or society quickly moving through portals of interdimensional planes, memory, and existence.” Dr. Lamneck added, “The energy and engagement of the performers in this work is extraordinary at any time, but now it rings with their resiliency and success!” Listen on SoundCloud.
The NME has also released a recording of Mahoor Pourmoghadam’s Pass Away. Mahoor Pourmoghadam is a Persian classical music singer and composer, who plays the kamancheh and tanbour. A prize-winning electronic music composer, she also works as a manager in a research center at a children's hospital, where she has been volunteering as medical equipment support staff during the pandemic. Listen on SoundCloud.