Berkeley composer/improviser Eric Glick Rieman presents a solo performance on his modified, extended, and prepared Rhodes electric piano, and then creates a live sonic environment with collaborator Kristin Miltner (laptop and custom software instruments). In his solo performance, Glick Rieman will be performing excerpts from two different graphic score series, both made in collaboration with animals. The first, Helix Aspersa (2008), was made by engaging snails to interact with various weights of paper and previously made graphic scores. The second, Felis Catus (2009 - 2011), was created by encouraging a cat to "edit" previously created graphic scores, and then reassembling the shredded scores into new configurations.

"Rieman's instrument looks like a post-apocalyptic Rhodes piano; some of its insides are removed and sitting next to it, and it has all sorts of foreign objects crammed into it like shrapnel - with strategically placed microphones to capture the various sounds of it all. ... The range of colors that he got out of this instrument was astonishing..." - Jonathan Russell, Professor of Musicianship, San Francisco Conservatory of Music, writing in San Francisco Classical Voice, Issue 8/18-25/05 "Review of San Francisco Electronic Music Festival"

Photo credit (right): Marta Rieman

Performing on a variety of instruments, including the prepared/extended Rhodes electric piano, as well as piano, melodica, celeste, organ, Waterphone, and toy piano, SF Bay Area composer/improviser Eric Glick Rieman performs improvised and previously structured music in several settings, both solo and in groups, He has performed with the Mills College Contemporary Performance Ensemble in Oakland, CA, USA since 1999, and received an MFA from Mills in Electronic Music and the Recording Media in 2001. Glick Rieman writes for piano and for ensembles, and his work for prepared Rhodes electric piano is featured in this performance.

His recent compositions include explorations of Biosonicism (music created at the intersection of composition and biology). The "Helix Aspersa Series" (2008) is a series of graphic scores made in collaboration with snails. "Felis Catus Series I" (2009) is a series of graphic scores made in collaboration with a cat. "Circle House and Chutes" (2009) is a piece for small ensemble employing techniques used to handle cattle in a slaughterhouse to herd an ensemble through a score.

Glick Rieman has recorded with Fred Frith (of Henry Cow, Naked City, Keep the Dog, Cosa Brava), Lesli Dalaba (of 2005 Tzadik solo release "Timelines", Jeff Greinke's Land, Elliot Sharp's Carbon), Carla Kihlstedt (of Sleepytime Gorilla Museum, Tin Hat Trio, Two Foot Yard, Cosa Brava), Stuart Dempster (Merce Cunningham Dance Troupe, Deep Listening Band), Zoe Keating, and Tom Heasley. He has performed with Ikue Mori, Fred Anderson, Daniel Godston, David Boykin, Marcos Fernandes, Amy Denio, Matt Ingalls, David Slusser, Kristin Miltner, and John Ingle, and he has performed the work of Roscoe Mitchell, Eliane Radigue, Meredith Monk, Fred Frith, Cecil Taylor, Alvin Curran, Pauline Oliveros, Terry Riley, and James Tenney under the composers' supervision.

In March of 2005 he received a Subito grant from the San Francisco Chapter of the American Composer's Forum to present the piece "Presentism2" (for small ensemble) at the 8th annual Music for People and Thingamajigs Festival in Oakland, CA. In December of 2007 he received a Meet the Composer grant to perform his piece, " Agape" for prepared Rhodes, tape, and percussion at the Meridian Gallery in San Francisco. Glick Rieman's work has been performed by the Mills Contemporary Performance Ensemble and the Cardew Choir among others. He was recently commissioned by Anne Bluethenthal and Dancers (San Francisco). In January of 2011 he received a Meet the Composer grant to perform his compositions at the Pianoforte Foundation and the Experimental Sound Studio in Chicago.

Kristin Miltner is a composer, video and installation artist, and sound designer living in Oakland, California. She most often performs music live with versions of her custom software. She has designed this to scan sound files and live input, allowing her to instantly restructure the sounds into sequenced arrays of units of varying lengths. This scanning idea is like imagining a giant octopus in a long thin hallway with continuous windows on each side. One can touch both sides of the hallway with one's fingertips (if one is an octopus). The length of the hallway is infinite. So the octopus runs up and down the hallway opening and closing windows, letting a little bit of water in here and there, but never stops moving back and forth, and some windows stay open for longer than others. But there's a rhythm to it; it's an efficient octopus. The ocean is the sound source, the hallway and octopus are the scanners, the windows determine what gets in, and the octopus's rhythm is the sequencing mechanism.

Kristin has performed at Noise Pancakes, 964 Natoma, the San Francisco Tape Music Festival (SFTMF), 21 Grand, and the San Francisco Electronic Music Festival (SFEMF). She is the sound designer for many well-known games and toys, including Leapfrog's Leapster and Didj, Electronic Arts' Sim Animals, Mattel's Xtractaurs, and Crowdstar's Happy Aquarium. She is an active member of the San Francisco Electronic Music Festival's steering committee. Her debut solo recording: Grains (Praemedia) Her most recent release: Music for Dreaming and Playing (Asthmatic Kitty).