The Annex will host electronic music concert

MILLERTON — The Millerton Annex will host the season’s third NOW!Concert on Oct. 22, featuring six electronic music composers from the region.The performance is being billed as the first concert ever held in Millerton that consists entirely of electronic music.The composers, Todd Merrill, Matt Sargent, Clive Davis, Donald Sosin, Christopher Cerrone and Adrian Knight, will present several diverse compositions, some of which will include acoustic accompaniment.Despite choosing to compose with such modern methods, all the composers have attended traditional music schools and received classical training.Several of the pieces were commissioned especially for the NOW!Concert series.One of the organizers of the NOW!Concerts, Mark Liebergall, explained that he chose electronic music as one of the subjects for the concert series because “electronic music is ubiquitous — nowadays everything is composed on synthesizers.”He said that it’s also very rare for venues to hold electronic music concerts, so composers don’t often get the opportunity to perform their works to an audience.Liebergall and co-organizer Dianne Engleke stressed that the performance will still be visually interesting. The performers will be doing much more than just sitting on a computer playing recorded sounds, they said.Engleke said that she hopes the concert will help people appreciate sounds they aren’t used to hearing and encourage them to listen to the world in a different way. With electronic music, “the world becomes more alive for a while,” she said.The performance will be preceded by an hour-long symposium that will introduce the audience to electronic music and its rich history.One of the most attractive aspects of electronic music for composers, said Liebergall, is that the composers retain all control over the performance and interpretation of the music instead of turning over the piece for another musician to perform.The Annex is located at 28 Century Blvd. in Millerton, next to the Millerton Fire Department. The symposium will start at 1 p.m., and the concert will follow at 2 p.m.Tickets are $20 for adults and $10 for students. Tickets can be purchased at the door, at Kamilla’s Floral Boutique in Millerton or online at www.nowconcerts.org.For more information visit the website or call 518-789-0617.