CD Review: Cornelius Dufallo, Journaling

This review originally appeared on Media Tapper.

On Cornelius Dufallo‘s  Journaling, the composer-violinist’s first CD since departing from the ensemble Ethel, we are given a truly sonic view of the modern violin as observed by many modern perspectives from both the violinist (through his interpretations as well as his own compositions) and the six other composers that contributed to the album. From the dry, unaccompanied pieces (raw, but most certainly not simplistic) to the looped and layered production-oriented pieces, Dufallo has demonstrated here that his role in that field is well-stated as a multi-tiered interpreter, and it could never be shattered.

Cornelius Dufallo: Preview of Journaling, Part Four at Bargemusic

Violinist-composer Cornelius “Neil” Dufallo is performing a solo concert at New York’s well-renowned Bargemusic on May 31st at 8 PM. This will be Neil’s first solo concert in the US since announcing his departure from ETHEL earlier this month.

The concert is the fourth installation of his “Journaling” series, and is also the official CD release party for his upcoming CD of the same title.
The concert will feature works by Dufallo himself, as well as music by JacobTV, Patrick Derivaz and many others.

Neil was interviewed by The Glass last month and talked about the series and this show in particular:

“I began the concert series ‘Journaling’ in 2009 to document my work with extraordinary living composers while also creating a repertoire of twenty-first century violin music. I collaborated with each of the represented composers between 1996 and the present, through my work in the Flux Quartet, Ne(x)tworks, and Ethel. With the exception of two collaborative pieces (by Corey Dargel and Patrick Derivaz) all of the pieces have been composed for either solo violin or violin + laptop computer. The next concert, ‘Journaling (Part Four)’ is coming up May 31 at Bargemusic. The composers for that show are JacobTV, Kinan Azmeh, Svjetlana Bukvich, Tim Hodgkinson, Paul Brantley, and Patrick Derivaz.”

The pieces promise to be as diverse as they are exciting and colorful.

Cornelius Dufallo

Composer-violinist Cornelius Dufallo is one of many great artists that have adopted the world of electro-acoustic for their vocal palate. Having composed primarily for himself (and for his group ETHEL), he also has written a piece for DC’s Great Noise Ensemble, with whom he is also performing the NY premiere (Official world premiere) of on April 16 at Symphony Space. Cornelius speaks with us about that piece and the concert, along with other career-related things.