Erik Lindgren News

Erik Lindgren with Friends from the Brockton Symphony Orchestra

Saturday, April 27, 2013 at 2:30 PM, $10

Erik Lindgren with Friends from the Brockton Symphony will perform live at the Mansfield Music & Arts Society on Saturday, April 27, 2013 at 8 PM. Admission is $10 and additional information can be found at here.

Tickets can be purchased in advance by calling 508-339-2822. The MMAS is located at 377 North Main Street in Mansfield, MA 02048 (across from the MBTA Commuter Rail station).

The ensemble includes Lea Botta on flute, Torben Hansen on clarinet, Mark Finklestein on woodwinds/keyboard, Robin Kruse on cello, and Erik Lindgren on piano. The concert will feature original works and arrangements by Lindgren, who is a recent board member of the Brockton Symphony and is excited to be working with musicians from this wonderful orchestra. The concert will feature selections from “Dark Garden,” a recent commission from the Fuller Craft Museum which pays homage to Linda Huey’s current installation.

Mr. Lindgren is a resident of Middleborough and active as both a composer and performer. For thirty years he has been a member of the new music quartet Birdsongs of the Mesozoic, which has released 11 CDs and toured extensively throughout North America and Europe. Their crossover music aesthetic has been described as “the world’s hardest rocking chamber music ensemble.” In 2011, Lindgren received a commission from the Georgia Symphony Orchestra for “Extreme Spirituals” featuring bass baritone Oral Moses. This twenty-five minute work in six movements for orchestra and soloist was premiered last October in Atlanta and will be programmed again by the GSO on July 1.

The Boston Globe has described Erik Lindgren as “a model of musical schizophrenia…the type who'll play Stravinsky and ‘Louie Louie’ back-to-back, with one foot in the conservatory and the other in the garage.” Philadelphia Primetime writes “if Aaron Copeland or Lenny Bernstein were born in the 1950s, they might’ve composed stuff not dissimilar to Lindgren’s [CD] Classical-a-Go Go which is one rollicking, cerebrally stimulating good time.”

Erik Lindgren with Friends from the Brockton Symphony Orchestra

Sunday, November 18 at 2:30 PM, $10

Erik Lindgren with Friends from the Brockton Symphony Orchestra

Saturday, November 17 at 7:30 PM, free admission

Erik Lindgren with Friends from the Brockton Symphony Orchestra

Saturday, November 10 at 7:30 PM, $12

The Frankenstein Consort

Live at the Depot Square Gallery in Lexington Center

For more information call the gallery at 781-863-1597 or email info@sfzrecordings.com

• Erik Lindgren - piano
• Lea Botta - flute
• Cory Silva - clarinet
• Mark Finklestein - bassoon

The ensemble will play musical novelties from their recent CD Classical-a-Go-Go (SFZ-004). Highlights includes fresh arrangements of vintage Birdsongs of the Mesozoic material (Lindgren’s other performing ensemble), works by Raymond Scott (best known for accom- panying classic Warner Brothers cartoons), Erik Satie’s “Reverie,” a chamber hip hop remake of the Edgar Winter Band’s “Frankenstein,” plus original acoustic chamber works by Lindgren.

The Frankenstein Consort

Southern MA Arts Festival

The Frankenstein Consort will perform as a trio (flute, clarinet, and piano) Sunday afternoon in the bandstand. This is a fun arts festival with great food and activities so come on down!

The Frankenstein Consort

Live at The Dessert Club’s “Sunday Evening Jazz Club” Series

Enjoy coffee and dessert in an intimate setting while grooving to the sounds of the Frankenstein Consort. Stay tuned for additional live performances coming up in 2008.

• Erik Lindgren - piano
• Lea Botta - flute
• Cory Silva - clarinet
• Mark Finklestein - bassoon

The ensemble will play musical novelties from their recent CD Classical-a-Go-Go (SFZ-004). Highlights includes fresh arrangements of vintage Birdsongs of the Mesozoic material (Lindgren’s other performing ensemble), works by Raymond Scott (best known for accompanying classic Warner Brothers cartoons), Erik Satie’s “Reverie,” a chamber hip hop remake of the Edgar Winter Band’s “Frankenstein,” plus original acoustic chamber works by Lindgren.

There will also be a special world premier of Erik’s new pair of Tangos that will feature dancers Catherine Ann Clemett and Alison Larkin.

Birdsongs of the Mesozoic with Oral Moses

First Night Boston

Birdsongs of the Mesozoic with Oral Moses Performing “Extreme Spirituals”

Two 45-minute sets starting at 6 and 7:45 PM December 31 at Emmanual Church, 15 Newbury Street in Downtown Boston. Free admission with First Night button

Upcoming Performances

On Friday, November 16, 2007, The Frankenstein Consort will perform from 7:30–9 PM at Somethin’s Brewin Book Cafe, 241 Main Street, Lakeville MA (in the old library at the intersection of Route 18 and 105). This will be a fun, local gig in Erik’s neck of the woods. Enjoy coffee and dessert in an intimate setting while grooving to the sounds of the Frankenstein Consort. www.somethinsbrewin.com

On December 31, Birdsongs with Atlanta bass baritone Oral Moses will be performing two 45-minute sets at First Night Boston 2008 at the Emmanuel Church on Newbury Street. The ensemble will play selections from their Extreme Spirituals CD for this prestigious event and admission is free with a First Night button.

In the future, Lindgren hopes to visit Buenos Aires and experience the burgeoning tango scene. For the past 9 months, he has been learning to dance tango and it has become his new passion. Recently Lindgren has composed two tangos for piano and bassoon and has rehearsed them with NY bassoonist Janet Grice.

September & October Shows

The Frankenstein Consort will be appearing live in concert for a pair of music festivals in Southeastern MA in the last half of September. They will be playing at the Mansfield Music and Arts Festival on Sunday, Sept 23 from 11 AM–1 PM www.mmas.org.

The following week they will play the Lakeville Arts and Music Festival on Saturday, Sept 29 from 1–2:30 PM www.lakevillema.org. Along with their standard repertoire, The Frankenstein Consort has added a pair of Bagatelles composed by Lindgren in 1972 that he recently arranged for the ensemble which was funded by the Massachusetts Cultural Council grant. The group will also perform all three movements of his 1985 “Visions of Seattle” suite for the ensemble which was originally scored for string trio (vl, va, va) and piano.

On Wed, September 26 from 12:00–1:30 PM, Lindgren will chair a roundtable discussion at the St Botolph Club in downtown Boston on “Crossover Art” which will result in lively discussion about the blending and blurring of musical styles that is emblematic of post-modern music. This event is closed to the general public.

Birdsongs of the Mesozoic has two exciting shows lined up this fall in Boston. The group will do a free performance at the Broad Theatre at MIT in Cambridge on Saturday, October 20 at 8 PM. The Birds will be performing some older material along with improvising. www.birdsongsofthemesozoic.org for details.

Erik will be taking a 2-week road trip for the first half of October with Argentinean music critic Jorge Fernandez. Two years ago, Lindgren first corresponded with Fernandez when the writer was doing a feature article on Birdsongs for a progressive rock magazine. Over time the two became cyber pals so Lindgren extended an invitation to visit him in the states. Fernandez was excited to find out that he could catch both the Frankenstein Consort and Birdsongs live and the two will also head off down south to see the country, visit friends, and experience being “On The Road.”

Spring/Summer 2007 Performances

On April 28, The Frankenstein Consort will perform a rollicking one-hour set at Rutman’s Violin Shop, 11 Westland Ave in Boston (one block from the BSO) starting at 8 PM with a suggested donation of $5. There will be a post-concert reception across the street at the Tiger Lily Restaurant so bring an appetite and socialize with Erik and the ensemble.

The Frankenstein Consort will also provide live music for the Dance Complex’s annual Choreographer’s Concert on Saturday, May 19 at 8 PM and Sunday, May 20 at 7 PM. Tickets are $15 and RSVPs are recommended since this event usually sells out. The Dance Complex is located at 536 Massachusetts Ave in Cambridge and tickets can be reserved by calling 617-547-9363.

In addition, the Frankenstein Consort will perform a concert at the St. Botolph Club in Boston on Tuesday, June 12 (this event is not open to the general public). In August of 2006, Erik was nominated for Associate of the Arts membership to this prestigous Boston arts institution and performed a duo arrangement of his work “100 Years Of Excellence” with Birdsongs’ member Ken Field on flute at the Associates’ Fanfare on January 31.

On June 17, Erik flies off to the UK and will be playing bass guitar on the Rising Storm’s 3-date European tour. The band performs at the Dirty Water Club in London (June 20), headlines the Primitive Festival in Rotterdam (June 22), and the is the featured act at the Gloria Club in Paris (June 23). After that, Erik will take a 12-day sabbatical and travel around Europe. Erik has re-released the Rising Storm’s legendary 1967 album Calm Before… and it's been one of the best sellers on his Arf Arf label. Last year two copies of the original vinyl LP were auctioned on ebay for over $4700 each and it’s considered to be the crown jewel of US Sixties garage bands.

In February, Birdsongs performed “Extreme Spirituals” at the Berklee Performance Center with Atlanta bass baritone Oral Moses. The CD has been receiving much positive press/airplay and additional information can be found on the Birdsongs website at http://www.birdsongsofthemesozoic.org or http://www.myspace.com/extremespirituals

Frankenstein Consort to Perform

In early 2007, Erik will be performing out with the Frankenstein Consort so stay tuned for live dates and tours. Come out and support the release of his new CD Classical-a-go-go (SFZ-004) which is being distributed by Allegro/Nail.

Erik’s other ensemble Birdsongs of the Mesozoic released their 10th CD Extreme Spirituals in collaboration with bass baritone Oral Moses. Recent Fall 2006 performances to support this new CD included Real Artways in Hartford, Forsyth Chapel in Boston’s Forest Hills Cemetery, and a residency/concert at Kennesaw State University in Atlanta. The Birds with Oral perform again in Boston at the Berklee Performance Center on Tuesday, February 27 as part of Black History Month. For more information log onto http://www.birdsongsofthemesozoic.org.

2006 Performances Recap

On August 2, 2006, Erik had a premier of “Le Rivage,” which was commissioned by the South Shore Conservatory Flute Orchestra conducted by Donald Zook. This work was originally composed in 1981 for a promotional video by The Architects Collaborative which he recently expanded into a six-minute piece for eight flutes, alto flute, bass flute, piano, double bass, and two percussionists (cymbals/wind chimes and glockenspiel/chimes). A live recording of the concert was produced.

Also in 2006, Erik added a 4th movement to his String Quartet #2 (2004). This new section pays homage to Argentinean composer Alberto Ginastera and incorporates elements of the composer’s Finale Furioso movement of his Music for Strings (Opus 33). This movement was completed while Erik was in his third residency at the Banff Centre last January.

This spring, Erik also arranged Ginastera’s solo piano work “Suite de Danzas Criollas” for violin, viola, cello, and synthesizer. The last movement of the Ginastera’s “Piano Concerto #1” was covered in 1971 by prog rock group Emerson Lake and Palmer (on their Brain Salad Surgery release) and the composer was smitten by Keith Emerson’s rendition which featured synthesizer. In keeping with his fascination with technology, I wanted to expand the sound palate which led to my synthesized keyboard choice on “Danzas Criollas.”

Erik also added a third “spam” art song entitled “The Little Wine Makes Sound Or Maybe Mine Slopy” for soprano, flute, and piano that was also conceived in Banff. These three songs use actual spam that Erik received and the effect is pretty darn surreal.

Erik Lindgren’s 50th Birthday Concert & Retrospective

Erik Lindgren’s 50th Birthday Concert & Retrospective will take place at 8pm on Saturday, June 4 at Pickman Hall, Longy School of Music, One Follen Street in Cambridge, Ma. Admission is free and open to the public.

This special evening will feature original works by Erik Lindgren that span his eclectic 30+ year career as a composer, performer, and producer. His musical group of 25 years Birdsongs of the Mesozoic will play highlights from their eight cds. The Boston Globe has described the quartet as “the world’s hardest rocking chamber music ensemble.” Atlanta bass baritone Oral Moses will perform three of Lindgren’s arrangements of “Extreme Spirituals” with Birdsongs.

His other performing ensemble, Erik Lindgren & the Sonare Wind Trio, will play original works scored for piano, flute, clarinet, and bassoon along with Lindgren’s arrangements of Erik Satie’s “Reverie,” Raymond Scott’s “Powerhouse,” plus the Edgar Winter Band’s “Frankenstein.”

Longy alumnus Eva Kendrick will sing two recent art songs by Lindgren for soprano, piano, flute, and percussion that employ spam as the text.

Cambridge choreographer Rozann Kraus will present a dance to one of Lindgren’s compositions “Slo Boy,” In addition, Lindgren will play excerpts from his long career as a commercial composer that include soundtracks and jingles for the Christmas Tree Shops, Jordan Marsh, and Waltham Camera and Stereo. Videos will also be shown of vintage Birdsongs, Moving Parts (his 1978 art rock band that spawned both Mission of Burma and Birdsongs), plus his 1995 chamber work “Scenes From The Nemasket River.”

“Erik Lindgren scores consummate musicianship from the spatially abstract to a defining American vernacular. Erik Lindgren is American music.” —Van Dyke Parks

“Erik Lindgren is a model of musical schizophrenia; the type who’ll play Stravinsky and Louie Louie’ back-to-back, with one foot in the conservatory and the other in the garage. —Brett Milano, The Boston Globe