New York, NY (Top40 Charts) As a MacDowell Fellow and Cultural
Envoy for the US
State Department, a Bachelor of astrophysics and a 30-year student of piano, Dan Tepfer has distinguished himself as "one of the moment's most adventurous and relevant musicians" (New York Magazine). In the eight years since his last full-length solo release, however, he's composed - and coded - the future. Today, he announces the multimedia, multisensory album
Natural Machines, out May 17th on Sunnyside Records.
Using Yamaha's self-playing Disklavier piano as his only instrument,
Natural Machinessets a new framework for how humans can make meaningful art by rethinking the boundaries between the mechanical and the natural, and how algorithms can help humans create something both intuitive and adherent to structure. The 11 songs, simultaneously written and recorded in single takes, are all products of Tepfer's improvisations interacting with computer programs he's invented. His algorithms process the music he sends them to instantly create counterparts, triggering the Disklavier's keys to express them as sound.
Tepfer explains, "I'm not writing a piece as much as I'm writing the way the piece works. The music I love lives at the intersection of the algorithmic and the spiritual. It's intuition working in tandem with structure. There's a current of anti-intellectualism, anti-science — even anti-truth — running through the world today.
Natural Machineskicks against that."
The music is only half of it. Accompanying each performance are live visuals rendered by Tepfer's playing in real time. The projections take the sonic data from the Disklavier to represent foundational aspects of each piece - pitch, dynamics, rhythm, harmony, and more - in both two dimensions and virtual reality.
Watch NPR Music's mini-documentary to see some of the interplay unfold: https://n.pr/2HT39MB
And check out the videos for
Natural Machines on YouTube: dantepfer.com/naturalmachines
Natural Machines Track List
All The Things You Are / Canon at the Octave
TriadSculpture
Constant Motion
Looper
Inversion
Intervals I / Industrial
Tremolo
Canon at the Octave / MetricMod
Intervals II / Folk Song
Demonic March
Fractal Tree
Dan Tepfer Tour Dates
3/17 - Worcester, MA @ Mechanics Hall - Bach Concertos for 2, 3 and 4 Keyboards, with
Simone Dinnerstein
4/5 - Munich, DE @ TBA - María Muñoz & Dan Tepfer (Pieces from Bach's Well Tempered Clavier Set to Dance)
4/13 - Rivoli, IT @ Rivolimusica - Goldberg Variations / Variations
4/16 - Brooklyn, NY @
National Sawdust - Dan Tepfer's
Natural Machines
4/19 - Boston, MA @ New England Conservatory - Masterclass
4/21 - New York, NY @ Blueprints Piano Series - Dan Tepfer Solo
5/2 - Brisbane, AU @ Doo Bop - Dan Tepfer + Kristin Berardi
5/3 - Sydney, AU @ Venue 505 - Dan Tepfer Solo
5/11 - Canberra, AU @ Canberra International
Music Festival - Dan Tepfer Solo
5/11 - Canberra, AU @ Canberra International
Music Festival - Dan Tepfer Trio
5/14 - Melbourne, AU @ The Jazzlab - Dan Tepfer Solo
5/14 - Melbourne, AU @ Monash University - Dan Tepfer Workshop
5/22 - Brooklyn, NY @ Bar Bayeux - Dan Tepfer Trio
6/4 - New York, NY @ Mezzrow - Dan Tepfer Duo
6/25 - Paris, FR @ Café de la Danse - Dan Tepfer's
Natural Machines
7/18 - Stresa, IT @ TBA - Dan Tepfer Trio plays Pulcinella
7/23 - Siena, IT @ Incontri in Terra di Siena - Dan Tepfer Trio plays Pulcinella
7/26 - Lombard, IL @ NCKP
National Conference - Dan Tepfer Solo
7/31 -
Highland Park, IL @ Ravinia Festival - Dan Tepfer with Avalon String Quartet
7/31 -
Highland Park, IL @ Ravinia Festival -
Miguel Zenon / Dan Tepfer duo
10/23 - Brno, CZ @ Filharmonie Brno - Dan Tepfer's
Natural Machines
11/24 - London, UK @ King's Place - Dan Tepfer's
Natural Machines
12/14 - Hudson, NY @ Hudson Opera House - Dan Tepfer's
Natural Machines
5/5/20 - Kalamazoo, MI @ Civic Theatre - Dan Tepfer Trio
5/6/20 -
Battle Creek, MI @ W.K. Kellogg Foundation - Dan Tepfer Trio
