The New York Times
(Read︎︎︎)
REVIEW BY
Anastasia Tsioulcas
DATE OF PUBLICATION
Oct. 13, 2022
DESCRIPTION
CRITIC’S PICK
Review: Musicians of Color Reclaim Control in a White Space
“Ueno’s score nods to 19th-century Western idioms, traditional Korean music and shimmering contemporary electronica. The effect is not a pastiche, but a sonic code switching. He also allows Tines and Koh — exemplary technicians and artists of profound intensity — to explore their full tonal and textural ranges. Moments of racial violence are evoked by Koh playing growling, guttural scratch tones, often on her open G string, while Tines cycles from his rich basso profundo to an ethereal falsetto. (The day before “Everything Rises” opened, BAM named Tines as its next artist in residence, beginning in January.)
The piece ends with a hopeful original song, “Better Angels,” which is preceded by a particularly haunting sequence.“
Asia Pacific Arts
(Read︎︎︎)
REVIEW BY
Vania Fong
DATE OF PUBLICATION
April. 25, 2022
DESCRIPTION
The last piece, “Better Angels,” is a simple yet powerful song about embracing “the better angels of our nature” in the face of historical injustices and generations of invisibilization and oppression. In this performance space, grief, sorrow, and guilt arose in response to Tines and Koh’s deeply personal stories, but so did empathy, hope, and admiration for the performers and their families for stepping into the unknown, whether it be a new country or a bold musical statement, in hopes that the next generation can live a better life and “stop singin’ songs for freedom / because in fact [they] are free” (Ueno, “Amen”).
The Wire
(Read︎︎︎)
REVIEW BY
Emily Pothast
DATE OF PUBLICATION
2020 December
DESCRIPTION
“For UC Berkeley music professor and composer Ken Ueno, the bullhorn has become an extension of his extended vocal technique, rooted in circular breathing and throat-singing techniques.”
Wallpaper
(Read︎︎︎)
REVIEW BY
Anna Yudina
DATE OF PUBLICATION
2017 December 28
DESCRIPTION
“Tsang’s own contribution – an immersive installation designed to amplify the soundwork by composer and vocalist Ken Ueno – is one of the exhibition’s highlights that mark the 2017 Biennale’s active involvement with contemporary art.”
The Log
Journal
(Read︎︎︎)
REVIEW BY
Steve Smith
DATE OF PUBLICATION
2017 April 14
DESCRIPTION
“Rollicking and meditative in alternation, the music sustains its initial fascination; Ueno’s techniques are novel, but never mere novelty, serving expressive purposes consistently throughout this haunting work.”
Seen and Heard
International
(Read︎︎︎)
REVIEW BY
Daniele Sahr
DATE OF PUBLICATION
2017 April 7
DESCRIPTION
“Within this eclectic space of exploration (which includes throat singing) he produces songs like There is No One Like You sung by Connery, that you want to add to your soundtrack to reshuffle an evening after work. It is not only testament to his accessibility but also his wide range of musicality that he can touch the tastes of all his listeners.”
NEW YORK TIMES
(Read︎︎︎)
REVIEW BY
Corinna da Fonseca-Wollheim
DATE OF PUBLICATION
2016 June 14
DESCRIPTION
“The rubbery sputter that this exotic-looking instrument now emitted added to the dynamic contrast between organic and inorganic sounds in ‘Future Lilacs.’ The work opens with a dynamic rock-charged section in which the electric guitar worries away at a single note with microtonally altered impulses, then settles into a languid postlude that again makes beautiful use of the ethereal cloud-chamber bowls.”
blogs.
post-gazette.com
(Read︎︎︎)
REVIEW BY
Elizabeth Bloom
DATE OF PUBLICATION
2015 November 13
DESCRIPTION
“The concerto itself was raw, ear-tingling and visceral. Despite thinking that the highest note he could sing was C-Sharp, three octaves above middle C, he in fact hit the D a half-step higher. Quite the memorable evening.”
artsbeat.
blogs.nytimes.com
(Read︎︎︎)
REVIEW BY
Corinna da Fonseca-Wollheim
DATE OF PUBLICATION
2015 October 7
DESCRIPTION
“Ken Ueno’s ‘Peradam’ offers a heady brew of harmonies flickering with microtones, harmonics and vocalizations that draws heavily on the individual talents of the versatile Del Sol players, which in the case of the violist Charlton Lee includes eerily accomplished samples of Tuvan throat singing.”
My Entertainment
World
(Read︎︎︎)
REVIEW BY
Brian Boruta
DATE OF PUBLICATION
2014 June 7
DESCRIPTION
“Gallo is intellectual theatre of the highest order, but, unlike most other theatre of which this is true, it refuses to be up tight, and removes just about every ounce of pretention from the air around it. After all, it’s hard to be pretentious while barefoot, on a beach towel, on a bench, in front of a beach of Cheerios. Yes, Cheerios, the beloved breakfast cereal which serves as both sand and projection screen during Ueno’s 90 minute opera about memory, landscapes, and the shifting tides of what it means to exist and be in this world.”
Boston Musical
Intelligencer
(Read︎︎︎)
REVIEW BY
John Kochevar
DATE OF PUBLICATION
2014 June 2
DESCRIPTION
“Gallo was ultimately compelling in conception and performance. Nature will serve us with more disasters; ‘the present-day composer refuses to die.’”
Boston GLOBE
(Read︎︎︎)
REVIEW BY
Matthew Guerriri
DATE OF PUBLICATION
2014 June 2
DESCRIPTION
“...very much an experimental opera, not only in its willingness to try anything, but in that its dramatic impulse is, in essence, its inventive impulse. Opera might be the only form capable of housing the piece’s superabundance of ideas; Ueno recapitulates a bit of genre phylogeny while demonstrating that the family tree still produces surprising branches.”
Seen and Heard
International
(Read︎︎︎)
REVIEW BY
Daniele Sahr
DATE OF PUBLICATION
2014 January 29
DESCRIPTION
“...a combination of the strange and beautiful, as he blended his voice with the transcendent meditative quality evoked in Peradam.”
NewMusicBox
(Read︎︎︎)
REVIEW BY
Matthew Guerrieri
DATE OF PUBLICATION
2014 January 28
DESCRIPTION
“The ending—a long cadenza which featured Uitti creeping up the fingerboard into a distant, shortwave squeal of high natural harmonics—was breathtaking.”
New York Times
(Read︎︎︎)
REVIEW BY
Corinna da Fonseca-Wollheim
DATE OF PUBLICATION
2013 January 25
DESCRIPTION
“Sometimes they were even gorgeous, as in ‘Shiroi Ishi,’ an a cappella work by Ken Ueno. Mr. Ueno is a composer on the faculty of the University of California, Berkeley, who in his own singing explores and expands the eerie overtones created by techniques like Tuvan throat singing.”
CHICAGO
CLASSICAL REVIEW
(Read︎︎︎)
REVIEW BY
Lawrence A. Johnson
DATE OF PUBLICATION
2012 March 30
DESCRIPTION
“Ken Ueno’s Disjecta turned out to be the most compelling work of the evening.”
NEW YORK TIMES
(Read︎︎︎)
REVIEW BY
Allan Kozinn
DATE OF PUBLICATION
2011 April 13
DESCRIPTION
“‘(X)igagai,’ a gripping, visceral soundscape inspired by the Pirahã people of the Amazon basin, a fascinating tribe whose language apparently has no words for colors or numbers. (The title refers to spirits that only the Pirahã people are able to see.)”
Consequence
of Sound
(Read︎︎︎)
REVIEW BY
Jake Cohen
DATE OF PUBLICATION
2011 April 13
DESCRIPTION
“...matched by the dissonance, experimentalism, and sheer bravado of Ken Ueno’s piece for Alarm Will Sound, (X)igágáí. Ueno’s piece explored different kinds of white noise and wind-like timbres, utilizing a full array of human- and instrument-generated white noise.”
Seated Ovation
(Read︎︎︎)
REVIEW BY
Will Robin
DATE OF PUBLICATION
2011 April 2
DESCRIPTION
“The best piece of the bunch was Two Hands, a placid work for violist Kim Kashkashian and percussionist Robyn Schulkowsky, a success as much for its compositional rigor as for its luminous performance—Kashkashian, the dean of American viola, gave each individual gesture a sense of inevitability, the kind of radiant deliberateness one hears in a great reading of Mozart or Bach.”
Baltimore Sun
(Read︎︎︎)
REVIEW BY
Tim Smith
DATE OF PUBLICATION
2010 December 8
DESCRIPTION
“The finale showed the composer at his most persuasive. ‘Talus’ was written for violist Wendy Richman, who broke her ankle in a fall in 2006 — during a rehearsal for a David Lang opera. Ueno essentially dramatizes that accident — the piece starts with a scream from the soloist — but he avoids gimmicky. It's quite a deep and involving work of exceptional lyrical power with long-sustained notes and the spaces in between. Richman was the impressive player. She had the tense harmonic language communicating vividly.”
American Record
Guide Reviews
Ken Ueno: Talus
(Read︎︎︎)
REVIEW BY
Robert Haskins
DATE OF PUBLICATION
2010 September 1
DESCRIPTION
“Ueno writes strongly against the grain of standard expectations for the concerto by reserving the second half of the piece for the two soloists alone. And what sounds like a simple, almost banal gesture becomes incredibly moving—a daring decision that perfectly matches the poetry of the work. It is completely in keeping with Ken Ueno, who I believe is going to be an extremely important American composer.”
Washington
Post
(Read︎︎︎)
REVIEW BY
Steven Brookes
DATE OF PUBLICATION
2010 September 21
DESCRIPTION
“‘Sabinium’ was fascinating throughout.”
Detroit
Free Press
(Read︎︎︎)
REVIEW BY
Mark Stryker
DATE OF PUBLICATION
2009 June 13
DESCRIPTION
“Ueno relies on fiercely concentrated, pointillistic gestures and unusual effects to evoke a state of suspended meditation: gentle scrapes, quick slashes, erotic shivers, cold stares, fleeting melodies that shimmer like apparitions.”
Boston Globe
(Read︎︎︎)
REVIEW BY
Matthew Guerriri
DATE OF PUBLICATION
2008 November 18
DESCRIPTION
“It’s a concerto that engrossingly reinvents the discourse.”
The Boston Musical
Intelligencer
(Read︎︎︎)
REVIEW BY
Peter Van Zandt Lane
DATE OF PUBLICATION
2008 November 14
DESCRIPTION
“...one cannot deny that Talus was the most memorable piece of the evening.”
Washington
Post
(Read︎︎︎)
REVIEW BY
Stephen Brookes
DATE OF PUBLICATION
2008 April 28
DESCRIPTION
“...the piece had a fascinating, elemental power that resonated long after it ended.”
Sequenza 21
(Read︎︎︎)
REVIEW BY
John Nasukaluk Clare
DATE OF PUBLICATION
2008 April 3
DESCRIPTION
“After intermission, the amazingly creative ‘On a Sufficient Condition for the Existence of Most Specific Hypothesis’ by Ken Ueno was captivating. A natural blend of dissonance and glissandi, along with rough and sudden entrances of instruments, made a perfect parallel to Ueno’s singing... Most impressive was a cadenza-like throat singing passage, including a brilliant range of dynamics and wide intervals. I’ll listen for more Ueno in the future.”
Boston Globe
(Read︎︎︎)
REVIEW BY
Matthew Guerriri
DATE OF PUBLICATION
2008 March 31
DESCRIPTION
“Ken Ueno's absorbing On a Sufficient Condition for the Existence of Most Specific Hypothesis is a concerto for himself, singing, screeching, growling, throat singing - manipulating the growl's acoustic overtones. The opening - a recording of Ueno at the age of 6, babbling - foreshadowed serious play, the complex resonances of Ueno's vocal excursions transformed into bright orchestral fanfares. The work's single-mindedness proved disarmingly generous. It was the evening's far-out highlight.”
mikedidonato.com
(Read︎︎︎)
REVIEW BY
Mike DiDonato
DATE OF PUBLICATION
2008 March 31
DESCRIPTION
“Intermission came and went and the second half started with the music Ken Ueno with yet another world premier. This one called ‘On a Sufficient Condition for the Existence of Most Specific Hypothesis.’
DANG!
Ken is an overtone singer. and I was BLOWN away.”
BOSTON HERALD
(Read︎︎︎)
REVIEW BY
Christine Fernsebner
DATE OF PUBLICATION
2008 March 31
DESCRIPTION
“Ken Ueno also drew a loud reaction, and the greatest variety of reactions, with his first classical throat-singing work.”
Reviews of Concerts in
Boston and at Tufts
(Read︎︎︎)
REVIEW BY
Emily Hoyler
DATE OF PUBLICATION
2008 March 30
DESCRIPTION
“Composer and vocal soloist Ken Ueno offered the audience a rare treat of vocal technique and compositional innovation.”
Brainwashed
(Blood Money,
“Axis of Blood”
Review)
(Read︎︎︎)
REVIEW BY
John Kealy
DATE OF PUBLICATION
2006 July 12
DESCRIPTION
“Ken Ueno's vocals are incredible. He goes from deep, booming growls to high pitched squeals, the kind that I would normally associate with a boiling kettle or Blixa Bargeld. Using circular breathing techniques Ueno keeps his vocals going continuously for large stretches of time (growling on the exhalation, squealing on the inhalation). As well as being physically impressive, it goes well with Whitney and Worster's rhythms and noise.”
Boston Globe
(Read︎︎︎)
REVIEW BY
Kevin Lowenthal
DATE OF PUBLICATION
2005 May 30
DESCRIPTION
“The concert opener, the world premiere of Ueno's ‘Kaze-no-Oka (Hill of the Winds)’ (2005), featured Japanese masters Kifu Mitsuhashi on shakuhachi (bamboo flute) and Yukio Tanaka on biwa (Japanese lute).
The piece began with the orchestra alone. Dense, slowly shifting microtonal sound-masses — earthy rumblings against ethereal chord-clouds — painted a vast, brooding aural landscape.”
NewMusicBox
(Read︎︎︎)
REVIEW BY
Julia Werntz
DATE OF PUBLICATION
2005 July 1
DESCRIPTION
“Many composers might shy away from separating these elements so completely, for fear of incongruity. But the tension at the moment of the duo's entry, the sustained intensity and relatedness of the music despite the sudden drop in density, the surprising length of the cadenza - these things resulted in a piece with its own strong sense of balance and ‘meaning.’”
The Atlanta
Journal-Constitution
(Read︎︎︎)
REVIEW BY
Pierre Ruhe
DATE OF PUBLICATION
2003 November 4
DESCRIPTION
“The evening was redeemed by the last work, ‘...Blood Blossoms...,’ composed last year by Boston-based Ken Ueno, who was in the audience. Funky and asymmetrical, the score is thick with scary tremolos, punctuated by blasts of percussion or piano. It lopes along all crazylike. It was a nifty piece by a young composer worth following and showed the value of BF's mission: bringing to Atlanta vital contemporary music you can't find anywhere else.”
The Boston Phoenix
(Read︎︎︎)
REVIEW BY
Will Spitz
DATE OF PUBLICATION
2005 May 27 - June 2
DESCRIPTION
“Who ever said that practice makes perfect? UMass-Dartmouth professors Jorrit Dijkstra and Ken Ueno didn't even bother to rehearse for their debut as an improvised duo last Friday at the NAO Gallery in SoWa.“