S.E.M. Ensemble: Many Many Women [concert]

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Many Many Women
Petr Kotik, text by Gertrude Stein, 1975-1978 (90')
Members of S.E.M. Ensemble

String Quartet No. 1 “Erinnerungen an Jan”
Petr Kotik, 2007-2010 (20')
Members of The Glass Clouds Ensemble

S.E.M. Ensemble: Petr Kotík (conductor, flute); Zen Wu, Rebecca Ehren (soprano); Padraic Costello, Nathan Fletcher (tenor); James Gregory, Nicholas Hay (bass); Roberta Michel (flute); Sam Jones, Cha Changhyun (trumpet); William Lang, Jennifer Baker (trombone).

The Glass Clouds Ensemble: Raina Arnett, Holly Workman (violin); Noémie Chemali (viola); Kelcey Howell (cello).

The Czech Center New York presents an evening dedicated to Many Many Women, an iconic large-scale composition by Czech-American composer and conductor Petr Kotík, performed by the S.E.M. Ensemble at Bohemian National Hall. The program further includes a performance of Kotik’s recent work, String Quartet No. 1 “Erinnerungen an Jan.”

Composed between 1975 and 1978 on the complete text of Gertrude Stein’s novella of the same name, Many Many Women stands as one of Kotík’s most radical and enduring works. A full performance lasts nearly six hours; this concert presents a curated version that preserves the work’s structural rigor and meditative intensity.

Written for paired voices and instruments moving in parallel fifths, fourths, and octaves, the piece unfolds through iterative structures and silences. There is no conventional narrative development and no imposed expressivity. Instead, the music advances through Stein’s principle of “the un-change” — repetition as transformation, duration as form.

A long-time collaborator of John Cage — and the longest living musical collaborator of Cage — Kotík has shaped the transatlantic experimental music landscape since the 1960s. His work bridges the aesthetics of the New York School and a distinctly European harmonic sensibility, creating a language that remains singular within contemporary composition.

The concert coincides with the 2026 Sub Rosa release of Many Many Women, a newly recorded version of the piece by S.E.M. Ensemble and Ostravská banda, reflecting current performance practice.

Presented as part of the Czech Center’s ongoing music series, the evening highlights Kotík’s uncompromising artistic vision and the enduring relevance of experimental composition across generations.

Petr Kotík (b. 1942, Prague) is a Czech-American composer, conductor, and flutist who has lived in the United States since 1969. A central figure of the postwar avant-garde, he founded the S.E.M. Ensemble in 1970 and has built a distinctive transatlantic platform for experimental music for more than five decades. Kotík collaborated closely with John Cage from 1964 to 1992 and is the longest living musical collaborator of Cage. In 2022, he received the John Cage Award from the Foundation for Contemporary Arts. He is also the founder of the international festival and institute Ostrava Days (2001) and co-founder of the New Opera Days Ostrava (NODO). He lives and works in New York.

Founded in 1970, S.E.M. Ensemble performs new music rooted in the legacy of the New York School, moving beyond post-romantic traditions. Its programming spans key works by composers such as John Cage, Iannis Xenakis, and Pauline Oliveros, alongside contemporary voices including Roscoe Mitchell, Phill Niblock, Petr Kotík, and Christian Wolff, as well as emerging artists. S.E.M. is known for its uncompromising approach and uniquely wide-ranging programs.

The Glass Clouds Ensemble is a chamber collective dedicated to contemporary music, with a focus on living composers and interdisciplinary projects exploring environmental and social themes. Founded in 2022 by Juilliard graduates Raina Arnett and Marisa Karchin, the ensemble collaborates with instrumentalists, composers, visual artists, and dancers. GCE won first prize at the 2023 AVIMC competition.

DISCLAIMER

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Event Venue & Nearby Stays

Bohemian National Hall, 321 East 73rd Street, New York, United States

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