Contact: Genepritsker@gmail.com
Gene Pritsker Composer
“Mischief-maker and cultural blender-in-chief, Pritsker is a serious artist, yet much of his work is witty and irreverent.” Anyone can draw a mustache on the Mona Lisa, but few musicians draw it as artistically and creatively as Gene Pritsker.”
- Raymond Tuttle, Fanfare Magazine
"...audacious...multitalented."
- The New York Times
'The shape-shifting Gene Pritsker is one of the only composers who continues to break down the barriers that still exist in the sometimes water-tight compartments that industry marketers revel in."
- Raul d'Gama Rose, All About Jazz
“Mischief-maker and cultural blender-in-chief, Pritsker is a serious artist, yet much of his work is witty and irreverent.” Anyone can draw a mustache on the Mona Lisa, but few musicians draw it as artistically and creatively as Gene Pritsker.”
- Raymond Tuttle, Fanfare Magazine
"...audacious...multitalented."
- The New York Times
'The shape-shifting Gene Pritsker is one of the only composers who continues to break down the barriers that still exist in the sometimes water-tight compartments that industry marketers revel in."
- Raul d'Gama Rose, All About Jazz
'Intending to make music
dangerous again.”
- Sequenza21
Gene Pritsker Composer
Recent albums
Featured Videos
Recent & Upcoming
Performances:
2025
April
4/2
Premiere of the chamber piece 'Hand' to a silent film as part of the 2025 Sound of Silent Film Festival presented by Access Contemporary Music at Music Box Theater in Chicago, IL
4/4
‘Sorrow, Like Pleasure, Creates Its Own Atmosphere’ performed by Lisa Bost-Sandberg
as part of 23rd Annual Electronic Music Midwest Festival at Kansas City Kansas Community College in Kansas City, MO
4/4
Release of the album 'The Process Sessions #1&2' on Composers Concordance Records. Gene's compositions include 'My Unscheduled Fate' with Jay Rodriguez on sax and Gene on guitar and 'Pandemic Dance #2' with Kathleen Supové on piano and Gene on guitar.
4/6
'Echoed Ecstasy' premiered as part of Composers Concordance presents 'CompCord Ensemble Meets Erik Hawkins Dance' at St. Mark's Church in-the Bowery
4/8
‘Can't Breath’ performed by guitarist William Anderson and pianist Joan Forsyth at Sarah Lawrence College where Gene is The distinguished visiting composer.
4/11
Release of the album 'Footprints Of Steel Poetry by Robert C. Ford' on Composers Concordance Records. Gene's compositions include
''Puzzle Complete (The You of Me)', 'The Difference Unhappiness, '9-Months Earlier',
'Why Didn’t You Tag Me?', 'Blissful Surrender', 'Footprints of Steel', 'The Color of the Number 3', 'The Day Saturn Lost Its Rings', 'May the Great Ark Save the Drones'
4/13
Sound Liberation performs at Mahogany Hall in Bern, Switzerland with featuring Ljiljana Winkler as part of Philipp Moll Sunday Jazz. Many compostions of Gene's are performed including the premiere of the song 'Ecstasy'
4/16
Concert at t the Wittelsbacher Castle in Freidberg. Germany with Sound Liberation featuring Ljiljana Winkler and Ensemble Der Gymnasium Big Band
Many compostions of Gene's are performed including the premieres of 'Toxic Bond', 'Silent Treatment', 'What Matters III',
4/17
Sound Liberation Di.J. Quartet featuring Ljiljana Winkler performs at Café Museum In Passau, Germany
4/22
'Imminent' premiered as part of Composers Concordance presents Franz Hackl and Leo Genovese Duo at Kostabi World
4/27
'Witness' premiered as part of Composers Concordance presents The Fiddlers at Nublu
4/28
'Naked Beauty Displayed ' premiered by the Emerald Trio as part of Composers Concordance presents Generations XIV at Kostabi World
May
5/3
Premiere of 'So I Flee The Death In Me' for viola and piano as part of Composers Concordance presents 'Michael Hall and Kathleen Supové' at Kostabi World
5/10
'From All Angles' for triangle and string quartet as part of Composers Concordance presents 'String Quartet +' at Cossin Theater in China Town
5/16
Various compositions performed as part of Composers Concordance and Harlem Jazz Series present 'In4Mation' at Mount Morris Ascension Presbyterian Church
5/18
The Bowers/Fader duo perform 'Coconut Cornmeal Cake’ at Scholes Street Studio
Four Premieres as part of 13th Annual CompCord Festival
– Motion –
I.
May 18th
Premiere of 'Duo Motion'
as part of Duo Motion
@ St. Marks Church in The Bowery
II.
May 23rd
Premiere of 'Lindy Hip-hop'
as part of CompCord LittleBig Band
Swing and Lindy Hop
III.
Sunday May 25th 6pm
Premiere of the trio 'Hand Motion'
as part of the 15th Annual
Comp-Play-Comp Marathon
IV.
May 30th
Premiere of 'Paint Brush Motion'
as part of Motion Électronique
5/23
Release of the album 'Motion Électronique' on Composers Concordance Records
on which Gene's track 'Paintbrush Motion' is featured
5/27
Premiere of ‘Wanderlust’ and ’Suicide Barbie II’ by the CompCord Ensemble as part of Wanderlust in Rome: A Celebration of New Beginnings at Ksotabi World.
June
6/1
Petro Krysa performs many of Gene’s compositions at Mermaid Lounge in Saettle, WA. Including ‘Krompli’, 'Ukrainian Lullabies ReMix’, ‘Song’s Sean Liked’ and other compositions for violin and Samplestra
6/6
Premiere of a 'Blusatina' for clarinet and electric guitar as part of Composers Concordance presents Charlie And The Composers with clarinetist Charles Neidich at The Ellington Room at Manhattan Plaza
6/8
Premiere of 'Inspirations on Roger Aplon's Improvisations- After Gene Pritsker’s Potemkin' for B3+ and CompCord Ensemble as part of Composers Concordance presents CompCord at Howland at Howland Cultural Center in Beacon NYC
6/13
Baritone Andrew White and pianist David Bohn premiere 'So I Flee The Death In Me’ at St. Mary's Church in Port Washington WI.
6/13
Machiko Ozawa premiers 'SuMmer PreSSto’ from 'VivalDiJ' at a festival in Arcachon, France
6/13
Release of the Sound Liberation album 'Elegy' on Composers Concordance Records
6/21
Premiere of 'For Sean' as part of Composers Concordance presents Guitars & Poems at Jim Kempner Fine Arts
6/26
Petro Krysa and Volodymyr Duda premiere the double violin concerto ‘Against All hope’ with the Lviv Virtuosos as part of their event Zarno Jazz, also on the program premiere of 'Krompli II' for violin, rhythm section, strung orchestra and Samplestra. At the S. Lyudkevych Concert Hall in Lviv Ukraine
6/28
Premiere of 'In Memory Of Chuck Connelly' for trumpet and guitar and 'Bessie (Steel Mill Homage)' on a poem by Robert C. Ford for narrator, baritone, trumpet and guitar at the Chuck Connelly Memorial event at St Bartholomew Church in NYC
July
7/5
Performances of various compositions as part of EMX presents a concert at Panda Platforma in Berlin, Germany, featuring
Winkler Ljiljana - soprano,
Machiko Ozawa - violin
Mando Beatbox and
the Clair-obscur Sax Quartet
Premiers include: - 'Cease', ' Game Over',
'A Tuneless Rebel Lullaby'
7/10
The CompCord Ensemble performs at the American Arts Center in Casablanca. The concert is mostly compositions by Gene. ncluding the premieres of 'Ramadan Hunger', and 'VivalDiJ', as well as new version of older compositions such as 'Under The Wolf’s Cloak III', 'I don’t do what I’m Told II', 'Ghoulish Rose', 'The Sea Monster & The Milk Thistle II'.
With Ljiljana Winkler, Machiko Ozawa, Imelda O'Reilly
Prog.
7/18
CompCord Ensemble performs at Kostabi Villa in Rome, Italy.
Premiere of 'When Creatures Stir' and performances of 'Wanderlust', and 'Hand Motion'. With Machiko Ozawa, Lesi Mei, Todd Rewoldt, Tasos Papastamou
7/22
Performing a concert in Lviv, Ukraine with Petro Krysa at the Dzyga Gallery
7/25-26
Gene is at the YXIE Festival in Villeblevin, France, performing a duo concert with violinist Machiko Ozawa and giving a composition masterclass.
7/27-8/17
Gene is back at The Outreach Festival in Schwaz, Austria, for many concerts, workshops, and masterclasses
7/31
Premiere of 'We Have Our' for the Sparks Ensemble as part of the Music Power in the Park event
Aug
8/7
Premiere of 'Nothingness of Big Lies' with the Outreach Orchestra in Schwaz, Austria.
8/14
The Ukrainian Cultural = ZERNO Project with Petro & Noizepunk at the Outreach Festival
8/17
Baritone Andrew White performs 'So I Flee The Death In Me’ in Bloomfield, NJ
8/18
Baritone Andrew White performs 'So I Flee The Death In Me’ at the Ellington Room as part of Concordance presents 'Baritone Andrew White'
8/23
Sound Liberation performs at Joe's Pub for a set of Gene's compositions.
8/30
violinist Machiko Ozawa and pianist Jai Jeffryes premiere Prism Sonata as part of Concordance presents 'Prism Duo' at Steel Wig Muisc
Sept.
9/6
Soprano Ljiljana Winkler premieres '‘Poems of Imelda O'Rellly’ as part of Composers Concordance presents 'Art Of The Art Song' at Westbeth
9/27
violinist Ekaterina Gubanova performs 'She’s So Chaconne’ at Myaskovsky Hall of the Moscow Conservatory
9/28
New composition for SATB chorus is performed as part of Composers Concordance presents 'Ciabatta Cantata' at St. Mark's Church in-the-Bowery
About
Composer Gene Pritsker has written over nine hundred compositions, including chamber operas, orchestral and chamber works, electro-acoustic music and songs for hip-hop and rock ensembles. His compositions employ an eclectic spectrum of styles, that are influenced by his studies of various musical cultures.
He is the founder and leader of Sound Liberation, an eclectic hip hop-chamber-jazz-rock-etc. ensemble. He also Co-Directs Composers Concordance and is a co-founder and composer-in-residence of the Grammy nominated Absolute Ensemble. Gene's music is performed all over the world at internationally recognized festivals and by highly respected ensembles and performers.
"My music is extremely eclectic, for me music has no bounds - I view the world of music as one big genre. My motto for my art is 'ending the segregation of sound vibration.'"
Gene is also a guitarist/rapper/Di.J./ and producer and incorporates each of these musical attributes to create music that is “not designed for easy listening or to melt into the background. It is insistent. It demands attention and curiosity."
- New York Newsday.
Gene worked closely with jazz fusion legend Joe Zawinul and has orchestrated major Hollywood movies, including 'Cloud Atlas', for which he wrote his ''Cloud Atlas Symphony’ and the 2021 film The Matrix Resurrections
PROJECTS
Sound Liberation / Recordings / Film/Commercial / Money (hip-hop opera) VRE Suite / solo, duo, trio... / Cello Lounge / William James's... opera
Di.J. Noizepunk / Cloud Atlas Symphony / Samplestra / Reinventions / DAYS Composers Concordance & Comp Cord Records / EMX / Maggots / Concertos
RiteOfSpring..Eclectic / Manhattan in Charcoal / Melodies Alone.. / EroicAnization / Groove Possessed / Trump Concerto / Blog
This album demonstrates some of Composer Gene Pritsker's compsotions that explore the various sounds of string instruments. From solo violin compositions performed by Lara St. John and Machiko Ozawa to string quartets performed by the CompCord String Quartet and Kahlo String Quartet to music for multiple strings including compositions for 3 violin, 5 violins and 2 electric guitars.
‘Under The Wolf’s Cloak’ music by Gene Pritsker poem by Imelda O'Reilly, for narrator, chorus and two Marimbas Performed by Imelda O'Reilly - narrator David Cossin - marimba Macrófona Choir
Sound Liberation Di.J. Quartet Gene Pritsker - Di.J. / guitar Peter Oswald - trumpet Clemens Rofner - bass Simon Springer - Drums
'Blues from an Airport Bar' by Gene Pritsker is a song cycle based on 4 poems of Jacob Miller. The music is inspired by the blues, but with very extended harmony and melody.. The song ‘Path’ is originally written as an r&b track, here it is transformed into a jazzy/operatic chamber piece that features the brilliant voice of Ljiljana and the groovy ensemble playing of the Solenne Band
On ‘Better Now’ Gene Pritsker’s compositions explore soul, hip-hop, modern jazz, cross over classical, blues, r&b, jazz fusion and more. Recorded over a period of two years in various locations and studios, some tracks recorded remotely some in a studio station. The album takes you on a no holds bar genre defying journey that is the defining style of Sound Liberation.
Composer/bass trombonist Dave Taylor and composer/guitarist Gene Pritsker present a full album of duets for this unique instrumental combination. The album was mostly recorded remotely during the pandemic, some of the music was newly written for the project and many of the pieces Dave and Gene performed together before. The whole album was inspired after the duo recorded Gene’s ‘Pandemic Dance #22’, which was part of his Pandemic Dances project.
‘Only A Game’ was a commission by Robert Shannon Fields, to write music for his ballet libretto that he wrote decades ago in the former east Germany. I wrote this string trio inspired by the actions and words of Robert's ballet scenario. The music flowed to the imaginary dancers in my mind that were swaying, jumping acting out Robert's story; the 3rd act starts with a scene called 'A Special Game’. Here the solo cello delves into Shostakovich like chromaticism and lyricism, playing a game with
Soubrette auf der Toilette
‘Let’s Save the World Suite’ is a seven movement composition based on three poems of Erik T. Johnson. It is scored for a quintet of trumpet, sax, electric guitar, electric bass and drum set, with a narrator reciting the poem in three of the movements.
CLOUD ATLAS SYMPHONY
Duets For The End Of The World' is a collaboration between alto saxophonist Todd Rewoldt and composer/guitarist Gene Pritsker, recorded remotely during the pandemic. The album emphasizes duets Pritsker wrote for Rewoldt and himself, but also features Gene’s music for solo alto sax and electronics, larger chamber ensembles, and a composition by composer Seth Boustead.
'Stray-in-Place Song Cycle' is an album of six eclectic songs by Gene Pritsker, based on the poetry of Erik T. Johnson and inspired by the lockdown of 2021. Three of the songs are rock-influenced and the others have jazzier roots. All are performed by world-class musicians. A variety of singers add their unique styles to six pieces, giving the recording an extra-eclectic flavor. They are: Stefanie Egger (Austria); Sophie Dunér (Sweden); Berzan Önen (Turkey); Yelena Dudochkin (USA); and Stefani
Protest
GP Trio
EroicAnization
Maggots and other Chamber music of Gene Pritsker
Albums
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