American Composer Stephen Scott and His Bowed Piano Ensemble Win Acclaim at Slovak Radio

June 3, 2009

The Bowed Piano Ensemble in action.

On June 1, American composer Stephen Scott and his internationally recognized Bowed Piano Ensemble, based at Colorado College, Colorado Springs, performed an experimental piece of music made for piano at the Slovak Radio, in a program sponsored in part by the Embassy. The musicians did not play the piano in the traditional way, but used different kinds of tools to make sounds. They played the piano from the inside directly on the strings and moved around the piano to express emotions and music. The concert hall was full and the performance very well received. Stephen Scott is a professor of music at Colorado College. In 1977 Scott founded the Bowed Piano Ensemble, which has toured and broadcast widely in the United States, Europe and Australia. The internationally recognized Bowed Piano Ensemble is a group of ten students, faculty and staff musicians exploring the leading edge of performance with sounds made directly on the strings of one grand piano, resulting in an orchestral array of tone colors, harmonies and rhythms.

Coverage in SME  |  Bowed Piano: sample of music