This article introduces the Flannau Duo, composed of pianist Jonathan Hannau and percussionist Kyle Flens, highlighting their eclectic and innovative approach to contemporary music. It features descriptions of various works performed by the duo, showcasing their use of unconventional instruments, electronics, found objects, and experimental techniques. Pieces such as Hannah A. Barnes’ collage-like composition inspired by Joyce, Ania Vu’s energetic exploration of dissonant intervals, Carola Bauckholt’s playful use of everyday objects, and others inspired by cosmic and minimalistic themes exemplify their diverse repertoire. The duo emphasizes making contemporary music approachable and engaging, transforming concert experiences into informal gatherings that emphasize exploration, humor, and creativity. Their programming reflects a commitment to new, experimental works that challenge traditional boundaries and invite both performers and audiences into a dynamic, sensory-rich world of sound.

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Flannau Duo — Jonathan Hannau, piano, and Kyle Flens, percussion — are very excited to present at a PASIC virtual concert a diverse repertory of music by some of their favorite living composers. Each composer has taken a unique approach to the piano and percussion instrumentation, and has allowed the group to explore new ways of presenting concerts to their audiences. All of the performances were filmed live at previous Flannau Duo concerts.

Han Lash’s “C” is a piece about the expansion of material in a motor-like, additive process. Its anchor and beginning are the C-octaves, which spin out of the rest of the material in relentless perpetual motion. This piece is a core part of Flannau Duo’s repertoire, often used as an opener for concerts to break the ice. It’s fast, fun, and requires tight-knit, even playing together for the duration of the piece with little to no room for breaks. 

Igor Santos is the first composer Flannau Duo commissioned. The starting point for “Carve” is the act of engraving and chiseling into various materials. Any surface featuring grooves, slits, or indentations is used on both piano and percussion to represent — in sound — this idea of carving. The object being sculpted remains ambiguous; however, the narrative focuses more on carving as a means of self-discovery, hinting at nostalgic harmonies within a textured, granular soundscape. Practically speaking, minimally prepared piano and a great selection of percussive instruments make this a fun and easy-to-prepare piece. The music consists of variations in loops of groovy motives, the rhythms interlocking between the players, a staple in Igor’s compositional style.

“Teach Yourself to Fly From This Pale Blue Dot” by Boston-based composer Evan Williams was originally written for Brianna Matzke and Chris Graham for the Response Project. What came of this collaboration was a beautiful work for electronics, piano, and percussion. The piece is inspired by the concept of the Golden Record, sent to deep space contained in both Voyager I and Voyager II. The piece imagines the journey of these probes through interstellar space. As they travel alone far beyond our planet, will their components degrade? Will they encounter dangerous spatial phenomena? Will they encounter intelligent life? Or will they simply drift away never to be seen or heard from again? The music contains gestures played out of time in response to randomized electronic cues (recordings from the Golden Record). From there the piece opens up to driving ostinatos and beautiful, lush harmonies. Big tremolos and intense moments flow in and out while the electronics swirl a menagerie of interesting audio clips and space-like sounds.

Starting with an excerpt from the stream-of-consciousness of Stephen Dedalus (James Joyce’s literary alter ego), “A very short space of time through very short times of space” by Hannah A. Barnes develops and reflects musical materials in different sonic spaces that accumulate, rupture, and otherwise transform. Hannah is interested in volatile and fragile materials that seem contradictory. Instead of seeking resolution, they strive for alchemical transcendence. James Joyce’s poetic prose in Ulysses embraces the inherent volatility of life and moves rapidly, catching glimpses of everything possible between life’s extremes. Materials in the piece are, like Stephen Dedalus’ thoughts, mutable and constantly decontextualized, fragmented, and recombined. The piece was composed for Flannau Duo in early 2024 and came to life through collaborative exploration. Hannah hopes that performers and listeners each find something surprising in this maximalist powerhouse of a piece.

Ania Vu’s “2+” focuses just on two notes: F and F-sharp. From this jumping point she imaginatively takes us through a multitude of different characters and textures, creating a spontaneous and high-energy piece with complicated rhythms and virtuosic playing. Originally written for the McCormick Duo, Flannau Duo often performs it due to its dramatic shifting moods. It’s a great piece to get audiences engaged with a piece of contemporary music that focuses on one of the most dissonant intervals in Western tradition, the minor second. 

Carola Bauckholt is a German composer whose works are absurd, charming, and expertly written. Unique sounds and unconventional ways of playing instruments permeate almost all her compositions. Flannau combined her two pieces “When they go low we go high” and “Geräusche” to make for a fun exploration of sound and performance practice. “When they…” is an exploration of the piano where the performers play credit cards on the tuning pins of the piano, resulting in a “frog” like sound, which eventually evolves into the use of wine corks and vocal noises. “Geräusche” was written in memoriam to John Cage where the duo plays a selection of found objects, creating for a plaintive, very “Cageian” exploration of sound and form. Both duos are examples of Jon and Kyle playing on the same instrument. “When they…” is effectively a piano duo, and “Geräusche” a percussion duo.

Alex Temple’s “Sugarhocket” was originally commissioned by Jonathan’s toy-piano duo “Plucky Pluckers,” then brought back to life by the Flannau duo. Written for two amplified toy pianos and a reverb pedal, its charming and quirky rhythmic hockets eventually give way to the cutest bossa nova ever written. Its engaging and challenging rhythmic features make for a good performance piece and guarantee some good chuckles from the audience along the way. This also acts as a piano duo.

We hope listeners enjoy this snapshot of what Flannau Duo does best: performing refined and artful music in a lighthearted way. Contemporary music concerts tend to be too serious/formal in our opinion, so we treat our concerts like an informal get-together with friends!