Dan Tepfer Duets With Algorithms & Improvises the Future on New Album Natural Machines, Out May 17th

As a MacDowell Fellow and Cultural Envoy for the US State Department, a Bachelor of astrophysics and a 30-year student of piano, Dan Tepfer has distinguished himself as "one of the moment's most adventurous and relevant musicians" (New York Magazine). In the eight years since his last full-length solo release, however, he's composed – and coded – the future. Today, he announces the multimedia, multisensory album Natural Machines, out May 17th on Sunnyside Records. 

Using Yamaha's self-playing Disklavier piano as his only instrument, Natural Machinessets a new framework for how humans can make meaningful art by rethinking the boundaries between the mechanical and the natural, and how algorithms can help humans create something both intuitive and adherent to structure. The 11 songs, simultaneously written and recorded in single takes, are all products of Tepfer's improvisations interacting with computer programs he's invented. His algorithms process the music he sends them to instantly create counterparts, triggering the Disklavier's keys to express them as sound. 

Tepfer explains, "I'm not writing a piece as much as I'm writing the way the piece works. The music I love lives at the intersection of the algorithmic and the spiritual. It's intuition working in tandem with structure. There's a current of anti-intellectualism, anti-science — even anti-truth — running through the world today. Natural Machineskicks against that."

The music is only half of it. Accompanying each performance are live visuals rendered by Tepfer's playing in real time. The projections take the sonic data from the Disklavier to represent foundational aspects of each piece – pitch, dynamics, rhythm, harmony, and more – in both two dimensions and virtual reality. 

Watch NPR Music's mini-documentary to see some of the interplay unfold: https://n.pr/2HT39MB 

And check out the videos for Natural Machines on YouTube: dantepfer.com/naturalmachines

While Tepfer will release the digital and physical audio of Natural Machines on May 17th, he's also preparing to launch a new VR website for the album, and has begun 3D printing some of the individual planets spawned through the record's visual universe. He's delivering its full interactive experience, including Google Cardboard for his audience, to Brooklyn's National Sawdust on April 16th, with more special events to follow – full dates below. 

Natural Machines Track List

All The Things You Are / Canon at the Octave

TriadSculpture

Constant Motion

Looper

Inversion

Intervals I / Industrial

Tremolo

Canon at the Octave / MetricMod

Intervals II / Folk Song

Demonic March

Fractal Tree

Dan Tepfer Tour Dates

3/17 – Worcester, MA @ Mechanics Hall - Bach Concertos for 2, 3 and 4 Keyboards, with Simone Dinnerstein

4/5 – Munich, DE @ TBA – María Muñoz & Dan Tepfer (Pieces from Bach's Well Tempered Clavier Set to Dance)

4/13 – Rivoli, IT @ Rivolimusica – Goldberg Variations / Variations 

4/16 – Brooklyn, NY @ National Sawdust – Dan Tepfer's Natural Machines

4/19 – Boston, MA @ New England Conservatory – Masterclass  

4/21 – New York, NY @ Blueprints Piano Series – Dan Tepfer Solo

5/2 – Brisbane, AU @ Doo Bop – Dan Tepfer + Kristin Berardi 

5/3 – Sydney, AU @ Venue 505 – Dan Tepfer Solo

5/11 – Canberra, AU @ Canberra International Music Festival – Dan Tepfer Solo

5/11 – Canberra, AU @ Canberra International Music Festival – Dan Tepfer Trio

5/14 – Melbourne, AU @ The Jazzlab – Dan Tepfer Solo

5/14 – Melbourne, AU @ Monash University – Dan Tepfer Workshop

5/22 – Brooklyn, NY @ Bar Bayeux – Dan Tepfer Trio 

6/4 – New York, NY @ Mezzrow – Dan Tepfer Duo

6/25 – Paris, FR @ Café de la Danse – Dan Tepfer's Natural Machines

7/18 – Stresa, IT @ TBA – Dan Tepfer Trio plays Pulcinella 

7/23 – Siena, IT @ Incontri in Terra di Siena – Dan Tepfer Trio plays Pulcinella 

7/26 – Lombard, IL @ NCKP National Conference – Dan Tepfer Solo

7/31 – Highland Park, IL @ Ravinia Festival – Dan Tepfer with Avalon String Quartet 

7/31 – Highland Park, IL @ Ravinia Festival – Miguel Zenon / Dan Tepfer duo

10/23 – Brno, CZ @ Filharmonie Brno – Dan Tepfer's Natural Machines

11/24 – London, UK @ King’s Place – Dan Tepfer's Natural Machines

12/14 – Hudson, NY @ Hudson Opera House – Dan Tepfer's Natural Machines

5/5/20 – Kalamazoo, MI @ Civic Theatre – Dan Tepfer Trio

5/6/20 – Battle Creek, MI @ W.K. Kellogg Foundation – Dan Tepfer Trio

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