A recent gig with the Treadwell Trio in Hampden, NY (photo  ©  2005 Grace Begany)

Biography

Joe Pignato is an educator, composer and musician. He holds an MA from New York University's Gallatin School and a BA from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. His areas of study have included music theory, composition, performance, communication theory, critical theory, cultural studies and education. He is currently a doctoral student and Tanglewood Scholar in the College of Fine Arts, School of Music at Boston University.

Mr. Pignato has studied music composition with Dinu Ghezzo, Yusef Lateef and Roger Reynolds and drum-set with Sal La Rocca and Max Roach.

His musical interests include graphic notation, extended instrumental technique, improvisation, theatrical performance, the avant-garde and the social and political implications of the creative process.

Mr. Pignato has lectured on music, media, the recording industry and education at New York University, Ramapo College, NW Vista College in San Antonio, Texas, Earlham College in Richmond, Indiana, The State University of New York at Oneonta, The Crane School of Music and at The Eastman School of Music. He has also spoken or presented at the SXSW music festival in Austin, Texas, the CMJ New Music Festival, the International Association of Jazz Educators Convention, the Gavin Convention and the Jazz Times Convention.

Mr. Pignato teaches music and music business and technology at The State University of New York, The College at Oneonta. Additionally, he has been a founding faculty member and Teacher of Humanities at the Hoboken Charter School where, along with Michael Cain, he co-founded the "Digital Playground", an interactive digital workshop for music, graphics and multimedia. Mr. Pignato has also taught about the music industry, intellectual property and the Internet at New Jersey's Ramapo College and graduate courses in education at Bergen Community College in a joint venture with New Jersey City University.

Prior to becoming a full-time educator and artist, Mr. Pignato enjoyed a successful career in the music industry having held key management positions at N2K Incorporated, BMG Classics, RCA Victor, ECM Records, CMP Records and Latin Percussion.

Mr. Pignato continues to consult businesses in e-commerce and music and has enjoyed the premieres of his compositions by ensembles around the country. He is active as a performer in atom3 an electro-acoustical trio and with his own quintet, Bright Dog Red.

Original Works

Below is a partial list of original compositions.
These links will show you excerpts of printed scores and program notes. To hear music, click here.

To Speak of Dreams In Progress
flute, alto saxophone, piano, drums
Anticipated Summer 2004 premiere

Una Briciola di Giustizia 2002
for ensemble of up to 18 improvising musicians
Premiered April 25th, 2003
Earlham College Jazz Ensemble - Richmond, Indiana
excerpt from score

Ho Perso 2002
Premiered November 9th, 2002
NW Vista College Faculty Ensemble - San Antonio, TX
soprano saxophone, piano, trumpet and guitar
excerpt from score

Reflections on the Razor's Edge in progress
percussion ensemble pieces inspired by reflections on
W. Somerset Maugham's novel
excerpt from score

Pensieri per Clarinetto Basso 1997
solo bass clarinet
excerpt from score

Oh Vana Gloria dell' Umane Posse 1996
string trio
excerpt from score

Paprika King 1996
poetry and movement for any number of players
excerpt from score

Nascette e Crescette Luntano 1995
string trio
dedicated to Dr. William Colangelo
excerpt from score

Eredita' Diverse 1994
soprano, bass, soprano sax and percussion
excerpt from score

Due Tentazioni 1993
solo soprano sax
Written for saxophonist David Liebman
excerpt from score

A Disregarded Beauty 1992
solo flute or solo guitar and tape
Written for 20th Anniversary of New York University's
Gallatin School of Individualized Study
excerpt from score

Research

1994

Research on modern notational techniques and historic attempts to reform western music notation.  Research involved recording interviews with musicians of varying levels of skill, education as they tried to decipher non-traditional music notation from prominent composers of the 20th century.  

1995
The Interpretational and Perceptual Dynamics
of Graphic Music Notation on Improvising Musicians

Thesis successfully presented and defended in fulfillment of the requirements for the degree Master of Arts at New York University's Gallatin School of Individualized Study

This paper supports the work presented in a concert of original graphically notated compositions for improvising musicians. The concert took place at Roulette, on West Broadway in New York City, Sunday, December 17, 1995. The program, which lasted approximately 90 minutes, consisted of solo and small ensemble works written specifically for my thesis. The concert served as a sort of experiment in that some of the pieces presented were performed twice by different improvisers. Each improviser was kept from hearing the others' interpretations. Each individual interpretation of those compositions will be discussed and the role of sonic and organizational analogy will be evaluated.

There exists a rich body of literature about jazz and the process of improvising within that idiom. Little has been written, however, on how improvisers interpret directives or use notation to guide their improvisations. Even less has been written about improvisation outside of the jazz idiom.

The late twentieth century has seen significant development within the practice of graphic notation. This document and the related works seek to expand on those developments and to exploit the potential of graphic notation as a point of departure for improvisation.

The open-ended and individual nature of interpretation can be used by composers to create non-jazz based improvisatory music. This thesis is not proposing a new system for notating music. Instead, it is an argument for creating music that is both structured and free: structured formally and structured within the various components of its form, yet free to be interpreted in an individual manner by the performer.

The richness of implication that characterizes the graphic scores of the twentieth century makes them ideal for stimulating improvisation. Performers are forced to create something uniquely their own when faced with the absence of pre-explanation or shared common knowledge.

When an improviser looks at a score for the very first time or in a performance where only rapid reading, as opposed to extended scrutiny, is allowed, he or she must make sense of the information the score offers. This is a necessity in order to offer an interpretation. To do so, the improviser must make decisions about which types of information are most important and which others are less important. This decision-making process helps determine the structure and character of the improvisation. The decisions are shaped by the individual sensibility of the interpreter, the needs of the moment and the information provided by the composer. The results of this process will be different with each interpreter and from performance to performance by the same interpreter.

A composer can maintain control over improvisations by employing gestural or structural signifiers that the improviser will immediately be able to use. The composer can also offer varying levels of ambiguity to liberate the performer and stimulate the improvisational process. This paper discusses that exchange between composer and interpreter both in a general sense and in analyses of the pieces presented at the recital.