Zack Browning    SECRET PULSE Innova 817       1. Hakka Fusion (2009)                  10:46               Ensemble Unity             Chih-Hsien Chien, flute             Hsin-Yi Wei, viola             I-An Chen, piano       2. Secret Pulse (2004)                      8:41               Cadillac Moon Ensemble             Roberta Michel, flute             Patti Kilroy, violin             Michael Midlarsky, cello             Sean Statser, percussion       3. String Quartet (2008)                 15:21                                       JACK Quartet             Christopher Otto & Ari Streisfeld, violins             John Pickford Richards, viola             Kevin McFarland, cello       4. Flying Tones (2010)                    10:23                  University of Central Florida             Percussion Ensemble             Thad Anderson (director),             Kaylee Bonatakis, Josh Brink,             Matt Roberts & Ben Yancey       5.    Moon Thrust (2009)                  16:42                                     Cadillac Moon Ensemble   THE COMPOSITIONS   Magic squares provide structure to the music.  Structure provides direction to the composer.   Direction provides restrictions for the focused inspiration and interpretation of musical materials.  The effect of this process? Freedom to compose.   The compositions on this CD use the 5x5 Magic Square of Mars (Secret Pulse), the 9x9 Magic Square of the Moon (Moon Thrust), and the ancient Chinese 3x3 Lo Shu Square found in the Flying Star System of Feng Shui (Hakka Fusion, String Quartet, Flying Tones, and Moon Thrust) as compositional models.  The musical structure created from these magic squares is dramatically articulated by the collision of different musical worlds (for example, the Hakka folksong “Cutting Flowers” in Hakka Fusion; the University of Central Florida Alma Mater in Flying Tones: and Van Morrison’s “Moondance” in Moon Thrust).      THE COMPOSER   Zack Browning is a composer whose music has been described as “way-cool in attitude…speed-demon music” (The Atlanta Journal-Constitution) and “propulsive, giddy, rocking… a rush of cyclic riffs and fractured meters” (The New York Times). The Irish Times has proclaimed he is “bringing together the procedures of high musical art with the taste of popular culture."   His solo CD, Banjaxed on Capstone Records, contains eight of his original compositions for voice, instruments and computer-generated sounds, and has been called “dramatic, exciting, rhythmic, high-energy music."  Browning’s recent composition awards include a 2011 Individual Artist Project Grant from the Illinois Arts Council and a 2010 University of Illinois FAA Creative Fellowship for research and performances in China, Taiwan, and South Korea.    In 2010 Innova Recordings released his solo CD Venus Notorious which the San Francisco Chronicle called “ebullient, infectiously bright” and “bouncy and exuberant - some of the music sounds like dance tracks for androids with varying numbers of feet."    More information is available at www.zackbrowning.com   Hakka Fusion and String Quartet recorded at the University of Illinois on September 4 and November 18, 2009.   Recording Engineer: Rex Anderson Editing/Mixing: Graham Duncan     Secret Pulse and Moon Thrust recorded at New York University's James L. Dolan Studios on February 9 and March 9, 2011.   Recording Engineer: Paul Geluso Editing/Mixing: Sean Statser     Flying Tones recorded at the University of Central Florida Performing Arts Center on December 13, 2010.   Recording Engineer: Thad Anderson     Final CD Editing, Mixing and Mastering: Graham Duncan     Booklet Design: Vincent Calianno Score preparation: David Bohn   Photos Credits: Christopher McCoy (Cadillac Moon Ensemble), Jung-Ren Huang (Ensemble Unity), Stephen Poff (JACK Quartet), Debbie Anderson (UCF Percussion Ensemble), Kyle Browning (Zack Browning).     This CD is partially funded by a grant from the Illinois Arts Council, a state agency.   Innova Director: Philip Blackburn Operations Manager: Chris Campbell Innova is supported by an endowment from the McKnight Foundation.   www.innova.mu