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Nineteen Thirteen Creates a Modern Symphony with Looping Technology

Doug Seymour
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Nineteen Thirteen
Janet Schiff (with her cello made in 1913) and Victor DeLorenzo

Victor DeLorenzo is well known throughout Milwaukee as the drummer and one of the founding members of the Violent Femmes, but he is exploring other kinds of music now.

DeLorenzo and Milwaukee cellist and composer Janet Schiff are part of a band called Nineteen Thirteen. There is a third member, another drummer called Nez, but the duo – cello and percussion – forms the nucleus of the band.

Credit Doug Seymour / Nineteen Thirteen
/
Nineteen Thirteen
Janet Schiff (cello), Victor DeLorenzo (percussion), and Nez (percussion) of the band Nineteen Thirteen

Janet Schiff uses modern looping technology with her cello to create mutli-layered electronic symphony framed by percussion.

Nineteen Thirteen plays Sunday at 5 p.m.on the Cathedral Square Stage for Bastille Days, but first came to the Lake Effect studio to discuss the creation of their band and the unique music that is rarely composed on paper:

The original recording of Janet Schiff’s grandmother playing Summertime:

organ_summertime.mp3
"Summertime" played on the organ by Janet Schiff's grandmother Marguerite.

Bonnie North
Bonnie joined WUWM in March 2006 as the Arts Producer of the locally produced weekday magazine program Lake Effect.