Mar
12
5:00 PM17:00
Filtering by: Ensemble
Nov
5
7:30 PM19:30
Oct
16
7:30 PM19:30
Brigham Young University
SPLICE Ensemble is a trumpet, piano, and percussion trio focused on cultivating a canon of electroacoustic chamber music. Called a “sonic food fight” by Jazz Weekly, SPLICE Ensemble works with composers and performers on performance practice techniques for collaboration and integrating electronics into a traditional performance space. Their concert will feature the world premiere of Motor Culture, a Barlow-Commissioned work by BYU faculty composer Steven Ricks. The concert will also feature Ansible by Caroline Louise Miller. SPLICE Ensemble’s commission of Ansible has been made possible by the Chamber Music America Classical Commissioning Program, with generous funding provided by The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.
Sep
11
8:00 PM20:00
Philly Fringe Fest: THE FLOODS (Night 2)
THE FLOODS is a massive video experience (96x20ft) in the Crane Icebox that immerses spectators in a kaleidoscopic journey in marshlands and industrial wastelands of the Anthropocene now being transformed by floods. It is created by artist/filmmaker Roderick Coover, composer Adam Vidiksis, and computation poet Nick Montfort.
In this special live concert spectacle, drummer Vidiksis leads an ensemble of internationally renowned musicians in an hour-long concert performance that responds in the moment to the ever-changing video images, electronic sound, and text generated by THE FLOODS. Vidiksis is joined by Archer Spade musicians Dan Blacksberg (trombone) and Nick Millevoi (electric guitar) and SPLICE Ensemble musicians Keith Kirchoff (keyboards, harmonium) and Sam Wells (trumpet). These virtuosic improvisers activate the unique acoustics of the massive Icebox space.
THE FLOODS addresses questions of land use, industrial contamination, and sea-level rise. Viewers travel along the marshlands and industrial wastelands of our local watershed and others worldwide that are shaped by industrialization. The sounds, images, and text flow like waters, following a computer-code-based system that gathers materials together in ever-changing experiences. The spectacle reveals forces of flow, floods, and chemical contamination.
Suitable for all ages, THE FLOODS stimulates the imagination to find ways to make sense of the environment and climate change, and the live orchestration transforms the cinematic experience. Viewers can make use of optional seating or move about the space, and Crane Arts is an accessible building.
Sep
10
8:00 PM20:00
Philly Fringe Fest: THE FLOODS (Night 1)
THE FLOODS is a massive video experience (96x20ft) in the Crane Icebox that immerses spectators in a kaleidoscopic journey in marshlands and industrial wastelands of the Anthropocene now being transformed by floods. It is created by artist/filmmaker Roderick Coover, composer Adam Vidiksis, and computation poet Nick Montfort.
In this special live concert spectacle, drummer Vidiksis leads an ensemble of internationally renowned musicians in an hour-long concert performance that responds in the moment to the ever-changing video images, electronic sound, and text generated by THE FLOODS. Vidiksis is joined by Archer Spade musicians Dan Blacksberg (trombone) and Nick Millevoi (electric guitar) and SPLICE Ensemble musicians Keith Kirchoff (keyboards, harmonium) and Sam Wells (trumpet). These virtuosic improvisers activate the unique acoustics of the massive Icebox space.
THE FLOODS addresses questions of land use, industrial contamination, and sea-level rise. Viewers travel along the marshlands and industrial wastelands of our local watershed and others worldwide that are shaped by industrialization. The sounds, images, and text flow like waters, following a computer-code-based system that gathers materials together in ever-changing experiences. The spectacle reveals forces of flow, floods, and chemical contamination.
Suitable for all ages, THE FLOODS stimulates the imagination to find ways to make sense of the environment and climate change, and the live orchestration transforms the cinematic experience. Viewers can make use of optional seating or move about the space, and Crane Arts is an accessible building.
Jun
25
7:00 PM19:00
Concert 3: Four Winds - Sam Wells, trumpet
SPLICE Institute will present the online video world premiere of Four Winds, performed and composed by Sam Wells. A concert length work for improvising trumpeter and interactive audiovisual electronics, Four Winds is a narrative exploration of spaces, internal and external, defined by air and breath. The visual imagery is derived from time-lapse photos and videos taken in June 2020 by Wells in the Gothic Valley of Gunnison County, CO.
Jun
23
7:00 PM19:00
Concert 2: part<->link<->bond – Adam Vidiksis, percussion
Adam Vidiksis presents part<->link<->bond
Music for percussion and electronics with friends
Featuring music performed live and remotely by Vidiksis and special guests:
Stephanie Lamprea, soprano; Taylor Brook, electronics; Scott L. Miller, electronics; Sam Wells, trumpet; Joo Won Park, electronics; and Rajeev Maddela (a.k.a Currency), electronic drum kit
Program:
Excerpt from The Altering Shores
Video and percussion with real-time processing
Music by Adam Vidiksis
Video & Direction by Rod Coover
Poetry by Nick Montfort
Interweaving sound, language and image, The Altering Shores is a video performance with live music. Set in the marshlands and industrial wastelands of our local Delaware River watershed and others worldwide, the experience presents a kaleidoscope of climate futures through fragmented language and multi-layered sounds and images.
Improvisation with Stephanie Lamprea, soprano
AI-Generated Electronics (“Scuffed Computer Improviser”) by Taylor Brook
Long – Short
By Scott L. Miller
Performed by
Sam Wells, trumpet
Adam Vidiksis, drum set
Scott L. Miller, electronics
Improvisation with Joo Won Park, electronics
Circadia & Currency
Improvisation with Raj Maddela (a.k.a Currency), electronic drum kit
Adam Vidiksis (a.k.a Circadia), electronics
Bios:
Adam Vidiksis is a composer, conductor, percussionist, improviser, and technologist based in Philadelphia whose music often explores social structures, science, and the intersection of humankind with the machines we build. Critics have called his music “mesmerizing”, “dramatic”, “striking” (Philadelphia Weekly), “notable”, “catchy” (WQHS), “magical” (Local Arts Live), and “special” (Percussive Notes), and have noted that Vidiksis provides “an electronically produced frame giving each sound such a deep-colored radiance you could miss the piece's shape for being caught up in each moment” (Philadelphia Inquirer). His work is frequently commissioned and performed throughout North America, Europe, and Asia in recitals, festivals, and major academic conferences. Vidiksis’s music has won numerous awards and grants, including recognition from the Society of Composers, Incorporated, the American Composers Forum, New Music USA, National Endowment for the Arts, Chamber Music America, and ASCAP. His works are available through HoneyRock Publishing, EMPiRE, New Focus, PARMA, and SEAMUS Records. Vidiksis recently served as composer in residence for the Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia and was selected by the NEA and Japan-US Friendship Commission to serve as Director of Arts Technology for a performance of a new work by Gene Coleman during the 2020 Olympics in Japan. Vidiksis is Assistant Professor of music technology at Temple University, President and founding member of SPLICE Music, which includes the annual Institute, Academy, and Festival, a Resident Artist at the Renegade Theater company, and a founding member of the Impermanent Society of Philadelphia, a group dedicated to promoting improvisation in the performing arts. He performs in SPLICE Ensemble and the Transonic Orchestra, conducts Ensemble N_JP, and directs the Temple Composers Orchestra and the Boyer College Electroacoustic Ensemble Project (BEEP). He produces real-time generative improvised electronic music (Circadia) alongside his longtime friend and collaborator Rajeev Maddela (Currency). [www.vidiksis.com]
Roderick Coover is an internationally-recognized artist, whose practice spans documentary film and ethnographic visual research, interactive and emergent cinema, virtual reality and digital narrative and poetry. Coover's most recent work investigates both imagined and actual implications of climate change, and explores how places are perceived, encountered and consumed.
Coover is a professor of Film and Media Arts at Temple University, where he is also a founding Director of the Graduate Certificate Program in Documentary Arts and Ethnographic Practice. His work is internationally exhibited in art venues and public spaces such as the Venice Biennale, The Nobel Peace Prize Forum, Bibliotheque Nationale de France, and Documenta Madrid and he has received Fulbright, Mellon, Whiting, Spire and LEF awards, as well as recognition from the Electronic Literature Organization and the SEA(s) Arts International Art Exhibition, among others.
Nick Montfort‘s computer-generated books of poetry include #!, Autopia, The Truelist, and Hard West Turn. He has collaborated on digital projects The Deletionist, Sea and Spar Between, and Renderings. He performs and exhibits his work internationally, in contexts ranging from the demoscene and livecoding concerts to art galleries and poetry readings. Six of his books, collaborative and individual, have been published by the MIT Press, most recently The Future. He is professor of digital media at MIT, where he directs The Trope Tank. He is also Professor II at the University of Bergen and a teacher at the School for Poetic Computation. Montfort lives in New York City.
Photo credit: Luke Marantz
Colombian-American soprano Stephanie Lamprea is an architect of new sounds and expressions as a performer, recitalist, curator and improviser, specializing in contemporary classical repertoire. Trained as an operatic coloratura, Stephanie uses her voice as a mechanism of avant-garde performance art, creating “maniacal shifts of vocal production and character… like an icepick through the skull” (composer Jason Eckardt). Her work has been described as “mercurial” by I Care If You Listen, and she “sings so expressively and slowly with ever louder and higher-pitched voice, that the inclined listener [has] shivers down their back and tension flows into the last row." (Halberstadt.de) She has received awards from St. Botolph Club Foundation, John Cage Orgel Stiftung and Puffin Foundation. Stephanie was a featured TEDx Speaker in TEDxWaltham: Going Places.
Stephanie devours mammoth works of virtuosity and extended techniques with ease and creative insight, singing with an entire spectrum of vocal colors (including operatic style, straight tone, sputters and throat noises). She has performed as a soloist at Roulette, National Sawdust, Shapeshifter Lab, Miller Theater at Columbia University, the Slipper Room, Park Avenue Armory, Museum of Fine Arts (Boston), the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, and the Re:Sound Festival. She has worked with Wavefield Ensemble, Ekmeles, Guerrilla Opera, Boston Art Song Society, Verdant Vibes and the Original Gravity Concert Series. In 2020-21, Stephanie will collaborate with the New Gallery Concert Series (Boston), perform as Artist-In-Residence at University of California - Davis, perform in residency at Mana Contemporary, and present a solo recital at Roulette.
Photo credit: David Bird
Taylor Brook is a Canadian composer who has been based in New York since 2011. Brook writes music for the concert stage, electronic music, music for robotic instruments, as well as music for video, theatre, and dance.
Described as “gripping” and “engrossing” by the New York Times, Brook’s compositions have been performed around the world by ensembles and soloists such as the Ensemble Ascolta, JACK Quartet, Mivos Quartet, Nouvel Ensemble Moderne, Quatuor Bozzini, Talea Ensemble, and others. He has won numerous SOCAN Young Composers awards, including two first-place prizes and the grand prize in 2016 for Song, for solo cello.
Brook studied composition with Brian Cherney in Montreal, with Luc Brewaeys in Brussels, and with George Lewis and Georg Haas in New York. In 2008, he studied Hindustani music and performance with Debashish Bhattacharya in Kolkata. His music is often concerned with finely tuned microtonal sonorities, combining his interest in exploring the perceptual qualities of sound with a unique sense of beauty and form. Current projects include a new work for bassoon and electronics for Dana Jesson and a concert-length new work for TAK Ensemble.
In 2018 Brook completed a Doctor of Musical Arts (DMA) in music composition at Columbia University with Fred Lerdahl. He holds a master’s degree in music composition from McGill University. Currently Brook is a Core Lecturer at Columbia University. He is also the technical director of TAK Ensemble.
Scott L. Miller is an American composer described as ‘a true force on the avant-ambient scene’ of ‘high adventure avant garde music of the best sort’ (Classical-Modern Music Review). Best known for his electroacoustic chamber music and ecosystemic performance pieces, his music is characterized by collaborative approaches to composition and the use of electronics, exploring performer/computer improvisation and re-imagining ancient compositional processes through the lens of 21st century technology. Inspired by the inner-workings of sound and the microscopic in the natural and mechanical worlds, his music is the product of hands-on experimentation and collaboration with musicians and performers from across the spectrum of styles. His recent work experiments with VR applications in live concerts, first realized in his composition Raba, created for Tallinn-based Ensemble U:.
Three time McKnight Composer Fellow, his work is frequently performed by soloists, ensembles, and at festivals throughout North America and Europe. Recordings of his music are available on New Focus Recordings, Innova, and other labels, many featuring his long-time collaborators, the new music ensemble Zeitgeist (and whose albums he produces). His music is published by the American Composers Alliance, Tetractys, and Jeanné. Raba (NFR198) is his most recent album, a collection of audio-visual music drawn from collaborations with six film and video artists. Miller is a Professor of Music at St. Cloud State University, Minnesota, where he teaches composition, electroacoustic music and theory. He is Past-President (2014—18) of the Society for Electro-Acoustic Music in the U.S. (SEAMUS) and presently Director of SEAMUS Records.
Photo credit: Jane Kozhevnikova
Sam Wells is a trumpeter, composer, improvisor, and technologist based in Los Angeles. As an advocate for new and exciting music, he actively commissions and performs contemporary works.
Sam has performed throughout North America and Europe, as well as in China. He is a recipient of a 2016 Jerome Fund for New Music award, and his work, stringstrung, is the winner of the 2016 Miami International Guitar Festival Composition Competition. He has performed electroacoustic works for trumpet and presented his own music at the Bang on a Can Summer Festival, Chosen Vale International Trumpet Seminar, Electronic Music Midwest, Electroacoustic Barn Dance, NYCEMF, N_SEME, and SEAMUS festivals. Sam and his music have also been featured by the Kansas City Electronic Music and Arts Alliance (KcEMA) and Fulcrum Point Discoveries. He has also been a guest artist/composer at universities throughout North America.
Sam is a member of Arcus Collective, Kludge, and SPLICE Ensemble. Sam has performed with Contemporaneous, Metropolis Ensemble, TILT Brass, the Lucerne Festival Academy Orchestra, and the Colorado MahlerFest Orchestra. Sam has recorded on the SEAMUS and Ravello Recordings labels.
Sam is currently enrolled in the Performer-Composer DMA program at the California Institute of the Arts. He has degrees in both performance and composition at the University of Missouri-Kansas City, and graduate degrees in Trumpet Performance and Computer Music Composition at Indiana University. He is on faculty at SPLICE Institute, Molloy College, and the California Institute of the Arts.
Joo Won Park (b.1980) wants to make everyday sound beautiful and strange so that everyday becomes beautiful and strange. He performs live with toys, consumer electronics, kitchenware, vegetables, and other non-musical objects by digitally processing their sounds. He also makes pieces with field recordings, sine waves, and any other sources that he can record or synthesize. Joo Won draws inspirations from Florida swamps, Philadelphia skyscrapers, his two sons, and other soundscapes surrounding him. He has studied at Berklee College of Music and the University of Florida and currently serves as an Assistant Professor of Music Technology at Wayne State University. Joo Won’s music and writings are available on ICMC DVD, Spectrum Press, MIT Press, PARMA, Visceral Media, MCSD, SEAMUS CD Series, and No Remixes labels.
Rajeev Maddela is a drum set artist, electronic music composer, computer programmer, and rudimental percussion instructor based in Brooklyn, NY. Maddela specializes in applying the unique rhythmic phrasing found in bass-forward electronic music (e.g. golden era jungle, drum and bass, UK garage, dubstep, and house). He has performed with Karsh Kale, Anoushka Shankar, Tim Lefebvre, Jonathan Maron, Max ZT, Chris Buono, and many others from the world and live electronic music scenes.
Under the name Maddela, he has released a host of singles and albums on labels such as Noisy Meditation (BM), High Chai Recordings (NY), and Reminiscence Audio (Serbia). His production work spans the genres of experimental drum and bass, future bass, and UK garage, with a focus on live performance elements and wide sonic palettes.
Maddela holds a degree in computer science from New York University. His career as a computer programmer spans nearly two decades, with expertise in enterprise level billing solutions, performance optimization, and generic design patterns. He is a dedicated music pedagogue, serving as an instructor at Msgr. Farrell High School’s award winning Marching Percussion program since 1998. He continues in this role, specializing in developing students’ technique, expression, and clarity.
IG: @currencyaudio
Jun
22
7:00 PM19:00
Concert 1: Emergence - Keith Kirchoff, piano
Program
Scott L. Miller : Katabasis #2 (arr. Keith Kirchoff)
special thanks to Alex Christie for supplying the lighting materials
Sam Wells : Leander's Swim
Charcoal scroll-theater by Sally B. Moore
John Luther Adams : Red Arc/Blue Veil
with Matt Sharrock, percussion
Chen-Hui Jen : onto the silent peaks
Notes
Scott L. Miller : Katabasis #2"Katabasis," an ancient Greek word meaning a descent, has been used throughout mythology to refer to descending to the underworld. Miller's original composition is for four unspecified instruments. For this performance, I am playing the work with two EBows and two transducers placed directly on the piano strings. I begin my arrangement with 8:46 minutes of silence in honor of George Floyd, and I have added a lighting component that gives a visual representation of the sounds' emergence. Special thanks to Alex Christie who supplied the lighting system. (Notes by Keith Kirchoff) back to program
Sam Wells : Leander's Swim
Leander’s Swim, for piano and live electronics, is inspired by Cy Twombly’s 1984 painting Hero and Leandro (A Painting in Four Parts), Part I. The Greek myth of Hero and Leander recounts the story of two lovers: a priestess of Aphrodite named Hero, and a young man named Leander. Nightly, Leander would swim across the Hellespont to be with Hero, whose lantern would safely guide his way. One night, Leander attempted the passage in a storm. The strong winds extinguished Hero’s light, and Leander perished at sea. Upon discovering Leander’s body, Hero jumped to her death to be with Leander. (Notes by Sam Wells)
Additional Notes: Continuing the theme of Greek mythology, I wanted this piece to further emerge out of darkness, and charcoal felt like the best medium with which to do so. Wells's piece is full of imagery that reminded me of Sally Moore's artwork, and she graciously agreed to draw the accompanying charcoal scroll theater. Furthermore, I wanted the first two pieces to flow right into each other, but I was limited by the need to un-prepare the piano after the first piece. With silence very much a theme of this program, I chose to open with silent scrolling visuals, affording me time to ready the instrument. (Notes by Keith Kirchoff) back to program
Evan Williams : Pralaya
“Pralaya” is a Hindu term meaning a period of dissolution or melting away. Although sometimes understood as “the end of the world,” pralaya actually describes one phase of the repeating cycles of life and destruction. Through music and video, Pralaya explores the destruction of life by humans. The work is divided into four continuous movements:
I. Introduction – “Now I am Become Death”
In a 1965 interview about the creation and use of the atomic bomb, a clearly-emotional Dr. J. Robert Oppenheimer reflects on his thoughts following a successful test in 1945. He quotes Vishnu saying, “ ‘Now I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds.’ I suppose we all thought that, one way or another.”
Footage of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima is seen alongside this interview.
II. Naimittika – Destruction
Scenes of human destruction — warfare, violence, and pollution — are accompanied by a violent melody based on the Hindustani Todi raga.
III. Passacaglia for the Dissolution of All Things
The aftermaths of various destructions, including Hiroshima and the Gulf of Mexico, are accompanied by a mournful passacaglia.
IV. Hymn to the World Without End
A hopeful chaconne (based on the opening bars of Gustav Mahler’s “Urlicht” [“Primal Light”]) accompanies beautiful scenes of nature and the aurora borealis. While this movement expresses hope for the Earth, it is a reflection on a quote by celebrated astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson, who said of climate change “Earth will survive this. People say ‘Save the earth.’ No, don’t worry about earth. Earth will be here long after we render ourselves extinct.”
Pralaya employs stock video footage, along with archival and news videos and images used under fair use. The work also employs audio from freesound.org (attribution: xserra) (Notes by Evan Williams)
Additional Notes: Pralaya marks the turning point of the program: beginning in darkness, we gradually begin to emerge into the light. (Notes by Keith Kirchoff) back to program
John Luther Adams : Red Arc/Blue Veil
Red Arc/Blue Veil was the first of my “color field” pieces, exploring the geometry of what Kandinsky called “those inner sounds that are the life of the colors”. (John Luther Adams)
Additional Notes: Though this work is not explicitly about the Alaskan wilderness, so much of Adams's music is centered on the earth, nature, and climate justice. Red Arc/Blue Veil has always felt like a mountain to me, rising from the depths to the highest peaks, and back down to earth. This felt immediately relevant to the final imagery of Pralaya (a mountain image which I use as a backdrop for the Adams), and perfectly bridges to the final piece, which similarly focuses on the rise and fall of peaks. (Notes by Keith Kirchoff) back to program
Chen-Hui Jen : onto the silent peaks
This is the newest piece on the program; Jen only just posted a recording of her performance of this piece on Soundcloud in April, calling it a "Quarantine Demo." The work was immediately impactful to me, as it seemed to speak to the uniqueness of that moment, as we were all bound to our homes, yearning to emerge. (And, as in evidenced by our online experience at SPLICE Institute this summer, to a large extent remain bound!) The piece has a meditative quality and a repetitive nature that in some ways reminded me of the monotony of quarantine. Yet there is tremendous variety and shape to every gesture, with immense subtlety in every sound. The work asks us to hear, to focus, and to listen deeply. And unlike the Adams before, by this work's end, we have collectively reached the summit, changed, the shadows left behind. (Notes by Keith Kirchoff) back to program
Bios
Pianist and composer Keith Kirchoff has performed throughout North America, Europe, and the Pacific Southwest. A strong advocate for modern music, Kirchoff is committed to fostering new audiences for contemporary music and giving a voice to emerging composers, and to that end has premiered over 100 new works and commissioned over two dozen compositions. Specializing in works which combine interactive electro-acoustics with solo piano, Kirchoff's Electroacoustic Piano Tour has been presented in ten countries, and has spawned three solo albums. Kirchoff is a co-founder and a director of SPLICE, and the founder and Artistic Director of Original Gravity Inc. Kirchoff has won awards from the Steinway Society, MetLife Meet the Composer, the Foundation for Contemporary Arts, and was named the 2011 Distinguished Scholar by the Seabee Memorial Scholarship Association. He has recorded on the New World, Kairos, New Focus, Tantara, Ravello, Thinking outLOUD, Zerx, and SEAMUS labels.Follow Kirchoff on Twitter (@keithkirchoff) and Instagram (@8e8keys), and learn more at his website: keithkirchoff.com back to program
A composer described as “a true force on the avant-ambient scene” of ”high adventure avant garde music of the best sort” (Classical-Modern Music Review), Scott Miller is best known for his electroacoustic chamber music and ecosystemic performance pieces. His music is characterized by collaborative approaches to composition and the use of electronics, exploring performer/computer improvisation, and re-imagining ancient compositional processes through the lens of 21st century technology. Inspired by the inner workings of sound and the microscopic in the natural and mechanical worlds, his music is the product of hands-on experimentation and collaboration with musicians and performers from across the spectrum of styles. His recent work experiments with virtual reality applications in live concerts, first realized in his composition Raba, created for Tallinn-based Ensemble U:. Three time McKnight Composer Fellow, his work is frequently performed by soloists, ensembles, and at festivals throughout North America and Europe. Recordings of his music are available on New Focus Recordings, Innova, and other labels, many featuring his long-time collaborators, the new music ensemble Zeitgeist (whose albums he produces). His music is published by the American Composers Alliance, Tetractys, and Jeanné. Raba (NFR198) is his most recent album, a collection of audio-visual music drawn from collaborations with six film and video artists. Miller is a Professor of Music at St. Cloud State University, Minnesota, where he teaches composition, electroacoustic music, and theory. He is Past-President (2014-18) of the Society for Electro-Acoustic Music in the U.S. (SEAMUS) and presently Director of SEAMUS Records. back to program
Sam Wells is a trumpeter, composer, improvisor, and technologist based in Los Angeles. As an advocate for new and exciting music, he actively commissions and performs contemporary works. Sam has performed throughout North America and Europe, as well as in China. He is a recipient of a 2016 Jerome Fund for New Music award. He has performed electroacoustic works for trumpet and presented his own music at the Bang on a Can Summer Festival, Chosen Vale International Trumpet Seminar, Electronic Music Midwest, Electroacoustic Barn Dance, NYCEMF, N_SEME, and SEAMUS festivals. Sam is a member of Arcus Collective, Kludge, and SPLICE Ensemble. Sam has recorded on the SEAMUS and Ravello Recordings labels. Sam is on faculty at SPLICE Institute, Molloy College, and the California Institute of the Arts. back to program
The music of Evan Williams has been performed across the country and internationally by members of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, the Seattle Symphony Orchestra, the International Contemporary Ensemble, Quince Ensemble, Fifth House Ensemble, and at festivals such as SEAMUS, the New Music Gathering, the Electroacoustic Barn Dance, and the New York City Electronic Music Festival. He has been commissioned by notable performers and ensembles including the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra and the Urban Playground Chamber Orchestra. His work can be found on recordings by The Namaste Ensemble’s “No Borders Quartet” and Levels. Williams has received a number of awards and honors, including serving as the Detroit Symphony Orchestra’s inaugural Classical Roots Composer-in-Residence in 2018. Williams holds a DMA in Composition with a cognate in Orchestral Conducting from the College-Conservatory of Music at the University of Cincinnati, where he also served as a teaching assistant in electronic music. He also holds degrees from Bowling Green State University and Lawrence University. Williams serves as Assistant Professor of Music and Director of Instrumental Activities at Rhodes College, where he teaches composition, music technology, and leads the Rhodes Orchestra. He previously held teaching positions at Lawrence University, Bennington College, and at the Walden School. back to program
For John Luther Adams, music is a lifelong search for home—an invitation to slow down, pay attention, and remember our place within the larger community of life on earth. Living for almost 40 years in northern Alaska, JLA discovered a unique musical world grounded in space, stillness, and elemental forces. In the 1970s and into the ’80s, he worked full time as an environmental activist. But the time came when he felt compelled to dedicate himself entirely to music. He made this choice with the belief that, ultimately, music can do more than politics to change the world. Since that time, he has become one of the most widely admired composers in the world, receiving the Pulitzer Prize, a Grammy Award, and many other honors. A deep concern for the state of the earth and the future of humanity drives Adams to continue composing. As he puts it: “If we can imagine a culture and a society in which we each feel more deeply responsible for our own place in the world, then we just may be able to bring that culture and that society into being.” back to program
Chen-Hui Jen is a composer, poet, and pianist, whose music presents an imaginative, spiritual, and poetic space with subtlety and sophistication. She writes music for orchestra, chorus, and chamber music for western and Asian instruments, with and without electronics. Chen-Hui Jen’s music reflects an angle of contemporary art music that integrates time, sound, color, and poetry. She earned a Ph.D. degree in music at the University of California, San Diego, and currently serves part time at the Florida International University as an instructor and as the pianist in the NODUS New Music Ensemble. Chen-Hui Jen’s musical works have been performed at multiple prestigious new music festivals and concerts, including the ISCM World Music Days, SEAMUS, ICMC, Acanthes Music Festival, ACL Music Festival, EarShot San Diego, ISCM New Music Miami Season, People Inside Electronics series, Taipei International New Music Festival, WOCMAT, and Taiwan Contemporary Sizhu Music Festival. She has also received commissions by multiple ensembles including the League of American Orchestras Women Composers’ Reading and Commission Project, Ensemble 20° dans le Noir, Aurora Borealis Duo, Accordant Commons, Astralis Duo, The Living Earth Show, Palimpsest Ensemble, Ensemble ISCM-Taiwan, Little Giant Chinese Chamber Orchestra, Taipei Chamber Singers, Müller Chamber Choir, Ching-Yun Chorus, and Kaohsiung Chamber Choir, as well as multiple grants from the Taipei Department of Cultural Affairs, and the Taiwan National and Arts Foundation. back to program
Jun
27
7:30 PM19:30
Chamber 2 – SPLICE Ensemble
SPLICE Ensemble (Keith Kirchoff, piano; Adam Vidiksis, percussion; Sam Wells, trumpet) give the world premiere of Ansible by Caroline Louise Miller. This commission has been made possible by the Chamber Music America Classical Commissioning Program, with generous funding provided by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. Also playing works by Christopher Biggs, Flannery Cunningham, and Robert Seaback.
Jun
23
to Jun 29
Jun
21
to Jun 26
Apr
13
8:00 PM20:00
Apr
4
5:00 PM17:00
Jun
29
7:30 PM19:30
SPLICE Ensemble
Featuring works by Alex Christie, Elise Roy, John Cage, SPLICE Ensemble, Valeria Jonard, and Igor C. Silva
Jun
27
7:30 PM19:30
Sam Pluta – Composer & Electronics
Featuring performances by the Sam Pluta, SPLICE Ensemble, Drew Whiting, Negar Afazel, Jonathan Gardner, Dana Jessen, and Keith Kirchoff
Mar
15
to Mar 17
Jan
25
to Jan 27
Sep
24
4:00 PM16:00
SPLICE Ensemble at Strange Beautiful Music 10
The biggest festival of contemporary music in the Midwest enters its double digit years! New Music Detroit expands their music marathon to three action-packed days of experimentation and sound exploration. Weekend and Day General/VIP passes on sale at dso.org or 313.576.5111 (DSO Box Office)
***
VENUES/TICKETS
_______________________________
DAY 1 - Friday Sept 22, 5pm-11pm
Trinosophes
Day/weekend tickets: https://goo.gl/QQTEz8
DAY 2 - Saturday Sept 23, 2pm-11pm
Detroit Symphony Orchestra CUBE
Day/weekend tickets: https://goo.gl/g6C9YE
DAY 3 - Sunday Sept 24, 2pm-10pm
Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit - MOCAD
Day/weekend tickets: https://goo.gl/LKDwFG
Sep
21
to Sep 23
Sep
20
7:00 PM19:00