Small Works
Brooks Frederickson
|
Small Works is the first album by composer Brooks Frederickson. It features some of today's leading contemporary music interpreters, including: Ashley Bathgate (Bang on a Can All Stars), Eliza Bagg (Pavo Pavo), all three members of Bearthoven (Matt Evans, Karl Larson, Pat Swoboda), Exceptet, Longleash, and Brendon Randall-Myers (Invisible Anatomy / Marateck). The album includes premiere recordings of four of Brooks' chamber works written between 2014-2017. This group of pieces, some of which have been presented by MATA, premiered at Le Poisson Rouge and presented as a part of So Percussion's Brooklyn Bound series, show Brooks' interest in building musical worlds out of limited materials. The works were recorded at Oktaven Audio by Ryan Streeber and Guilford Sound by Dave Snyder. At their current state, the recordings have been edited and mixed and will be mastered by Ryan Streeber at Oktaven Audio in the Summer/Fall of 2017. Artwork and design for the album is being handled by NYC based artist Katrina Neuman. Katrina is basing the design off her work "Berlin" which Brooks first saw at a party at Katrina's apartment in 2014. Brooks was drawn to Katrina's obsession with small amounts of material and ideas of proportion and size. The album will be finalized and ready for distribution in the Spring of 2018. Small Works was funded largely through a Kickstarter campaign Brooks ran in the Summer of 2016. Aiming to raise $10,000, Brooks overshot and raised over $12,000. The donations include 200+ preorders of the album in either digital or physical form. |
|
Preview Album Artwork
Track order and personnel:
1. Lag
Exceptet: Chuck Furlong clarinet, David A. Nagy bassoon, Evan Honse trumpet, Matt Melore trombone, Mark Utley percussion, Sarah Goldfeather violin, Pat Swoboda upright bass
Song Cycle:
2: Here we are
3: Jaws will shut
4: I’m sitting in the corner
5: Dream (Christmas Tree)
6: I stood outside
Texts by Ben Seretan
Eliza Bagg soprano, Karl Larson piano, Brendon Randall-Myers electric guitar, Ashley Bathgate cello
7. Colorfast
Longleash: Pala Garcia violin, John Popham cello, Renate Rohlfing digital keyboard controlling Dan Trueman’s bitKlavier
8. My life in a truck
Brendon Randall-Myers electric guitar, Matt Evans percussion
1. Lag
Exceptet: Chuck Furlong clarinet, David A. Nagy bassoon, Evan Honse trumpet, Matt Melore trombone, Mark Utley percussion, Sarah Goldfeather violin, Pat Swoboda upright bass
Song Cycle:
2: Here we are
3: Jaws will shut
4: I’m sitting in the corner
5: Dream (Christmas Tree)
6: I stood outside
Texts by Ben Seretan
Eliza Bagg soprano, Karl Larson piano, Brendon Randall-Myers electric guitar, Ashley Bathgate cello
7. Colorfast
Longleash: Pala Garcia violin, John Popham cello, Renate Rohlfing digital keyboard controlling Dan Trueman’s bitKlavier
8. My life in a truck
Brendon Randall-Myers electric guitar, Matt Evans percussion
Artist Bios:
Brooks Frederickson
Composer Brooks Frederickson writes patient music that is grounded in long lines of slowly evolving textures with understated rhythmic drive. As an active participant in Brooklyn's vibrant contemporary music scene, he has worked with leading new music ensembles Sō Percussion, JACK Quartet, Bearthoven, Ensemble mise-en and with performers such as Vicky Chow, Nathan Schram, and Grace Fong. His music has been present as part of the Bang On A Can Marathon (2014), and the Contagious Sounds and Columbus // New York Exchange series. Interested in the interaction of movement and sound, he has also collaborated with the Spark Movement Collective and choreographer Annette Herwander. This season includes the premiere of Song Cycle performed by Eliza Bagg, Ashley Bathgate, Karl Larson, and Brendon Randall-Myers
Upcoming recording projects include a his "steroidally hard-driving, rock-influenced" (NY Times) piece Undertoad on Cantaloupe Records coming out in Spring 2017, as well as his first solo album Small Worksthat will be released in fall of the same year. Brooks' music can also be heard on Consortium5's recording "Tangled Pipes" out on the Nonclassical record label.
As an advocate for education and community, Brooks is on the faculty at the Special Music School where he teaches both theory and composition. In addition, he facilitates the annual Composer-Performer Speed Dating session at the New Music Gathering.
Brooks has had the opportunity to work with many excellent teachers and composers including: Michael Gordon, Julia Wolfe, Justin Dello Joio, Michael Schelle, Frank Felice, James Aikman, and Alison Kay. Brooks holds degrees in composition from from Butler University (BM), and NYU Steinhardt (MM).
Upcoming recording projects include a his "steroidally hard-driving, rock-influenced" (NY Times) piece Undertoad on Cantaloupe Records coming out in Spring 2017, as well as his first solo album Small Worksthat will be released in fall of the same year. Brooks' music can also be heard on Consortium5's recording "Tangled Pipes" out on the Nonclassical record label.
As an advocate for education and community, Brooks is on the faculty at the Special Music School where he teaches both theory and composition. In addition, he facilitates the annual Composer-Performer Speed Dating session at the New Music Gathering.
Brooks has had the opportunity to work with many excellent teachers and composers including: Michael Gordon, Julia Wolfe, Justin Dello Joio, Michael Schelle, Frank Felice, James Aikman, and Alison Kay. Brooks holds degrees in composition from from Butler University (BM), and NYU Steinhardt (MM).
Ashley Bathgate
American cellist Ashley Bathgate has been described as an “eloquent new music interpreter”(New York Times) and “a glorious cellist”(The Washington Post) who combines “bittersweet lyricism along with ferocious chops”(New York Magazine). Her “impish ferocity”, “rich tone” and “imaginative phrasing” (New York Times) have made her one of the most sought after performers of her time. The desire to create a dynamic energy exchange with her audience and build upon the ensuing chemistry is a pillar of Bathgate’s philosophy as a performer. Her affinity to dynamism drives Bathgate to venture into previously uncharted areas of ground-breaking sounds and techniques, breaking the mold of a cello’s traditionally perceived voice. Collaborators and fans alike describe her vitality as nothing short of remarkable and magical for all who are involved. Bathgate is a member of the award winning, internationally acclaimed sextet, Bang on a Can All-Stars, the chamber music group HOWL and is also a founding member of TwoSense, a duo with pianist Lisa Moore, and Bonjour, a low-strung, percussive quintet with fellow new music mavens Florent Ghys, James Moore, Eleonore Oppenheim and Owen Weaver.
In 2014 Bathgate premiered a new Cello Concerto by Australian composer Kate Moore with the ASKO|Schönberg ensemble at the Gaudeamus Festival in Utrecht, NL. She subsequently recorded an album of Moore’s solo cello works was released in May 2016 on Cantaloupe Music. In 2015 she also gave the world premiere of What Moves You, a collaborative performance project with jookin’ dance sensation Lil Buck at the Spoleto Festival USA in Charleston, NC. Most recently, Bathgate commissioned the composer collective Sleeping Giant, to write her a six-movement suite for solo cello entitled “ASH”, which was premiered this January 2016 in NYC. Other upcoming commissions include works by Emily Cooley, Brooks Frederickson, Michael Gordon, Erdem Helvacioglu, Scott Lindroth, Pamela Madsen, Todd Reynolds, and Alex Weiser. Bathgate’s radio/television appearances include performances on BBC Radio 3, WKCR, WQXR FM’s Young Artist Showcase, WQXR’s Meet the Composer podcast with Nadia Sirota, NPR’s Performance Today, WYNC’s New Sounds Live, SiriusXM, Late Night and The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon. Her recorded work can be found on Albany Records, Cantaloupe Music, Innova Recordings, La-La Land Records, Naxos, Nonesuch, Starkland and Uffda Records.
Originally from Saratoga Springs, NY, Bathgate began her cello studies with the late Rudolf Doblin, principal cellist and assistant music director of the Buffalo Philharmonic in the 1950’s. After his passing, she resumed her tutelage with Ann Alton at Skidmore College. From there she continued on to study at Bard College with Luis Garcia-Renart (B.M.) and then at the Yale University School of Music with renowned cellist, Aldo Parisot (M.M. & A.D).
Bathgate resides in New York City.
In 2014 Bathgate premiered a new Cello Concerto by Australian composer Kate Moore with the ASKO|Schönberg ensemble at the Gaudeamus Festival in Utrecht, NL. She subsequently recorded an album of Moore’s solo cello works was released in May 2016 on Cantaloupe Music. In 2015 she also gave the world premiere of What Moves You, a collaborative performance project with jookin’ dance sensation Lil Buck at the Spoleto Festival USA in Charleston, NC. Most recently, Bathgate commissioned the composer collective Sleeping Giant, to write her a six-movement suite for solo cello entitled “ASH”, which was premiered this January 2016 in NYC. Other upcoming commissions include works by Emily Cooley, Brooks Frederickson, Michael Gordon, Erdem Helvacioglu, Scott Lindroth, Pamela Madsen, Todd Reynolds, and Alex Weiser. Bathgate’s radio/television appearances include performances on BBC Radio 3, WKCR, WQXR FM’s Young Artist Showcase, WQXR’s Meet the Composer podcast with Nadia Sirota, NPR’s Performance Today, WYNC’s New Sounds Live, SiriusXM, Late Night and The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon. Her recorded work can be found on Albany Records, Cantaloupe Music, Innova Recordings, La-La Land Records, Naxos, Nonesuch, Starkland and Uffda Records.
Originally from Saratoga Springs, NY, Bathgate began her cello studies with the late Rudolf Doblin, principal cellist and assistant music director of the Buffalo Philharmonic in the 1950’s. After his passing, she resumed her tutelage with Ann Alton at Skidmore College. From there she continued on to study at Bard College with Luis Garcia-Renart (B.M.) and then at the Yale University School of Music with renowned cellist, Aldo Parisot (M.M. & A.D).
Bathgate resides in New York City.
Eliza Bagg
Dedicated to performing and developing new work, Brooklyn-based soprano Eliza Bagg has worked closely on projects with a number of prominent and emerging composers including John Zorn, Michael Gordon, Chris Cerrone, Judd Greenstein, Bill Britelle, Amy Beth Kirsten, Olga Bell, and Emily Hall, among others. Her '16-'17 season includes John Zorn's Commedia dell'Arte at the Guggenheim, Infinite Palette's presentation of electro-acoustic art songs by Bill Britelle, Missy Mazzoli, and Daniel Wohl at the Palm Springs Art Museum, Claire Chases's Density Project at The Kitchen, the music of Michael Gordon and Philip Glass with the Bang on a Can All-Stars, works by Steve Reich at Alice Tully Hall, a presentation of Hildegard Von Bingen chant at The Met Museum, and a performance of David Lang's Death Speaks, along with numerous collaborative projects with emerging composers and premieres of new works written specifically for her. Bagg has been noted for her unique sound and artistry, having had her "haunting vocals" compared by Pitchfork to "a lovelorn alien reaching out from the farthest reaches of the galaxy."
Bagg sings regularly with Roomful of Teeth, and will tour significantly with them this season across the United States including performances with Nick Zammuto at the Ecstatic Music Festival and at the National Gallery in DC with A Far Cry along with dozens of residencies at universities across the country. In addition, Bagg creatively leads and performs with her experimental pop band Pavo Pavo, whose musicStereogum calls “weightless pop that sounds like it was beamed down from a glimmering utopian future." Critically acclaimed for its "washed-out playfulness and wistful exuberance" (The Guardian), Pavo Pavo's debut album, Young Narrator in the Breakers, was released by Bella Union in November 2016. The band has toured significantly behind its release in Europe and the US, including an appearance at Iceland Airwaves 2016. Bagg also contributes creatively to a number of ensembles including a performer/composer trio with percussionist Amy Garapic and multi-instrumentalist Elori Kramer, and has collaborated with artists such as San Fermin and Helado Negro.
Bagg has sung as a soloist or in small chamber ensemble with the Bang on a Can All-Stars, Sandbox Percussion, HOWL, andPlay, New Morse Code, NOW Ensemble, Axiom Ensemble, Victoire, the New York Virtuoso Singers, the American Symphony Orchestra, the St. Andrew Chorale and Orchestra, and Contemporaneous, and has collaborated closely with a number of prominent musicians within the new music community including Glenn Kotche, Caroline Shaw, Jeffrey Zeigler, Ashley Bathgate, Vicky Chow, and Dan Lippel. She will continue to appear frequently with a number of choirs and vocal ensembles including Tenet, The Choir of Trinity Wall Street, Lorelei Ensemble, and the Grammy award-winning chamber choir Conspirare.
Bagg was a fellow at the 2015 Bang on a Can Summer Festival where she joined the Bang on a Can All-Stars as a soloist in a staged performance of Michael Gordon's opera Van Gogh. Other recent highlights include performances on both the 2016 MATA Festival and Interval series performing new chamber works, a workshop of Amy Beth Kirsten's Quixote with Howl and Sandbox Percussion, John Zorn's The Holy Visions at the Cloisters (“sung brilliantly” according to The New York Times), a workshop with experimental musician Tim Hecker at EMPAC, a presentation of Olga Bell's Krai at the River to River Festival, a 9-week exhibit at the Park Avenue Armory of work by conceptual artist Martin Creed, The Colorado at the Metropolitan Museum of Art with Roomful of Teeth, Judd Greenstein's opera A Marvelous Order, Steve Reich's Music for Mallet Instruments, Voices, and Organ with Lorelei Ensemble and Boston Percussion Group, and Missy Mazzoli’s Vespers for a New Dark Age with Mazzoli's ensemble Victoire. She has toured nationally with Pavo Pavo in support of indie acts Lucius and Kishi Bashi, and performed with these ensembles across the country in venues like the Bowery Ballroom (NYC), The Fillmore (San Francisco) and 9:30 Club (DC), and has recorded an NPR Tiny Desk Concert as a member of San Fermin.
Also an avid interpreter of Baroque and Renaissance music, Bagg recently appeared with the St. Andrew Chorale and Orchestra as the soprano soloist in Bach's St. John Passion and as a soloist at the Bach Berkshire Society. She has held featured roles in operas at the Bard Music Festival, the Yale Baroque Opera Project, and the Queens College Baroque Opera Workshop, and was a student at the 2014 American Bach Soloists Academy with Jeffrey Thomas at the San Francisco Conservatory. Bagg graduated in 2012 with a BA in Music from Yale University, where she sang under the baton of Masaaki Suzuki with the Yale Institute of Sacred Music's elite chamber choir Schola Cantorum. As a student at Yale, Bagg was the winner of the 2011 Friends of Music Competition and the 2012 Wrexham Prize in Music. Bagg was born and raised in Durham, North Carolina where she spent most of her time playing violin and studying modern dance.
Bagg sings regularly with Roomful of Teeth, and will tour significantly with them this season across the United States including performances with Nick Zammuto at the Ecstatic Music Festival and at the National Gallery in DC with A Far Cry along with dozens of residencies at universities across the country. In addition, Bagg creatively leads and performs with her experimental pop band Pavo Pavo, whose musicStereogum calls “weightless pop that sounds like it was beamed down from a glimmering utopian future." Critically acclaimed for its "washed-out playfulness and wistful exuberance" (The Guardian), Pavo Pavo's debut album, Young Narrator in the Breakers, was released by Bella Union in November 2016. The band has toured significantly behind its release in Europe and the US, including an appearance at Iceland Airwaves 2016. Bagg also contributes creatively to a number of ensembles including a performer/composer trio with percussionist Amy Garapic and multi-instrumentalist Elori Kramer, and has collaborated with artists such as San Fermin and Helado Negro.
Bagg has sung as a soloist or in small chamber ensemble with the Bang on a Can All-Stars, Sandbox Percussion, HOWL, andPlay, New Morse Code, NOW Ensemble, Axiom Ensemble, Victoire, the New York Virtuoso Singers, the American Symphony Orchestra, the St. Andrew Chorale and Orchestra, and Contemporaneous, and has collaborated closely with a number of prominent musicians within the new music community including Glenn Kotche, Caroline Shaw, Jeffrey Zeigler, Ashley Bathgate, Vicky Chow, and Dan Lippel. She will continue to appear frequently with a number of choirs and vocal ensembles including Tenet, The Choir of Trinity Wall Street, Lorelei Ensemble, and the Grammy award-winning chamber choir Conspirare.
Bagg was a fellow at the 2015 Bang on a Can Summer Festival where she joined the Bang on a Can All-Stars as a soloist in a staged performance of Michael Gordon's opera Van Gogh. Other recent highlights include performances on both the 2016 MATA Festival and Interval series performing new chamber works, a workshop of Amy Beth Kirsten's Quixote with Howl and Sandbox Percussion, John Zorn's The Holy Visions at the Cloisters (“sung brilliantly” according to The New York Times), a workshop with experimental musician Tim Hecker at EMPAC, a presentation of Olga Bell's Krai at the River to River Festival, a 9-week exhibit at the Park Avenue Armory of work by conceptual artist Martin Creed, The Colorado at the Metropolitan Museum of Art with Roomful of Teeth, Judd Greenstein's opera A Marvelous Order, Steve Reich's Music for Mallet Instruments, Voices, and Organ with Lorelei Ensemble and Boston Percussion Group, and Missy Mazzoli’s Vespers for a New Dark Age with Mazzoli's ensemble Victoire. She has toured nationally with Pavo Pavo in support of indie acts Lucius and Kishi Bashi, and performed with these ensembles across the country in venues like the Bowery Ballroom (NYC), The Fillmore (San Francisco) and 9:30 Club (DC), and has recorded an NPR Tiny Desk Concert as a member of San Fermin.
Also an avid interpreter of Baroque and Renaissance music, Bagg recently appeared with the St. Andrew Chorale and Orchestra as the soprano soloist in Bach's St. John Passion and as a soloist at the Bach Berkshire Society. She has held featured roles in operas at the Bard Music Festival, the Yale Baroque Opera Project, and the Queens College Baroque Opera Workshop, and was a student at the 2014 American Bach Soloists Academy with Jeffrey Thomas at the San Francisco Conservatory. Bagg graduated in 2012 with a BA in Music from Yale University, where she sang under the baton of Masaaki Suzuki with the Yale Institute of Sacred Music's elite chamber choir Schola Cantorum. As a student at Yale, Bagg was the winner of the 2011 Friends of Music Competition and the 2012 Wrexham Prize in Music. Bagg was born and raised in Durham, North Carolina where she spent most of her time playing violin and studying modern dance.
Karl Larson
Brooklyn based pianist Karl Larson is a specialist in the music of our time, consistently presenting adventurous programs. Karl has premiered many solo piano and chamber pieces, including works by David Rakowski, Ken Thomson, Robert Honstein, Chris Cerrone, and David Lang. He is also well versed in the modern canon, having presented concerts featuring the music of Olivier Messiaen, Morton Feldman, Pierre Boulez, and György Ligeti. Recent performances of note include Morton Feldman’s Triadic Memories, Olivier Messiaen’s Harawi, and the world premiere of Scott Wollschleger’s Meditations on Dust for solo piano and string orchestra.
A sought after collaborator, Larson has worked with many notable musicians and ensembles including Tristan Perich, Ashley Bathgate, Vicky Chow, Erik Carlson, Mantra, Eve Beglarian, the Eco Ensemble, the Sleeping Giant Composer Collective, and Contemporaneous. He has been featured on many notable series and festivals including the Bang on a Can Marathon, the MATA Festival, WQXR’s Hammered!, the Contagious Sounds Series, the Frequency Series, Make Music New York, the Outpost Concert Series, the Vanguard Series, the Red Note New Music Festival, the Ball State New Music Festival, the Music in the Shape of a Pear Festival, and the Bowling Green State University New Music Festival.
Larson is also a founding member of Bearthoven, a piano, bass, and percussion trio dedicated to the frequent promotion and performance of brand new works. Since the group’s formation in 2013, Bearthoven has already commissioned over 15 pieces and has enjoyed a busy and successful performance schedule.
Karl received a Doctor of Musical Arts in Contemporary Music and a Master of Music in Piano Performance at Bowling Green State University, where he studied with Dr. Laura Melton. Larson completed his undergraduate degree at Luther College in Decorah Iowa as a pupil of Dr. John Strauss. He is on faculty at the Brooklyn Conservatory of Music.
A sought after collaborator, Larson has worked with many notable musicians and ensembles including Tristan Perich, Ashley Bathgate, Vicky Chow, Erik Carlson, Mantra, Eve Beglarian, the Eco Ensemble, the Sleeping Giant Composer Collective, and Contemporaneous. He has been featured on many notable series and festivals including the Bang on a Can Marathon, the MATA Festival, WQXR’s Hammered!, the Contagious Sounds Series, the Frequency Series, Make Music New York, the Outpost Concert Series, the Vanguard Series, the Red Note New Music Festival, the Ball State New Music Festival, the Music in the Shape of a Pear Festival, and the Bowling Green State University New Music Festival.
Larson is also a founding member of Bearthoven, a piano, bass, and percussion trio dedicated to the frequent promotion and performance of brand new works. Since the group’s formation in 2013, Bearthoven has already commissioned over 15 pieces and has enjoyed a busy and successful performance schedule.
Karl received a Doctor of Musical Arts in Contemporary Music and a Master of Music in Piano Performance at Bowling Green State University, where he studied with Dr. Laura Melton. Larson completed his undergraduate degree at Luther College in Decorah Iowa as a pupil of Dr. John Strauss. He is on faculty at the Brooklyn Conservatory of Music.
Brendon Randall-Myers
Brendon Randall-Myers is a Brooklyn-based composer and guitarist, and the co-founder of composer/performer ensemble Invisible Anatomy and complex noise rock band Marateck. Described as "fiercely aggressive but endlessly compelling" (The San Francisco Chronicle), his music amplifies the raw physical and emotional power of bodies creating sound. Brendon has received commissions from the Jerome Fund for New Music, the Tang Museum at Skidmore College, the Guitar Foundation of America, and Roulette Intermedium, and collaborated with performers such as the Bang on a Can All-Stars, the Omaha Symphony, Friction Quartet, and guitarist Jack Sanders. He is a member of the Glenn Branca Ensemble and the Dither Big Band, and has also performed with groups such as Ensemble Signal, Opera Saratoga, Magik*Magik Orchestra, and Contemporaneous. Brendon grew up home-schooled in rural West Virginia, and holds degrees from Pomona College and the Yale School of Music.
Matt Evans
Matt Evans is a percussionist and composer with an enormous affinity for process, patterns, autonomy and abstraction. He frequently works in cross-disciplinary contexts, playing in bands, performing with new music ensembles, and producing performances that integrate music, movement and visual art. Matt co-leads, performs and tours with several projects including Tigue, Open House, Bearthoven, Rokenri, Man Forever, Ensemble Signal, Contemporaneous and Private Elevators and his concert music has been performed by Karl Larson, Eric Carlson, Contemporaneous, Sound ExChange, and Present Music. Praised by the New York Times as “…meticulous and expressive,” Matt has performed at acclaimed venues and series including The BAM Next Wave Festival, The Kitchen, Lincoln Center, The Celebrate Brooklyn! Festival and the Museum of Modern Art. His recordings have been released with New Amsterdam Records, Cantaloupe Music, Thrill Jockey, and Perfect Wave. Matt received a Masters of Music in Percussion Performance from the Eastman School of Music, where he studied with Michael Burritt, and completed his undergraduate degree at The Ohio State University under the direction of Susan Powell and Joe Krygier.
Longleash
LONGLEASH (violin, cello, piano) is a group with a traditional instrumentation and a progressive identity. Inspired by music with unusual sonic beauty, an inventive streak, and a truthful cultural voice, Longleash extends a love of classical chamber musicianship to the interpretation of contemporary music, crafting performances that are both dynamic and thoughtfully refined. An “expert young trio” praised for its “subtle and meticulous musicianship” (Strad Magazine), Longleash has quickly earned a reputation in the US and abroad for innovative programming, artistic excellence, and new music advocacy.
Longleash balances a full performing schedule with commissioning and recording projects and the trio’s own summer festival, The Loretto Project (KY). Recent and upcoming concerts include appearances at EMPAC (Troy, NY), the Consulate of the Federal Republic of Germany (NYC), The Kaufman Center, Center for New Music (CA) and the Green Music Center (CA). The trio takes its name from Operation Long Leash, a recently declassified CIA operation designed to disseminate the work of American avant-garde artists throughout Europe during the Cold War.
Longleash balances a full performing schedule with commissioning and recording projects and the trio’s own summer festival, The Loretto Project (KY). Recent and upcoming concerts include appearances at EMPAC (Troy, NY), the Consulate of the Federal Republic of Germany (NYC), The Kaufman Center, Center for New Music (CA) and the Green Music Center (CA). The trio takes its name from Operation Long Leash, a recently declassified CIA operation designed to disseminate the work of American avant-garde artists throughout Europe during the Cold War.
Exceptet
Founded on the rag-tag instrumentation of Igor Stravinsky's L'Histoire du Soldat, New York-based Exceptet is an ensemble with "vast emotional range and onomatopoetic charm" (I Care If You Listen) dedicated to commissioning today’s most compelling emerging composers. Exceptet recently performed on the Ecstatic Music Festival as part of the MATA Interval Series, The Times Two Series in Boston, and the Queens New Music Festival, The UPenn Composers Guild, and has been showcased several times on WQXR. The nascent group has commissioned new works from a wide range of composers, including Scott Wollschleger, Ben Brody, Matt Evans, Brendon Randall-Myers, Fay Kueen Wang, Alex Weiser, Fjola Evans, Brooks Frederickson, Paul Kerekes, Brian Petuch, and Eric Shanfield. They have additionally collaborated with Exceptet violinist Sarah Goldfeather’s indie folk-band, Goldfeather.
The members of Exceptet are decorated musicians in their own right, and have played with such notable groups as the New World Symphony, Asphalt Orchestra, Ed Palermo Big Band, Contemporaneous; worked with artists such as Steve Reich, Julia Wolfe, David Byrne, Suzanne Vega, Courtney Love, Todd Almond, Artie Lange, Chris Cerrone, Timo Andres, and with Beth Morrison Projects; and they have performed on Broadway, at Radio City, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Bang On A Can Marathon, the Montreal Jazz Festival, The Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago, to name a few.
The members of Exceptet are decorated musicians in their own right, and have played with such notable groups as the New World Symphony, Asphalt Orchestra, Ed Palermo Big Band, Contemporaneous; worked with artists such as Steve Reich, Julia Wolfe, David Byrne, Suzanne Vega, Courtney Love, Todd Almond, Artie Lange, Chris Cerrone, Timo Andres, and with Beth Morrison Projects; and they have performed on Broadway, at Radio City, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Bang On A Can Marathon, the Montreal Jazz Festival, The Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago, to name a few.