The Squid's Ear Magazine


Mincek, Alex : Torrent (Sound American/Pleasure of the Text Records)

NY Composer and Zs founder Alex Mincek's first release since 2011 also launches Sound American's Young Composer Portrait series, presenting 4 chamber works--"Pendulum VII"; selected movements from "Harmonielehre"; "Pneuma"; and "Torrent"--performed by Wet Ink Ensemble, Mivos Quartet, and Yarn/Wire, in a deluxe hardcover book package with interviews and notes.
 

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Personnel:



Wet Ink Large Ensemble-ensemble

Erin Lesser-flute

Laura Cocks-flute

Alex Mincek-saxophone

Ian Antonio-percussion

Ron Stabinsky-piano

Josh Modney-violin

Carrie Frey-viola

John Popham-cello

Greg Chudzik-bass

Eric Wubbels-conductor

Michael Ibrahim-saxophone solo

Erin Lesser-flute

Laura Weiner-horn

Gareth Flowers-trumpet

Weston Olencki-trombone

Ian Antonio-percussion

Laura Barger-piano

Marina Kifferstein-violin 2

Yarn / Wire Quartet-quartet

Mivos Quartet-quartet

Laura Barger-piano

Ning Yu-piano

Ian Antonio-percussion

Olivia De Prato-violin

Victor Lowrie-viola


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UPC: 616892460640

Label: Sound American/Pleasure of the Text Records
Catalog ID: SA004
Squidco Product Code: 24092

Format: BOOK + CD
Condition: New
Released: 2017
Country: USA
Packaging: CD w/ 28 page hard spine booklet
Recorded at Oktaven Audio, in Mount Vernon, New York, on June 14th and 15th, and September 8th, 2016, by Ryan Streber.

Descriptions, Reviews, &c.

"Torrent is the first recording of Mincek's music since his 2011 self-titled debut on Carrier Records and launches Sound American's Young Composer Portrait (YCP) series, which introduces emerging artists by releasing music from the span of their career alongside a series of interviews and essays that contextualize the ways in which their history, aesthetic, and sound thinking have informed their work to date.

Although he has gained acclaim for his early work with the post-rock group Zs, Alex Mincek is receiving long overdue attention for his chamber music - an iconoclastic combination of timbral rigor with frightening rhythmic drive and mastery of melody. Mincek does all this without becoming banal or derivative. As the composer told SA editor Nate Wooley in their interview for this release, he wants to enter in a "conversation" with the composers that he studies, a virtual give and take of ideas as opposed to rote learning.

This approach is clear from the music on Torrent - from the knotty push and pull of the Stravinskyesque Pneuma to the epic slow growth of the title track, which harkens to the quiet turbulence of Klaus Lang. Alex Mincek is hyper-aware of his surroundings while actively developing (and refining) his own voice.

Torrent is being released as a deluxe art object meant to give the listener a multivalent overview of Mincek's history, aesthetic, and impact on the contemporary music world. The disc comes in a beautiful hardcover book-like case along with 28 pages of notes including the composer's conversation with Sound American Editor and experimental trumpeter Nate Wooley and in-depth interviews with musicians working closely with Mincek, including Ian Antonio, Eric Wubbels, and Josh Modney."-Gumroad


Artist Biographies

"As a soloist, and chamber musician Erin has been described as "superb", "excellent", "brilliant" and "elegant". She has travelled to prestigious venues around the world including Carnegie Hall, Walt Disney Hall, the Muziekgebouw aan 't IJ (Amsterdam) and Alice Tully Hall where she performed the American premiere of Morton Feldman's For Flute and Orchestra with the Jancek Philharmonic. She has worked with some of the most prominent classical and popular artists today including Steve Reich, Beat Furrer, Helmut Lachenmann, Pierre Boulez, John Luther Adams, Charles Wuorinen, and David Lang, and experimental groups like Medeski Martin and Wood, and the Dirty Projectors. As a recording artist, Erin can be heard on Nonesuch, Cantaloupe, Carrier, Hat[now] Art, New Focus, Aeon, New Amsterdam, Albany and Capstone Record labels.

Erin is a founding member of the Argento Chamber Ensemble and was featured on the group's award winning recording Winter Fragments; music of Tristan Murail. Erin is also a member of Alarm Will Sound, a group that has been awarded the ASCAP Concert Music Award for "the virtuosity, passion and commitment with which they perform and champion the repertory for the 21st century" and which has been called the "future of classical music" by the New York Times. She is also a member of Wet Ink, a group that has been described as "thought-provoking and expansive and fearless in testing the limitations of what instruments or musical forms can be." She won the 2008 National Flute Association chamber music competition with her flute and percussion duo, Due East.

Lesser completed a two-year fellowship with The Academy, a program run by Carnegie Hall, the Juilliard School and the Weill Music Institute. She is now a member of Decoda, an affiliate ensemble of Carnegie Hall, whose work often takes them beyond the concert hall and into the broader community.

A graduate of the University of Ottawa (BM) and the Manhattan School of Music (MM, DMA), Erin is proud to serve on the faculty at Lawrence University. Through a partnership between Lawrence University and Decoda, Erin is co-founder of Music for All, a program which brings music into new and/or underserved venues throughout the Fox Valley community in Wisconsin."

-Erin Lesser Website (http://www.erinlesser.com/bio)
3/13/2024

Have a better biography or biography source? Please Contact Us so that we can update this biography.

"Laura Cocks is a New York based flutist who works in a wide array of creative environments as a performer and promoter of contemporary music. Laura is the flutist and executive director of TAK ensemble, and a member of the Nouveau Classical Project and the Association of Dominican Classical Artists. She has performed across the Americas and Europe as a soloist and chamber musician in ensembles such as The London Sinfonietta, International Contemporary Ensemble, Talea Ensemble, Wet Ink Ensemble, and Ensemble Dal Niente. They can be heard with TAK, International Contemporary Ensemble, Talea, Wet Ink Ensemble, and others on labels such as Carrier Records, ECM, Centaur Records, New Focus Recordings, Sound American, Denovali Records, Orange Mountain Music, Chambray Records, Amplify, TAK editions, Double Whammy Whammy, Winspear, Supertrain, and Gold Bolus with upcoming records coming out TAK editions, Sideband Records, Tripticks Tapes, and Carrier Records."

-Laura Cocks Website (http://www.lauracocks.biz/about)
3/13/2024

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"Alex Mincek (b. 1975) is a New York-based composer and performer. He studied composition with Tristan Murail and Fred Lerdahl at Columbia University (DMA) and with Nils Vigeland at the Manhattan School of Music (MA). He is currently the saxophonist, bass clarinetist, and artistic director of the Wet Ink Ensemble, a group dedicated to contemporary music, which he founded in 1998.

Mincek's music has been programmed at venues and international festivals including Carnegie Hall, Miller Theatre, the Strasbourg Musica Festival, Festival Présences of Radio France, Festival Archipel in Geneve, Voix Nouvelles at the Abbaye de Royaumont in Paris, Festival des Musiques Démesurées in Clermont-Ferrand, the Internationales Musikinstitut Darmstadt (IMD), Unerhörte Musik in Berlin, the Contempuls Festival in Prague, and the Ostrava New Music Days.

Mincek has collaborated with ensembles including the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, Les Percussions de Strasbourg, the Janacek Philharmonic, Ensemble Cairn, Ensemble Le Balcon, Ensemble Linea, Ensemble XXI, Wet Ink Ensemble, SEM Ensemble, Present Music, Talea Ensemble, Dal Niente, Yarn/Wire, Mivos and the JACK Quartet. Mincek's music has also been recognized through commissions and awards from major arts institutions such as the Guggenheim Foundation, the French Ministry of Culture, the American Academy of Arts and Letters, the National Foundation for Advancement in the Arts, ASCAP, the National Endowment for the Arts, MATA, Radio France, the Barlow Endowment, Meet The Composer and the Issue Project Room."

-Alex Mincek Website (http://www.alexmincek.com/)
3/13/2024

Have a better biography or biography source? Please Contact Us so that we can update this biography.

"Percussionist Ian Antonio's breadth of experience - concertizing across four continents with a wide variety of chamber ensembles, orchestras, experimental rock bands, avant-garde theatre companies, and as a soloist, conductor, and educator - has led him to develop a unique sound and approach to both performing and teaching.

Ian is a founding member of the piano percussion quartet Yarn/Wire. Hailed as "mesmerizing and dynamic" by the New York Times, the ensemble is known for the energy and precision it brings to performances of today's most adventurous music. Yarn/Wire has appeared at prestigious venues across the globe, including Lincoln Center, Brooklyn Academy of Music, Library of Congress, Edinburgh International Festival, Barbican Centre, and Shanghai Symphony Hall. The ensemble has held residencies at institutions such as Columbia University, Harvard University, Stanford University, and ISSUE Project Room, among many others. In 2016, Yarn/Wire won 1st Prize / Open at the University of Michigan's inaugural M-Prize, the largest chamber music competition in the world. The ensemble has premiered over one hundred new works, released nine albums, and continually advocates for this exciting emerging repertoire.

Ian is a core member of the Wet Ink Ensemble, a collective of composers and performers. Formerly the Ensemble-in-Residence at Duke University, Wet Ink most commonly performs as a septet comprised of a core group of composer-performers that collaborate in a band-like fashion, writing, improvising, preparing, and touring pieces together over long stretches of time. This approach, honed over 20 years, has led to an incomparable body of work marked by a keenly developed performance practice, played in concert with ferocity, commitment, and expressivity. In demand at both domestic and international venues, Wet Ink's performances "combine striking stylistic and aesthetic assurance with technical perfection." (Dissonanz Switzerland)

Ian is also a member of the percussion ensemble Talujon. The group's sextet configuration allows Talujon to produce large-scale and oft-neglected percussive masterworks as well as new pieces written for the ensemble. Described by the New York Times as possessing an "edgy, unflagging energy", the ensemble has been championing percussive music for well over two decades. Since joining the group in 2011, Ian has performed with Talujon at the Metropolitation Museum of Art, Bang on a Can Marathon, BAM Next Wave Festival, and elsewhere across the country.

From 2003-2012 Ian was a member of the difficult-to-categorize trio Zs. With Zs, Ian toured both domestically and abroad, recorded extensively, and made composed / improvised "conceptual art objects that set form and content against each other - like, say, a perfect birthday cake made out of sawdust, or a perfect hammer made out of bird feathers." (New York Times) Equally at home in lofts, basements, galleries, and festivals, Ian performed with Zs at many prominent jazz festivals including the Germany's Moers Festival, Switzerland's Jazz Festival Willislau, and Tokyo's Club Unit. The band's 2010 album, New Slaves, was named Album of the Year by Tiny Mix Tapes and appeared on numerous best-of lists.

Ian is currently a member of the faculty at Purchase College where he teaches private lessons, rep class, and a hand drumming workshop, among other duties. He also leads percussion activities for the Norwalk Youth Symphony program. In past years, Ian has been on faculty and guest lectured at Stony Brook University, Adelphi University, Montclair State University, Franklin Pierce University, 92nd Street Y, Henry Street Settlement, and the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs.

Ian has recorded over 40 albums for the Nonesuch, Kairos, Warp, Tzadik, Carrier, Social Registry, Populist, Distributed Objects, Planaria, Sockets, Hot Cup, Quiet Design, and Three One G record labels, among others. He has also performed with the International Contemporary Ensemble, Theatre of a Two-Headed Calf, SEM Ensemble, Argento Chamber Ensemble, Albany Symphony, Boston Symphony, BBC Symphony Orchestra, London Sinfonettia, Los Angeles Philharmonic, and worked with composers, conductors, and soloists such as Seigi Ozawa, Kurt Masur, Charles Dutoit, Mstislav Rostropovich, Yefim Bronfman, Helmut Lachenmann, Enno Poppe, John Adams, and Kaija Saariaho.

Ian was born in 1981 and grew up in Albany, NY, studying percussion with Richard Albagli and performing with the Empire State Youth Orchestra and Percussion Ensemble. He moved to New York City to attend the Manhattan School of Music and study with James Preiss, Duncan Patton, Christopher Lamb, Eric Charleston, and Claire Heldrich. Ian completed his studies with Eduardo Leandro at Stony Brook University. Ian holds a B.M. from the Manhattan School of Music and an M.M. and D.M.A. from Stony Brook University. He has also attended the Tanglewood Music Center and Yellow Barn festivals. At Night Music publishes Ian's music, including solos for marimba, percussion ensembles, and audition pieces. Ian proudly plays Pearl/Adams instruments, Paiste cymbals and gongs, uses Vic Firth sticks and mallets, and Black Swamp accessories."

-Ian Antonio Website (https://ianantonio.com/about/)
3/13/2024

Have a better biography or biography source? Please Contact Us so that we can update this biography.

"Ron Stabinsky recently released his debut album, Free for One, the culmination of more than a decade of evolving his improvised solo language. In addition to continuing to pursue his ongoing interest in solo piano improvisation, he enjoys working on music in a stylistically diverse array of situations throughout the United States and Europe with many other musicians and ensembles, including free-improvising saxophonist Jack Wright, bass trombone virtuoso David Taylor, Meat Puppets bassist Cris Kirkwood, and NEA Jazz Master David Liebman. Recent festival appearances include Newport Jazz Festival, North Sea Jazz Festival (Netherlands), Moers Festival (Germany), Jazzfestival Saalfelden (Austria), Outreach Festival (Austria), and Jazz and More Festival Sibiu (Romania). He is currently a regular member of the band Mostly Other People Do the Killing, the new music ensemble Relâche, the Charles Evans Quartet, and the Peter Evans Quintet."

-Ron Stabinsky 3/13/2024

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"Josh Modney is a violinist and creative musician working at the nexus of composition, improvisation, and interpretation. A "new-music luminary" (The New York Times) hailed for "jaw-dropping technical skill..." and as "one of today's most intrepid experimentalists" (Bandcamp Daily), Modney is a foremost interpreter of adventurous contemporary music, and has cultivated a holistic artistic practice as a composer, solo improviser, bandleader, music director, writer, arts administrator, and collaborator.

Modney is the violinist and Executive Director of the Wet Ink Ensemble, a member of the International Contemporary Ensemble, and the music director of Kate Soper's opera The Romance of the Rose, and he has worked closely with leading composers of his generation including Alex Mincek, Sam Pluta, Eric Wubbels, Tristan Perich, and Rick Burkhardt, and with major figures including Kaija Saariaho, Mathias Spahlinger, Helmut Lachenmann, George Lewis, and Pauline Oliveros.

Modney has composed music for violin solo, chamber ensemble, and film ("Dreamland", Paramount Pictures), released an album of improvised chamber music with guitarist Patrick Higgins, EVRLY MVSIC (NNA Tapes), and has a forthcoming album of quartet music written for acclaimed creative musicians Ingrid Laubrock (saxophones), Mariel Roberts (cello), and Cory Smythe (piano). Modney's triple-disc debut solo release, Engage (New Focus Recordings), featuring works written for Modney alongside music by Anthony Braxton, J.S. Bach, and Modney's own solo violin music, was lauded by The New York Times as "one of the most intriguing programs of the year", and was recognized on Best of 2018 lists by Sequenza21 and Bandcamp. Modney's writing on Just Intonation and collaborative musical practices has been published on Sound American and New Music Box, and he has served as the editor of Wet Ink Archive, an online journal of adventurous music, since its launch in May 2020."

-Josh Modney Website (https://joshmodney.com/about/)
3/13/2024

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"Carrie Frey (viola) is an active performer and educator, focused on working with open, inquisitive musicians and composers and encouraging creativity in her students. An enthusiastic proponent of new music, she has premiered over 200 pieces. A founding member of string trio Chartreuse and string quartet Desdemona, and recent addition to the Rhythm Method, she also coordinates the chamber music program at Bloomingdale School of Music. In New York City, Carrie can be heard with a number of new music ensembles, including Wavefield, Talea Ensemble, International Contemporary Ensemble, Ensemble Echappé, Cantata Profana, Heartbeat Opera, Wet Ink Large Ensemble, toy piano/toy viola duo Wind-Up Elephant. As an improviser, she performs with Simone Baron's ensemble Arco Belo and with electroacoustic trio Hierophant. As an orchestral musician, she has played with the American Composers Orchestra, the Greenville Symphony, and the Savannah Philharmonic, and at festivals around the world, including the Lucerne Festival Academy and Lucerne Festival Alumni Orchestra in Switzerland; Britten-Pears Festival in the UK; Spoleto Festival in Charleston, SC; and Pacific Music Festival in Sapporo, Japan. Her debut sonata album, The Grey Light of Day, with pianist Robert Fleitz, was released by Wild Iris Productions in 2016. Carrie is a graduate of Oberlin Conservatory (BM) and the Manhattan School of Music Contemporary Performance Program (MM), and is currently pursuing a DMA at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York."

-Carrie Frey Website (https://freyaviol.tumblr.com/bio)
3/13/2024

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"Greg Chudzik is an active performer across numerous genres on the double bass and electric bass. Currently, he can be seen performing regularly with several new music groups, including Signal Ensemble, Wet Ink Ensemble, and Talea Ensemble. Greg is also a member of several bands, including Empyrean Atlas, Bing and Ruth, and The Briars of North America. He has worked with numerous influential figures in contemporary music, including Steve Coleman, Steve Reich, Pierre Boulez, George Benjamin, Helmut Lachenmann, Charles Wuorinen, Alex Mincek and Tristan Perich. Last January, Greg completed a tour opening for Jeff Mangum, formerly of Neutral Milk Hotel. Greg's recording credits include playing on the Grammy-nominated "Barcelonaza" by Jorge Leiderman, "Synovial Joints" by Steve Coleman on Pi Recordings, "Tomorrow Was the Golden Age" by Bing and Ruth on RVNG records, the album "Americans" by Scott Johnson (Tzadik records), multiple recordings with Signal Ensemble on New Amsterdam and Mode Records, the album "Grown Unknown" by Lia Ices (Secretly Canadian records), the album "Inner Circle" by Empyrean Atlas, and the album "High Violet" by The National on 4AD records. Greg's new album "Solo Works, Vol. 1" features original pieces of music written for bass guitar and electronics, and will be released this July on Panoramic Records."

-Greg Chudzik Website (http://www.gregchudzik.com/bio/)
3/13/2024

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"Eric Wubbels (b.1980) is a composer and pianist, and a Co-Director of the Wet Ink Ensemble.

His music has been performed throughout Europe, Asia, Australia, and the U.S., by groups such as Wet Ink Ensemble, Mivos Quartet, yarn|wire, Splinter Reeds, Kupka's Piano (AUS), SCENATET (DK), Hong Kong New Music Ensemble, and featured on festivals including Huddersfield Festival, Chicago Symphony MusicNOW, New York Philharmonic CONTACT, MATA Festival, and Zurich Tage für Neue Musik.

Wubbels has been awarded grants and fellowships from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, NYFA, NYSCA, Fromm Foundation, Chamber Music America, ISSUE Project Room, MATA Festival, Barlow Endowment, Jerome Foundation, and Yvar Mikhashoff Trust, and residencies at the MacDowell Colony ('11, '16, '20), Copland House, L'Abri (Geneva), Djerassi Resident Artists Program, and Civitella Ranieri Center (Italy).

As a performer, he has given U.S. and world premieres of works by major figures such as Peter Ablinger, Richard Barrett, Beat Furrer, George Lewis, and Mathias Spahlinger, as well as vital young artists such as Rick Burkhardt, Francesco Filidei, Erin Gee, Bryn Harrison, Clara Iannotta, Darius Jones, Cat Lamb, Ingrid Laubrock, Charmaine Lee, Alex Mincek, Sam Pluta, Katharina Rosenberger, and Kate Soper.

He has recorded for Carrier Records, hatART, Intakt, New Focus, Spektral (Vienna), quiet design, and Albany Records, among others, and has held teaching positions at Amherst College and Oberlin Conservatory."

-Eric Wubbels Website (http://www.wubbelsmusic.com/)
3/13/2024

Have a better biography or biography source? Please Contact Us so that we can update this biography.

"As a soloist, and chamber musician Erin has been described as "superb", "excellent", "brilliant" and "elegant". She has travelled to prestigious venues around the world including Carnegie Hall, Walt Disney Hall, the Muziekgebouw aan 't IJ (Amsterdam) and Alice Tully Hall where she performed the American premiere of Morton Feldman's For Flute and Orchestra with the Jancek Philharmonic. She has worked with some of the most prominent classical and popular artists today including Steve Reich, Beat Furrer, Helmut Lachenmann, Pierre Boulez, John Luther Adams, Charles Wuorinen, and David Lang, and experimental groups like Medeski Martin and Wood, and the Dirty Projectors. As a recording artist, Erin can be heard on Nonesuch, Cantaloupe, Carrier, Hat[now] Art, New Focus, Aeon, New Amsterdam, Albany and Capstone Record labels.

Erin is a founding member of the Argento Chamber Ensemble and was featured on the group's award winning recording Winter Fragments; music of Tristan Murail. Erin is also a member of Alarm Will Sound, a group that has been awarded the ASCAP Concert Music Award for "the virtuosity, passion and commitment with which they perform and champion the repertory for the 21st century" and which has been called the "future of classical music" by the New York Times. She is also a member of Wet Ink, a group that has been described as "thought-provoking and expansive and fearless in testing the limitations of what instruments or musical forms can be." She won the 2008 National Flute Association chamber music competition with her flute and percussion duo, Due East.

Lesser completed a two-year fellowship with The Academy, a program run by Carnegie Hall, the Juilliard School and the Weill Music Institute. She is now a member of Decoda, an affiliate ensemble of Carnegie Hall, whose work often takes them beyond the concert hall and into the broader community.

A graduate of the University of Ottawa (BM) and the Manhattan School of Music (MM, DMA), Erin is proud to serve on the faculty at Lawrence University. Through a partnership between Lawrence University and Decoda, Erin is co-founder of Music for All, a program which brings music into new and/or underserved venues throughout the Fox Valley community in Wisconsin."

-Erin Lesser Website (http://www.erinlesser.com/bio)
3/13/2024

Have a better biography or biography source? Please Contact Us so that we can update this biography.

"Weston Olencki is a New York City based trombonist/composer specializing in the performance and production of experimental music & art. Weston is a member of Ensemble Pamplemousse and the Wet Ink Large Ensemble, one half of RAGE THORMBONES and People Making Sounds, and has performed with Ensemble Dal Niente, wasteLAnd, wildUP!, Fonema Consort, the San Francisco Contemporary Music Players, Talea Ensemble, sfSound, Wild Rumpus, Eco Ensemble, Chicago Symphony Orchestra's MusicNOW, and a.pe.ri.od.ic - under conductors Alan Pierson, Enno Poppe, Steven Schick, Marino Formenti, and Michael Lewanski. He was awarded the Kranichsteiner Musikpreis for Performance [2016] and a Stipendiumpreis [2014] from the Darmstadt Ferienkurse.

His compositional work has been performed/commissioned by the Talea Ensemble/Earle Brown Music Foundation, Pamplemousse, Bass2Bass [Michelle Lou + Scott Worthington], People Making Sounds, trombonist Matt Barbier, clarinetist Erin Cameron, and saxophonist David Wegehaupt.

An active proponent of new repertoire, Weston has pursued individual collaborative work with composers Eric Wubbels, Katherine Young, Mauricio Pauly, Dave Reminick, Michelle Lou, Ray Evanoff, and Timothy McCormack, alongside US/world premieres of pieces by Peter Ablinger, Bernhard Lang, Elliott Carter, Michael Gordon, James Saunders, Dai Fujikura, Katharina Rosenberger, Erik Ulman, and Chris Mercer. Festival/series appearances include Alatszto Hang [Budapest], Weisslich [London], Constellation's Frequency Series [Chicago], FOCIarts [New Orleans], Permutations [NYC/SF], sfSoundSalonSeries [SF], NUNC [Chicago], Indexical [Santa Cruz], Switchboard Presents [SF], OPTION [Chicago], and Omaha Under the Radar.

Weston has held residencies at the University of California Santa Cruz, Harvard University [HGNM], NYU, and Stanford University, with upcoming residencies at Northwestern and CalArts. He has recorded for HatHut, Sound American, Indexical, and Clean Feed with forthcoming releases on Carrier."

-Weston Olencki Website (http://www.westonolencki.com/about/)
3/13/2024

Have a better biography or biography source? Please Contact Us so that we can update this biography.

"Percussionist Ian Antonio's breadth of experience - concertizing across four continents with a wide variety of chamber ensembles, orchestras, experimental rock bands, avant-garde theatre companies, and as a soloist, conductor, and educator - has led him to develop a unique sound and approach to both performing and teaching.

Ian is a founding member of the piano percussion quartet Yarn/Wire. Hailed as "mesmerizing and dynamic" by the New York Times, the ensemble is known for the energy and precision it brings to performances of today's most adventurous music. Yarn/Wire has appeared at prestigious venues across the globe, including Lincoln Center, Brooklyn Academy of Music, Library of Congress, Edinburgh International Festival, Barbican Centre, and Shanghai Symphony Hall. The ensemble has held residencies at institutions such as Columbia University, Harvard University, Stanford University, and ISSUE Project Room, among many others. In 2016, Yarn/Wire won 1st Prize / Open at the University of Michigan's inaugural M-Prize, the largest chamber music competition in the world. The ensemble has premiered over one hundred new works, released nine albums, and continually advocates for this exciting emerging repertoire.

Ian is a core member of the Wet Ink Ensemble, a collective of composers and performers. Formerly the Ensemble-in-Residence at Duke University, Wet Ink most commonly performs as a septet comprised of a core group of composer-performers that collaborate in a band-like fashion, writing, improvising, preparing, and touring pieces together over long stretches of time. This approach, honed over 20 years, has led to an incomparable body of work marked by a keenly developed performance practice, played in concert with ferocity, commitment, and expressivity. In demand at both domestic and international venues, Wet Ink's performances "combine striking stylistic and aesthetic assurance with technical perfection." (Dissonanz Switzerland)

Ian is also a member of the percussion ensemble Talujon. The group's sextet configuration allows Talujon to produce large-scale and oft-neglected percussive masterworks as well as new pieces written for the ensemble. Described by the New York Times as possessing an "edgy, unflagging energy", the ensemble has been championing percussive music for well over two decades. Since joining the group in 2011, Ian has performed with Talujon at the Metropolitation Museum of Art, Bang on a Can Marathon, BAM Next Wave Festival, and elsewhere across the country.

From 2003-2012 Ian was a member of the difficult-to-categorize trio Zs. With Zs, Ian toured both domestically and abroad, recorded extensively, and made composed / improvised "conceptual art objects that set form and content against each other - like, say, a perfect birthday cake made out of sawdust, or a perfect hammer made out of bird feathers." (New York Times) Equally at home in lofts, basements, galleries, and festivals, Ian performed with Zs at many prominent jazz festivals including the Germany's Moers Festival, Switzerland's Jazz Festival Willislau, and Tokyo's Club Unit. The band's 2010 album, New Slaves, was named Album of the Year by Tiny Mix Tapes and appeared on numerous best-of lists.

Ian is currently a member of the faculty at Purchase College where he teaches private lessons, rep class, and a hand drumming workshop, among other duties. He also leads percussion activities for the Norwalk Youth Symphony program. In past years, Ian has been on faculty and guest lectured at Stony Brook University, Adelphi University, Montclair State University, Franklin Pierce University, 92nd Street Y, Henry Street Settlement, and the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs.

Ian has recorded over 40 albums for the Nonesuch, Kairos, Warp, Tzadik, Carrier, Social Registry, Populist, Distributed Objects, Planaria, Sockets, Hot Cup, Quiet Design, and Three One G record labels, among others. He has also performed with the International Contemporary Ensemble, Theatre of a Two-Headed Calf, SEM Ensemble, Argento Chamber Ensemble, Albany Symphony, Boston Symphony, BBC Symphony Orchestra, London Sinfonettia, Los Angeles Philharmonic, and worked with composers, conductors, and soloists such as Seigi Ozawa, Kurt Masur, Charles Dutoit, Mstislav Rostropovich, Yefim Bronfman, Helmut Lachenmann, Enno Poppe, John Adams, and Kaija Saariaho.

Ian was born in 1981 and grew up in Albany, NY, studying percussion with Richard Albagli and performing with the Empire State Youth Orchestra and Percussion Ensemble. He moved to New York City to attend the Manhattan School of Music and study with James Preiss, Duncan Patton, Christopher Lamb, Eric Charleston, and Claire Heldrich. Ian completed his studies with Eduardo Leandro at Stony Brook University. Ian holds a B.M. from the Manhattan School of Music and an M.M. and D.M.A. from Stony Brook University. He has also attended the Tanglewood Music Center and Yellow Barn festivals. At Night Music publishes Ian's music, including solos for marimba, percussion ensembles, and audition pieces. Ian proudly plays Pearl/Adams instruments, Paiste cymbals and gongs, uses Vic Firth sticks and mallets, and Black Swamp accessories."

-Ian Antonio Website (https://ianantonio.com/about/)
3/13/2024

Have a better biography or biography source? Please Contact Us so that we can update this biography.

"Laura Barger, pianist, is a founding member of piano-percussion quartet, Yarn/Wire. Praised for their "mesmerizing" performances (The New York Times), Yarn/Wire has been featured at venues such as the Lincoln Center Festival, Edinburgh International Festival, Barbican Centre, Library of Congress, Miller Theatre at Columbia University, and Brooklyn Academy of Music. In addition, Laura is a frequent collaborator with the Wet Ink Large Ensemble, and performs in the Key_String Duo with guitarist Giacomo Baldelli. She performs internationally as a soloist and chamber musician, and has appeared at the National Gallery of Ireland, Huddersfield Festival, Festival di Bellagio e Lagodi Como, and the Banff Centre for the Arts. Laura is currently on faculty at John Jay College."

-Miller Theatre (https://www.millertheatre.com/explore/bios/laura-barger)
3/13/2024

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"Marina Kifferstein is a violinist, composer, and educator based in NYC. Equally comfortable in major international venues and DIY spaces, she enjoys a multifaceted career with a focus on contemporary chamber music. She is a founding member of TAK ensemble and The Rhythm Method string quartet, and has performed across the US and internationally with these groups as well as with ensembles including the International Contemporary Ensemble (ICE), Talea, Wet Ink, Signal, the Da Capo Chamber Players, the Ensemble of Lucerne Festival Alumni, and others.

A strong supporter of new music, Marina has performed and commissioned an extensive repertoire of music by living composers. She has worked closely with 20th century masters such as Helmut Lachenmann and the late Pierre Boulez, as well as a multitude of composers ranging from early career to highly acclaimed; as a soloist and chamber musician, she has premiered hundreds of new works. Her own compositions have been performed across the U.S. and Europe. She is also an avid improviser, and has collaborated with musicians including Brandon Lopez, Weston Olencki, Austin Wulliman, Nina Dante, and xbucket, her electronic noise project with Sam Tarakajian and Alex Van Gils. She is a co-founder and administrator of the Open Improvisations series, with Carrie Frey and Alec Goldfarb.

Marina has been a featured performer at international music festivals including the Sacrum Profanum festival in Krakow, Poland, Festival Musiques démesurées in Clermont-Ferrand, France, Musiikin Aika in Viitasaari, Finland, the Delian Academy in Mykonos, Greece, and works regularly with the Lucerne Festival on projects in Switzerland and internationally. She has performed at the Lincoln Center Festival and the Mostly Mozart Festival in NYC, the Omaha One Festival in Nebraska, the Cluster Festival in Winnipeg, and others.

Concerto solo engagements include the premiere of Ryan Pratt's K. Tracing with the Wet Ink Ensemble under the direction of Eric Wubbels, Luciano Berio's Corale with the Tactus ensemble under the direction of Kyle Ritenauer, as well as the North American premiere of Hindemith's Kammermusik No. 4 with the Oberlin Wind Ensemble under the direction of Timothy Weiss. As an orchestral musician, Marina has held concertmaster positions with orchestras including the Orchestra of Lucerne Festival Alumni, the Lucerne Festival Academy Orchestra, and the Orchestra for the Next Century, and has played under the batons of conductors such as Pierre Boulez, Sir Simon Rattle, David Robertson, Riccardo Chailly, and many others. She has performed solo, chamber music, and orchestra concerts across America and internationally, in venues such as the Walt Disney Concert Hall, Lincoln Center, and Carnegie Hall, as well as across Europe and Asia in venues such as the KKL Lucerne, Elbphilharmonie Hamburg, Kölner Philharmonie, Paris's La Salle Pleyel, the Beijing Concert Hall, Reykjavík's Harpa Concert Hall, and the Esplanade Singapore.

Outside of the realm of performance, Marina's writings have been published by the Wet Ink Archive, WQXR's Q2 Music, and I CARE IF YOU LISTEN, and she was formerly a staff writer for the Oberlin Conservatory Communications office. She holds the position of "Contemporary Leader" for the Lucerne Festival, which entails festival curation and design in addition to frequent performance engagements in and around Lucerne. Marina is on violin faculty at the United Nations International School in Manhattan, and at the Composers Conference summer festival. Former teaching positions include the Washington Heights Community Conservatory, where she maintained a private studio and conducted the orchestra, and Oberlin Conservatory (secondary instruction). She has held chamber music residency positions at Stanford, Columbia, Bowling Green State University, McGill, New York University, and the Zurich University of the Arts, among others.

Marina is currently pursuing a DMA at the City University of New York Graduate Center. She holds a Masters degree in contemporary performance from the Manhattan School of Music, where she was the recipient of a full scholarship. She received a BM in Violin Performance and a BA in English with a Creative Writing Concentration from Oberlin College and Conservatory in 2012, where she was the recipient of a Conservatory Dean's Talent Award and a John Frederick Oberlin Scholarship. Primary teachers include Mark Steinberg, Laurie Smukler, Curtis Macomber, Milan Vitek, and Ecaterina Gerson."

-Marina Kifferstein Website (http://www.marinakifferstein.com/about.html)
3/13/2024

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"Laura Barger, pianist, is a founding member of piano-percussion quartet, Yarn/Wire. Praised for their "mesmerizing" performances (The New York Times), Yarn/Wire has been featured at venues such as the Lincoln Center Festival, Edinburgh International Festival, Barbican Centre, Library of Congress, Miller Theatre at Columbia University, and Brooklyn Academy of Music. In addition, Laura is a frequent collaborator with the Wet Ink Large Ensemble, and performs in the Key_String Duo with guitarist Giacomo Baldelli. She performs internationally as a soloist and chamber musician, and has appeared at the National Gallery of Ireland, Huddersfield Festival, Festival di Bellagio e Lagodi Como, and the Banff Centre for the Arts. Laura is currently on faculty at John Jay College."

-Miller Theatre (https://www.millertheatre.com/explore/bios/laura-barger)
3/13/2024

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"Praised for her, "taut and impassioned performance" by the New York Times, pianist Ning Yu performs with vigor and dedication for traditional and repertoire of the 20th and 21st century on stages across the United States, Europe and Asia. Ning brings virtuosity and adventurous spirit to a wide range of music, both in solo performances and in collaborations with some of today's most distinguished creative artists.

Working at the forefront of the current creative music scene in the US, Ning has given dozens of world premieres by esteemed composers such as Tristan Murail, Steve Reich, Terry Riley, David Lang, Michael Gordon, Enno Poppe, and collaborated with artists from different genres such as Sufjan Stevens, Glenn Kotche, Pete Swanson, and Bryce Dessner. She has performed with ensembles such as Bang on A Can All- Stars, ICE, Talea Ensemble, Signal Ensemble, counter)induction, and she is a member of the highly regarded piano/percussion quartet Yarn/Wire.

Ning appears in concert halls, international festivals, universities, and other non-traditional performance spaces. These venues include Lincoln Center, Carnegie Hall, Museum of Modern Art , Miller Theater, Guggenheim Museum, Brooklyn Academy of Music, Monday Evening Concerts in Los Angles, Library of Congress, Issue Project Room, Pioneer Works, Contempo Concert Series at University of Chicago, the Kennedy Center, Kimmel Center, Köln Philharmonie in Germany, Muziekgebouw in Amsterdam, Kwe- Tsing Theater in Hong Kong, Spoleto Festival, Rainy Day Festival in Luxembourg, Ultima Festival in Norway, Transit Festival in Belgium, Edinburgh Festival in Scotland, Singapore International Arts Festival, Princeton University, Stanford University, Columbia University, Yale University, Brown University, and Eastman School of Music.

In theater, Ning performed with Mabou Mines' Dollhouse - a critically acclaimed production directed by Lee Breuer. She can be seen in the production's feature-film version, produced by ARTE France. Ning has also collaborated with director Moisés Kaufman and the Tectonic Theater Project on the development of the Tony Award-nominated play 33 Variations.

Ning is the winner of the Boucourechliev Prize at the Ninth International Concours de Orléans in France - a competition devoted to piano repertoire from 1900 to today. Together with other members of Yarn/Wire, the first-prize winner of Open Category of the International M-Prize Chamber Music Competition, and the prestigious "40 under 40 award" of the Stony Brook University for outstanding alumni.

Ning is a graduate of the Eastman School of Music (B.M. And M.M.A) and Stony Brook University (D.M.A.). She is assistant professor of piano and chamber music at the George Washington University in Washington, D.C. Ning currently resides in New York City with her husband and daughter. She is a Yamaha Artist."

-Ning Yu Website (https://www.ningyupiano.com/bio)
3/13/2024

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"Percussionist Ian Antonio's breadth of experience - concertizing across four continents with a wide variety of chamber ensembles, orchestras, experimental rock bands, avant-garde theatre companies, and as a soloist, conductor, and educator - has led him to develop a unique sound and approach to both performing and teaching.

Ian is a founding member of the piano percussion quartet Yarn/Wire. Hailed as "mesmerizing and dynamic" by the New York Times, the ensemble is known for the energy and precision it brings to performances of today's most adventurous music. Yarn/Wire has appeared at prestigious venues across the globe, including Lincoln Center, Brooklyn Academy of Music, Library of Congress, Edinburgh International Festival, Barbican Centre, and Shanghai Symphony Hall. The ensemble has held residencies at institutions such as Columbia University, Harvard University, Stanford University, and ISSUE Project Room, among many others. In 2016, Yarn/Wire won 1st Prize / Open at the University of Michigan's inaugural M-Prize, the largest chamber music competition in the world. The ensemble has premiered over one hundred new works, released nine albums, and continually advocates for this exciting emerging repertoire.

Ian is a core member of the Wet Ink Ensemble, a collective of composers and performers. Formerly the Ensemble-in-Residence at Duke University, Wet Ink most commonly performs as a septet comprised of a core group of composer-performers that collaborate in a band-like fashion, writing, improvising, preparing, and touring pieces together over long stretches of time. This approach, honed over 20 years, has led to an incomparable body of work marked by a keenly developed performance practice, played in concert with ferocity, commitment, and expressivity. In demand at both domestic and international venues, Wet Ink's performances "combine striking stylistic and aesthetic assurance with technical perfection." (Dissonanz Switzerland)

Ian is also a member of the percussion ensemble Talujon. The group's sextet configuration allows Talujon to produce large-scale and oft-neglected percussive masterworks as well as new pieces written for the ensemble. Described by the New York Times as possessing an "edgy, unflagging energy", the ensemble has been championing percussive music for well over two decades. Since joining the group in 2011, Ian has performed with Talujon at the Metropolitation Museum of Art, Bang on a Can Marathon, BAM Next Wave Festival, and elsewhere across the country.

From 2003-2012 Ian was a member of the difficult-to-categorize trio Zs. With Zs, Ian toured both domestically and abroad, recorded extensively, and made composed / improvised "conceptual art objects that set form and content against each other - like, say, a perfect birthday cake made out of sawdust, or a perfect hammer made out of bird feathers." (New York Times) Equally at home in lofts, basements, galleries, and festivals, Ian performed with Zs at many prominent jazz festivals including the Germany's Moers Festival, Switzerland's Jazz Festival Willislau, and Tokyo's Club Unit. The band's 2010 album, New Slaves, was named Album of the Year by Tiny Mix Tapes and appeared on numerous best-of lists.

Ian is currently a member of the faculty at Purchase College where he teaches private lessons, rep class, and a hand drumming workshop, among other duties. He also leads percussion activities for the Norwalk Youth Symphony program. In past years, Ian has been on faculty and guest lectured at Stony Brook University, Adelphi University, Montclair State University, Franklin Pierce University, 92nd Street Y, Henry Street Settlement, and the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs.

Ian has recorded over 40 albums for the Nonesuch, Kairos, Warp, Tzadik, Carrier, Social Registry, Populist, Distributed Objects, Planaria, Sockets, Hot Cup, Quiet Design, and Three One G record labels, among others. He has also performed with the International Contemporary Ensemble, Theatre of a Two-Headed Calf, SEM Ensemble, Argento Chamber Ensemble, Albany Symphony, Boston Symphony, BBC Symphony Orchestra, London Sinfonettia, Los Angeles Philharmonic, and worked with composers, conductors, and soloists such as Seigi Ozawa, Kurt Masur, Charles Dutoit, Mstislav Rostropovich, Yefim Bronfman, Helmut Lachenmann, Enno Poppe, John Adams, and Kaija Saariaho.

Ian was born in 1981 and grew up in Albany, NY, studying percussion with Richard Albagli and performing with the Empire State Youth Orchestra and Percussion Ensemble. He moved to New York City to attend the Manhattan School of Music and study with James Preiss, Duncan Patton, Christopher Lamb, Eric Charleston, and Claire Heldrich. Ian completed his studies with Eduardo Leandro at Stony Brook University. Ian holds a B.M. from the Manhattan School of Music and an M.M. and D.M.A. from Stony Brook University. He has also attended the Tanglewood Music Center and Yellow Barn festivals. At Night Music publishes Ian's music, including solos for marimba, percussion ensembles, and audition pieces. Ian proudly plays Pearl/Adams instruments, Paiste cymbals and gongs, uses Vic Firth sticks and mallets, and Black Swamp accessories."

-Ian Antonio Website (https://ianantonio.com/about/)
3/13/2024

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"Internationally recognized as a soloist as well as a chamber musician, Austro-Italian violinist Olivia De Prato has been described as "flamboyant...convincing" (New York Times) and an "enchanting violinist" (Messaggero Veneto, Italy). After recently moving to New York City she has quickly established herself as a passionate performer of contemporary and improvised music. Her chamber music activities include appearances at the Bang on a Can Marathon in NYC, the Lucerne Festival with Pierre Boulez, the Ensemble Modern Festival, "June in Buffalo" and the Ojai Festival with Steve Reich. Olivia is a member of the new music ensembles Signal directed by Brad Lubman and Victoire founded by composer Missy Mazzoli. Olivia has closely collaborated with composers such as Sir Harrison Birtwistle, Pierre Boulez, Chaya Czernowin, Peter Eötvös, Michael Gordon, Helmut Lachenman, David Lang, Meredith Monk, Steve Reich, Todd Reynolds, Ned Rothenberg, Julia Wolfe, and Evan Ziporyn. Olivia studied at the University of Music and Arts in Vienna and received her B.M. from the Eastman School of Music. She graduated with her M.M in Contemporary Performance from the Manhattan School of Music."

-Mivos Quartet Website (https://www.mivosquartet.com/)
3/13/2024

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"Victor Lowrie is a versatile violist and composer living in New York City. He has performed as a soloist and chamber musician with groups including Signal, Wordless Music Orchestra, Either/Or, Kavak Trio and Argento Chamber Ensemble. Victor's compositions include an awardwinning trio a landscape (viola, bassoon, piano), Runaway (viola & electronics), Question (for Kavak Trio) and an upcoming string quartet to be premiered by MIVOS in 2011. He can be heard on recordings from New Amsterdam, Kill Rock Stars, Quiet Design, Sunnyside and Tzadik Records. As an educator, Victor has given masterclasses and guest lectures at Brooklyn College and the EAFIT University in Medellín, Colombia. Victor grew up on the idyllic central coast of California and received his Bachelor's degree from San Francisco State University. He earned his Master's degree in Contemporary Viola Performance from the Manhattan School of Music."

-Mivos String Quartet Website (https://www.mivosquartet.com/)
3/13/2024

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Track Listing:



1. Pendulum VII 11:16

2. Harmonielehre - 2. Chorale I: Sum + Difference 6:08

3. Harmonielehre - 3. Chorale II: Head Against Wall (For Petr Kotik) 4:06

4. Harmonielehre - 4. Envelopes 3:55

5. Pneuma 13:22

6. Harmonielehre - 6. Rendering I: Blue Poles No. 11 0:50

7. Harmonielehre - 7. Vocalise 7:23

8. Harmonielehre - 8. Rendering II: Oblique 1:18

9. Torrent 17:50

Related Categories of Interest:


Book
Compositional Forms
Large Ensembles
Stringed Instruments
Large Ensembles
Quartet Recordings
Duo Recordings
Last Copy of Items that will not be restocked...

Search for other titles on the label:
Sound American/Pleasure of the Text Records.


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