International Contemporary Ensemble Collaborates with French New-Music Group Ensemble Itinerare with Concert at Roulette on 4/25

The International Contemporary Ensemble (ICE) continues to transform the way music is created and experienced through several upcoming events throughout New York City in April. On Tuesday, April 25 at 8:00 p.m., ICE collaborates with French new-music group Ensemble Itinéraire, exploring the Spectralism movement and its impact on today's composers. The program reflects the musical traditions of both ensembles with works by both French and American composers including the world premiere of Christopher Trapani's PolychROME, commissioned by ICE, Philippe Leroux's De l'Épaisseur, Ge?rard Grisey's Périodes and Anubis et Nout, and Ashley Fure's Something to Hunt.

Following the concert at Roulette, from Wednesday, April 26 to Sunday, April 30, ICE returns to the Abrons Arts Center for three workshops and four concerts, as part of its free OpenICE initiative. Composer Wojtek Blecharz discusses and demonstrates selections from his new commission for ICE musicians through workshops on Wednesday, April 26 at 10:00 a.m., Thursday, April 27 at 10:00 a.m., and Friday, April 28 at 11:00 a.m.

ICE bassoonist Rebekah Heller is featured in a solo concert with a world premiere by Edgar Guzman on Wednesday, April 26 at 8:00 p.m. The performance also includes a guest appearance by ICE saxophonist Ryan Muncy. ICE reunites with Ensemble Itinéraire on Friday, April 28 at 8:00 p.m. in a "side-by-side" concert of electroacoustic music featuring works by Pauline Oliveros, Francesca Verunelli, Chiyoko Szlavnics, and White/Waves by Sky Macklay, an ICEcommons.org selection.

The following evening, Saturday, April 29 at 8:00 p.m., members of ICE are featured in previous ICELab commissioning program participant He Cuts Snow by Sabrina Shcroeder, a previous ICELab commissioning program participant. Also on the program is Wojtek Blecharz's music for invisible places, and Simon Steen-Andersen's On and Off and To and Fro. April's OpenICE events conclude with a concert featuring soprano Tony Arnold, and ICE pianist Jacob Greenberg on Sunday, April 30 at 3:00 p.m. performing Olivier Messiaen's Poémes Pour Mi, a new work by Amy Williams for soprano and Indian harmonium, and Helmut Lachenmann's Got Lost.

Launched in 2015, OpenICE continues to develop, engage, and sustain diverse 21st-century listeners through an outpouring of free artist-driven programming that is open to the public. The program serves a wide range of constituencies, ranging from those with limited access to the art form to students of all ages and backgrounds. Through its partnership with the Abrons Arts Center, the performing arts wing of the Henry Street Settlement, OpenICE brings every aspect of the ensemble's artist-curated and ensemble-commissioned music-making-including performances, digital documentation, workshops, hands-on educational activities, and in-person interaction with the composers-into the open for the benefit of new audiences.

On Thursday, April 27 at 8:00 p.m. at the Bruno Walter Auditorium at the New York Public Library, ICE is joined by Israeli composer Chaya Czernowin in an exploration of the world premiere of her new work Adiantum Capillus Veneris I, II, III: Etudes in Fragility for voice and breath featuring soprano Tony Arnold. The interactive evening-the fourth in a series of events at the NYPL which focus on a single composer-allows the audience to participate and ask questions about Czernowin's compositional process. The event will be recorded as part of an on-going effort to collectively build archives and documentation for composers.