International Contemporary Ensemble Presents Free OpenICE Events

The International Contemporary Ensemble (ICE) continues its commitment to opening the doors on its process of creating innovative musical experiences with its next installment of free OpenICE events at the Abron Arts Center's Underground Theater from Wednesday, March 1 to Sunday, March 5.

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.

New York-based sound artist and composer Monte Weber, one of the OpenICE commissionees for the 2017-18 season, hosts compositional workshops on Wednesday March 1 at 2:00 pm and 4:30 pm. Weber's work centers around interactive technology and computer assisted compositional processes, using these tools to explore live physical performance and sound creation in the concert hall. Two separate, hands-on workshops will help the ICE string and wind players, respectively, learn Weber's language.

On Friday, March 3 at 8:00 p.m., the first show of the weekend features compositions by Levy Lorenzo and Monte Weber, as well as compositions developed with new electronic instruments built at the October OpenICE session by guests Dennis Sullivan and Viola Yip.

OpenICE features Nuiko Wadden (harp) and Gareth Flowers (trumpet) on Saturday March 4 at 8:00 p.m., in repertoire by Stefan Wolpe, Hans Werner Henze, and Liza Lim as well as new works by Gareth Flowers and others.

Spring OpenICE at Abrons concludes on Sunday, March 5 at 6:00 p.m. with solo sets by Alice Teyssier (flute/voice), and Ryan Muncy (saxophone) which include new works by Bradley Scott Rosen.

All events are free and open to the public. Reservations for the evening concerts on March 3, 4 and 5 are encouraged, and can be made at www.abronsartscenter.org.

The International Contemporary Ensemble (ICE) is an artist collective committed to transforming the way music is created and experienced. As performer, curator, and educator, ICE explores how new music intersects with communities across the world. The ensemble's 35 members are featured as soloists, chamber musicians, commissioners, and collaborators with the foremost musical artists of our time. Works by emerging composers have anchored ICE's programming since its founding in 2001, and the group's recordings and digital platforms highlight the many voices that weave music's present.

A recipient of the American Music Center's Trailblazer Award and the Chamber Music America/ASCAP Award for Adventurous Programming, ICE was also named the 2014 Musical America Ensemble of the Year. The group currently serves as artists-in-residence at Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts' Mostly Mozart Festival, and previously led a five-year residency at the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago. ICE has been featured at the Ojai Music Festival since 2015, and has appeared at festivals abroad such as Acht Brücken Cologne and Musica nova Helsinki. Other recent performance stages include the Park Avenue Armory, The Stone, ice floes at Greenland's Diskotek Sessions, and boats on the Amazon River.

New initiatives include OpenICE, made possible with lead funding from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, which offers free concerts and related programming wherever ICE performs, and enables a working process with composers to unfold in public settings. DigitICE catalogues the ensemble's performances in a free online streaming video library. ICE's First Page program is a commissioning consortium that fosters close collaborations between performers, composers, and listeners as new music is developed. EntICE, a side-by-side youth program, places ICE musicians within youth orchestras as they premiere new commissioned works together. Inaugural EntICE partners include Youth Orchestra Los Angeles and The People's Music School in Chicago. Yamaha Artist Services New York is the exclusive piano provider for ICE. Read more at iceorg.org.