Wet Ink Ensemble Kicks Off 25th Anniversary Season with Concert of World Premieres

New York City-based new music collective Wet Ink Ensemble opens its 25th anniversary season with an evening of world premieres by Wet Ink’s composer-performers Mariel Roberts, Kate Soper, and Josh Modney on Monday, October 9, 2023 at 8:00 p.m. at Opera America’s Scorca Hall.

Kate Soper’s Underneath for solo cello was written during lockdown and has “existed only in my imagination for the past two and a half years,” she said. “I am honored to have Mariel Roberts bring it to life!” The work was commissioned by the I&I Foundation with a generous contribution from Jean-Jacques Indermuehle. 

Mariel Robert’s new work, Sunder, for solo piano and electronics, utilizes field recordings made at the border wall between the US and Mexico, and aims to reframe the performer's presence in these borderland soundscapes by transforming and interacting with the physical body of the instrument. The piece is built around the idea of bringing a performer to fit the natural qualities of a space, and letting the performer be shaped by these spaces. Each of the seven movements is centered around recordings made at a different location along the border wall, starting in San Antonio and ending in San Diego. Sunder was written for pianist Conor Hanick, and made possible through support from Some Serious Business and the Shifting Foundation. 

Josh Modney’s LYNX is the second of five pieces in his Ascending Primes series (a double album of chamber works which will be released on Pyroclastic Records in May 2024). Tailored to the distinctive virtuosity of Mariel Roberts, LYNX travels to many places over its 10-minute duration as violin and electronics process and augment the soloistic cello lines that form the backbone of the piece. LYNX was made possible through support from the Shifting Foundation.

On Sunday, November 12, 2023 at 8:00 p.m. Wet Ink celebrates the release of Eric Wubbels’s concert-length trio if and only if on Carrier Records with a rare live performance of the complete work at the Tenri Cultural Institute. Wet Ink continues its anniversary programming with a 25th Anniversary Festival with three concerts from Thursday, December 7, 2023 - Saturday, December 9, 2023 at Dixon Place. Details to be announced.