The Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra's Liquid Music, Walker Art Center and Schubert Club Mix present ROOMFUL OF TEETH

Grammy Award-winning vocal ensemble Roomful of Teeth and sonic experimentalist Nick Zammuto (The Books) assemble a custom-built evening of sound explorations in a world premiere collaboration commissioned by the SPCO's Liquid Music, Walker Art Center and Schubert Club Mix. In addition, the vocal ensemble performs the Minnesota premiere of Partita for 8 Voices, group member Caroline Shaw's mesmerizing Pulitzer Prize-winning composition.

"We're thrilled to join the line-up of world class, groundbreaking artists this year and are especially honored to be co-presented by Liquid Music, The Schubert Club and Walker Art Center, three of our favorite arts organizations in the country," says Roomful of Teeth member Brad Wells. "Our collaboration with Nick Zammuto promises to elicit sounds and grooves that could only manifest in such a thoughtfully supported and artfully curated production. Nick's brilliance - creating intricate, tech-based grooves that seem to levitate - will be on full display in this new work. The piece features magical moments in which individual singers from Teeth are spotlighted as well as vast flowing musical tapestries for the whole group."

Nick Zammuto explains that Self one, his new piece for Roomful of Teeth, "cycles between solos sung through a pitch/delay unit with an analog synth accompaniment, and highly rhythmic ensemble sections." Nick elaborates that the the piece is about "finding our identities within a digital house of mirrors."

"Roomful of Teeth's Twin Cities' debut is long overdue," says Liquid Music curator Kate Nordstrum. "To make up for lost time, The Schubert Club, Walker and Liquid Music are banding together to commission a new work for the ensemble and jointly present the collaboration. We're all great admirers of Nick Zammuto's musical mind and so when we heard that Roomful of Teeth were hoping to work with him, we jumped on the opportunity. Caroline Shaw's Pulitzer Prize-winning Partita for 8 Voices will also be featured on the program, a special and electric piece that will sound and feel amazing at Aria."

Wednesday, Apr 5, 2017. Doors at 6:30pm | Music at 7:30pm Aria, Minneapolis 105 North First Street, Minneapolis, MN 55401. $30 ($25 for Liquid Music and Schubert Club Mix subscribers and Walker Art Center members) liquidmusicseries.org | 651.291.1144.

Roomful of Teeth is a GRAMMY-winning vocal project dedicated to mining the expressive potential of the human voice. Through study with masters from singing traditions the world over, the eight-voice ensemble continually expands its vocabulary of singing techniques and, through an ongoing commissioning process, forges a new repertoire without borders.

Founded in 2009 by Brad Wells, the group gathers annually at the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art (MASS MoCA) in North Adams, Massachusetts, where they've studied Tuvan throat singing, yodeling, belting, Inuit throat singing, Korean P'ansori, Georgian singing, Sardinian cantu a tenore, Hindustani music and Persian classical singing with some of the world's top performers and teachers. Commissioned composers include Rinde Eckert, Judd Greenstein, Caleb Burhans, Merrill Garbus (of tUnE-yArDs), William Brittelle, Anna Clyne, Fred Hersch, Wally Gunn, Sarah Kirkland Snider, Missy Mazzoli, Michael Harrison, Sam Amidon, and Ted Hearne.

Nick Zammuto
Nick Zammuto was one-half of the beloved experimental collage-pop duo, the Books. He lives and works in the Green Mountains of Southern Vermont, where he writes, records, mixes and masters his records in a small tractor garage converted into a studio. Just yards away from his studio is his house, which he designed and built himself, and large gardens where he and his wife manage to grow most of their own food for their three sons. This self-sufficiency and constant drawing of inspiration from his surroundings is synonymous with his musical vision; a statement about returning to a life in balance, while at the same time pushing the capacity of cutting-edge music technology to extend human emotion, rather than suppress it. Making music that sounds and feels like no one else is nothing new for Zammuto, but making music that doesn't even sound like his own past is a whole other impressive feat in itself.

The Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra's Liquid Music Series develops innovative new projects with iconoclastic artists in unique presentation formats. Liquid Music performances invite adventurous audiences to discover the new and the fascinating within the flourishing landscape of contemporary chamber music.

Renowned for its artistic excellence, remarkable versatility of musical styles and adventurous programming, The Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra is widely regarded as one of the finest chamber orchestras in the world. Now in its 58th season, the SPCO has recently undergone transformational change with the opening of its new home, the Ordway Concert Hall, the addition of a new generation of players, and significant changes in its artistic vision. The SPCO is primarily an unconducted ensemble that performs a broad range of repertoire from Baroque to new music and works in close collaboration with a diverse series of artistic partners, including British Baroque specialist Jonathan Cohen, American pianist Jeremy Denk, Swedish clarinetist Martin Fröst, Moldovan violinist Patricia Kopatchinskaja, Finnish violinist Pekka Kuusisto and Austrian conductor/violinist Thomas Zehetmair.

The virtuoso musicians of the SPCO present more than 130 concerts and educational programs each year, and reaches more than 200,000 listeners annually through its free online Listening Library. Nationally recognized for its commitment to broad community accessibility, the SPCO offers the most affordable tickets of any major American orchestra, with over 50 percent of tickets available for $12 or less. The SPCO has expanded accessibility even further by offering free tickets for children and students starting in the 2016.17 season as a part of the New Generation Initiative. The organization's award-winning CONNECT education program reaches over 5,000 students annually in 12 public schools, and its Target® Free Family Music program provides engaging and educational experiences for thousands of children and families.

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