Tribeca New Music to Continue 2016 Season with 'BONJOUR'

Tribeca New Music continues its 2016 season with Bonjour - Music of Florent Ghys. Emerging out of the fertile environment of the Yale School of Music and Bang on a Can fellowships, five gifted performing artists (Ashley Bathgate, Florent Ghys, James Moore, Eleonore Oppenheim, and Owen Weaver) formed friendships and a new band, led by composer/performer Florent Ghys. This concert will debut the complete works from their new album, Bonjour, at nancy manocherian's the cell, 338 West 23rd Street (bet. 8th & 9th Ave.) in NYC, on Sunday, March 20 at 4PM. Tickets range in price from $20 to $35 and to buy tickets, please go to tribecanewmusic.org.

Says TNM Director Preston Stahly, "Last year, composer Florent Ghys told me about a new band he had formed with his friends. And when he said who was in the group, I realized that something very special was taking place. Over the past few years the band has grown and built repertoire. This concert will debut the complete works on their first album, Bonjour, to be released by Cantaloupe Music this year. They're hot to perform, and we are very pleased to present this music to the public for the first time in its entirety."

Florent Ghys is a composer and double bass player from Bordeaux, France, based in Princeton, NJ. His music has been described as a ''thrilling breed of post-minimal chamber music'' (Time Out NYC) and ''highly contrapuntal showcasing intelligent multi-tracking and inventive use of sampled speech'' (WQXR). Journalist John Schaefer says: "Composer and bassist Florent Ghys writes pieces that blend elements of minimalism, pop music, and a dose of extravagant wit."

As a double bass player, he performed with the Paris Opera Orchestra, the Wordless Music Orchestra, and the ensemble Ear Heart Music. As a film composer, Florent created several soundtracks for the German-French ARTE, including the documentary "Revolution, Riot Grrrl style." As a producer Florent supervised the recording of Steve Reich's Piano Counterpoint by pianist Vicky Chow, available on Nonesuch. As a Max programmer he developed several applications, including one for Reich's Piano Counterpoint, available from Boosey & Hawkes.

Bonjour is a low string band with drums/percussion founded by bassist and composer Florent Ghys in 2012. Combining basses, cello, guitars, drum set, pitched percussion, and voices, Ghys creates music that easily slides across genre barriers and brings the listener into a sound world that is equal parts groove, melody, and meditation.