International Contemporary Ensemble Announces Fall 2018 Concerts And Incoming Executive Director, Rebecca Sigel

The International Contemporary Ensemble (ICE) announces their fall 2018 season and the appointment of Executive Director Rebecca Sigel. Engagements this autumn include residencies at Depauw University, University of North Texas, Cornell University, and University of Michigan; a concert at the 2018 Resonant Bodies Festival at Roulette Intermedium; performances of Nathan Davis and Phyllis Chen's In Plain Air at Christ Church Neighborhood House in Philadelphia, part of the Philly Fringe Festival; the New York premiere performances of Missy Mazzoli's opera Proving Up at Miller Theatre; the politically themed program, the national anthems, with The Crossing at Peak Performances; a performance with Hidejiro Honjo at the Japan Society; a concert at the Rubin Institute for Music Criticism at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music; 100 for 100: Musical Decades of Freedom with the Polskie Wydawnictwo Muzyczne and Polish Cultural Institute New York at Roulette; a Miller Theatre Composer Portrait of Du Yun; and a return to Constellation in Chicago.

On September 1, 2018, current Executive Director William McDaniel hands over the title to Rebecca Sigel, formerly the LA Phil's Manager of Social Innovation, who also served as a Business Planning Consultant for the National Park Service and completed BA (Brown University - Music) and Master of Public Policy (UC Berkeley) degrees. McDaniel oversaw the ensemble's transition from a founder-led group to one with a formal executive directorship, and will remain closely connected to the organization. Of her appointment, Rebecca Sigel says, "Through my engagement with the worlds of both music and social policy, I have long been drawn to those artistic environments that provoke vulnerable, complex, constructive conversations that can have ripples out into broader networks. In ICE, I found my perfect match: musicians passionate about engaging the music of today with the people of today. When I first worked with ICE during their residency with Youth Orchestra LA, I was struck by the ensemble's relentless pursuit of collaborative creativity and constant interrogation of the norms by which music could be crafted and performed. In its organizational structure, ICE models the community it also builds through musical collaboration. I am honored to take on this role as ICE's Executive Director, facilitating the next phase of an artist-led organization that is building new shared languages, enabling creative voice and perspective, and prioritizing representation of underrepresented musical points of view."

The International Contemporary Ensemble's fall opens with a performance at the closing concert of the 2018 Resonant Bodies Festival at Roulette Intermedium on Thursday, September 13, 2018 at 7:30pm. ICE will perform music by and alongside German soprano Sarah Maria Sun. The concert also features Pamela Z and Gelsey Bell.

From September 22 - 23, 2018, as a part of their 2018-19 OpenICE series of free programs, ICE will perform the world premiere of Phyllis Chen and Nathan Davis's In Plain Air at Christ Church Neighborhood House in Philadelphia, a commission of Christ Church Preservation Trust presented in partnership with FringeArts as part of the 2018 Fringe Festival. Using the church's new C.B Fisk 3,000-pipe organ, Opus 150, as well as centuries-old bells, an orchestra of pipe whistles, and community-built music boxes, Chen and Davis' multi-movement program unites the historic bell tolls of "The Nation's Church," the majesty of the intricately constructed organ, and the ICE's characteristic focus on place and community into a one-of-a-kind sonic experience.

On Wednesday, September 26, 2018 at 8pm and Friday, September 28, 2018 at 8pm, ICE performs the New York premiere performances of Missy Mazzoli's new opera, Proving Up, with libretto by Royce Vavrek, at Miller Theatre at Columbia University. Proving Up is a harrowing tale of a family's pursuit of the American Dream set in post-Civil War Nebraska produced by James Darrah and directed by Nathan Troup, in a new production by Opera Omaha.

ICE returns to Peak Performances at Montclair State University in Montclair, NJ on Saturday, September 29 at 7:30pm as part of Grammy-winning choir The Crossing's work, the national anthems. The concert explores where patriotism ends and nationalism begins, and looks at the ways humans use words to describe desires, fears, and needs as pertaining to homelands, human relationships, and homelessness. The program is anchored by David Lang's the national anthems, and also features Ted Hearne's Consent and What it might say,in addition to Caroline Shaw's To the Hands, an exploration of diaspora and displacement.

On Friday, October 5, 2018 at 7:30pm, ICE performs at the Japan Society in New York City with Hidejiro Honjo, a young shamisen prodigy and disciple of Hidetaro Honjoh, in an evening featuring living composers from the U.S. and Japan. Honjo and ICE deliver three world premieres composed by Grammy-nominee Vijay Iyer, Nathan Davis, and Yu Kuwabara, as well as pieces by Yuji Takahashi and Dai Fujikura, and the U.S. premiere of the full score of Scott Johnson's Up and Back for shamisen, electric guitar, cello, and piano.

The International Contemporary Ensemble heads to the west coast on Friday, October 26, 2018 at 8:00pm for a concert in partnership with the Rubin Institute for Music Criticism in the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. The program includes a world premiere by Seth Cluett and Anna Thorvaldsdottir's Sequences. "The ICEcommons composer-discovery database has picked up incredible momentum and support from presenter-collaborators around North America. An early ICEcommons discovery, Seth Cluett, has become a principal collaborator in the coming season. With the support of Nokia Bell Labs, ICE will bring a new work of Seth's to a program at the Rubin Institute for Music Criticism at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. I am thrilled to see continued activity from the Ensemble in a city and state that was home to me," says Sigel.

ICE partners with the Polskie Wydawnictwo Muzyczne, Polish Cultural Institute New York, and Adam Mickiewicz Institute to present 100 for 100: Musical Decades of Freedom at Roulette Intermedium on on Sunday, November 11, 2018 at 8pm. Conductor Steven Schick will lead performances of works by five contemporary Polish composers in celebration of the Polish centennial of independence: Pawe? Mykietyn, Tadeusz Wielecki, Lidia Zielinska, Aleksander Nowak, and Agata Zubel. The concert 100 for 100: Musical Decades of Freedom, co-organized by PWM Edition to celebrate the centenary of Poland regaining independence, is held under the National Patronage of Andrzej Duda, the President of the Republic of Poland to mark the Centenary of Regaining Independence and financed by the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage of the Republic of Poland as part of the Multi-Annual Program "Niepodlegta" 2017-2021.

ICE Returns to Miller Theatre on Thursday, November 15, 2018 at 8pm for a Composer Portrait of Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Du Yun. A founding member of ICE, Du Yun is a multifaceted artist - composer, multi-instrumentalist, performance artist, and curator. The program will include Du Yun's compositions An Empty Garlic (2014/2018); Ixtab, 10pm(2013/2018); Under a tree, an ud?tta (2016); Zinc Oxide, a tale of a seagull (2010); Air Glow (2006); Impeccable Quake (2004); and Vicissitudes No. 1 (2002).

On Sunday, December 2, 2018 at 8:30pm, ICE returns to Constellation in its hometown of Chicago to perform a concert of of works curated by the artists of ICE, selected from the ICEcommons composer discovery database - an increasingly vital programming force for OpenICE events.

ICE's 2018-2019 season also includes residencies at Depauw University (September 4-6, 2018 and April 3-5 2019), the University of North Texas (October 24-30, 2018), Cornell University, and the University of Michigan (October 17 - 20, Nov. 27 - 30, 2018, February 18 -21, March 10 - 13)

Program Information:

Resonant Bodies Festival 2018 - Sarah Maria Sun, Pamela Z, and Gelsey Bell
Thursday, September 13, 2018 at 7:30pm
Roulette Intermedium | 509 Atlantic Ave. | Brooklyn, NY
Tickets: General Admission $20, VIP $25 includes one free drink and reserved seating.
Link: http://www.resonantbodiesfestival.org/nyc/3

Performers:
Sarah Maria Sun with the International Contemporary Ensemble
Pamela Z
Gelsey Bell

Philly Fringe Festival - Christ Church Neighborhood House Presents In Plain Air
September 22 at 1:00pm, 3:30pm, and 6:00pm
September 23 at 3:30pm and 6:00pm
Christ Church Campus | 20 N. American Street | Philadelphia, PA
Tickets: Free and Open to the Public. $2 Reservation fee for RSVP.
Link: http://www.neighborhood-house.com/projects/in-plain-air

Performers:
International Contemporary Ensemble

Program:
Phyllis Chen and Nathan Davis: In Plain Air

Missy Mazzoli's Proving Up
Wednesday, September 26, 2018 at 8pm
Friday, September 28, 2018 at 8pm
Miller Theatre at Columbia University | 2960 Broadway | New York, NY
Tickets: $40-$75; Seniors $34-$63; Students $7-$45
Link: https://www.millertheatre.com/events/proving-up

Performers:
Missy Mazzoli, Composer
Royce Vavrek, Librettist
Christopher Rountree, Conductor
James Darrah, Production
Nathan Troup, Director
Michael Slattery, Miles Zegner
John Moore Mr. Johannes, "Pa" Zegner
Talise Trevigne, Mrs. Johannes "Ma" Zegner
Cree Carrico, Zegner Daughter, Littler
Abigail Nims, Zegner Daughter, Taller
Andrew Harris, The Sodbuster
Sam Shapiro, Peter Zegner
International Contemporary Ensemble

Program:
Missy Mazzoli: Proving Up (Libretto by Royce Vavrek)

Peak Performances Presents The Crossing: the national anthems
Saturday, September 29, 2018 at 7:30pm
Alexander Kasser Theater | 1 Normal Avenue | Montclair, NJ
Tickets: $30
Link: https://www.peakperfs.org/event/national-anthems/

Performers:
The Crossing
Strings of the International Contemporary Ensemble (ICE)

Program:
Ted Hearne: Consent
Ted Hearne: What it might say
David Lang: the national anthems
Caroline Shaw: To the Hands

ICE at Japan Society with Hidejiro Honjo
Friday, October 5, 2018 at 7:30pm
Japan Society | 333 East 47th Street | New York, NY
Tickets: $38 General Admission/$30 Members
Link: https://www.japansociety.org/event/hidejiro-honjoh-x-ice-shamisen-evolution

Performers:
Hidejiro Honjoh, shamisen
Rebekah Heller, bassoon
Nathan Davis, percussion
Phyllis Chen, piano
Katinka Kleijn, cello
Scott Johnson, guitar

Program:
Nathan Davis: New Work for shamisen, bassoon, and dulcimer
Yu Kuwabara: New Work for shamisen and bassoon
Yuji Takahashi: Yuugao no le for shamisen and piano
Vijay Iyer: New Work for solo shamisen
Dai Fujikura: neo for solo shamisen
Scott Johnson: Up and Back for shamisen, electric guitar, piano, and cello

Rubin Institute for Music Criticism
Friday, October 26, 2018 at 8pm
San Francisco Conservatory of Music's Caroline H. Hume Concert Hall | 50 Oak Street | San Francisco, CA
Tickets: Free, reservations recommended.
Link: https://sfcm.edu/events/international-contemporary-ensemble

Performers:
Isabel Gleicher, flute
Joshua Rubin, clarinet
Ryan Muncy, saxophone
Rebekah Heller, bassoon

Program:
Seth Cluett: New Work
Anna Thorvaldsdottir: Sequences

100 for 100: Musical Decades of Freedom Presented by the Polish Cultural Institute New York, PWM Edition, and Adam Mickiewicz Institute
Sunday, November 11, 2018 at 8pm
Roulette Intermedium | 509 Atlantic Ave. | Brooklyn, NY
Link: http://roulette.org/event/100-for-100-musical-decades-of-freedom/

Performers:
International Contemporary Ensemble

Program:
Agata Zubel: Double Battery
Tadeusz Wielecki: Liczne odnogi rozgalezionych splotow
Aleksandr Nowak: Quantemporette
Pawel Mykietyn: Klave for harpsichord and ensemble
Lidia Zielinska: Siedem wysp Conrada

Co-presented with the Polish Cultural Institute New York
Organised in collaboration with the Adam Mickiewicz Institute as part of the Polska Music programme

Composer Portraits: Du Yun
Thursday, November 15, 2018 at 8pm
Miller Theatre | 2960 Broadway | New York, NY
Tickets: $25-30 general admission, $21-25 senior, $15-18 student
Link: https://www.millertheatre.com/events/du-yun

Performers:
Du Yun, composer
International Contemporary Ensemble

Program:
Du Yun: An Empty Garlic (2014/2018)
Du Yun: Ixtab, 10pm (2013/2018)
Du Yun: Under a tree, an ud?tta (2016)
Du Yun: Zinc Oxide, a tale of a seagull (2010)
Du Yun: Air Glow (2006)
Du Yun: Impeccable Quake (2004)
Du Yun: Vicissitudes No. 1 (2002)

ICEcommons at Constellation
Sunday, December 2, 2018 at 8:30pm
Constellation | 3111 N Western Ave. | Chicago, IL
Tickets: Free and Open to the Public
Link: https://www.constellation-chicago.com/

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