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Announcing the Co-Directors of OpenICE and Launching the Second Season
By: Sally Henry Fuller Jan. 25, 2016
With the launch of the second season of OpenICE, a multi-year program to engage new listeners for contemporary music through an outpouring of programming that is free and open to the public, the International Contemporary Ensemble (ICE) announces the appointment of Ryan Muncy (ICE saxophonist) and Alice Teyssier (ICE flutist/vocalist) as the new Co-Directors of OpenICE. Muncy and Teyssier have been members of ICE since 2014 and, in addition to their musical roles, serve in the capacities of Director of Institutional Giving and Artistic Operations Associate, respectively.
Through a 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. During the first half of 2016, ICE presents 11 free concerts at the Abrons Arts Center, with performance forces ranging from duos to large ensembles, featuring more than 14 world premieres and performances by 34 ICE musicians.
The broader OpenICE program, which has come to serve both new and experienced listeners in the ensemble's hometowns of New York and Chicago, as well as pilot efforts in new locations including Los Angeles, will offer 45 free concerts during the current season. The program's components of concert-making, education, and digital documentation are available to the public without charge and offered in venues and locations that are not typically home to contemporary music.
As the ensemble looks to the future of OpenICE, its members have come to explore ways in which parallel efforts in education, outreach, performance, and commissioning can intersect underneath the umbrella of OpenICE. As a response to this inquiry, a new educational initiative called EntICE, the focus of our educational efforts in 2016 and beyond, will be housed within the OpenICE program. EntICE commissions leading composers from around the world to write new works for youth ensembles and ICE, playing side-by-side. ICE musicians will guide young people-and their schools, families, and communities-through the entire collaborative process of bringing a new work to life, providing the ensembles a safe creative space for their work as well as major stages to present it. The inaugural EntICE season features composers Marcos Balter and Tania Leon and collaborations with the Youth Orchestra of Los Angeles (YOLA) and The People's Music School of Chicago.
Highlights of OpenICE New York's second season include a launch festival with three consecutive concerts in late January, a portrait of Milton Babbitt's music for the occasion of his centenary birthday, a program featuring the rarely heard Ondes Martenot (an early electronic instrument), the first-ever concert featuring ICE's all-star cello section, and ICE's first House Special taking place over the course of two consecutive nights in April. A residency at The Stone, co-presented through OpenICE, will include an additional 12 artist-curated concerts over the span of six days.
OpenICE New York is made possible through lead support from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and the Howard Gilman Foundation, alongside generous support from the French American Cultural Exchange (FACE Foundation), New Music USA, the Francis Goelet Charitable Lead Trusts, The Fan Fox and Leslie R. Samuels Foundation, The Aaron Copland Fund for Music, the National Endowment for the Arts, public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council, and the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew Cuomo and the New York State Legislature.
About ICE: The International Contemporary Ensemble (ICE), described by the New York Times as "one of the most accomplished and adventurous groups in new music," is dedicated to reshaping the way music is created and experienced. With a modular makeup of 33 leading instrumentalists performing in forces ranging from solos to large ensembles, ICE functions as performer, presenter, and educator, advancing the music of our time by developing innovative new works and new strategies for audience engagement. ICE redefines concert music as it brings together new work and new listeners in the 21st century. www.iceorg.org
About the Abrons Arts Center: The Abrons Arts Center is the performing and visual arts program of Henry Street Settlement. The Abrons supports the presentation of innovative, multi-disciplinary work; cultivates artists in all stages of their creative development through educational programs, commissions, and residencies; and serves as an intersection of cultural engagement for local, national, and international audiences and arts-workers.
Each year the Abrons offers over 250 performances, 12 gallery exhibitions, 20 residencies for performing and studio artists, and 100 different classes in dance, music, theater, and visual art. The Abrons also provides New York City public schools with teaching artists, introducing more than 3,000 students to the arts.
OpenICE New York - Season Two Launch
Abrons Arts Center
466 Grand Street, New York, NY 10002
* denotes OpenICE-commissioned work
January 26, 2016 | 8:00pm
Rebekah Heller, bassoon; Michael Nicolas, cello
Olga Neuwirth (b.1968): In Nacht end Eis (2007) for bassoon, cello, and electronics
Edgar Guzman (b.1981): Low-End DJ* (2016) for bassoon, cello, and electronics (WORLD PREMIERE)
Edgar Guzman: undefined (2008) for bassoon and electronics
David Fulmer (b.1981): new work* (2016) for bassoon and electronics (WORLD PREMIERE)
Dai Fujikura (b.1977): The Voice (2015) for bassoon and cello
January 27, 2016 | 8:00pm
David Bowlin, violin; Bridget Kibbey, harp
Kati Agócs (b.1975): Northern Lights (2012) for solo harp
Edgar Guzman (b.1981): Reboot* (2015) for violin and electronics (WORLD PREMIERE)
Camille Saint-Saëns (1835-1921): Fantaisie for Violin and Harp, Op.124 (1907)
Du Yun (b.1977): The Ocean Within (2011) for solo harp
Sebastian Currier (b.1959): Night Time (2000) for violin and harp
January 29, 2016 | 8:00pm
Claire Chase, flute; Ryan Muncy, saxophone; Ross Karre, percussion; Levy Lorenzo, electronics
Mauricio Pauly (b.1976): The Threshing Floor (2014) for percussion, tenor saxophone, and electronics
Marcos Balter (b.1974): Strohbass (2012) for bass flute and baritone saxophone (NYC PREMIERE)
Marcos Balter: Alone (2014) for solo flute and assistants
Nathan Davis (b.1974): Limn (2015) for contrabass flute and electronics
Nathan Davis: Cipher (2012) for baritone sax and electronics (NYC PREMIERE)
February 10, 2016 | 8:00pm
"Babbitt at 100: a Celebration"
Alice Teyssier, soprano/flute; Peter Tantsits, tenor; Daniel Lippel, guitar; Levy Lorenzo, sound
Milton Babbitt (1916-2011): Vision and Prayer (1954) for high voice and electronics
Milton Babbitt: Phenomena (1969) for soprano and tape
Milton Babbitt: Sheer Pluck, Composition for Guitar (1984) for guitar
Milton Babbitt: Soli e Duettini (1989) for flute and guitar
Milton Babbitt: Four Cavalier Songs (1991) for tenor and guitar
March 3, 2016 | 8:00pm
Suzanne Farrin, ondes Martenot; Ross Karre, percussion; Jacob Greenberg, piano; Joshua Rubin, clarinet; Alice Teyssier, voice; Monica Duncan, video design; Merve Kayan, filmmaker; Levy Lorenzo, sound
Sean Harold (b. 1984): Kinderstück (2015) for ondes Martenot
Alvin Lucier (b. 1931): Still and Moving Lines of Silence in Families of Hyperbolas (1972) for voice,
clarinet and ondes Martenot
Sabrina Schroeder (b. 1979): new work* (WORLD PREMIERE)
Olivier Messiaen (1908-1992): Feuillets inédits, movement 1 for ondes Martenot and piano
Lars Petter Hagen (b. 1975): Syv Studier i Selvpålagt Tristesse (2004) for ondes Martenot and electronics
Olivier Messiaen: Abîme des oiseaux (1941) for solo clarinet
Jacob Kirkegaard (b. 1975) and Suzanne Farrin (b. 1976): Ondes Corti (2015) for inner ear tones and
ondes Martenot
Olivier Messiaen: Louange à l'éternité de Jésus (1941) for ondes Martenot and piano
March 4, 2016 | 8:00pm
Kivie Cahn-Lipman, Katinka Kleijn, Michael Nicolas, cellos
Mario Diaz de León (b. 1979): Sumna (2015) for solo viola da gamba
Charles Wuorinen (b. 1938): Cello Variations II (1975) for solo cello
Kaija Saariaho (b. 1952): Petals (1988) for solo cello and electronics
Vincent Calianno (b. 1979): new work* for three cellos (2016) (WORLD PREMIERE)
Amadeus Julian Regucera (b. 1984): Open (2014) for three cellos and live electronics
Mario Diaz de León: new work* for three cellos (2016) (WORLD PREMIERE)
April 5 and 6, 2016 | 8:00pm
Double Bill: "House Special" and "Sorey/Curtis"
For two nights only, ICE presents some of the most exciting improvisers in New York. Peter Evans (trumpet) and Levy Lorenzo (electronics) head House Special, a new ensemble collaboration. Tyshawn Sorey is an acclaimed drummer, trombonist, pianist, and composer. He is joined by ICE violinist Jennifer Curtis for this remarkable duo performance that will lead to a live album.
June 4, 2016 | 7:00pm
A special kick-off show to celebrate as ensemble-in-residence at the 2016 Ojai Music Festival. Featuring works by close ICE collaboration Kaija Saariaho, Carla Kihlstedt, Pauline Oliveros, Phyllis Chen, and more!
Please find more specifics on OpenICE events at www.iceorg.org/events.
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