Submitted by Northwestern University
Northwestern University’s Institute for New Music will host residency with Unheard-of//Ensemble and the return of NUNC! this spring.
Since 2012, the Institute for New Music has served as the nexus of all contemporary music activities at the Bienen School, providing collaboration and performance opportunities for student instrumentalists, singers and composers. The institute also hosts NUNC!, one of the world’s leading festivals and conferences for new music. The fifth iteration of NUNC! will take place at the Bienen School of Music April 21-23.
Institute Director Hans Thomalla said, “I very much look forward to the Unheard-of//Ensemble’s debut residency at the Institute for New Music. This young group has made a name for itself for its unconventional performances, the integration of electronics into their chamber music repertoire, and a strong advocacy for young composers. It’s very exciting to have them here to work with the composition students at the Bienen School of Music.”
Events will be held on Northwestern’s Evanston campus. Tickets and more information are available on the Bienen School website.
7:30 p.m. Friday, March 10
Galvin Recital Hall, 70 Arts Circle Drive
Tickets are $8 or $5 for full-time students with valid ID.
This performance will also be presented as a live stream.
This performance features Bienen faculty composer and Wet Ink Ensemble co-director Alex Mincek’s Pendulum VII; Charlie Piper’s shimmering Zoetrope; inti figgis-vizueta’s richly textured Primavera Crown; and a new work by Gen Tanaka. Ben Bolter will conduct.
Unheard-of//Ensemble: An Evening of World Premieres
7:30 p.m. Saturday, March 11
McClintock Choral and Recital Room, 70 Arts Circle Drive
Admission is free and open to the public.
New York-based contemporary chamber group Unheard-of//Ensemble is dedicated to the development and performance of adventurous programs, using technology and interactive multimedia. The ensemble will visit the Bienen School for a three-day residency, workshopping new music with student composers and culminating in this performance of world premieres. Featured student composers are Konstantinos Baras, Wan Heo, Lily Hoyt, Mya Vandegrift, Alissa Voth and Jasmine Thomasian. Ensemble members include Ford Fourqurean (clarinet), Matheus Souza and Erica Dicker (violin), Iva Casian-Lakoš (cello) and Daniel Anastasio (piano).
Tickets for Institute for New Music events may be purchased from the Bienen School ticket office by visiting the southeast entrance of Pick-Staiger Concert Hall, 50 Arts Circle Drive, visiting concertsatbienen.org or calling 847-467-4000. Ticket office hours are 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday and noon to 3 p.m. Saturday.
NUNC! 5: April 21-23
The Northwestern University New Music Conference (NUNC!) biannually brings together composers, performing musicians, scholars and other new music advocates for a series of workshops, panel discussions and concerts.
The fifth conference and festival, NUNC! 5, will feature guest composers Julia Wolfe and Alex Temple (who received a Doctor of Musical Arts degree from Northwestern in 2017) and a keynote address by Miki Kaneda (Boston University). Guest ensembles will include the New York-based Yarn/Wire and the Chicago-based Constellation Men’s Ensemble.
Concert highlights will include a performance of Luciano Berio’s Sinfonia alongside Wolfe’s Fountain of Youth and Anna Meredith’s Nautilus performed by Northwestern University Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Alan Pierson, as well as Wolfe’s Impatience, Temple’s The Man Who Hated Everything and Tania León’s Rítmicas performed by the Contemporary Music Ensemble conducted by Bolter and Alan Pierson.
Choral performances will include the Midwest premiere of Wolfe’s Letter from Abigail together with David Lang’s the national anthems by the Bienen Contemporary/Early Vocal Ensemble, led by Donald Nally.
Tickets and more information will be available late February on the Institute for New Music website.