PERFORMERS
The International Contemporary Ensemble (ICE) was founded in 2001, and over the past nine years has established itself as one of the leading musical ensembles of its generation as well as one of the most innovative young arts organizations in the US. Winner of the 2010 Trailblazer Award from the American Music Center and the 2010 ASCAP/CMA Award for Adventurous Programming, ICE has created a pioneering performer/presenter model that sets a bold new standard for the future of music in the 21st century. ICE performs more than fifty concerts a year throughout the United States and abroad, has commercially released six acclaimed albums, and produced eight large-scale music festivals. A champion of music by young composers, ICE has also given more than 400 world premieres by composers under the age of 35. Highlights of the current season include headline performances at the Lincoln Center Festival, the Mostly Mozart Festival of Lincoln Center, Miller Theatre, Musica Nova (Helsinki) and Darmstadt (Germany). Read more at www.iceorg.org.
Jayce Ogren is rapidly developing a reputation as one of the finest young conductors to emerge from the United States. He recently finished his tenure as assistant conductor of The Cleveland Orchestra and as Music Director of the Cleveland Orchestra Youth Orchestra, having been appointed by Franz Welser-Möst. Mr. Ogren has made key debuts including with the Los Angeles Philharmonic at Walt Disney Concert hall, Grand Rapids Symphony and with the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra where he conducted works by Haydn, Ligeti and Beethoven. Of the Haydn, the press noted that “It may have been the best interpretation of a Haydn symphony the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra has presented all season.”
Claire Chase, flutist, founded the International Contemporary Ensemble in 2001 and has served as ICE’s executive director since its inception. Over the past decade Ms. Chase has played and produced more than 500 concerts of new music with the ensemble on three continents, and she has been featured on critically acclaimed releases from the Naxos, Tzadik and Bridge labels. In 2008 Ms. Chase took First Prize in the Concert Artists Guild International Competition, and will give recitals this season at Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall, Avery Fischer Hall, and throughout the US. Ms. Chase released her debut solo album in October 2009 on the New Focus Recordings label featuring world premiere works for solo flute by emerging composers, which was named one of the Top Ten Classical Albums of 2009 by TimeOut Chicago. www.clairechase.net.