ICE’s first ensemble appearance at the Banff Centre for the Arts—and one of its first trips to Canada—is the work of founder Claire Chase and Artist-in-Residence Steven Schick, who are featuring ICE in their summer programming at the creative retreat.  Ensemble Evolution, led by twelve members of ICE, offers participants the opportunity to explore the 21st century “evolution” of the large mixed-instrumental ensemble, tackling repertoire ranging from Biber and Beethoven to hot-off-the-press world premieres by faculty and participant composers.

Faculty and participants will workshop and present repertoire side by side with the members of ICE and Schick.  These projects include Beethoven’s youthful Septet and George Lewis’s provocative companion piece, Born Obbligato; works by resident faculty Canadian composers Zosha di Castri and Sabrina Schroeder; and a special sesquicentennial Canada Day marathon concert, curated by ICE and participants, featuring music by Morton Feldman, Pauline Oliveros and participant composers.

In addition to working closely with ICE, participants will work with Vijay Iyer, Director of the Banff International Workshop in Jazz and Creative Music Workshop, to prepare and perform his electric Radhe Radhe. Ensemble Evolution will pair Radhe Radhe with a new arrangement by Cliff Colnot for sixteen instruments of Stravinsky’s Le Sacre du Printemps.

ICE’s 2016-17 performances and commissioning activities are made possible by the generous support of The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, The Howard Gilman Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts, The Fan Fox and Leslie R. Samuels Foundation, The Paul M. Angell Family Foundation, The Elizabeth F. Cheney Foundation, The Aaron Copland Fund for Music, Mid-Atlantic Arts Foundation, The Francis Goelet Charitable Lead Trusts, The Amphion Foundation, The Pacific Harmony Foundation, The Ann and Gordon Getty Foundation, The Irving Harris Foundation, Alice M. Ditson Fund of Columbia University, The Casement Fund, the BMI Foundation, a CityArts Grant from the City of Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs & Special Events, as well as public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council, the New York State Council for the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew Cuomo and the New York State Legislature, and the Illinois Arts Council, a state agency, and with the friendly support of the Ernst von Siemens Musikstiftung. Yamaha Artist Services New York is the exclusive piano provider for ICE.