“In a nutshell,” ICE founder Claire Chase writes, “we believe Francesca Verunelli to be one of the most important voices to emerge from the IRCAM scene in decades.” An electroacoustic composer based in Paris, Verunelli is quietly becoming an artist to watch, with commissions from many of Europe’s top ensembles. In this Portrait, we’ll introduce her music to the United States, featuring the fruits of her close collaboration with the International Contemporary Ensemble. A highlight of the program is a new piece for flute and electronics, composed especially for Chase.

Kafka's Sirens (2015) for clarinet, saxophone, trumpet, two percussion, accordion, harp, mandolin, guitar, cello, and double bass WORLD PREMIERE

Déshabillage impossible (2015) for accordion, piano, percussion, violin, viola, cello, and double bass U.S. PREMIERE

The Famous Box Trick for solo flute and electronics (2015, Claire Chase, flute)

Cinemaolio (2014) for flute, clarinet, piano, violin, and viola U.S. PREMIERE

This project is made possible with lead support from FACE Contemporary Music Fund, a program of FACE with major support from the Cultural Services of the French Embassy, SACEM, Institut Français, the Florence Gould Foundation, and the Andrew W. Mellon FoundationFrancesca Verunelli’s Kafka's Sirens (2015) was made possible by support from the French-American Fund for Contemporary Music, a program of FACE Foundation with major support from the Cultural Services of the French Embassy, SACEM, Institut Français, the Florence Gould Foundation, and the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.