International Contemporary Ensemble: World Premieres & Recent Works
We’re thrilled to return to Chelsea Factory to present an evening featuring world premieres by Call For ____ composers, Bonita Oliver and Sylvain Souklaye and works composed and performed by Ensemble members.
Last names are the focus of Bonita Oliver’s FOR NAMESAKE - how migration has impacted last names and the people who hold them, the power those names have represented, the impact on shaping communities and the subsequent impact on the earth.
Sylvain Souklaye’s What is left inside? focuses on the origin of language and the discovery of phrases—creating a sociological experience for the audience.
Other featured works include a new percussion duo created by Nathan Davis and Clara Warnaar, a bassoon duo by Fay Victor performed by Varun Rangaswamy and Rebekah Heller. Alice Teyssier and Fay Victor will also perform a duo version of Cathy Berberian's Stripsody.
Note: To participate in Bonita Oliver’s “FOR NAMESAKE,” add your last name here.
PROGRAM
Bonita Oliver: FOR NAMESAKE (2024, World Premiere, commissioned by ICE)
Fay Victor: BassoonIIBassoon (2021)
Cathy Berberian: Stripsody (1966)
Sylvain Souklaye: What is left inside? (2024, World Premiere, commissioned by ICE)
Nathan Davis & Clara Warnaar: Estuary (2024, World Premiere)
PERFORMERS
Alice Teyssier, voice and flute
Eric Umble, clarinet
Fay Victor, voice
Rebekah Heller, bassoon
Varun Rangaswamy, bassoon
Nathan Davis, percussion
Clara Warnaar, percussion
Sylvain Souklaye, performer
Nicholas Houfek, lighting designer
INTERNATIONAL CONTEMPORARY ENSEMBLE
Now in its third decade, the International Contemporary Ensemble is a multidisciplinary collective of musicians, digital media artists, producers, and educators committed to building and innovating collaborative environments in order to inspire audiences to reimagine how they experience contemporary music and sound. The Ensemble creates a mosaic musical ecosystem as “America’s foremost new-music group” (The New Yorker), honoring the diversity of human experience and expression by commissioning, developing, recording, and performing the works of living artists in “a mission worth following” (I Care If You Listen).
CREDITS
Bonita Oliver’s FOR NAMESAKE was commissioned by the International Contemporary Ensemble with lead support from the Jerome Foundation.
Sylvain Souklaye’s What is Left Inside? was commissioned by the International Contemporary Ensemble with lead support from the Jerome Foundation.
The International Contemporary Ensemble’s performances and commissioning activities during the 2023-24 concert season are made possible by the generous support of our board of directors, many individuals, as well as the Mellon Foundation, Howard Gilman Foundation, Jerome Foundation, Fan Fox and Leslie R. Samuels Foundation, Aaron Copland Fund for Music Inc., Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation, Francis Goelet Charitable Lead Trusts, Amphion Foundation, The Cheswatyr Foundation, The Gladys Krieble Delmas Foundation, Siemens Musikstiftung, New Music USA, Alice M. Ditson Fund of Columbia University, BMI Foundation, as well as public funds from the National Endowment for the Arts, 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 Kathy Hochul and the New York State Legislature, the Illinois Arts Council Agency, and the Shuttered Venue Operators Grant (SVOG) from the U.S. Small Business Administration. Yamaha Artist Services New York is the exclusive piano provider for the International Contemporary Ensemble.
