Photo by Celeste Sloman for Miller Theatre
Brazilian-American composer Felipe Lara writes music that transforms and reinterprets sonic expectations. International Contemporary Ensemble, longtime advocates of Lara, perform two of his substantial recent works, including Metafagote—a work for solo bassoon and six pre-recorded spatialized bassoons that results in the creation of an astonishing soundworld.
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Repertoire
Chambered Spirals (2020)
Metafagote (2015) written for and developed with Rebekah Heller
Felipe Lara
Praised by the New York Times as “a gifted Brazilian-American modernist” whose works are “brilliantly realized”, “technically formidable, wildly varied”, and possess “voluptuous, elemental lyricism”, Felipe Lara’s work — which includes orchestral, chamber, vocal, film, electroacoustic, and popular music—engages in producing new musical contexts by means of (re)interpreting and translating acoustical and extra-musical properties of familiar source sonorities into project-specific forces. He often aspires to create self-similar relationships between the macro and micro-articulation of the musical experience and highlights the interdependence of acoustic music composition and technology, including the application of electroacoustic paradigms as catalysts for both entire structures and local textures.
His music has been recently commissioned by leading soloists, ensembles, and institutions such as the Arditti Quartet (with ExperimentalStudio Freiburg SWR), Brentano Quartet (with Hsin-Yung Huang), Claire Chase, Conrad Tao, Donaueschinger Musiktage, Duo Diorama, Ensemble InterContemporain, Ensemble Modern, Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra, International Contemporary Ensemble, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Ogni Suono, Rebekah Heller, and São Paulo Symphony Orchestra (Osesp), and also performed by the Amazonas Philharmonic, Asasello Quartet, Ensemble Recherche, David Fulmer, Ex Novo Ensemble, Ilan Volkov, JACK Quartet, Kammerensemble Neue Musik Berlin, Mivos Quartet, Netherlands Radio Chamber Philharmonic Hilversum, Nouvel Ensemble Moderne, Peter Eötvös, Steven Schick, and the Tanglewood Music Center Orchestra.
Having previously taught at New York University’s Faculty of Arts and Science, he has been visiting lecturer at Federal University of Bahia (Salvador, Brazil) and is currently Visiting Faculty, Lecturer on Music, at Harvard’s Department of Music, where he was awarded a Harvard Excellence in Teaching Award (2017).
Soloist: Rebekah Heller
Photo by Peter Gannushkin
Rebekah Heller's work aims to expand the sonic possibilities of her instrument — both in her solo work and through a deep collaborative practice. Called "an impressive solo bassoonist" by The New Yorker, she is dedicated to exploration, experimentation, and the democratization of sound. As bassoonist of the International Contemporary Ensemble since 2008, Rebekah has premiered hundreds of groundbreaking new works worldwide. She has two solo albums of music written for and with her, and in 2018, Rebekah made her solo debut with the New York Philharmonic. She teaches and lectures at the Mannes School of Music, where she is Co-Chair of the Wind Department. Rebekah lives in Manhattan. More info at rebekahheller.com
Conductor: Vimbayi Kaziboni
Conductor Vimbayi Kaziboni, born in Zimbabwe, has led critically lauded performances with orchestras across the globe performing at some of the most prestigious concert halls in the world, including Carnegie Hall, Walt Disney Hall, Lincoln Center, Philharmonie de Paris, among others. He has had long associations with leading contemporary ensembles Ensemble Modern and Ensemble InterContemporain, first as assistant conductor and now as a frequent guest conductor. In the 2021-22 season Kaziboni makes debuts at the Berlin Philharmonie, Kölner Philharmonie, Tonhalle Düsseldorf, Bayerischer Rundfunk, Wiener Konzerthaus, Royal Concertgebouw, and at festivals/series that include Beethovenfest Bonn, Donaueschingen Muziktage, Musica Viva (Munich), Festival ManiFeste (Paris), Spoleto Festival (Charleston), Miller Theatre Composer Portrait Series (New York), and LA Phil Green Umbrella Series (Los Angeles). Kaziboni currently serves on the artistic leadership team of the Boston Lyric Opera as Artistic Advisor, Artist-in-Residence with the International Contemporary Ensemble, a fellow at the Hermitage Artist Retreat, Music Director and Conductor of the Composers Conference, and Assistant Professor of Orchestral Studies and Contemporary Music at Boston Conservatory at Berklee. More info at http://www.vimbayikaziboni.com/.
CREDITS
Miller Theatre's 2021-22 season is supported by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature, and by the Howard Gilman Foundation. Support for contemporary music is provided by the Aaron Copland Fund for Music. Additional support is provided by the Amphion Foundation.
The International Contemporary Ensemble’s performances and commissioning activities during the 2021-22 concert season are made possible by the generous support of our board of directors and many individuals as well as The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, Howard Gilman Foundation, Jerome Foundation, Fan Fox and Leslie R. Samuels Foundation, Aaron Copland Fund for Music Inc., MAP Fund, Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation, Francis Goelet Charitable Lead Trusts, Amphion Foundation, The Gladys Krieble Delmas Foundation, Ann and Gordon Getty Foundation, Alice M. Ditson Fund of Columbia University, The Casement Fund, 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. The International Contemporary Ensemble was the Ensemble in Residence of the Nokia Bell Labs Experiments in Art and Technology from 2018 - 2021. Yamaha Artist Services New York is the exclusive piano provider for the International Contemporary Ensemble.