Photo by Evan Hunter McKnight
Matana Roberts is a mixed media composer and sound experimentalist. Their work is visceral, brilliant, relevant, engaging, and challenging; it defies categorization and focuses on sonic experimentation through a multi-faceted, often socially and politically conscious lens. Experience the world premiere commission of a new iteration of I call america: Sandy Speaks, a multimedia work for thirteen improvising musicians written in reflection of Sandra Bland—her life and death.
Repertoire
I call america: Sandy Speaks (2019, rev. 2022) world premiere, Miller Theatre commission. This work was originally commissioned by the Earle Brown Music Foundation Charitable Trust for TIME:SPANS 2019
Performers
Matana Roberts, composer/performer
International Contemporary Ensemble
Matt Lavelle, bass clarinet and pocket trumpet
Geng/King Vision Ultra, wordspeak/sampler
LaTasha N. Nevada Diggs, wordspeak/electronics
Tomas Fujiwara, drumset
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.