Welcoming New Board Member, Dan Kuruna!

WELCOMING NEW BOARD MEMBER, DAN KURUNA!

"Dan has been an immense champion of our organization from the earliest days, and he is a brilliant thought leader who asks the questions that help an organization move to the next chapter. I'm so excited that he'll be joining us." — Jennifer Kessler [Executive Director]

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Dan Kuruna has had a diverse career, working on documentary photography and video, educational projects in support of research, and sitting on the boards of 826CHI and 826National, as well as Midwest Aikido Center. Dan is currently working with Openlands - an environmental not-for-profit working with the city of Chicago to restore and maintain the urban tree canopy. He is deeply connected to the art and new music scenes of Chicago, and is a long-time fan of the International Contemporary Ensemble.

Review: Kate Gentile + International Contemporary Ensemble – ‘b i o m e i.i’ (2023)

Excerpt from Something Else! Review:

“Drummer, composer, bandleader and side woman Kate Gentile is relatively new on the scene but it’s already clear that whatever style of music she takes on, it’s always in the vanguard of that style. More than that, she invents styles of her own. So to say that her latest release b i o m e i.i (from Gentile’s and Matt Mitchell’s Obliquity Records) is ambitious only describes the norm for her. What makes b i o m e i.i particularly special is how it reveals how far Gentile’s artistic reach goes. It’s really, really far.

“Largely stepping away from a diverse world of cutting-edge jazz and into the esoteric world of creative chamber music, Gentile brings over to this idiom her craft of integrating improvisation into meticulous scores and blurring the distinction between either.

“As they follow Gentile in the billing, it might be easy to assume that International Contemporary Ensemble is Gentile’s backing band but no, it’s a true partnership. The International Contemporary Ensemble has spent some twenty years working with composers emerging and established to provide a conduit for their challenging and provocative works. They commissioned Gentile to provide a set of pieces, with Gentile also becoming part of the band as its drummer and a second percussionist.” — S. Victor Aaron

Founder, Claire Chase, in the Press!

“Claire Chase Is Changing How People Think of the Flute" — nY Times

So wonderful to see our intrepid founder Claire Chase featured in the NY Times recently highlighting her groundbreaking artistry and career.

Don’t miss Density @ 10 at The Kitchen! Plus Claire’s shows at Carnegie Hall.

Read the full NY Times article here.

NYT: Composers find Transcendence and Inspiration at the Club

Wonderful to see our dearest colleague Ryan Muncy mentioned recently in The New York Times in relation to Ash Fure’s work. Beautiful reminder of Ryan’s spirit and dedication to our community.

“BERLIN — In 2018, after a visit to Berghain, the storied techno club here, the saxophonist and curator Ryan Muncy called the composer Ash Fure, a friend and collaborator.

“God spoke to me in the subwoofers,” Muncy told her. “‘Bring me Ash Fure.’”

Soon Fure, at the time a fellow at the American Academy in Rome, boarded a plane to Berlin. She and Muncy went straight to Berghain. “I remember so vividly every single detail,” Fure said in a video interview. She recalled watching as the other club-goers shed their coats and donned futuristic outfits. She explored the labyrinthine architecture, discovering vantage points from which to watch and listen. She got close to the famous Funktion-One sound system, which engulfed her with its volume but never hurt her ears. She stayed for 14 hours.” — Jeffrey Arlo Brown

Nicole Mitchell wins the 2023 Guggenheim Fellowship!

Congratulations to creative flutist, composer and frequent collaborator, Nicole Mitchell on this incredible award! Read more about her work below:

Nicole M. Mitchell is an award-winning creative flutist, composer, bandleader and educator. She is perhaps best known for her work as a flutist, having developed a unique improvisational language and having been repeatedly awarded “Top Flutist of the Year” by Downbeat Magazine Critics Poll and the Jazz Journalists Association (2010-2022). Mitchell initially emerged from Chicago’s innovative music scene in the late 90s. She started with Maia and Shanta Nurullah in Samana (the AACM's first all-woman ensemble) and as a member of the David Boykin EXPANSE. Her music celebrates contemporary African American culture. She is the founder of Black Earth Ensemble, Black Earth Strings, Sonic Projections and Ice Crystal, and she composes for contemporary ensembles of varied instrumentation and size, while incorporating improvisation and a wide aesthetic expression. The former first woman president of Chicago’s Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians, Mitchell celebrates endless possibility by “creating visionary worlds through music that bridge the familiar with the unknown.” Some of her newest work with Black Earth Ensemble explores intercultural collaborations; Bamako*Chicago, featuring Malian kora master, Ballake Sissoko and Mandorla Awakening with Kojiro Umezaki (shakuhachi) and Tatsu Aoki (taiko, bass, shamisen). As a composer, Mitchell has been commissioned by the French Ministry of Culture, the Chicago Museum of Contemporary Art, Art Institute of Chicago, the Stone, the French American Jazz Exchange, Chamber Music America (New Works), the Chicago Jazz Festival, ICE, and the Chicago Sinfonietta. Mitchell has performed with creative music luminaries including Craig Taborn, Roscoe Mitchell, Joelle Leandre, Anthony Braxton, Geri Allen, George Lewis, Mark Dresser, Steve Coleman, Anthony Davis, Myra Melford, Bill Dixon, Muhal Richard Abrams, Ed Wilkerson, Rob Mazurek, and Billy Childs, and Hamid Drake. She is a recipient of the Herb Alpert Award (2011), the Chicago 3Arts Award (2011) , the Doris Duke Artist Award (2012) and the United States Artist Award (2020). Mitchell is a Professor of Music at the University of Virginia, and previously taught at University of California Irvine and the University of Pittsburgh.

Welcoming New Board Member, Sayiddah McCree!

“I am very excited to welcome Sayiddah to the board of directors. She brings knowledge of the arts, philanthropic, and financial fields, along with a deep enthusiasm for our work, that I know will augment the already exceptional leadership of our board.” — Jennifer Kessler [Executive Director]

“Sayiddah has been one of the ensemble’s most enthusiastic supporters since we were introduced to her a couple of years ago, present at so many of our concerts and events.  She will bring great energy to the board.  Furthermore, she is currently our only banker on the board, so she will provide a valuable skillset and perspective.  I am confident she will enjoy collaborating with our board members, musicians, and staff, and I am excited to work with her.” — Claude Arpels [Board President]

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Sayiddah McCree is an impact investor and visual artist who aims to create a more equitable and joyous world. She leads equity fund investing on JPMorgan Chase & Co. Impact Finance and Advisory team, advancing the Firm's social and environmental initiatives through private equity fund investments. Before JPMorgan Chase & Co., Sayiddah worked at the Ford Foundation as a member of the Mission Investments team, advancing the Foundation's social justice mission through endowment investments. Before Ford, she was a Senior Researcher at Harvard Business School and an affordable housing real estate investor at Related Companies. She started her career as a building facade consultant, advising real estate asset owners and managing construction projects. She holds an MBA from Harvard Business School and a Bachelor of Architecture from the Illinois Institute of Technology. She lives in Brooklyn, NY. 

Perle Noire in the press!

Dutch National Opera Forward Festival 2023 Review: Perle Noire, Meditations For Joséphine

“[…] The music itself was thoroughly engaging: often it was disturbing, sometimes you could feel the anger and defiance; at other times it pounded out strong rhythms as with the Danse Sauvage, it rarely settled into a comfortable melody, and it was always honest and true to the raw emotions it was endeavoring to present. There were no tearful tunes or sentimental melodies to pull on the heartstrings. It was deliberately unsettling.

Watching Sorey himself perform was a real pleasure, as he moved regularly between the drums and piano, exuding a calm energy and relaxed confidence. His solos, particularly on the drums, did not, however, lack energy; far from it, but the overall impression was one of level-headed composure. He played with a great sense of freedom and imagination, including using mallets on the piano strings.

The International Contemporary Ensemble was no less impressive. The musicians produced a totally committed performance, in which you could see them enjoying each other’s improvised solos. Occasionally, a soloist would accompany Bullock in the center of the stage in an act of support or sympathy, which was a convincing and neatly conceived touch.”

—Alan Nielson

Thanks to OperaWire for this review!

Adegoke Steve Colson wins the 2022 Fromm Commission!

Congratulations to composer and pianist Adegoke Steve Colson for winning the Fromm Commission! The Ensemble will premiere his new work in Fall 2024.

A highly exploratory musician and a leading member of the renowned Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians, Adegoke is an internationally known musical artist whose work challenges traditional separations between composition and improvisation.

A virtuoso pianist, Adegoke’s approach to the instrument emanates from jazz to explore a broad range of African American musical traditions, and his compositions deploy unusual turns of harmony to create sinuous moments of sonic irony. Connecting this kind of multiculturalism as a composer with larger currents of world musical expression, Adegoke stakes a radical claim of cosmopolitanism that challenges genre prescriptions.

These commissions represent one of the principal ways that the Fromm Music Foundation seeks to strengthen composition and to bring contemporary concert music closer to the public.

NYT Review: A Contemporary Music Group’s Next Era Begins

By Seth Colter Walls

“George E. Lewis’ tenure with the International Contemporary Ensemble began with a tribute to the multitalented artist Douglas R. Ewart.

“Some artists earn the ‘multi-hyphenate’ label by doing two or three things. But Douglas R. Ewart works on a whole other level.

That much was clear when this composer, visual artist, poet, multi-instrumentalist and instrument-maker put on a true multimedia event at the Chelsea Factory on Friday night. He gave a thrilling tour of his varied creativity in the company of a violist, cellist, bassoonist and two percussionists from the International Contemporary Ensemble — whose new leader, George E. Lewis, organized the concert, making his curatorial debut with the group.

In the lobby were three of Ewart’s sculptures (including one dedicated to the jazz musician Eric Dolphy), and inside the hall hung five of his paintings (including one titled ‘Rasta in Sun Ra’). Underneath those canvases, the concert featured some shimmering, percussive work from Ewart, 76, himself — on a tall wooden staff outfitted with a sequence of Bundt cake pans, which he called ‘The George Floyd Bunt Staff.’”

Nicole Mitchell in the Press!

We’re so thrilled to see Nicole Mitchell featured in VAN Magazine and The New York Jazz City Record. Join us on March 30th for the Nicole Mitchell Composer Portrait at Columbia University’s Miller Theatre!

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Tender Transitions: An interview with flutist and composer Nicole Mitchell

by George Grella

“I love the complexity and diversity of energies that nature brings, and natural phenomena, and as a composer, that’s a very big palette of possibilities… I enjoy exploring through the music. I like for the music to go somewhere, and for it to bring a certain type of feeling. The narratives help me to hone in on what those things might be for that particular piece.”
- Nicole Mitchell (VAN Magazine)

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Nicole Mitchell: Finding a New Utopia

by Kurt Gottschalk (The New York Jazz City Record)

Meet our newest staff members!

Welcoming our new Director of Development, Eric Umble and Development Administrator, Remi Shimode!

Photo credit: Erin Baiano

Eric Umble (he/they) is a passionate fundraiser and arts administrator whose drive is fueled by his experiences as a freelance artist. During Eric's time as Director of Development at Roulette Intermedium and Development & Engagement Manager with The Knights, Eric oversaw numerous successful fundraising campaigns that contributed to the overall financial health of both organizations. As a clarinetist, he has performed with the New York Philharmonic, International Contemporary Ensemble, the Orchestras of the Lucerne Festival Academy and Alumni, and appeared on major stages worldwide. Eric is also a DJ, party promoter and producer. Their monthly queer-centered techno party FaceTime has become a staple of NYC’s underground dance scene, drawing on local and international talents and building community through music, dance, and visual art. Eric received Bachelors and Masters degrees from Manhattan School of Music. He lives in Fort Greene, Brooklyn with their Boston Terrier Stella, and walks alongside his life partners John Richards of the JACK Quartet and James Hirschfeld of the Howard Gilman Foundation.

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Photo Credit: Dorothy Shi

Remi Shimode is a New York City based performing arts administrator originally from Japan. She previously interned at International Contemporary Ensemble, International Society for the Performing Arts and Orpheus Chamber Orchestra. She holds a MFA in Performing Arts Management from Brooklyn College.

The New York City Jazz Record covers our NYU Skirball performance with Henry Threadgill & Zooid:

“Henry Threadgill’s Zooid and International Contemporary Ensemble (ICE) attracted a throng of curious listeners to Skirball Center (Dec. 3rd) for the NYC premiere of the Pulitzer laureate’s Pathway, performed by himself (alto saxophone, soprano/bass flutes), Liberty Ellman (acoustic guitar), Christopher Hoffman (cello), Jose Davila (trombone/tuba) and Elliot Humberto Kavee (drums), alongside ICE’s Michelle Farah (English horn), David Byrd-Marrow (French horn), Josh Modney (violin), Joanna Mattrey (viola), Lizzie Burns (bass) and Levy Lorenzo (percussion), Vimbayi Kaziboni conducting.”

from MusicTech: isomonstrosity on making a chamber music album using a contemporary rap workflow / Oliver Payne

from MusicTech: isomonstrosity on making a chamber music album using a contemporary rap workflow / Oliver Payne

Photo Credit: Jelani Roberts

“Isomonstrosity is the exciting new collaborative project formed of Johan Lenox – the go-to producer for the likes of Travis Scott, Lil Nas X and Selena Gomez – Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Ellen Reid and Julliard-trained conductor, Yuga Cohler.

On their debut self-titled album, the trio teamed up with Danny Brown, Vic Mensa, the International Contemporary Ensemble (ICE) and many more vocalists to produce a unique vocal chamber music album that used the same process as a contemporary rap album.”

Read the full article here

Listen to the album at the link below:

Celebrating Ensemble Member's recent honors/awards!

Congratulations to ensemble member, Cory Smythe for the 2022 Alpert Award!

“For almost thirty years, Alpert’s Foundation has given unrestricted $75,000 awards to mid-career artists in five disciplines: Theater, Music, Visual Arts, Dance, Film/Video. […]

The Music Panel chose Tomeka Reid for “expanding what a cello can do” and pianist Cory Smythe, whom George Lewis called “one of the most exploratory artists,” for creating “subtle compositions that belie their rigor.” Reid, zooming from Germany spoke of her “amazing musical journey.” Smythe spoke of composing “radically open music that can break a person wide open.”

And ICYMI Ensemble members Phyllis Chen and Peter Evans were named as Guggenheim Fellows in music composition! See full list which includes even more collaborators here:

Cosmic Stories: Du Yun Revisits Her Earliest Musical Theater

NYT Feature by Joshua Barone

“When the composer Du Yun was a doctoral student at Harvard in the early 2000s, she felt like a fish out of water.

‘Very much out of water,’ Du Yun, 44, said in a recent interview. ‘It was my first time not in a conservatory setting since I was 6.’

But Du Yun — now the Pulitzer Prize-winning conjurer of exhilaratingly elusive and often moving sound worlds — did have a rich community of artistic collaborators. She was a founding member of the International Contemporary Ensemble, the group of new-music specialists started in 2001 by the flutist Claire Chase, a fellow Oberlin conservatory graduate. And when the ensemble had an opportunity to create an original work of theater, Du Yun, who was resistant to opera, instead wanted to stage a set of songs.”

Announcing George Lewis as the new Artistic Director of the International Contemporary Ensemble!

NYT Feature by Javier C. Hernández

“A composer and scholar who has spoken forcefully about the exclusion of Black artists from experimental music will lead the renowned International Contemporary Ensemble, the group announced on Friday.

George E. Lewis, a professor of music at Columbia University known for his groundbreaking work in electronics, will take the helm as artistic director later this month. Lewis, 69, a trombonist and frequent collaborator with the ensemble, will be the first Black leader in its 21-year history. He said in an interview that he hoped to bring more of a multicultural focus to one of New York’s premier new music groups, and to feature a wide variety of artists.”

Announcing Our 20th Anniversary Season!

For 20 years, the International Contemporary Ensemble has been a home for experimental new music, the artists who make it, and the community that supports it. In celebration of its 20th anniversary, the Ensemble announces a season of performances and programs highlighting the artists who have shaped the past two decades, many of them skyrocketing to individual prominence, and those who will shape the third. Highlights of the season include new Ensemble members Matana Roberts and Fay Victor presenting their work at Miller Theatre and Roulette Intermedium respectively; Artist-in-Residence Vimbayi Kaziboni conducting a portrait concert of composer Felipe Lara; and a NYU Skirball presentation of two works by founding Ensemble member and Pulitzer Prize-winner Du Yun. 

As the International Contemporary Ensemble enters its third decade, it re-commits to being a home for artists to develop their authentic practice with adventurous collaborators, realize their work at the highest level, and take part in the co-creation of a musical ecosystem that honors the diversity of human expression and experience. Other artists championed by the Ensemble over the last two decades include Rome Prize-winner Ash Fure, MacArthur Foundation Fellow Tyshawn Sorey, Nordic Council Music Prize-winner Anna Thorvaldsdottir, Rome Prize-winner Suzanne Farrin, MacArthur Foundation Fellow George E. Lewis, and many more. 

Composer Marcos Balter, one of the Ensemble's first iceLAB-commissions in 2011 and Board Member, comments, “To act boldly requires courage. To exist boldly, however, requires much more than that. For two decades, the International Contemporary Ensemble has always chosen the uncharted and the unearthed not as destinations but as home. The trust and dedication of its musicians, and their advocacy towards new voices in contemporary music have changed the trajectories of so many artists around the globe, myself included.”

Read more here.

Introducing Our Newest Board Member, Oscar Gerardo

We are so excited to welcome Oscar Gerardo to our Board of Directors!

Oscar Gerardo is a native of Los Angeles. He has worked as a software engineer/architect for the entertainment industry for over twenty years. He has worked for Universal Studios, NBC and DirecTV designing, developing and enhancing b2b applications, consumer facing apps, metadata systems, and video streaming systems. He enjoys experiencing music (not limited to opera, classical music, punk, and ska), riding his motorcycle, spoiling his kitties, and cooking and baking everything from scratch.

A fierce advocate for radical new work, Oscar has commissioned works and provided major funding support for projects with the Ensemble, including the LA premiere of Ann Cleare's teeth of light, tongue of waves at the 2019 Noon to Midnight Festival which was described as "especially gripping" by the LA Times. Most recently, he co-commissioned Dai Fujikura's Gliding Wings for clarinet duo and strings which premiered at Miller Theatre in March 2020. He also commissioned Nicole Mitchell's Inescapable Spiral which premiered at Ojai Music Festival 2017 and had its remote version premiered with the Chicago Civic Orchestra in December 2020.

Read the full press release here.

Announcing New Ensemble Members: Matana Roberts, Fay Victor, and Vimbayi Kaziboni

We are thrilled to welcome Matana Roberts and Fay Victor as new, permanent Ensemble members and Vimbayi Kaziboni as Artist-in-Residence for the 2021-22 season!

They will join and lead creative collaborations, as well as shape programming and policies in support of the organization's overall mission to develop new work built on equity, belonging, and cultural responsiveness. Read the full Announcement at https://bit.ly/2ZfMQan and stay tuned for opportunities to experience and engage with the work of Matana Roberts, Fay Victor, and Vimbayi Kaziboni.

Eight Artists Selected for Our "Call For ____" Commission Program

We are so excited to announce the winners of our “Call for ____” Commission Program!

Lesley Mok, Kevin Ramsay, Mazz Swift, and Chris Williams will work with the Ensemble in the 2021-2023 seasons. Sandra Kluge, Bonita Oliver, Cleo Reed, and Sylvain Souklaye will work with the Ensemble in the 2022-2024 seasons. Each artist will receive the support of Ensemble musicians, rehearsal time, video and audio documentation, marketing support, and a paid commission all alongside performances of their pieces created with the Ensemble. Learn more about the artists and commission process at https://www.iceorg.org/call-for.

Thank you to everyone who submitted and who has connected with us during this process.

Two artists from each cohort are supported through a generous partnership with the Jerome Foundation.