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Flame Keepers 35: Christina Vantzou

Flame Keepers 35: Christina Vantzou

 

Flame Keepers

Christina Vantzou

October 11, 2021

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About the Artist

Christina Vantzou is a Kansas City native of Greek descent who resides in Brussels, Belgium.  Her practice has evolved over the past decade to encompass composing, recording, performance, installation, and filmmaking.  Her work deals with space, sound, time-expansion, atmosphere and harmonies through electronics and acoustic instruments. Her work has been describes as 'feeling music;' She often works in a group process, inhabiting the role of composer while the entangled nature of collaboration takes its course. Space left for chance and improvisation alongside rigorous periods of research and experimentation mark the work as both personal and about the space and time of its making.  Her releases include four albums on Kranky, 2020's Multi-Natural–a foray into abstract electronics, hybrid, hallucinative chamber music and field recording on the Belgian label Edições CN, two full-length albums with John Also Bennett as CV & JAB, and many collaborative works.  Recent collaborators include Minna Choi of Magik*Magik Orchestra, ACME, Echo Collective, Félicia Atkinson, Steve Hauschildt, Holland Andrews, Lieselot De Wilde, and Heinrich Mueller, among many others. More »

 
 
 

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Flame Keepers 34: Weston Olencki

Flame Keepers 34: Weston Olencki

 

Flame Keepers

Weston Olencki

October 4, 2021

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About the Artist

Weston Olencki is a musician, composer, and sound artist. They are currently making work centered around questions of instrumental music and its contexts/constructs, various mediated practices of listening and improvisation, and the technological, material, and cultural histories of rural space/time. Weston has performed and presented work at the Borealis Festival, ISSUE Project Room, REDCAT, bludenzer tage zeitgemäßer musik, Ghent Jazz Festival, Blanton Museum of Art, philharmonie luxembourg, Squeaky Wheel, Festival Musica, the American Academy in Rome, Frequency Festival, Indexical, and the OPTION series, and was awarded the Kranichsteiner Musikpreis from the 2016 Darmstadt Ferienkurse. Various recording projects have been released by HatHut, Not Two, Sound American, Parlour Tapes+, Carrier Records, New Amsterdam, Clean Feed, Anticausal Systems, SUPERPANG, Dinzu Artefacts, Creative Sources, and their first solo brass release SOLO WORKS, which featured on Bandcamp Daily’s Best Experimental Music of 2020. Weston is an active member of RAGE THORMBONES, Ensemble Pamplemousse, the Wet Ink Large Ensemble, and performs regularly as a soloist and ensemble member on low brass instruments and various electronic media. More »

 
 
 

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Archetypes are the Universal Language

Archetypes are the Universal Language

Han Chen speaks with composer, pianist, and vocalist Clarice Assad about her Archetypes project, which illustrates types of characters that pop up in cultures all around the world.

Flame Keepers 33: Juraj Kojš

Flame Keepers 33: Juraj Kojš

 

Flame Keepers

Juraj Kojš

September 27, 2021

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About the Artist

My name is Juraj Kojš, and I am an artphibian artist from Slovakia and USA, exploring the fields of music, sound art, theater, poetry, mixed media, multimedia, bioacoustics and technologies as a maker and performer. Collaborating with artists and scientists, producing other people’s works, doing scholarly research and teaching also give me joy, as does living in Miami, FL. Miami New Times described my muscle-powered multimedia Neraissance as "striking and unforgettable," MiamiArtzine called Signals "enthralling and immersive," and Miami Herald praised Bang for the Train as "the most profound…unexpected and enjoyable.” More »

 
 
 

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Flame Keepers 32: Sam Nester

Flame Keepers 32: Sam Nester

 

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Sam Nester

September 20, 2021

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About the Artist

Sam Nester is a trumpet player and composer. Nester has performed for Lincoln Center’s Mostly Mozart Festival & Lincoln Center Out of Doors, the Beijing Modern Music Festival, Paris Opera Ballet, Wordless Music Orchestra, Hawaii Symphony Orchestra, Mark Morris Dance Group and the Festival of New Trumpet Music among others. For these ensembles and others, Nester has premiered works by Pulitzer Prize winning composer John Luther Adams, John Cale (Velvet Underground) and John Zorn.

He has been the artist-in-residence for Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park, and Bruny Island (Australia). He has received commissions for the creation of site-specific sound installations from George Mason University, Colby College, and EcoArt Project.

He currently serves on Music History faculty at the Manhattan School of Music, as well as trumpet faculty for The Juilliard School’s Music Advancement Program. More »

 
 
 

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Flame Keepers 31: Hallie Smith

Flame Keepers 31: Hallie Smith

 

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Hallie Smith

September 13, 2021

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About the Artist

Hallie Smith is a musician based in the Bay area. Her practice is oriented towards building soft circuits/sensors, coding, installations, and emotional music. Hallie’s pieces have been featured in festivals such as the Yellow Barn Young Artists’ Program, Summer Institute of Contemporary Performance Practice, the SPLICE Institute, and the Valencia International Performance Academy. Previous and upcoming collaborations for Hallie include: the Eco Ensemble at UC Berkeley, Splinter Reeds, the SMASH ensemble, saxophonist Drew Whiting, The Boston Conservatory Contemporary Performance Ensemble, and producer Felix M. Hallie currently produces and releases music on New York -based Geryon Label. More »

 
 
 

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Flame Keepers 30: Sonya Belaya

Flame Keepers 30: Sonya Belaya

 

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Sonya Belaya

September 6, 2021

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About the Artist

Sonya Belaya is a Russian-American pianist, singer, composer, and improviser, who divides her time between Michigan and New York. Committed to multiplicity, she is a diverse music-maker invested in vulnerable art and the development intimate, meaningful collaborations. Her work explores the integration of women’s trauma and the immigrant experience as musical narrative by centering power-sharing and storytelling as a symbol of vulnerability. Sonya’s awards include the 2021 American Composers Forum Create Award and the 2020-2021 Resident Artist at Roulette Intermedium, made possible by the Jerome Foundation. More »

 
 
 

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Flame Keepers 29: Clara Warnaar

Flame Keepers 29: Clara Warnaar

 

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Clara Warnaar

August 30, 2021

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About the Artist

Clara Warnaar is a NYC based drummer, percussionist and composer. Clara performs regularly with the International Contemporary Ensemble and American Modern Ensemble, and has guest performed with So Percussion and Yarn/Wire. Recent premieres and recordings include: Ted Hearne (PLACE), Missy Mazzoli (Proving Up), Steve Reich (Reich/Richter) and Ellen Reid (Run/Playground). Clara’s own compositional style merges field recordings, classical music and electronics. She is the curator of the series “A New Age for New Age” which aims to re-imagine and critique New Age music. Clara plays drums in the post-rock band Infinity Shred, and the antiphonal chamber metal band Real Loud. More »

 
 
 

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Flame Keepers 28: Cristina Spinei

Flame Keepers 28: Cristina Spinei

 

Flame Keepers

Cristina Spinei

August 23, 2021

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About the Artist

"Composer and performer Cristina Spinei (pronounced spin-AY) has written for orchestra (Racine Symphony Orchestra, Lafayette Symphony Orchestra) and chamber ensemble (New York Piano Quartet, Intersection) but she is most known for her work with dance, having been commissioned by Nashville Ballet, the New York Choreographic Institute, Parsons Dance, the Pacific Northwest Ballet, and many more. Growing up with dreams of becoming a ballerina, Spinei has channeled her love for dance into a devotion to musical movement, resulting in a style infused with “lyricism and rhythmic vitality.” (Nashville Scene)

Cristina has made her home in Nashville since 2014, and has since established herself as one of Music City’s most versatile, forward-thinking musicians: Nashville Arts dubbed her “gifted and engaging”, while The East Nashvillian praises her “adventuresome imagination.” Self-described as “minimalish,” Cristina anchors her musical ideas in melody, movement, and loops." More »

 
 
 

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Flame Keepers 27: George Cory Todd

Flame Keepers 27: George Cory Todd

 

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George Cory Todd

August 16, 2021

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About the Artist

George Cory Todd is a multimedia artist and engineer based in the Bay Area. Combining programming, audio and video frameworks, and other experimental practices, he explores an array of approaches to digital production, from sound and visual design & engineering to installation work, performances, and composition. His experience has lended him to national and international tours with renown artists of various disciplines, collaboration in a multitude of settings, and extensive studio work. Projects have been featured in Pitchfork, NPR, Bandcamp Daily, The Quietus, NTS Radio, Dublab, and more. More »

 
 
 

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Flame Keepers 26: Tristan Kasten-Krause

Flame Keepers 26: Tristan Kasten-Krause

 

Flame Keepers

Tristan Kasten-Krause

August 9, 2021

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About the Artist

Tristan Kasten-Krause is a bassist and composer living in Brooklyn, NY, praised for providing his “low-end authority to vital New York institutions” (The New Yorker) such as Argento Chamber Ensemble, Wet Ink, Ensemble Signal and Contemporaneous. As a composer his music has been described as “heavenly” (the Guardian), “beguilingly frictionless” (Steve Smith) and full of “beautiful, unearthly soundscapes” (WNYC’s New Sounds). As a bassist he has performed and recorded music with artists such as Alvin Lucier, Steve Reich, Caroline Shaw, Kid Millions and David Lang. His most recent album, Potential Landscapes, showcases transcendental, sample-based collaborations with artists such as Eliza Bagg (Lisel), Jayson Gerycz (Cloud Nothings), Matt Evans, Brendon Randall-Myers and Carol Johnson. More »

 
 
 

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Flame Keepers 25: Grey Mcmurray

Flame Keepers 25: Grey Mcmurray

 

Flame Keepers

Grey Mcmurray

August 2, 2021

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About the Artist

Guitarist and singer Grey Mcmurray has been called “simultaneously chilling and moving”(The Deli Magazine), “sublimely odd”(New York Magazine), and “the world’s least obtrusive guitarist”(The Guardian). He has performed/recorded with artists including Gil-Scott Heron, Meshell Ndegeocello, Tyondai Braxton, Alarm Will Sound, Du Yun, Skuli Sverrisson, Beth Orton, Colin Stetson, Sam Amidon, Ali Sethi, John Cale and Laraaji among others. He released his solo debut, Stay Up, on Shahzad Ismaily’s Figureight Records in September 2019. The new collaborative quartet of Grey, Melvin Gibbs, Greg Fox and Sasha Frere-Jones, Body Meπa, released their “transient oasis, heady but cautiously optimistic”(Robert Christgau) debut in December 2020. He hopes everyday to provoke joyful tears in strangers' eyes. More »

 
 
 

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Understanding of Eastern and Western Influences

Understanding of Eastern and Western Influences

Han Chen speaks with composer Huang Ruo about how he weaves his own personal understanding of Eastern and Western influences into his compositions.

Flame Keepers 24: Ricardo Romaneiro

Flame Keepers 24: Ricardo Romaneiro

 

Flame Keepers

Ricardo Romaneiro

July 26, 2021

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About the Artist

The New York Times describes Ricardo Romaneiro's work as “a blissful and compelling mix of minimalist-derived rhythmic ecstasy and nightclub beats”. A graduate of The Juilliard School, Ricardo’s music synthesizes his major musical influences & passions: classical music & electronic music. His music has been featured, performed and commissioned in eclectic range of ensembles, institutions, festivals, & film. His work has been featured in publications such as the Wall Street Journal, Vice/Creators Project, Esquire Magazine, Brooklyn Magazine, Untapped Cities, Vogue & Edible Manhattan.
Recent works include Nat Geo & Disney+ commission for “Secrets of The Whales” live performance at National Sawdust, and Kennedy Center’s live scoring of Thomas Edison’s silent film “A Christmas Carol” performed by Metropolis Ensemble. More »

 
 
 

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Flame Keepers 23: Susanna Hancock

Flame Keepers 23: Susanna Hancock

 

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Susanna Hancock

July 19, 2021

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About the Artist

Susanna Hancock is an Asian-American composer whose music explores color, process, and acoustic phenomena. Plurality, ambiguity, juxtaposition, transience, and impermanence are currents that move throughout Susanna’s work as a reflection on identity and “place” - or lack thereof.

Susanna’s compositions have been performed by the JACK Quartet, ZAFA Collective, Metropolis Ensemble, and members of the LA Philharmonic and St. Louis Symphony, among others. Susanna’s work has been recognized by such organizations as ASCAP and United States Artists, and has been featured in concerts and festivals across the world including the Bang on a Can Marathon and the Dimitria Festival in Thessaloniki, Greece. More »

 
 
 

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Flame Keepers 22: Jack Gjaja

Flame Keepers 22: Jack Gjaja

 

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Jack Gjaja

July 12, 2021

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About the Artist

Jack Gjaja (b. 2005) is a composer and pianist from New York City. They currently study piano and composition at Manhattan School of Music Precollege and previously studied at the Preparatory Division of Mannes School of Music. During the summer of 2020, they joined composers from around the world at the Virtual Young Women’s Composers Camp, where their piece Icy climb with a side of Mockingtrack was premiered by saxophonist Kristen McKeon. Jack draws inspiration from Ravel, Tchaikovsky’s Queen of Spades, Scriabin, Kelly Moran’s Don’t Trust Mirrors, and playwrights such as Ionesco and Martin McDonagh. Their works include small ensemble acoustic works, pieces for voice, solo works, electronic soundscapes, and pieces for period instruments. They've studied composition and piano with the following wonderful people: Mary Kouyoumdjian, David Bird, Tamar Muskal, Elena Leonova, Adrienne Kim. In addition to composition, they've performed in Montreal, Rovinj, Cremona, Bennington, and New York.

 
 
 

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Flame Keepers 21: Erika Dohi

Flame Keepers 21: Erika Dohi

 

Flame Keepers

Erika Dohi

July 5, 2021

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About the Artist

Osaka-born and New York-based pianist Erika Dohi is a multi-faceted artist with an eclectic musical background. From highly polished traditional classical to bold improvisation, she is a dynamic performer whose timeless style and unidiomatic technique sets her apart in contemporary NYC avant-garde circles. Dohi’s vast repertory is impressive, but what makes her truly such a barrier-defying artist is what lies ahead. More »

 
 
 

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Flame Keepers 20: Jeremy Ajani Jordan

Flame Keepers 20: Jeremy Ajani Jordan

 

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Jeremy Ajani Jordan

June 28, 2021

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About the Artist

Critically acclaimed, “a clear technical virtuoso”, “a rare talent”, and “a true Wunderkind,” Chicago born Jeremy Jordan burst onto the music scene at age 9 playing Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 1 in a live televised performance. Jordan was born into a musical family where his mother and father were his first instructors. They ensured that his burgeoning talent was nurtured by providing a strong foundation in classical training and also encouraged his study of improvised music and composition. Jordan went on to appear on the acclaimed radio program From The Top and From The Top: Live from Carnegie Hall performing Liszt. Since then Jordan has made his solo Carnegie Hall debut performing Chopin, Liszt, Schubert, and Wagner. More »

 
 
 

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Flame Keepers 19: Arone Dyer

Flame Keepers 19: Arone Dyer

 

Flame Keepers

Arone Dyer

June 21, 2021

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About the Artist

Arone Dyer is a musician, composer & founding member of duos Buke and Gase & Mistresses, the producer of Dronechoir (Patreon), a project which examines social dis/comfort through long-durational choral performance, and a non-stop collaborator with an extensive resume of appearances. More »

 
 
 

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Flame Keepers 18: Adrianne Munden-Dixon

Flame Keepers 18: Adrianne Munden-Dixon

 

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Adrianne Munden-Dixon

June 14, 2021

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About the Artist

Adrianne Munden-Dixon is a violinist, improviser, and composer based in New York and Montreal. Her work explores timbre and texture and she often incorporates electronics and field recordings to expand the sonic and expressive capabilities of the violin. More »

 
 
 

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