Impulse Festival Concert 3 - Conversations
"Conversations", the third concert of the Impulse Festival takes place on Saturday, January 27th, 2018 at 3:30pm in Old Cabell Hall. This free concert features the UVA New Music Ensemble, AZUL, and EcoSono Ensemble.
Creativity and experience combine to meet the unexpected. CONVERSATIONS features three distinct improvising ensembles engaged in everything from improvising on compositions to completely free improvisations, with no preconceptions or roadmap.
UVA New Music Ensemble
A student group, performing interpretive works by 20th and 21st century composers (including by ensemble members), the New Music Ensemble brings together a unique array of instruments, including piano, harp, violin, Chapman Stick, drums, percussion and more. From playful and energetic to serene and meditative, their performance focuses on interaction between the players, with members even spontaneously directing the group in mid-piece.
AZUL (John D’earth, Greg Howard and Brian Caputo)
T
his trio released their eponymous CD in 2013, a live studio session of “spontaneously composed” pieces that sprout from jazz and rock roots. Trumpeter John D’earth, director of the UVA Jazz studies program, and Chapman Stick player Greg Howard build their piece thematically, while drummer Brian Caputo punctuateds and propels the music forward.
“The talented, versatile trio of musicians known collectively as Azul walk a high wire of daring improvisation without ever seeming to stumble. In concert, a spontaneous composition can be instigated by the barest hint of an idea from any of the group’s members. Be it a playful rattle from Brian Caputo s arsenal of drums, bells, and assorted toys; a growl, blare or a melodic pattern from John D earth s trumpet; or one of the myriad sounds, colors and textures from Greg Howard’s Chapman Stick, musical magic is always the result.”
EcoSono Ensemble (directed by Matthew Burtner)
“It’s like Jimi Hendrix meets National Geographic”
Experimental sound art and environmental preservation meet through the work of EcoSono. By involving the arts in environmentalism with the assistance of science, EcoSono cultivate a close and productive relationship between people and the places they inhabit. The organization pursues commonalities between innovative musical creation and ecological awareness. Just back from a world tour which took the ensemble to Australia, Tasmania, New Zealand, Alaska and the continental US, EcoSono Ensemble will perform free improvisation with eld re- cordings made during their tour. The ensemble members for this concert come from New York, San Francisco, Charlottesville and Colorado Springs. The director is McIntire Department of Music Chair, Matthew Burtner.
Shawn Earle (clarinet), Matthew Burtner (saxophone), Glen Whitehead (trumpet), Kevin Davis (cello), Britt Ciampo (drums ), and I-Jen Fang (percussion). Website: www.ecosono.org
For a complete schedule of Impulse Festival events for the Golden Quintet residency, please see: http://music.virginia.edu/impulse-festival. Tickets for the Wadada Leo Smith and the Golden Quintet concert are available from the UVA Box Office, All other listed events are free and open to the general public.
Old Cabell Hall is located on the south end of UVA's historic lawn, directly opposite the Rotunda (map). Parking is available in the Central Grounds parking garage on Emmet Street, in the C1 parking lot off McCormick Road, and in the parking lots at the UVA Corner.
The Impulse Festival is sponsored by the following UVA entities: Arts Administration program, Arts Council, College and Graduate School of Arts & Sciences’ Collective Response: Moving Forward committee, McIntire Department of Art, McIntire Department of Music, Office of the Provost & the Vice Provost for the Arts, Office of the Vice President and Chief Officer for Diversity and Equity, President’s Commission on Slavery and the University, University Programs Council, and WTJU Radio. Generous support was given by The Acquavella Family, Charlottesville Jazz Society, Gassmann Fund for Innovation in Music, Hampton Inn and Suites, Jefferson School African American Heritage Center.
