ASM Presents Ghost Ensemble at The Invisible Dog
*advance ticketing has closed, but tickets will be available at the door this evening! The concert will begin promptly at 7:30pm.*
ASM Presents Ghost Ensemble
Thursday, November 9, 2023 :: 7:30pm
The Invisible Dog Arts Center
51 Bergen St., Brooklyn, NY
The Invisible Dog is thrilled to welcome Anti-Social Music and Ghost Ensemble as they present an evening of recent commissions exploring cellophane, patternicity, breath cycles, and inflating arboreal harmonica-playing sound sculptures, featuring the world premiere of Carl Bettendorf's Variations on 4x25 Notes (2022-23) and the New York premiere of Miya Masaoka's Spirals of Energy (2023). Two other recent commissions by ensemble-member composers, Sky Macklay's Harmonifriends and James Ilgenfritz's Apophenia V: Outmoded Large Crumbling Oval Lime-Green Midwestern Plastic-Frame Reading Glasses, receive their second New York performances, and cellist Tyler J. Borden performs Caroline Louise Miller's Vessel (2013).
This program is supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, in partnership with the City Council, and in part with public funds from the New York State Council on the Arts, a state agency.
Program:
Sky Macklay, Harmonifriends (2022)
Caroline Louise Miller, Vessel (2013)
James Ilgenfritz, Apophenia V (2019)
Carl Bettendorf, Variations on 4x25 Notes (2022-23, world premiere)
Miya Masaoka, Spirals of Energy (2023, New York premiere)
Musicians:
Margaret Lancaster, flutes
Sky Macklay, oboe
Ben Richter, accordion
Chris Nappi, percussion
Lucia Stavros, harp
Martine Thomas, viola
Tyler J Borden, cello
Kyle Motl, contrabass
James Ilgenfritz, contrabass
Carl Bettendorf, conductor
Ghost Ensemble fosters groundbreaking music that blurs borders of genre, style, and scene, expanding perceptual horizons through shared immersive experience. Collaboration with living composers is its primary focus. Rethinking the norms of composer/performer collaboration, Ghost Ensemble commissions a diverse range of highly original composers who share a belief in music’s potential for individual and community transformation, conducting innovative workshops to nurture adventurous new music over the course of multiple seasons. The resulting work often draws from contemporary classical, experimental chamber music, avant-garde jazz, environmental sound art, and territories in between. Critics have praised Ghost Ensemble performances as “prodigious ... a thrilling listen” (Christian Carey, Sequenza21), “wonderful work ... both exhilarating and a bit scary” (Peter Margasak, Bandcamp Daily), “beautifully performed and recorded ... a body-felt sound mass ... a multifaceted texture that evokes the primeval” (Meg Wilhoite, Meg's New Music Blog), and “cloudy, mysterious, and dark ... Beckettian in its slow spread ... certainly a group to keep an eye on” (Brian Olewnick, Just Outside).
