Wet Ink Ensemble Releases Second Edition of New Monthly Journal, Wet Ink Archive

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Katy Salomon | Morahan Arts and Media
katy@morahanartsandmedia.com | 863.660.2214

Wet Ink Ensemble Releases Second Edition of 
New Online Journal, Wet Ink Archive

Issue No. 2 Out Today Featuring:

Reflections on Kate Soper's Opera The Romance of the Rose by Creative Directors
Soper, Michael Rau, and Josh Modney, Plus Two Video and Two Audio Premieres

Composer Rick Burkhardt on his Unique Relationship to Words, Pitch, and Noise,
Featuring Alban and Other Works

Composer/Trombonist Weston Olencki on His Evolving Musical Practice

www.wetink.org
 

New York, NY (July 7, 2020) — Wet Ink Ensemble today releases the second edition of its new online journal of adventurous music and conversation, the Wet Ink Archive.

The second issue features "Echoes, Mirrors, Roses: Behind the Scenes of a New/Old Opera" in which Kate Soper (composer/librettist), Michael Rau (stage director), and Josh Modney (music director/violinist) each share an in-depth look into their work on Soper's forthcoming opera, The Romance of the Rose. The article includes the premieres of excerpts from the opera, performed by Soper and Modney. Co-produced by Peak Performances at Montclair State (NJ) and the Wet Ink Ensemble, the April 2020 premiere performances of The Romance of the Rose were postponed until 2021 due to Covid-19.

In “Wordlike/Noiselike/Pitchlike,” composer and Obie Award-winning playwright Rick Burkhardt discusses the process and philosophy behind his theatrically-infused chamber music with Wet Ink Executive Director Josh Modney. Burkhardt’s relationship with Wet Ink goes back to 2009, when he began composing his sextet Alban for the group.The article features detailed analysis of Alban, in addition to a wide-ranging discussion in which Burkhardt shares his fascinating take on the metaphorical vs. the “real,” on performance practice, and on the tension between words, noise, and pitch in his music.

Wet Ink Executive Director and Archive Editor Josh Modney writes, “I’m thrilled that we have the opportunity to present Rick Burkhardt’s work alongside Kate Soper’s for Archive 02 as they share a lot of history. Rick directed Kate’s first opera, Here Be Sirens (2014), and Kate performed in Rick’s opera You My Mother (2012). Furthermore, Rick and Kate are kindred artistic spirits whose work explores similar themes, such as the role of text in music, intelligibility and expressivity, and the intersection between theater and chamber music.”

Additionally, in “Toward a Future Practice,” multifaceted composer-performer and frequent Wet Ink collaborator Weston Olencki shares reflections on his recent work, including his innovative music for solo brass instruments and recent chamber works written for Ensemble Pamplemousse and Wet Ink, and delves into a philosophy of practice that situates art-making in places and histories.

Archive is a space for artists to share and write about their work without restrictions, and a digital repository for Wet Ink’s twenty-plus years of live concert and studio recordings. The mission of Wet Ink Archive parallels that of the Ensemble: sharing the body of work generated within the group, celebrating the music of longtime collaborators, and providing a platform for emerging and underrepresented artists. Each issue will include three articles ranging from personal reflection to detailed musical analysis, accompanied by newly released music and archival documentation. Sign Up to Receive the Wet Ink Archive Here.

The first issue of Wet Ink Archive included Topographies of Interaction, an in-depth discussion between Wet Ink Ensemble members and composers Alex Mincek and Sam Pluta about their works featured on Wet Ink’s new album, Glossolalia/Lines on Black, which was released on May 1, 2020 on Carrier Records; in addition to an article from cellist Mariel Roberts on her own compositional and improvisational work and longtime relationship with Wet Ink; plus insights from vocalist Charmaine Lee on building a personal language coupled together with newly released videos of recent work with Sam Pluta and Chris Goudreau.

Further spring/summer editions of Wet Ink Archive will include writing by Ian Antonio, Eric Wubbels, Marina Kifferstein, Peter Evans, Alice Teyssier, and more.

About Wet Ink Ensemble
The Wet Ink Ensemble is a collective of composers, performers and improvisers dedicated to adventurous music-making. Named “The Best Classical Music Ensemble of 2018” by The New York Times, Wet Ink’s work is rooted in an ethos of innovation through collaboration, extending from the music and the unique performance practice developed in the “band” atmosphere of Wet Ink’s core octet of composer-performers, to projects with a broad range of renowned creators, from Evan Parker to George Lewis to Peter Ablinger, and committed performances of music by young and underrepresented composers, from today’s most promising emerging voices to the next generation of artists.

Hailed for “sublimely exploratory” (The Chicago Reader) and “dense, wild, yet artfully controlled” (The New York Times) performances and “uncompromisingly original music by its members, and unflagging belief in the power of collaboration” (The New Yorker), Wet Ink has been presenting concerts of new music at the highest level in New York City and around the world for over 20 years. Wet Ink’s programming celebrates the nexus of composition, improvisation and interpretation, from early collaborations with Christian Wolff and ZS to pioneering portrait concerts of Peter Ablinger, Mathias Spahlinger, Anthony Braxton, and the AACM composers, work with renowned creative musicians such as Ingrid Laubrock, Peter Evans, Darius Jones, and Katherine Young, and long-term collaborative projects with Wet Ink’s four acclaimed composer-members (Alex Mincek, Sam Pluta, Kate Soper, and Eric Wubbels).

Wet Ink has been in residence at institutions including Duke University, EMPAC (Experimental Media and Performing Arts Center), Columbia University, the Royal Academy of Music (UK), and The Walden School, among many others, and has been featured on numerous recordings. Highlights include Katharina Rosenberger’s TEXTUREN, which was awarded a German Record Critics Prize, and solo records by Alex Mincek (Torrent), Kate Soper (IPSA DIXIT), Sam Pluta (Broken Symmetries), Eric Wubbels (Duos with Piano, Book 1), and Josh Modney (Engage), all of which were celebrated on various “Best of” lists by The New York Times, The New Yorker, Bandcamp Daily, Sequenza 21, and The Nation. Wet Ink has released four acclaimed solo albums (Wet Ink Ensemble; Relay; Wet Ink: 20, which features the Wet Ink Large Ensemble; and Glossolalia/Lines on Black).

Wet Ink is co-directed by an octet of world class composers, improvisers, and interpreters that collaborate in band-like fashion, writing, improvising, preparing, and touring pieces together over long stretches of time. These directors are Erin Lesser (flutes), Alex Mincek (saxophone), Ian Antonio (percussion), Eric Wubbels (piano), Josh Modney (violin), Mariel Roberts (cello), Kate Soper (voice), and Sam Pluta (electronics). The Wet Ink Large Ensemble is a group of extraordinary New York City musicians that come together to play the world's most exciting and innovative music. Learn more at www.wetink.org.

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