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MATA Announces 2022 Festival at Roulette and National Sawdust, Curated by Darius Jones and Performed by International Contemporary Ensemble
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Katy Salomon | Morahan Arts and Media
katy@morahanartsandmedia.com | 863.660.2214
MATA Announces 2022 Festival Lineup
Curated by 2021-22 Artist-In-Residence Darius Jones
Featuring 2021-22 Ensemble-In-Residence International Contemporary Ensemble
May 4-5 @ Roulette // May 6-7 @ National Sawdust
“inventive, stylistically nondogmatic new music” – The New York Times
New York, NY (March 31, 2022) — From May 4-7, 2022 in Brooklyn, Music at the Anthology (MATA) presents the MATA Festival, New York’s most cutting-edge showcase for experimental early career composers and sound artists, for the first time in two years due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This season’s programming is curated from MATA’s international Call for Submissions by inaugural Artist-In-Residence Darius Jones, with guidance from a panel of eight prominent performers and composers of new music: Ben Gerstein, Cooper-Moore, Marta Sanchez, Mark Thomas Taylor, Sugar Vendil, Fay Victor, Joshua White, and Brandee Younger. The 22 selected composers hail from seven countries around the world and eight different states, and will have their works performed by 2022 Ensemble-in-Residence, the International Contemporary Ensemble.
Each concert is specifically crafted by Jones as a fully immersive visual/auditory experience; the first two nights (May 4-5) will be held at Brooklyn’s Roulette and will also be viewable via a free live stream, and the second two will take place at National Sawdust (May 6-7), also in Brooklyn. Overall season programming includes six world premieres, five US premieres, and seven New York premieres. Proof of vaccination will be required for all audience members.
On the much anticipated return of the MATA Festival, newly appointed Executive Director, Amanda Gookin, says: "This Festival will be like none other in our history. I am incredibly proud of this season's programming. Darius Jones' curation will blow your socks off – it is radical, fresh, and purposeful. We are following through on MATA's commitment to present works that defy genre and create a deep sense of belonging in our new music community. Everyone is free to experiment and create at MATA, no matter who you are, where you come from, or what your background is. You won't want to miss a single evening from the opening night to Darius's jaw-dropping headline concert."
The 2022 MATA Festival opens on Wednesday, May 4, 2022 at 8:00pm ET at Roulette, and will feature Nyokabi Kariuki’s (USA) The Colour of Home; the U.S. premiere of Nina Fukuoka’s (USA) Sugar, Spice, and All Things Nice; and the New York premiere of Chris Ryan Williams’ (USA) Of Yours; as well as the world premieres of Michele Cheng’s (USA) Doyennes Diaries, Laura Brackney’s (USA) Knots, Shara Lunon’s (USA) Samples No. 3: Why I Believe Womyn, and a new work by Fernanda Navarro (Brazil/USA). Hakan Ulus’s (Austria) Auslöschung II will be presented as a sound installation in the Roulette lobby on May 4 and 5. The International Contemporary Ensemble will be joined by trumpeter Chris Ryan Williams, vocalist Shara Lunon, cellist Lester St. Louis, and bassist Luke Stewart.
On Thursday, May 5, 2022 at 8:00pm ET, MATA presents the International Contemporary Ensemble in Vicente Hansen’s (Chile/USA) Beauchamp-Feuillet N.2; the U.S. premiere of Cameron Graham’s (UK) Life in Pink; Jess Rowland’s (USA) Music for Cell Phone and Piano; the New York premiere of Naftali Schindler’s (Israel) Chants, Pastorals, and Antiphons of the New Moon; the world premiere of Mengmeng Wang’s (USA) The sounds I can hear when I miss you; and the U.S. premiere of June Young Will Kim’s (Germany/USA) Black, Emerald.
The 2022 MATA Festival continues at Brooklyn’s National Sawdust on Friday, May 6, 2022 at 7:30pm ET. The Ensemble will perform the world premieres of Francisco del Pino’s (Argentina/USA) Un pez dorado and Wajdi Abou Diab’s (Lebanon) a tune for Amer's Horn; the U.S. premieres of Christian Dimpker’s (Germany) N. 11 (String Quartet 1) and John Aulich’s (USA) Green, or Beautiful in Green; and the New York premieres of Shuyu Lin’s (USA) In the Station of the Metro, Piyawat Louilarpprasert’s (USA) Double Shuttering Sprinters, and Travis Laplante’s (USA) The Obvious Place for solo tenor saxophone, performed by LaPlante.
The final concert of the festival on Saturday, May 7, 2022 at 7:30pm ET at National Sawdust is an Artist-In-Residence Headline Concert featuring the world premiere of Darius Jones’ Colored School No. 3. The new work centers around a one-of-a-kind Brooklyn building that was originally used as a public school exclusively for the education of Black students during segregation. For a time, the building held the name Colored School No. 3, and Jones’ piece will revisit three lessons learned through this abomination in history. Jones, performing on alto saxophone, will be joined by violinists Hajnal Pivnick and Ledah Finck, violist Josh Henderson, cellist Issei Herr, bassist Dezron Douglas, percussionist Gerald Cleaver, and vocalist Aviva Mitchell.
Program Information
Festival Information and Tickets:
www.matafestival.org/2022-
DAY 1 // Wednesday, May 4, 2022 at 8:00pm ET
Roulette | 509 Atlantic Ave. | Brooklyn, NY 11217
Link: https://roulette.org/event/
Tickets: $20 Online, $25 at the Door. Free Live Stream Available.
Program:
Michele Cheng (USA): Doyennes Diaries [World Premiere]
Fernanda Navarro (Brazil/USA): New Work [World Premiere]
Nyokabi Kariuki (USA): The Colour of Home
Laura Brackney (USA): Knots [New York Premiere]
Shara Lunon (USA): Samples No. 3: Why I Believe Womyn [World Premiere]
Nina Fukuoka (USA): Sugar, Spice, and All Things Nice [U.S. Premiere]
Chris Ryan Williams (USA): Of Yours [New York Premiere]
Hakan Ulus (Austria): Auslöschung II*
*This work will be presented as a sound installation in the Roulette lobby.
Performers:
International Contemporary Ensemble
Chris Ryan Williams, trumpet
Shara Lunon, voice
Lester St. Louis, cello
Luke Stewart, bass
DAY 2 // Thursday, May 5, 2022 at 8:00pm ET
Roulette | 509 Atlantic Ave. | Brooklyn, NY 11217
Link: https://roulette.org/event/
Tickets: $20 Online, $25 at the Door. Free Live Stream Available.
Program:
Vicente Hansen (Chile/USA): Beauchamp-Feuillet N.2
Cameron Graham (UK): Life in Pink [U.S. Premiere]
Jess Rowland (USA): Music for Cell Phone and Piano
Naftali Schindler (Israel): Chants, Pastorals, and Antiphons of the New Moon [New York Premiere]
Mengmeng Wang (USA): The sounds I can hear when I miss you [World Premiere]
June Young Will Kim (Germany/USA): Black, Emerald [U.S. Premiere]
Hakan Ulus (Austria): Auslöschung II*
*This work will be presented as a sound installation in the Roulette lobby.
Performers:
International Contemporary Ensemble
DAY 3 // Friday, May 6, 2022 7:30pm ET
National Sawdust | 80 N 6th St. | Brooklyn, NY 11249
Link: https://live.nationalsawdust.
Tickets: General Admission $29.50
Program:
Christian Dimpker (Germany): N. 11 (String Quartet 1) [U.S. Premiere]
Francisco del Pino (Argentina/USA): Un pez dorado [World Premiere]
Shuyu Lin (USA): In the Station of the Metro [New York Premiere]
John Aulich (USA): Green, or Beautiful in Green [U.S. Premiere]
Travis Laplante (USA): The Obvious Place [New York Premiere]
Piyawat Louilarpprasert (USA): Double Shuttering Sprinters (2021) for violin and cello [New York Premiere]
Wajdi Abou Diab (Lebanon): a tune for Amer's Horn [World Premiere]
Performers:
International Contemporary Ensemble
Travis LaPlante, saxophone
DAY 4: MATA Artist-In-Residence Headline Concert // Saturday, May 7, 2022 at 7:30pm ET
National Sawdust | 80 N 6th St. | Brooklyn, NY 11249
Link: https://live.nationalsawdust.
Tickets: General Admission $29.50
Program:
Darius Jones (USA): Colored School No. 3 [World Premiere]
Performers:
Hajnal Pivnick and Ledah Finck, violins
Josh Henderson, viola
Issei Herr, cello
Dezron Douglas, bass
Gerald Cleaver, drums
Darius Jones, alto saxophone
Aviva Mitchell, voice
COVID Safety Policy: Proof of vaccination will be required for all audience members.
About MATA
Music at the Anthology (MATA) is an incubator for adventurous emerging artists experimenting with composition, multimedia, collaborative performance art, and every imaginable sound in between. We present, support, and commission the music of early-career composers, regardless of their stylistic views or aesthetic inclinations. Founded by Philip Glass, Eleonor Sandresky, and Lisa Bielawa in 1996 as a way to address the lack of presentation opportunities for unaffiliated composers, MATA has since developed into the world’s most sought-after performance opportunity for young and emerging composers. MATA presents an internationally-recognized festival each spring in New York City of new music by early-career composers selected from a free global call for submissions; MATA Presents, commissioned projects presented at venues and non-conventional spaces throughout New York; and MATA Jr., an evening of music by pre-college composers, mentored by MATA Alumni, and performed by top performers in new music. www.matafestival.org
About Darius Jones
Darius Jones has created a recognizable voice as a critically acclaimed saxophonist and composer by embracing individuality and innovation in the tradition of African-American music. Jones has been awarded the Van Lier Fellowship, Jerome Foundation Commission, Jerome Artist-in-Residence at Roulette, French-American Jazz Exchange Award, and, in 2019, the Fromm Music Foundation commission at Harvard University. Jones has released a string of diverse recordings featuring music and images evocative of Black Futurism. His work as a new music composer for voice culminated in a major debut performance at Carnegie Hall in 2014. Jones has collaborated with artists including Gerald Cleaver, Oliver Lake, William Parker, Andrew Cyrille, Craig Taborn, Wet Ink Ensemble, Jason Moran, Trevor Dunn, Dave Burrell, Eric Revis, Matthew Shipp, Marshall Allen, Nasheet Waits, James Carter, Travis Laplante, Fay Victor, Cooper-Moore, Matana Roberts, Dezron Douglas, Gelsey Bell, Nicole Mitchell, Georgia Ann Muldrow, and many more. In 2020, Darius premiered a major new multimedia composition entitled We Can Change The Country, a dramatic commentary on social justice and American politics. Jones’ new album, Raw Demoon Alchemy (A Lone Operation), will be released on Northern Spy Records in Fall 2021. Darius’ music is a confrontation against apathy and ego, hoping to inspire authenticity that compels us to be better humans. www.dariusjonesmusic.com
About the International Contemporary Ensemble
Described as “America’s foremost new-music group” (The New Yorker), the International Contemporary Ensemble has become a leading force in new music throughout the last 20 years, having premiered over 1,000 works and having been a vehicle for the workshop and performance of thousands of works by student composers across the U.S. The Ensemble’s composer-collaborators—many who were unknown at the time of their first Ensemble collaboration—have fundamentally shaped its creative ethos and have continued to highly visible and influential careers, including MacArthur Fellow Tyshawn Sorey; long-time Ensemble collaborator, founding member, and 2017 Pulitzer Prize-winner Du Yun; and the Ensemble’s founder, 2012 MacArthur Fellow, and first-ever flutist to win Lincoln Center’s Avery Fisher Prize, Claire Chase. Curricular activities include a partnership at The New School’s College of Performing Arts (CoPA), along with a summer intensive program, called Ensemble Evolution, where topics of equity, diversity, and inclusion build new bridges and pathways for the future of creative sound practices. Yamaha Artist Services New York is the exclusive piano provider for the Ensemble. Read more at www.iceorg.org and watch over 350 videos of live performances and documentaries at www.digitice.org. www.iceorg.org
About Roulette
Founded in 1978, Roulette’s mission is to support artists creating new and adventurous art in all disciplines by providing them with a venue and resources to realize their creative visions and to build an audience interested in the evolution of experimental art. Roulette now annually presents over 120 music, dance, and intermedia performances by some of today’s most prolific artists and their extraordinary emerging counterparts, alongside an additional 150 community and rental events. We also present a monthly podcast, weekly and monthly radio shows, and weekly TV segments on Manhattan and Brooklyn public access. In September 2020, in response to safety concerns amid the COVID-19 pandemic, Roulette began live streaming performances from our stage using a sophisticated robotic camera system and making the live streams available free of charge to the public, affirming our commitment to supporting the creation of experimental work, paying artists, and making avant-garde performance available to an ever-expanding audience. https://roulette.org
About National Sawdust
At National Sawdust, we believe that artistic expression empowers us all to create a more joyful and just world. National Sawdust’s mission is rooted in music discovery that is open, inclusive, and based in active mentorship of emerging artists, while building new audiences and communities of music devotees. National Sawdust engages artists in an ecosystem of incubation to dissemination, programming groundbreaking new music in our state-of-the-art Williamsburg venue, and developing and touring new, collaborative music-driven projects — the National Sawdust DNA produces and presents world-class artistic work which embraces a wide stylistic approach to music. National Sawdust believes in being an innovative leader in changing the landscape of contemporary music, by bringing all voices to the stage and beyond — artistic representation that reflects the ever-evolving multicultural society in which we live. https://nationalsawdust.org
# # #
Music at the Antholgy’s performances and commissioning activities during the 2021-22 season are made possible by the generous support of our board of directors and individuals, as well as the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, the National Endowment for the Arts, the New York State Council on the Arts, the American Society of Composers, the Aaron Copland Fund for Music, the BMI Foundation, The Gladys Krieble Delmas Foundation, the Amphion Foundation, The Alice M. Ditson Fund, the Francis Goelet Charitable Lead Trust, and The Fan Fox and Leslie R. Samuels Foundation.
The MATA Festival is presented, in part, by the International Contemporary Ensemble and with support from The Alice M. Ditson Fund, the Francis Goelet Charitable Lead Trust, and the Fan Fox and Leslie R. Samuels Foundation. The International Contemporary Ensemble’s performances and commissioning activities during the 2021-22 concert season are made possible by the generous support of our board of directors and many individuals, as well as The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, the Howard Gilman Foundation, the Jerome Foundation, The Fan Fox and Leslie R. Samuels Foundation, the Aaron Copland Fund for Music Inc., the MAP Fund, the Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation, the Francis Goelet Charitable Lead Trusts, the Amphion Foundation, The Gladys Krieble Delmas Foundation, the Ann and Gordon Getty Foundation, The Alice M. Ditson Fund, The Casement Fund, and the BMI Foundation, as well as public funds from the National Endowment for the Arts, the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council, the New York State Council for the Arts with the support of Governor Kathy Hochul, the New York State Legislature, the Illinois Arts Council Agency, and the Shuttered Venue Operators Grant (SVOG) from the U.S. Small Business Administration. The International Contemporary Ensemble was the Ensemble in Residence of the Nokia Bell Labs Experiments in Art and Technology from 2018 - 2021. Yamaha Artist Services New York is the exclusive piano provider for the International Contemporary Ensemble.
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