Musicians

Musicians

brad balliett - bassoon

New York City-based musician Brad Balliett maintains a busy schedule as a composer, bassoonist, speaker, teaching artist, and poet. He has appeared as a soloist with the Houston Symphony, Johannesburg Philharmonic, KZN Philharmonic (South Africa), Experiential Orchestra, and Metropolis Ensemble. As a composer, Brad’s most recent commissions have come from Carnegie Hall, A Far Cry, Cecelia Chorus, Metropolis Ensemble, the Boston Youth Symphony Orchestra, Experiential Orchestra, and Notre Dame University. He was Composer-in-Residence for the Chelsea Music Festival, and has attended several other festivals as a visiting composer. Brad is principal bassoon of the Princeton Symphony Orchestra. Additionally, he is also an artistic director for the chamber music collective Decoda (Affiliate Ensemble of Carnegie Hall) as well as a core member of Metropolis Ensemble, Deviant Septet, and Signal. His various festival performances include Marlboro, Tanglewood, June in Buffalo, Newport Jazz Festival, Festspiele Mecklenburg-Vorpommen, Yellow Barn, and the Lucerne Festival.

Richard Carrick - Conductor/Piano

Described as “charming, with exoticism and sheer infectiousness” by Allan Kozinn of The New York Times, Richard Carrick's music has been performed throughout the Americas, Europe, and Japan by the New York Philharmonic (Ensemble Series), Vienna’s Konzerthaus, ISCM World Music Days, Darmstadt Summer Festival, the Nieuw Ensemble, the JACK Quartet, Magnus Andersson, Rohan de Saraam and others.    Recent works include Dark Flow - Double Quartet, The Flow Cycle for Strings (released on New World Records in 2011), Harmonixity for Saxophone Quartet, and Adagios for String Orchestra.  He also writes large-scale multi-media works such as Cosmicomics (based on stories by Italo Calvino) and Prisoner's Cinema combining video, electronics and live musicians. As a conductor and pianist he regularly premieres new works, working with composers Lachenmann, Czernowin, Saunders, Greenwood, Lewis and others. He taught composition at Columbia University and New York University and guest lectured about his music in Japan, South Korea, Sweden, France, Germany, The Netherlands and the US. www.richardcarrick.com

Jennifer Choi - Violin

Jennifer Choi has charted a career that breaks through the conventional boundaries of solo violin, chamber music, and the art of creative improvisation. Since giving her New York debut at Carnegie Hall in 2000, she has performed in venues worldwide like the Library of Congress in Washington D.C., Alice Tully Hall, the Mozartsaal in Vienna, and the RAI National Radio in Rome. She has premiered and performed over 50 new music works and has collaborated with composers like John Zorn, Christian Wolfe, Leo Wadada Smith, Elliott Sharp, Randall Woolf, and Susie Ibarra. A prominent chamber musician, Ms. Choi was a founding member of the Miró String Quartet; with her involvement, the group won Grand Prize at the the 1996 Fischoff and Coleman chamber music competitions. She has appeared at the Ravinia Festival, Caramoor Music Festival, Barge Music, as well as the Santa Fe and La Jolla Chamber Music Festivals, Banff Centre for the Arts, and the Aspen Music Festival.   www.jenniferchoi.com

Vasko Dukovski - Clarinet

Vasko Dukovski, a multi-instrumentalist virtuoso and diverse stylistic performer of the highest caliber has established himself as one of New York's most sought after instrumentalist in his generation. A master of the clarinet, Dukovski also plays Armenian Duduk, Balkan Pan Pipes, Bag Pipes, Chinese Hu Lu Si and various Midlle-Eastern percussion instruments. Born in Ohrid in the Republic of Macedonia, Dukovski began his musical studies at the age of nine. His dedication earned him a Fine Arts Award from the Interlochen Arts Academy, which he attended before earning a Bachelors and a Masters at the Julliard Schools of Music. At Julliard, Dukovski was principally a student of Charles Neidich and Ayako Oshima.   www.dukovski.com

pala garcia - violin

Pala Garcia is a critically acclaimed violinist, educator andadvocate of community engagement. She has performed as a guest on numerous occasions in some of the world’s finest ensembles, including the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, Orchestra of St. Luke’s, Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, and Ensemble Modern.  As the co-founder of Longleash, an “expert young trio” (Strad Magazine) specializing in contemporary music, she also co-leads the Loretto Project, a graduate-level composition seminar and concert series in Kentucky. www.palagarcia.com 

Queens-based percussionist Russell Greenberg specializes in music of the 20th and 21st centuries that spans a wide variety of styles. His breadth of experience as an international performer has led to a unique approach and viewpoint on contemporary music and teaching, and he strives to share this experience with varied audiences.  As a founding member of the piano and percussion quartet, Yarn/Wire, Russell has collaborated with many of today’s leading composers to craft a body of new, wide-reaching and vital repertoire.  At the vanguard of contemporary music, Yarn/Wire frequently tours the United States and performances have been labeled as “fearless” (TimeOutNY), and “intrepid/engrossing” (The New York Times). In addition to his work with contemporary music ensembles, Russell performs and records with the innovative bands Seaven Teares. www.russellgreenberg.net

James ilgenfritz

Bassist and composer James Ilgenfritz has worked in New York’s experimental music community for ten years, interacting with visual artists, improvisers, composers, and literary figures. James has performed with Anthony Braxton, John Zorn, Elliott Sharp, Anthony Coleman, and Jin Hi Kim. He has also worked with composers such as Lukas Ligeti, JG Thirlwell, Pitre, Kevin Norton, and Gordon Beeferman. James is also performing regularly with his jazz quartet MiND GAMeS. His debut solo recording ‘Compositions (Braxton) 2011’ features his incredibly distinct solo bass interpretations of Anthony Braxton’s music. Avant Music News’ Dan Barbiero has hailed him as “a considerable achievement of solo instrumentalism and an important demonstration of the possibilities open to the double bass in the early 21st century”. jamesilgenfritz.com

Taka Kigawa - Piano

Critically acclaimed pianist Taka Kigawa has earned outstanding international recognition as a recitalist, soloist, and chamber music artist since winning the Diploma Prize at the 1998 Concurs Internacional Maria Canals De Barcelona, with such accolades from The New York Times as “A phenomenon, there’s no denying that he is something special.” and from La Nacíon (Buenos Aires, Argentina) "Taka Kigawa is a stupendous virtuoso." Kigawa's New York recital in 2010 was chosen as one of the best concerts of the year by The New York Times. He has performed extensively as a recitalist and soloist with appearances in Carnegie Hall, Alice Tully Hall, Severance Hall in Cleveland, Cité de la Musique and Salle Gaveau in Paris, Plau de la Música Catalana in Barcelona, and Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires. He has collaborated closely with such renowned musicians as Pierre Boulez, Myung-Whun Chung and Jonathan Nott.
Mr. Kigawa graduated from The Juilliard School, where he earned his Master of Music degree.   www.takakigawa.com

Margaret Lancaster - Flutes

“New-music luminary” (The New York Times), Margaret Lancaster has premiered well over 100 pieces and built a large repertoire of new works composed specifically for her. Performance highlights include Lincoln Center Festival, Spoleto Festival USA, Santa Fe New Music, Whitney Museum, Edinburgh Festival and Festival D’Automne. She has recorded on New World Records, OO Discs, Innova, Naxos and Tzadik, and was selected for Meet the Composer’s New Works for Soloist Champions project. Noted for her inter-disciplinary performances, Lancaster, who also works as an actor, choreographer, dancer, and amateur furniture designer, presents solo and chamber music concerts worldwide and acts in Lee Breuer’s OBIE-winning Mabou Mines Dollhouse.  margaretlancaster.com

Christopher McIntyre - Trombone

Christopher McIntyre enjoys a singular, wide-ranging career in music and the performing arts. An in-demand performer on trombone and electronics, McIntyre specializes in ensemble work meshing improvisative & interpretive material as a player and as a composer, conductor, and band leader. Based in Brooklyn and bred in Minnesota, he composes for various media and instrumental forces, often employing creative systems suggested by the work of visual artists such as Serra, Smithson, and LeWitt. He serves as program curator and trombonist for NYC ensembles Either/Or and TILT Brass, as well as Director and Co-Founder of the latter. McIntyre also independently curates events for local venues including ISSUE Project Room and The Kitchen. He frequently performs around the city and in Europe with TILT, Either/Or, SEM and Talea Ensembles, among many others including numerous composer-led projects. He can be heard on recordings released by New World, Tzadik, XI, Mode, Braxton House, Edition Modern, POTTR, zOaR, and Non-Site Records. Since 2006, McIntyre has contributed to the broad revival of composer Julius Eastman’s music by creating several score realizations and leading performances by SEM, TILT Brass, Talea & Harlem Chamber Players, Queens College’s Copland Ensemble, Philly’s Arcana NME, and members of Orchestra of St. Lukes. He teaches contemporary brass chamber music at Mannes School of Music at The New School.  cmcintyre.com

John Popham - Cello

Cellist John Popham was born and raised in Louisville, Kentucky. The New York Times has described his playing as “warm but variegated” and “finely polished”. About his recent premiere of Vincent Raikhel’s cello concerto, Cirques and Moraines, the New York Times wrote that he played “with energy and a touch of poetry.” John holds a BM and MM from the Manhattan School of Music where he was a student of David Geber and David Soyer. An active chamber musician, he is the resident cellist of Red Light New Music and a member of the Toomai String Quintet. John has performed throughout North America, South America, and Europe with ensembles such as the Argento Chamber Ensemble and the Talea Ensemble. He has recorded for Tzadik, Carrier, and Arte Nova Records and teaches in the Mason Gross School of Music’s Young Artist Program at Rutgers University.   www.johnpatrickpopham.com