315 Ensemble Presents: Strains in the Signals

Strains in the Signals

315 ENSEMBLE WCNY FM Performance Studio Syracuse, NY May 25, 2022 7 pm

The Music Sorry, where are we now? (2017) Emily Levy Unbranded Ensemble Piece**(2017) Patrick Ellis Bering Sea (2011) Kirsten Volness Ex Nihilo* (2021) Ben Smith Strains in the Signal (2014) Natalie Draper From Dreams, We Emerge (2015) Chris Cresswell

*World Premiere ** US Premiere

Strains in the Signals

315 Ensemble returns for our May concert program, Strains in the Signals, featuring a range of acoustic and electro-acoustic chamber music from local, national, and international composers.

As we continue to emerge from the previous two years, we all collectively find ourselves discovering, rediscovering, and for many us, creating new versions of ourselves, amidst a continually fraught, fragmented world, while still living in a version of the internal and imaginary worlds that sustained us through the first two years of the ongoing pandemic.

The works on this program find their respective composers existing somewhere in the tension of the real and the imaginary. We'll hear natural soundscapes in Kirsten Volness's Bering Sea, where her imagination of the Bering Sea, a landscape she's never visited, leads her "to consider fairly unfathomable concepts: geologic time, the migration of early humans, a remote and unique ecosystem..." and Ben Smith's Ex Nihilo, Latin for "out of nothing", takes field recordings from a family vacation and transforms them into a short meditation.

In Chris Cresswell's From Dreams, We Emerge, the instruments emerge from a synthetic sonic landscape and play the fragmented remains of a musical thought the listener never gets to hear.

Instead these fragments become their own musical work. Patrick Ellis's Unbranded Ensemble Piece sees the ensemble further retreating into a digital landscape, where the acoustic instruments are led by a persistent MIDI part.

We see the overarching theme of these works echoed in Natalie Draper's Strains in the Signal, which gives the title to this concert program, where "soft delicate dreamscapes" are fragmented amongst "loud surges and interruptions". All of this is introduced by the central question that makes up the title of Emily Levy's Sorry, where are we now?, a question, first asked in response to Brexit and the 2016 US election, that feels more and more prescient with each passing year.

Sorry, where are we now? (2017) - Emily Levy

As musicians/listeners we spend a lot of time trying to pin down time and pitch. It can can be a pleasure or a frustration depending on the day/piece/moment. And sometimes it's futile. Outside, the natural world continues freely without a second glance at our efforts. Occasionally between the music and the elements I catch glimpses of freedom and perspective. Plus, the question "Where are we now?" seems a pretty concise response to 2017's political climates. (Program note by Emily Levy)

Unbranded Ensemble Piece** (2017) - Patrick Ellis

Composed in the Spring of 2017 for the original, U.K. iteration of 315 Ensemble, ‘Unbranded Ensemble Piece’, is a short work that explores a playful conversation between ensemble and electronics. The material juxtaposes back and forth registers, ascending and descending, as well as blending and contrasting the sounds heard from the speakers and live instruments.

‘Unbranded’ is the first of several pieces that Ellis and Cresswell/315 Ensemble have worked on together.

Bering Sea (2011) - Kirsten Volness

When I think of the Bering Sea, my imagination leads me to consider fairly unfathomable concepts: geologic time, the migration of early humans, a remote and unique ecosystem full of animals I likely have never seen before (and whose habitat I can only guess is at risk of changing, being in a coastal, arctic region). In the audio Kathy Turco recorded in the Pribilof Islands, among the waves, fur seals, murres and auklets, arctic foxes and songbirds, I found sounds of thriving life and even laughter. Given only an auditory glimpse of a place I’ve never been, I couldn’t help but imagine it through the lens of the countless nature documentaries I’ve seen and the movies at the Omnitheater of the Science Museum of Minnesota I loved as a child. I was inspired most by the humor I found in the sounds and the august richness of such a wild, vast, and remote part of the world. (Program note by Kirsten Volness)

Ex Nihilo* (2021) - Ben Smith

This piece is based around the formation of the world.

The title, Ex Nihilo, is Latin and translates to, “From Nothing,” in English. It is used to describe the belief that the Earth and the Universe itself were created from nothing. Therefore, this piece begins in darkness, with only sparse flashes of light flickering through the void. But, as the piece continues, the flute builds a barren landscape through triumphs and failures, and thus the world is made. Like drops of rain, life begins to dot the Earth, peppering it with both the good and the bad, trading melodies through short, cut off ideas. This culminates in a storm as each instrument competes for space on the newly created land, ultimately leading to the climax of the piece as all of the instruments come together, leaving nothing in their wake once again. The piece ends with the word, “nothing” spelled out in morse code and the disappearing of the waves back into the void. (Program note by Ben Smith)

Strains in the Signal (2014) - Natalie Draper

Strains in the Signal was originally written for a reading with Oliver Knussen and a subset of the Birmingham Contemporary Music Group. The reading took place during their residency at the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C. in April of 2014. My sincere thanks to Knussen and the BCMG for this opportunity. The piece was premiered at the Tanglewood Music Center by the Fromm Players on July 12, 2015.

Strains in the Signal is a piece for clarinets, violin, cello, and piano that features hints of melodies (strains) amidst a driving pulse (the signal). Soft, delicate dreamscape sections are juxtaposed with loud surges and interruptions.

From Dreams, We Emerge (2015) - Chris Cresswell

Originally commissioned by Wild Rumpus New Music Group in San Francisco, From Dreams, We Emerge was an important milestone in my compositional arc. In addition to being a prototype, both aesthetically and in instrumentation, for 315 Ensemble, it represents a conscious move towards embracing a more improvisatory, visceral means of composition.

*World Premiere; **US Premiere

315 Ensemble Featuring some of the top players from Central New York’s classical, jazz, and experimental scenes 315 Ensemble is a mixed chamber group that “…blurs the boundaries between industrial and organic, soothing and suspenseful, introspective and anxious” (International Clarinet Association). Founded in 2016 by composer/guitarist Chris Cresswell while living in the United Kingdom, 315 Ensemble relaunched in its namesake community in 2021.

Committed to performing new music that embraces contemporary classical, ambient, and electronic musical worlds, 315 Ensemble has commissioned and championed exciting composers from around the world, including Emily Levy, Kevin Baldwin, Patrick Ellis, and Jamie Elless. It also serves as the primary vehicle for Chris Cresswell’s work as a composer and sound artist. They have performed at the Frontiers Festival in Birmingham, England, have been featured on the International Music Council’s Window on the World radio program, and released their debut EP on Ravello Records in 2018.

A chamber sextet, 315 Ensemble features Diane Jones on flutes, Elizabeth Schmidt on clarinets, Edgar Tumajyan on violin, Kristen Kopf on cello, Nick Abelgore on piano, and Chris Cresswell on electric guitar. They champion work “with electronics” providing composers a platform to expand and experiment with compositional and sonic possibilities. Upcoming projects include newly commissioned works by Patrick Ellis, Jamie Elless, and Edward Ruchalski.

315 Ensemble recording at the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire in 2017.

The Musicians

Diane Jones (flutes) is a composer and multi-instrumentalist, as well as Program Manager and mid-day host at WCNY. Her music has been recorded by Trio Casals, trombonist Haim Avitsur, and Samba Laranja, and she is fortunate to have had her music heard in Weill Hall at Carnegie Hall in four separate concerts. Diane is host/producer of Feminine Fusion, the nationally syndicated program highlighting women in classical music.

Elizabeth Schmidt (clarinets) is a clarinetist, conductor, and music educator based in Syracuse, NY. She enjoys collaborating with other musicians, including composers, in the performance of jazz and contemporary music. Elizabeth is currently pursuing a Master of Music in clarinet performance and music education at Syracuse University, where she is a graduate teaching assistant in the band department.

Edgar Tumajyan (violin) is a native of Yerevan, Armenia. He began his violin study at age 8, at the Tchaikovsky Specialized Music School. His Bachelor’s Degree is from the Yerevan State Conservatory; his Master’s Degree from Syracuse University, where he worked with Symphoria Concertmaster Peter Rovit.

Kristen Kopf (cello) is an innovative, veteran music educator, currently celebrating her thirtieth year with the North Syracuse Central School District. She also teaches privately in her studio. Kristen is considered a pioneer in the Alternative Style Strings, and performs professionally on both cello and baritone saxophone. Kristen is the co-founder and cellist of the Opus Black String Quartet and cellist in Monk Rowe's Five Families Ensemble. She has dedicated her life to enthusiastically sharing her love of music and is excited to be performing in the 315 Ensemble.

Though Nick Abelgore (piano) studied classical trombone in school, he is also a proficient jazz pianist, pipe organist for St. David’s Episcopal, and self-accompanied singer. He plays in wedding bands, clubs, restaurants, and other freelance venues around CNY doing unique arrangements of classic rock/pop covers, jazz standards, originals, and more. Additionally, Nick has a master's in Music Education and is a yoga instructor at several local studios.

A composer, sound artist, and guitarist, Chris Cresswell (electric guitar, electronics) has been heard in coffee shops, concert halls, and venues around the world, from chic Brooklyn venues like Areté Venue and Gallery and The Firehouse Space, to Birmingham, England’s renown Symphony Hall and the Paleis voor Schone Kunsten in Brussels.

315

's CNY

315 Ensemble is invested in, and supported

by the Central New York arts community.

We thank you for attending tonight's performance and can't wait to share more of our music with you.

We would also like to thank: Sar Shalom Strong, Brian Lee, Amber Cresswell, Arjun Jethwa, Luke Newby, Laurie McGee, Laetitia Van Wyk, Heather Duncanson, Onondaga Community College, WCNY, and CNY Arts We want to stay in touch with you. www.315ensemble.com Stream our record on Spotify, Apple Music, or wherever you find good music.

Support for 315 Ensemble is provided by THIS PROJECT WAS MADE POSSIBLE WITH THE FUNDS FROM THE RESTART NY REGRANTS PROGRAM, A REGRANT PROGRAM OF THE NEW YORK STATE COUNCIL ON THE ARTS WITH THE SUPPORT OF THE GOVERNOR'S OFFICE AND THE NEW YORK STATE LEGISLATURE AND ADMINISTERED BY CNY ARTS.