President's Message
Executive Director's Note
Artistic Director's Note
Year in Review
Our Mission, Vision and Values
Commitment to Chicago
Chicago Season
Featured Recording
Young Creators Fellowship
Recorded Media & Audience Overview
Composers, 2023/2024
World Premieres
Commissioning & Programming Demographics
Director of Finance's Note
Expense Summary
The ~Ensemble
The ~Staff
Board of Directors
Thank you Board
Support ~Nois
Our Supporters
No matter the genre or stage, ~Nois continues to impress me with their versatility and dedication to music making. Music is essential to life, and I passionately believe in sharing music with everyone we can.
~Nois represents the best of music making in Chicago with its unique multi-saxophone sound, and it is a great honor to step into the role of Board President for the upcoming season. Over the course of the past eight years, ~Nois has been able to create innovative, welcoming, and exceptional musical experiences that foster an inclusive artistic community through their engaging programs. Thank you to all of ~Nois’ generous donors, mentors, and patrons for your continued support – we look forward to another great season of artistry!
Each and every year, when the days get shorter and the weather gets cold, I find myself reflecting with pride on all that ~Nois has accomplished in the past season. My mind always wanders to the first of our core values ~ “We strive to not be limited by our abilities and continually challenge ourselves to grow.” Through constant experimentation, curiosity, and friendship we have constantly pushed this ensemble to grow and mature since our founding in 2016. The 2023/2024 season was NO exception, with some of our largest organizational strides to date. This past season we saw a ~35% increase in our operating budget, we DOUBLED the number of students our programming engaged, and the reach of our recorded media exploded thanks to collaborations with The Kinds of Kings composer collective, Annika Socolofsky, and our dear friend Cassie Wieland (Vines) - engaging over 140,000 unique listeners. NONE of these strides would have been possible without countless hours of hard work from our ensemble members and our board of directors, along with guidance from countless mentors in our beloved musical home of Chicago. Looking ahead, there are some changes on the horizon for ~Nois. After 8 years of dedicated alto saxophone playing, our dear friend Hunter Bockes has decided to step away from ~Nois. What’s next for Hunter? He is moving into a new role as Beverage Director and General Manager of Chicago’s newest (and best) cocktail bar/music venue, Clara. While we’ll miss playing music with Hunter on a daily basis, we’re so proud of all he has
accomplished at Clara and are excited to see what the future holds for him. We wouldn’t be where we are today without all the hard work Hunter has put into ~Nois, and for that, we’re so grateful! We are SO excited to be announcing our next full time alto player in Summer of 2025. Stay tuned! This is the second of many formal impact reports from ~Nois Performing Arts Organization NFP (and it’s fancier than the report I designed last year - Thanks Tess Peckman!). I hope that this report can not only be a reflection on the accomplishments of the past year, but also a celebration of things to come. As ~Nois continues to grow and learn through curiosity and exploration, we hope you’ll stick around for the journey. Your support is forever and always appreciated and we can’t wait to show y’all what is next for ~Nois.
The 23/24 Season was our opportunity to make a bold statement after years of hard work and planning. ~Nois premiered 20 works for saxophone quartet, gave 35 educational engagements, workshopped 18 student composition readings, performed 28 concerts, and was a part of 4 major album releases. It is no understatement when I proudly say that we are one of the few saxophone ensembles in the country with such a breadth of output.
We released our largest volume of recorded media to date which included our monumental album, Kinds of ~Nois. In addition to its critical acclaim and debut at #1 on Billboard’s Classical Crossover charts, it showcased the ensemble’s versatility and commitment to advancing contemporary classical literature to a wide variety of aesthetics. This journey is just beginning for us as the 24/25 Season will include tracking our upcoming album What is ~Nois. This album goes one step further into exploring the unique sound worlds the saxophone quartet inhabits; with performances that include electric guitar, punk rock drums, electronic dance beats, and Colin Stetson-esque saxophone musculature.
With Chicago as a central pillar to ~Nois’ artistic output, we continued our mission of contributing to the ecosystem of Chicago’s unique and brilliant musical community. We saw record attendance for our Chicagoland self-presented series CURIOSITY and DISCOVERY. We were able to collaborate with Chicago artists from a variety of ages and experiences through commissions,
Fulcrum Point, and the Young Creators Fellowship. For our 23/24 commissioned premieres, 71% of works were by Chicago artists and all but one of these were performed in Chicago throughout the season.
We embark into the 24/25 Season with the search for our newest core alto saxophonist and administrator with a sense of optimism for the future. ~Nois is not the same graduate-student ensemble it was almost a decade ago, and this hiring process has given us the opportunity to reassess the aspirations of the ensemble. We are grateful to have established a core infrastructure that allows us to continue our mission and reach with one less member for this season.
We will emerge at the end of our 24/25 Season with a new core member, a continued strong output, and a strong vision for ~Nois’ future as we approach our 10 year anniversary.
Our Vision
Our Mission is to create innovative, welcoming, and exceptional musical experiences that foster an inclusive artistic community.
Our Values
We strive to not be limited by our abilities and continually challenge ourselves to grow.
We achieve the highest level of artistry and chamber playing through an eagerness to experiment and a dedication to quality.
The success of ~Nois is only as valuable as the kindness, openness, honesty, and respect we share with each other.
We aim to create a diverse, inclusive, and equitable environment through our artistic and operational decisions.
~Nois is a product of Chicago’s welcoming, generous, and unique musical culture. It is our responsibility to contribute to the fabric of our city’s musical community through performance, collaboration, and stewardship.
~Nois exists as a proof of concept that classically-trained musicians pursuing career paths outside of the normative structures are able to succeed.
As educators, we aim to be a resource to young and inquisitive creators who are looking to discover and explore their curiosities.
We challenge the expectations of the saxophone quartet medium in an anti-stuffy approach to performance that respects the quality of the art.
We aspire to cultivate a global audience, leaving a meaningful legacy on the genre of saxophone quartet through recording, performance, and outreach.
We seek to leave behind a body of engaging, substantial, and thought-provoking repertoire for future generations to perform and listen to.
We thrive in the collaborative process and above all else, seek to bring the collective vision to life.
If we do our job well, anyone can enjoy a ~Nois show.
Chicago is a unique catalyst for creative individuals and we owe so much to this city’s immensely vibrant musical community for supporting our endeavors. Putting the ~Nois in Illinois, we are committed to contributing to the artistic fabric of Chicago.
Every year we provide hands-on educational outreach opportunities for secondary and university students of all ages in the city. We have collaborated with local universities such as University of Chicago, DePaul University, Northwestern University, University of Illinois Chicago. We provide a fellowship for high-school creatives called the ~Nois Young Creators Fellowship. This fellowship features two high school Chicago creatives every year where we premiere their works here in the city at our DISCOVERY concert. As part of this fellowship, we provide free concerts and presentations to Chicago-area schools. In the 2023/2024 season, We provided educational programming for 1300 students ages 4 - 18 in the Chicago-land area.
60% of our World Premieres are by Chicago composers (that’s 55 so far… for those keeping track at home). When touring around the country, we focus on including works from Chicago composers as part of our concert programs.
Each year, ~Nois self-presents multiple concerts in the Chicagoland area. Our season opener - CURIOSITY - focuses on commissioning and presenting Chicago artists. Our season closer - DISCOVERY - focuses on bringing exciting new works from around the country back to the city and showcasing some of our city's best emerging high school composers. Additionally, throughout our season we collaborate with other Chicago artists to present concerts across the city.
premieres
“Performances are note-perfect and assuredly interpreted.”
Music is a universal language that allows the communication of human emotion without a prerequisite of understanding. As we have new experiences, our understanding of music changes, our musical language evolves, and the emotions we are trying to communicate morph.
The result of the past six years of collaboration between Kinds of Kings and ~Nois; Kinds of ~Nois is an exploration of personal and musical change. From darkness to light, a yearning for a brighter future, this is an album of two parts.
“There are legions of string quartets but far fewer of the saxophone kind. There’s PRISM Quartet, of course, and outfits such as Apollo Saxophone Quartet, World Saxophone Quartet, and Rova Saxophone Quartet have brought deserved attention to the format. With Kinds of ~Nois, this proud Chicago unit makes a compelling case for its right to stand with such distinguished company.” ~textura
5 World Premiere Recordings
6 Years of Collaboration
#1 ON BILLBOARD
CLASSICAL CROSSOVER CHARTS
To encourage young, Chicago based artists to create new work.
2 3
To provide a platform for young artists to have their work performed for a larger audience.
This season saw the second year of our annual program geared towards aspiring young creatives: the Young Creators Fellowship. This program selects two local high school-aged students to collaborate with us on two new works for saxophone quartet, with each winner receiving a $500 prize, a series of collaborative workshops with the ensemble, and a professional live recording of their new piece on our seasonclosing DISCOVERY Series concert. Thanks to our Creative Mentor on the project, Joey Meland, each winner was also able to receive one-on-one composition lessons to help guide them in the process of creating these new works.
In its second year, this Fellowship continued to achieve these goals and was largely a success. We are already looking towards next year’s Fellowship and discussing how it can be improved. While this year saw an expanded recruitment effort, we are hoping to expand even further next season - offering a series of free educational programs for up to 10 local high schools. This will serve to encourage more students to apply, and will help expand our educational outreach within our local community.
To offer real-world collaborative experience that will prepare these students for a future career in music.
We want to congratulate this year’s two selected winners Fabrizio Milcent and Ezra Weisz for demonstrating a willingness to experiment and an enthusiasm for the collaborative process. Together, we explored new musical worlds inspired by their individual musical experiences. Both fellows showed incredible growth during the short three months we worked together, and we are excited to watch the development of their already promising careers in music.
“This was a great program because it encouraged me to explore different ways of writing music. Normally, I write all of my music on a keyboard in my attic, but the Fellowship helped to expand my knowledge of composition by working with other people.”
-
Ezra Weisz
140,000+ LISTENERS
500,000+ STREAMS
25,000+
September 2023
Self Release
I Tell You Me
Annika Socolofsky
September 2023
Carrier Records
birthday party
August 2023
Self Release
Over the course of the 2023/2024 season the group presented 21 world premieres in 5 states. In addition to our own commissioning, we partnered with The University of Colorado Boulder, The University of Florida, Connecticut Summer Fest, and Fulcrum Point New Music Project on these premieres.
Abbie Klemens
Augusta Read Thomas
Brendan Sweeney
Brock Nofsinger
Carlos Bandera
Daniel Cui
Daniel Townsend
Edward Lu
Ezra Weisz
Fabrizio Milcent
Hoáng Phó
Isabel Badlose
Jane Kozhevnikova
Josie Arnett
Kari Watson
Max Edinoff
Neda Nadim
Russell Avellanosa
Shawn Okpebholo
Shelley Washington
Yunmeng Su
~Nois’ commissions and programming advocates for the medium of saxophone quartet as an exceptional avenue for chamber music, while generating the next generation of repertoire that embraces a more diverse and equitable future.
21 WORLD PREMIERES
GENDER
ETHNICITY
*ALAANA stands for African, Latinx, Asian, Arab, and Native American individuals and communities.
Thanks to the generous support from foundations and individual donors, ~Nois’s 23/24 season has continued the organization’s promising trajectory of financial and operational growth. These income streams have allowed the ensemble to pursue our most ambitious commissioning and recording projects to date while continuing to provide innovative live programming to audiences across the country.
Commisioning
Take your preconceived notions of ‘noise’ and toss them out the window. Equal parts “fiendishly good and fiendishly goofy”
~Nois is a Chicago-based saxophone quartet dedicated to connecting with diverse audiences through the creation of new work. Since its founding in 2016, “~Nois continues to legitimize the saxophone quartet as a premiere ensemble formation for classical music” (thank you Brutal New Music) through commissioning repertoire that is thought-provoking, engaging, and honestly just really good, by some of today’s most inspiring compositional voices.
As proud residents of Chicago, the ensemble members seek to serve the diverse neighborhoods of the city through an annual season of self-presented concerts and programs. Each year, ~Nois’ Curiosity Series brings together Chicago residents and artists for an evening of music exclusively featuring the work of composers and performers with strong ties to the city, with a particular focus on advocating for younger creators in Chicago. Additionally, ~Nois serves
Chicago youth through their Young Creators Fellowship, which selects two local high school-aged students each year to collaborate with the ensemble on new works for saxophone.
At the core of ~Nois’ ethos is a fierce dedication to the commissioning of living composers, with a particular emphasis on developing a personal friendship with all collaborators they work with. In doing so, the ensemble aims to create new works of art that reflect and exemplify the values of human connection, which are central to the quartet’s mission. With more than 100 world premieres to date, the members of ~Nois have had the privilege of working closely with some of the world’s leading voices in composition to create new works for saxophone quartet, including Nico Muhly, Augusta Read Thomas, Shelley Washington, Alex Mincek, Hans Thomalla, and Tonia Ko, among others.
Director of Development Director of Finance
Administrative Intern
Artistic Director
Executive Director
We would like to extend a huge thank you to our Board of Directors for the tremendous support and guidance in the 2023/2024 season. We are honored to have these leaders as a part of the ~Nois Family <3
Executive Director of the Center for Decision Research The Booth School of Business, University of Chicago
Senior Advisor to the Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Sustainable Energy for All
Director of Development Corporate, Foundation, and Government Relations at Chicago Sinfonietta
Director of Finance at ~Nois Performing Arts Organization
Associate at Katten Muchin Rosenman LLP
Partner at Bielski Chapman, Ltd.
Client Financial Analyst at Arthur J. Gallagher International
As a 21st century artist-driven organization, ~Nois relies on contributions, both large and small, to support innovative programming, high-caliber performances, and education programs to young musicians and audiences. Your generosity enables us to continue our mission of presenting the fiercest music of recent decades and serves as an investment not only in our organization, but also in the future of contemporary music and art. But this isn’t just about the four of us — it’s about ALL of us. By supporting artists, we build bridges between communities and inspire conversations about all of life’s complexities. We are committed to diversity, equity, and inclusion in our commissioning efforts, and we strive to use our platform to advocate for the work of underrepresented composers. We work towards creating a diverse body of repertoire for future generations to perform.
Donations to ~Nois can be made via check made out to ~Nois Performing Arts Organization and mailed to 7012 Church St. Morton Grove, IL 60053 Or online via www.noissaxophone.com/tildedonate ~Nois Performing Arts Organization, NFP (EIN: 84-3205738) is a registered 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. Your donation is tax-deductible to the extent allowable by law.
As a mission-focused organization, ~Nois operates with an incredibly slim 6% overhead operating budget, meaning the vast majority (94%) of our income goes directly to the creation of new art.
Our 2023/2024 season cost $145,000 to bring to life, and none of this would have been possible without the support of the individuals in the Tilde ~Team and generous grants from the foundations and family funds listed below. We are eternally grateful for your support!
$1000 and Above
Anonymous
John Bierbusse
Amy & Brian Boonstra
Russ Irwin
Kinds of Kings
Janet & Joe Lulloff
Bill, Vicki, & Andrew Morton
Chris Sinta
Finn & Zoe Truckenbrod
Edmund & Wendy Velasco
Dave Zampa
The Amphion Foundation
Paul M. Angell Family Foundation
The Alice M. Ditson Fund
The MacArthur Funds for Culture, Equity, and the Arts at the Richard H. Driehaus Foundation
The Illinois Arts Council Agency
The Reizner Family Fund
The Augusta Read Thomas and Bernard Rands Trust
Percent % Patron
$500 to $999
SJ Chapman
Logan Dougherty
Evanston Space
Michael Glass
David Henderson
Bruce Oltman
Sarah Forbes Orwig & Clark Costen
Dollar $ Donor
$250 to $499
Holly & Dave Bockes
Mary & Rick Bockes
Penny Capps
Donna Haile
Helen Holman
Grace May
Nick Zoulek
Caret ^ Contributor
$100 to $249
Doyle Armbrust
Ruthie & Chip Bailey
Flora Csontos
Sarolta Csontos-Diab
Robert Dillon
Sally & Bernard Dobroski
Luke Ellard
Dan Gelok
Andre Gonyea
Andrea Moore Healy
Makenzie Hoffmeyer
Therese & David Hueholt
Jason Kalajainen
Maria Kaoutzani
Jackie & Eric Kirchner
Robin Koelsch
Michael Maccaferri
Mark Main
Karol & Patrick Mikula
Donald Nally
Osnat Netzer
Nick Photinos
Agnes Redei
Amanda Simmons
Liza Sobel
Taimur Sullivan
Curtis Vanzandt
Virginia & Don Ward
Nina Williams
Flora Wuellner
Lucy Wuellner
Tyler Young
Hashtag # Helper
$1 to $99
Sam Alvarez
Luis Fernando Amaya
Mathew Arrellin
Timothy Bachman
Nicole Bartell
Leah Benson
Ruth Beresh
John Bielski
Brendan Bockes
Richard Brasseale
Barbara Brotman & Chuck
Berman
Rodrigo Bussad
Gavin Chuck
Will Cicola
Harrison Clarke
Nicholas Cline
Sean Connors
Paul Cotton
Paul Dellevigne
Matthew Duvall
Peggy Egli
Megan Elks
Dannel Espinoza
Christine Ewald
Teagan Faran
Alyse Freilich
Xin Gao
Kara & Tim Gazdziak
Grace Gelpi
Casey Grev
Jonathan Hannau
Delan Hao
Deirdre Harrison
Momoko Hasselbring
Alanna Hawley
Marco Herrera-Rendon
Tom Hicks
Jennifer Higdon
Joon Im
Brad Jefferson
Molly Jones
Lisa Kaplan
Diane Krycia
May Lee
Jeffrey Leung
Er-Hsuan LI
Chelsea Lyons
Clara M. Lyon
Peter Martin
Ricardo Martinez
Elaine Martone
Joanne McCoubrey
Rebecca McDaniel
Jobelle Mesa
Connor Mikula
Christopher Miller
Ted Moore
Ben Morris
Christopher Narloch
Giulio Ongaro
Olivia Phaneuf
Wilson Poffenberger
Susan Prange
William Pyle
Brandon Quarles
David Reminick
Debra Richtmeyer
Brenda Rincon
Russell Rolen
Sophia Rollins
Nicki Roman
Claire Ross
Jake Saunders
Julie Schlaifer
Halley Shefler
Chris Sideris
David Skidmore
Sarah Smelser
Philip Snyder
Tami Stoddard
Yu-Lien The Hans Thomalla
Philippa Thompson
Hannah Truckenbrod
Cindy Tuisku
Seth Van Embden
Kathryn Vetter
P. Kellach Waddle
Dylan Ward
Nowell Warthen
Eli Wilson
Jocelyn Zelasko
Karen Zhang
Eric Zheng
David Zielinski
This list reflects gifts from August 1, 2021 to July 31, 2023. Every effort was made to ensure the accuracy of this list. If you notice an error, please accept our apology and contact janos@noissaxophone.com
PHOTOGRAPHY
Nick Zoulek
Brendan Sweeney
Jaclyn Simpson
Christie Evenson
Tess Peckman