Sarah Weaver, composer/conductor
Mark Dresser, composer/contrabass
Jen Shyu – voice, Robert Dick – flute, Jane Ira Bloom – soprano saxophone, Marty Ehrlich – saxophone, Julie Ferrara – oboe, Sara Schoenbeck – bassoon, Dave Taylor – bass trombone, Ursel Schlicht – piano, Gerry Hemingway – percussion
Spectral Syn for large ensemble, explores multiplicity, distributive resonance, and musical expression. Sarah Weaver and Mark Dresser have developed a form, that translates metaphor into specific musical materials. These materials are modulated through the conducted language, Soundpainting.
Mark Dresser (1952) is an internationally acclaimed bass player, improviser, composer, and interdisciplinary collaborator.He has appeared in over one hundred recordings including nearly thirty CDs as a soloist, band-leader or collaborator. His band leading and composing are featured on the CDs “Aquifer” and “Time Changes” (Cryptogramophone). His current collaborations include Trio M with Myra Melford and Matt Wilson and their acclaimed CD “Big Picture” (Cyptogramophone), a duo with Roswell Rudd, a trio with Rudresh Mahanthappa and Gerry Hemingway, and trio, Jones Jones with Larry Ochs and Vladimir Tarasov. For eighteen years he lived and worked in New York City where he recorded and performed with some of the strongest personalities in contemporary music and jazz including nine years with Anthony Braxton’s quartet as well as groups led by Ray Anderson, Jane Ira Bloom, Tim Berne, Anthony Davis, Satoko Fujii, Osvaldo Golijov, Gerry Hemingway, Bob Osertag, Joe Lovano, Henry Threadgill, Dawn Upshaw, John Zorn…. A major focus has been extending the sonic and musical possibilities of the double bass through the use of unconventional amplification. A chapter on his extended techniques for contrabass, “A Personal Pedagogy,” appears in the book, ARCANA. In 2001 he was nominated for a Grammy. He is Professor of Music at University of California, San Diego. He has also been a lecturer at Princeton University, faculty at the New School University, and Hampshire College. He is on the board of directors of the International Society of Bassists and the advisory board of International Society of Improvised Music.
Composer/conductor Sarah Weaver works internationally with experimental music forms for large ensembles. A specialist in the conducted language Soundpainting for over 10 years, Weaver utilizes this language to process composed palettes through structured improvisation. A graduate of the University of Michigan and based in New York, her work has been heard at venues including Roulette (NYC), The Stone (NYC), Lincoln Center (NYC), Now Lounge (Toronto), Museum of Contemporary Art (Chicago), Triskel Arts Centre (Cork), Austin Lyric Opera House (Austin), The Banff Centre (Banff), Directors Lounge (Berlin), and iMAL Center for Digital Cultures and Technology (Brussels). Weaver is a researcher and performer of telematic music – co-located ensembles via the internet – with primary collaborators Mark Dresser (University of California San Diego), Pauline Oliveros (Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy NY), and Chris Chafe (Stanford University, CA). Performances with other contemporary music figures include Walter Thompson (originator of Soundpainting), Marilyn Crispell, Karl Berger, David Liebman, and Stuart Dempster, among others. Weaver has given workshops at University of Michigan, University of Iowa, Northwestern University, The New School, Rennselaer Polytechnic Institute, New Jersey Performing Arts Center, Association for Improvising Musicians Toronto, ANET II High Quality Audio over Networks Summit, Illinois Music Educators Conference, and New York State School Music Association Conference. Weaver is an apprentice of Deep Listening – the sound practice of composer Pauline Oliveros, and Executive Director of the International Society for Improvised Music.
