Ikue Mori (laptop), Jennifer Choi (violin), Marco Cappelli (guitar)
Three adventurous collaborators join forces in an evening of conceptualized and
improvised combustion of sounds, noise, and music.
Ikue Mori moved from her native city of Tokyo to New York in 1977. She started playing drums and soon formed the seminal NO WAVE band DNA, with fellow noise pioneers Arto Lindsay and Tim Wright. DNA enjoyed legendary cult status, while creating a new brand of radical rhythms and dissonant sounds; forever altering the face of rock music. In the mid 80’s Ikue started in employ drum machines in the unlikely context of improvised music. While limited to the standard technology provided by the drum machine, she has never the less forged her own highly sensitive signature style. Through out in 90’s She has subsequently collaborated with numerous improvisors throughout the US, Europe, and Asia, while continuing to produce and record her own music.
1998, She was invited to perform with Ensemble Modern as the soloist along with Zeena Parkins, and composer Fred Frith, also “One hundred Aspects of the Moon” commissioned by Roulette/Mary Flagler Cary Charitable Trust. Ikue won the Distinctive Award for Prix Ars Electronics Digital Music category in 99. In 2000 Ikue started using the laptop computer to expand on her already signature sound, thus broadening her scope of musical expression. 2000 commissioned by the KITCHEN ensemble, wrote and premired the piece “Aphorism” also awarded Civitella Ranieri Foundation Fellowship. 2003 commissioned by RELACHE Ensemble to write a piece for film In the Street and premired in Philadelphia. Started working with visual played by the music since 2004. In 2005 Awarded Alphert/Ucross Residency. Recived the grant from Foundation for Contemporary Arts in 2006. Tate Modern commissioned the live sound track for Maya Deren’s silent films and premired in 2007.
In 2008 Celebrated 30th music year, presented 5 on-going projects at Japan Society in NYC.
Current working groups include MEPHISTA with Sylvie Courvoisier and Susie Ibarra, projects with Kim Gordon, duo project PHANTOM ORCHARD with Zeena Parkins, various projects with John Zorn. and John Zorn’s Electric Masada
Marco Cappelli has lead an extraordinary artistic path, becoming familiar both with rigorous written music as well with free improvisation languages. The diversity of Marco’s performances is due to a fascinating array of collaborations (Anthony Coleman, Michel Godard, Butch Morris, Franco Piersanti, Jim Pugliese, Enrico Rava, Marc Ribot, Elliott Sharp, Giovanni Sollima, Markus Stockhausen, Cristina Zavalloni and more) and regularly as guest in important classical and contemporary music series (Teatro Massimo di Palermo, Associazione A. Scarlatti di Napoli, Ravenna Festival, Festival Traiettorie di Parma, Cinque passi nel ‘900 al Teatro Lirico di Cagliari, Guggenheim Museum in New York, Italian Academy at Columbia University New York, Salzburg Festival, Ruhr Triennale…) as well in jazz and avantgarde music festivals (Saalfelden Jazz Festival – Austria, Pomigliano Jazz – Italy, Grim in Marseille – France, Barnsdall Theatre in Los Angeles, Tonic in New York, OutPut Festival in Amsterdam…) both as a soloist and in ensemble settings.
Hailed by Time Out New York as “one of New York’s most reliably adventurous performers”, violinist Jennifer Choi has charted a career that breaks through the conventional boundaries of solo violin, chamber music, and the art of creative improvisation. s. Choi is regularly sighted in solo performances of rare works that stretch the limits of violin playing often calling for extended techniques, improvisation, and the use of electronics. In 2006 she received a grant from the New York State Music Fund for the premiere and performances of ‘Holding Fast’ for violin and video written for her by Randall Woolf. She also gave the world premiere of John Zorn’s solo violin work, ‘Goetia’ for the Works and Process series at the Guggenheim Museum, the premiere of ‘Serenade in Isolation’ by Wang Jie presented by the Music Theater Group, the U.S. premiere of Jacob ter Veldhuis’ ‘Capriccio’. She can be heard on over a dozen albums for TZADIK record label in compositions by new music icons, John Zorn, Elliott Sharp, Leo Wadada Smith, and the Susie Ibarra Trio with whom she has toured Europe and North America extensively as a creative improvisor and chamber jazz musician.
