ACME Performs with Blonde Redhead, Jóhann Jóhannsson, Thereminist Carolina Eyck and More

The American Contemporary Music Ensemble (ACME) embarks on a busy month of concerts on October 6 at Le Poisson Rouge in New York with Nordic Noir, a concert featuring music by Danish composers Frans Bak, Ejnar Kanding and MBD73. ACME will tour with Blonde Redhead from October 9-14, performing the band's album Misery is a Butterfly in its entirety, before joining Icelandic composer Jóhann Jóhannsson for a tour supporting his recent Deutsche Grammophon album Orphée from October 16-23. Upon returning to New York, ACME performs with German thereminist and composer Carolina Eyck in the world premiere of her Fantasias for theremin and string quartet. ACME and Eyck's recording of the Fantasias will be released by Butterscotch Records on October 14.

October 6 at 7pm: Nordic Noir at Le Poisson Rouge, 158 Bleecker St., NYC
Information: www.lpr.com/lpr_events/acme-nordic-noir-october-6th-2016

Danish composers Frans Bak, Ejnar Kanding and MBD73 (aka Carsten Bo Eriksen) have chosen music for this concert that captures what they call the Nordic "dark sides" or Nordic Noir - music that captures a coolness, calmness, and a mindfulness. The concert includes music from Frans Bak's Sound Of North (Mercury Classics/Universal Music), as well as re-imagined versions of themes from his scores for the crime dramas The Killing and Doctor Foster. Carsten Bo Eriksen (artist name MBD73, short for My Beautiful Decay 1973) has written a new work for ACME for this concert, part of his Memory Pieces project which revolves around the theme "lost memories and sounds," exploring the concept of nostalgia. The third set on the concert will feature music by the composer Ejnar Kanding, who is internationally known for his uniquely colorful music, which unites electronic and acoustic sound in complex textures, physical energy, and delicate simplicity. ACME musicians performing in Nordic Noir are Ben Russell, violin; Yuki Numata Resnick, violin; Caleb Burhans, viola; Clarice Jensen, cello and artistic director; plus Ejnar Kanding and Carsten Bo Eriksen, electronics and video, and additional performance on piano by Frans Bak.

October 9-14: Misery is a Butterfly Tour with Blonde Redhead
Information: www.blonde-redhead.com

ACME joins the incomparable Blonde Redhead in performing the innovative band's seminal 2004 album Misery is a Butterfly in its entirety, as well as select songs from the group's extensive catalogue. These performances will be the North American debut of new arrangements and a first for the group performing in a larger format with strings. New York City-based Blonde Redhead has always been a band that innovates with each album. Formed in 1993, Kazu Makino (vocals, rhythm guitar) and twin brothers Simone and Amedeo Pace (drums and lead guitar/vocals, respectively), challenge themselves with each recording situation, and the results have been stunning every time. Their music is always inspired by the same emotions, but their tastes and the ways they choose to execute those emotions are constantly evolving. Their ninth studio album, Barragán, was released in September 2014. ACME musicians touring with Blonde Redhead are Ben Russell and Yuki Numata Resnick, violins; Caleb Burhans, viola; and Clarice Jensen, cello.

October 16-23: Orphée Album Tour with Jóhann Jóhannsson
Information: www.johannjohannsson.com/live

ACME joins frequent collaborator, Golden Globe-winning and Oscar-, BAFTA- and Grammy-nominated composer Jóhann Jóhannsson, for a tour supporting his first album for Deutsche Grammophon, Orphée. Orphée traces a path from darkness into light, inspired by the various retellings of the ancient tale of the poet Orpheus, from Ovid's to Jean Cocteau's. Orphée's sonic palette is varied, combining acoustic instruments both solo and in ensemble with electronics and the mesmeric sounds of shortwave radio "numbers stations." It draws on many facets of his previous albums, incorporating music for solo cello, organ, string quartet, string orchestra and unaccompanied voices. The album includes performances by Jóhannsson, ACME, AIR Lyndhurst string orchestra, Theatre of Voices conducted by Paul Hillier, and cellist Hildur Guðnadóttir. ACME musicians touring with Jóhannsson are Ben Russell and Laura Lutzke, violins; Caleb Burhans, viola; and Clarice Jensen and Paul Wiancko, cellos.

November 4 at 7:30pm: Fantasias for Theremin & String Quartet with Carolina Eyck (World Premiere, Album Release) at Baryshnikov Arts Center, 450 West 37th St., NYC
Information: www.bacnyc.org/performances/performance/bac-salon-fantasias

German theremin virtuosa and composer Carolina Eyck and ACME will give the world premiere live performance of Eyck's Fantasias, their recording of which will be released on October 14, 2016 via Butterscotch Records (review CDs, vinyl, and downloads available upon request from christina@jensenartists.com).

Eyck composed these six Fantasias specifically for the 12" vinyl LP format, a practice reminiscent of early-60s Nonesuch releases. All performances were recorded in full takes with no editing. ACME tracked Eyck's quartet scores first, and then Eyck overdubbed her deft, fluid, single-take improvisations - thus the fitting title Fantasias. The result is an organic virtuosity that leads the listener through a wide range of sonic environments across the six pieces. Eyck's striking theremin performances on Fantasias showcase her dead-aim intonation, her command of microtonality, her fluid melodicism, and - perhaps most importantly - her utter lack of self-consciousness as an improvisor. This latter quality is no accident, as Eyck has practiced improvisation for years, and has even studied techniques typically aimed at athletes for entering flow-states and shutting down critical inner dialogue.

Carolina Eyck's compositions range from slow-evolving arpeggiations reminiscent of Reich and Glass (see "Oakuunar Lynntuja" and "Dappa Solarjos"), to alternative bowing and fingering techniques that achieve an ethereal ambience (see "Leyhomi"), to athletic explorations reminiscent of Bartók's String Quartets (see "Dappa Solarjos"). The titles were devised by Eyck and producer/label-head Allen Farmelo by scanning multiple Scandinavian languages for pleasing lingual combinations (a technique inspired by Canadian-Icelandic ecological poet Angela Rawlings). The ACME players on Fantasias are Ben Russell, violin; Caroline Shaw, violin (album); Yuki Numata Resnick, violin (live concert); Caleb Burhans, viola; and Clarice Jensen, cello and ACME artistic director.

About ACME: ACME (American Contemporary Music Ensemble) was honored by ASCAP during its 10th anniversary season in 2015 for the "virtuosity, passion, and commitment with which it performs and champions American composers." NPR calls them "contemporary music dynamos," and The New York Times describes ACME's performances as "vital," "brilliant," and "electrifying." Led by cellist and Artistic Director Clarice Jensen, ACME has played at leading venues such as Carnegie Hall, BAM, The Kitchen, UCLA's Royce Hall, Sydney Opera House, Melbourne Recital Hall, All Tomorrow's Parties and Big Ears. ACME can be heard on Deutsche Grammophon, New World, New Amsterdam, and Butterscotch Records, and will release its first portrait album in spring 2017 on Sono Luminus.