International Contemporary Ensemble to Present Collaboration with Iranian Female Composers Association in October

International Contemporary Ensemble's 20th anniversary season continues with Peyvand (پیوند), a concert of curated works by members of the Iranian Female Composers Association (IFCA) on Saturday, October 15, 2022 at 7:30pm at NYU Skirball Center. Peyvand (پیوند), the Persian word for connectivity, features works related to this theme, including the world premiere of C Ce See by Niloufar Nourbakhsh. Nourbakhsh founded IFCA along with Anahita Abbasi and Aida Shirazi in 2017 as a platform to support, promote, and celebrate otherwise-unheard musical voices from the Iranian diaspora through concerts, public performances, installations, interdisciplinary collaborations, and workshops.

In Nourbakhsh's new work, C Ce See, she expresses the importance of social and artistic connectivity by way of a custom kinetic sculpture, designed by Roxanne Nesbitt, which brings the tones and colors of violins, violas, and cellos into a united sound by a single perpetually moving strand of bow hair. C Ce See marks the first work from Cheswatyr Commissions-the new commissioning and composer mentorship initiative of Composers Now-with support from the Cheswatyr Foundation. Nourbakhsh was mentored by celebrated Rome Prize winner Suzanne Farrin. The initiative advocates for living composers and commemorates and celebrates arts philanthropist Cece Wasserman.

The program, conducted by Steven Shick, also features the world premiere performance of Inexorable Passage by Nina Barzegar, the US premiere of within the Hadal and Epi by Anahita Abbasi, the NYC premiere of Crystalline Trees by Aida Shirazi, and additional works by Golfam Khayam, Kimia Koochakzadeh-Yazdi, Nasim Khorassani, and Bahar Royaee. Niloufar Shiri joins the program as solo kamancheh player.

The Ensemble's season continues on Friday, October 28, 2022 at 7:30pm at the Target Margin Theater in collaboration with members of Rhythm Method. The concert features the world premiere of a new work by Lewis Nielson for voice and string quartet performed by flutist, soprano, and sound artist Alice Teyssier and members of Rhythm Method; and the world premiere of a new string quintet by Kevin Ramsay as part of the 2021-2022 "Call for __" Commissions Program.

Performance Details:

Peyvand (پیوند)
International Contemporary Ensemble
Saturday, October 15, 2022 at 7:30pm
NYU Skirball Center | 566 LaGuardia Place | New York, NY
Tickets: $20
Link: https://nyuskirball.org/events/international-contemporary-ensemble-ifca-peyvand

Please note: All audience members must be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 and receive a COVID-19 booster shot (if eligible for the booster based on CDC criteria). Documentation must include name, birthday, dates of doses & vaccine manufacturer. Documentation must be in English. All audience members will be required to show proof of being fully vaccinated and boosted (if eligible), with an FDA-authorized or WHO-listed vaccine. All audience members must wear a well-fitted mask at all times.

Program

Golfam Khayam - Lost Wind (2019)
Kimia Koochakzadeh-Yazdi - What the Body Says (2021)
Nasim Khorassani - Growth (2017)
Nina Barzegar - Inexorable Passage (2020, World Premiere)
Anahita Abbasi - within the Hadal and Epi (2019, US Premiere)
Bahar Royaee - Distortions of the shell of the water on the lake, under the wind (2021)
Aida Shirazi - Crystalline Trees (2020, NYC Premiere)
Niloufar Nourbakhsh - C Ce See (2022, World Premiere)

Artists

International Contemporary Ensemble
Isabel Lepanto Gleicher, flute
Joshua Rubin, clarinet
Emmalie Tello, clarinet
Rebekah Heller, bassoon
Ross Karre, percussion
Erika Dohi, piano
Josh Modney, violin
Hannah Levinson, viola
Michael Nicolas, cello
Kyle Motl, double bass
Niloufar Shiri, kamancheh
Steven Shick, conductor
Roxanne Nesbitt, designer
Paige Seber, light designer

About International Contemporary Ensemble

With a commitment to cultivating a more curious and engaged society through music, the International Contemporary Ensemble - as a commissioner and performer at the highest level - amplifies creators whose work propels and challenges how music is made and experienced. The Ensemble's 39 members are featured as soloists, chamber musicians, commissioners, and collaborators with the foremost musical artists of our time. Works by emerging composers have anchored the Ensemble's programming since its founding in 2001, and the group's recordings and digital platforms highlight the many voices that weave music's present.

Described as "America's foremost new-music group" (The New Yorker), the Ensemble has become a leading force in new music throughout the last 20 years, having premiered over 1,000 works and having been a vehicle for the workshop and performance of thousands of works by student composers across the U.S. The Ensemble's composer-collaborators-many who were unknown at the time of their first Ensemble collaboration-have fundamentally shaped its creative ethos and have continued to highly visible and influential careers, including MacArthur Fellow Tyshawn Sorey; long-time Ensemble collaborator, founding member, and 2017 Pulitzer Prize-winner Du Yun; and the Ensemble's founder, 2012 MacArthur Fellow, and first-ever flutist to win Lincoln Center's Avery Fisher Prize, Claire Chase.

A recipient of the American Music Center's Trailblazer Award and the Chamber Music America/ASCAP Award for Adventurous Programming, the International Contemporary Ensemble was also named Musical America's Ensemble of the Year in 2014. The group has served as artists-in-residence at Lincoln Center's Mostly Mozart Festival (2008-2020), Ojai Music Festival (2015-17), and the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago (2010-2015). In addition, the Ensemble has presented and performed at festivals in the U.S. such as Big Ears Festival and Opera Omaha's ONE Festival, as well as abroad, including GMEM-Centre National de Création Musicale (CNCM) de Marseille, Vértice at Cultura UNAM, Warsaw Autumn, International Summer Courses for New Music in Darmstadt, and Cité de la Musique in Paris. Other performance stages have included the Park Avenue Armory, ice floes at Greenland's Diskotek Sessions, Brooklyn warehouses, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and boats on the Amazon River.

The International Contemporary Ensemble advances music technology and digital communications as an empowering tool for artists from all backgrounds. Digitice provides high-quality video documentation for artist-collaborators and provides access to an in-depth archive of composers' workshops and performances. The Ensemble regularly engages new listeners through free concerts and interactive, educational programming with lead funding from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.

Curricular activities include a partnership at The New School's College of Performing Arts (CoPA), along with a summer intensive program, called Ensemble Evolution, where topics of equity, diversity, and inclusion build new bridges and pathways for the future of creative sound practices. Yamaha Artist Services New York is the exclusive piano provider for the Ensemble. Read more at www.iceorg.org and watch over 350 videos of live performances and documentaries at www.digitice.org.