SWARMIUS Meets Opera 2 At The Cutting Room On Today

Based in both San Diego and NYC, SWARMIUS performs music that defies categorization and typical sonic/international boundaries. In 2017 SWARMIUS opened at The Cutting Room for Project/Object (previous Frank Zappa artists) sharing their irreverence for musical doctrines. Since that gig, SWARMIUS has taken to telling stories through music, leading them to delve into opera, in the tradition of The Who, Pink Floyd, Paul McCartney, Zappa, and others who have crossed the river Styx from rock to classical and back again. SWARMIUS creates mercurial, shape-shifting classical music fusion, blending sounds from Mexico, Africa, Asia, the Middle East, and Brazil.

On Friday, November 9th at 9:30pm, The Cutting Room presents SWARMIUS Meets Opera II featuring selections from El Colibrí Magicó (The Magic Hummingbird) - A California Story, a magical realistic opera set in modern day San Diego & Tijuana. Invoking the edgy youthful angst and jubilation of Bernstein's West Side Story, El Colibrí Magicó (The Magic Hummingbird) - A California Story is the tale of three upper middle class So Cal teenagers who end up in Tijuana after a night of clubbing takes a surreal turn and transplants them amongst a community of Honduran refugees marooned at the border who have connections to ancient Mayan rituals and secrets. Together they embark on a perilous journey. The result is an explosive cultural confrontation between protagonists of the contemporary US/Mexican border: coyotes, border guards, refugees, vigilantes, in violence and transcendence, with mystical intervention from living spirits of the pre-Columbian past.

El Colibrí Magicó (The Magic Hummingbird) - A California Story is a production of San Diego City Opera, directed by Cynthia Stokes. SWARMIUS will present new material from the opera, along with other new repertoire.

Friday, November 9, 2018 at 9:30pm The Cutting Room 44 East 32nd St., New York, NY 10016 (bet. Park Ave. & Madison Ave.) Subway: 6 to 33rd St. Advance Tickets: $20; $25 Day of Show https://tickets.thecuttingroomnyc.com/event/1756935 Please Note: There is a $20 food & beverage minimum. Reservations Recommended: (212) 691-1900 or info@TheCuttingRoomNYC.com

PRAISE for SWARMIUS from Presenters & Press

"Some of the most brilliant, eclectic, vibrant music I have heard in 39 years of presenting music in every conceivable genre (and quite a few inconceivable ones). Challenging yet accessible, thrilling yet comfortable, like trying on a shirt two sizes too big that suddenly, miraculously, fits. Never knew it was so easy to grow - wonderful!" Robin Hirsch, Owner of CORNELIA STREET CAFÉ Greenwich Village, New York City

SWARMIUS is a collective of virtuoso performers and composer, a kind of hybrid of a rock band and a classical chamber ensemble by design. Everybody contributes ideas, and these coalesce into ever evolving responses in the form of musical works. Nothing is off limits, and everything about the band is iconoclastic: The music belongs to no genre (or all) & the band follows it's own multi-generational, multicultural band of muses.

Founded in 2006 by composer Joseph Martin Waters and saxophone virtuoso Todd Rewoldt, SWARMIUS has evolved over 12 years into a sextet straddling both coasts, with members united in a fascination with exploring musical combinations from around the globe, often within the same piece, and in performing intricate chamber music demanding the highest technique.

The music is catchy and melodic. An example would be "Kali Karsilama," the band's perennial theme song, whose melodies are woven from ancient Romani scales and rhythms, with lead instruments racing around each other in a heterophonic swirl, landing and taking off with the precision of the blue angels.

Musicians & Vocalists: Rudy Alexander Giron - countertenor; Charles Coleman - baritone; Nina Deering - soprano; Todd Rewoldt - Alto saxophone; Geoffrey Burleson - piano; Daniel Pate - percussion; Ian Buss - Tenor saxophone; Joseph Martin Waters - composer and laptop.