Constellation's Frequency Series Presents The Wet Ink Ensemble

Constellation's Frequency Series presents the "sublimely exploratory" (The Chicago Reader) Wet Ink Ensemble on Sunday, January 19, 2020 at 8:30 P.M. in Peter Ablinger + Sam Pluta, part of the Goethe Institute's weeklong celebration of Austrian composer Peter Ablinger's music, Listening With Peter Ablinger. The concert features two works by Ablinger - IEAOV "8 Vitrines, Pigment Dust" for percussion and 4-channel electronics, featuring percussionist Ian Antonio, and Black Series, a collection of rigorously organized open-instrumentation works scored "for Rock Band" which must be performed from memory - alongside a world premiere by Sam Pluta written for a sextet of Wet Ink.

Wet Ink has frequently performed Peter Ablinger's music and the composer will be in attendance at the Constellation concert. In 2009, Wet Ink produced a portrait concert of Ablinger's work at St. Peter's Chelsea in NYC with Ablinger in attendance, which was the first ever event in NYC celebrating his music.

Of his new work, Sam Pluta says, "My piece is a 20 minute soundscape exploring expanded microtonal harmonies combining instrumental and synthesized tones. It places the ensemble at the center of the hall, with quadraphonic sound encircling the audience and ensemble."

Performance Details

Frequency Series Presents: Peter Ablinger + Sam Pluta
Sunday, January 19, 2020, at 8:30 P.M. (8:00 P.M. Doors)
Constellation | 3111 N Western Ave | Chicago, IL
Tickets: $15 general admission, $10 for students
Link: https://www.constellation-chicago.com/e/wet-ink-ensemble-performs-peter-ablinger-and-sam-pluta-86183068879/

Repertoire:

Peter Ablinger: IEAOV "8 Vitrines, Pigment Dust" for percussion and 4-channel electronics (1992-2000)
Peter Ablinger: Black Series for Rock Band (2010-12)
Sam Pluta: New Work for Wet Ink sextet (2020) [World Premiere]

Performers:

Wet Ink Ensemble
Alex Mincek, tenor saxophone
Ian Antonio, percussion
Eric Wubbels, piano
Josh Modney, violin
Mariel Roberts, cello
Weston Olencki, trombone
Sam Pluta, electronics

The Wet Ink Ensemble is a collective of composers, performers and improvisers dedicated to adventurous music-making. Named "The Best Classical Music Ensemble of 2018" by The New York Times, Wet Ink's work is rooted in an ethos of innovation through collaboration, extending from the music and the unique performance practice developed in the "band" atmosphere of Wet Ink's core octet of composer-performers, to projects with a broad range of renowned creators, from Evan Parker to George Lewis to Peter Ablinger, and committed performances of music by young and underrepresented composers, from today's most promising emerging voices to the next generation of artists.

Hailed for "sublimely exploratory" (The Chicago Reader) and "dense, wild, yet artfully controlled" (The New York Times) performances and "uncompromisingly original music by its members, and unflagging belief in the power of collaboration" (The New Yorker), Wet Ink has been presenting concerts of new music at the highest level in New York City and around the world for over 20 years. Wet Ink's programming celebrates the nexus of composition, improvisation and interpretation, from early collaborations with Christian Wolff and ZS to pioneering portrait concerts of Peter Ablinger, Mathias Spahlinger, Anthony Braxton, and the AACM composers, work with renowned creative musicians such as Ingrid Laubrock, Peter Evans, Darius Jones, and Katherine Young, and long-term collaborative projects with Wet Ink's four acclaimed composer-members (Alex Mincek, Sam Pluta, Kate Soper, and Eric Wubbels).

Wet Ink has been in residence at institutions including Duke University, EMPAC (Experimental Media and Performing Arts Center), Columbia University, the Royal Academy of Music (UK), and The Walden School, among many others, and has been featured on numerous recordings. Highlights include Katharina Rosenberger's TEXTUREN, which was awarded a German Record Critics Prize, and solo records by Alex Mincek (Torrent), Kate Soper (IPSA DIXIT), Sam Pluta (Broken Symmetries), Eric Wubbels (Duos with Piano, Book 1), and Josh Modney (Engage), all of which were celebrated on various "Best of" lists by The New York Times, The New Yorker, Bandcamp Daily, Sequenza 21, and The Nation. Wet Ink has released three acclaimed solo albums (Wet Ink Ensemble, Relay, and Wet Ink: 20, which features the Wet Ink Large Ensemble), and will release another in April 2020 featuring large-scale works written for the Wet Ink band by Sam Pluta and Alex Mincek.

Wet Ink is co-directed by an octet of world class composers, improvisers, and interpreters that collaborate in band-like fashion, writing, improvising, preparing, and touring pieces together over long stretches of time. These directors are Erin Lesser (flutes), Alex Mincek (saxophone), Ian Antonio (percussion), Eric Wubbels (piano), Josh Modney (violin), Mariel Roberts (cello), Kate Soper (voice), and Sam Pluta (electronics). The Wet Ink Large Ensemble is a group of extraordinary New York City musicians that come together to play the world's most exciting and innovative music. Learn more at www.wetink.org.

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