Michael Moss Brings ENSEMBLE BOWS to Bridge Street Theatre Next Week

On Saturday, December 9, jazz musician and composer Michael Moss returns to Bridge Street Theatre's intimate “Priscilla” Mainstage for a performance with his latest group, Ensemble Bows for Strings and Piano. This new combo will present a program of all-original compositions for chamber jazz ensemble performed by an incredible roster of internationally acclaimed musicians: Jason Kao Hwang (violin), Anthony Coleman (piano), James Ilgenfritz (contrabass), Lenny Mims (cello), and Moss himself on clarinet, bass clarinet, and a little bit on snake charmer!

In collaboration with some of New York's finest musicians and improvisors, Moss has extended the form of jazz and orchestral music through his original compositions for this new ensemble. By undertaking an in-depth study of harmony, orchestration and the 12-tone music of Arnold Schoenberg during the pandemic, Moss has now realized his long-standing dream of bringing orchestral elements into his realm. At this performance, Ensemble Bows will be performing Moss's “Superstring” (a chamber jazz “blowing tune” with a “head” and a solo section in which players are backed by the group playing a repetitive phrase which in Indian classical music is called a nugma), “Abyss” (which expresses the pain and suffering of people who are in religious groups scapegoated by other religious groups), “Elegy for Danny” (a musical reflection of the arc of a life, inspired by Moss's brother-in-law Danny's final approach to early death from cancer), and “Ain Soph Aur” (a musical interpretation of the Jewish Kabbala).

Ensemble Bows will play Bridge Street Theatre, located at 44 West Bridge Street in Catskill, for one-night-only, Saturday December 3 at 7:30pm. All seats for the concert are $15 and can be reserved in advance by visiting bridgest.org/michael-moss-2023/ or may be purchased at the door one-half-hour before curtain time on the day of the performance. This project is made possible with funds from the Statewide Community Regrants Program, a program of the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Governor and the New York State Legislature and administered in Greene County by CREATE Council on the Arts, with special thanks to the Town of Prattsville and the Prattsville Art Center for their support and fiscal  sponsorship.

Reed player/composer Michael Moss has been actively involved in the music scene for many years, leading his own musical groups including currently Bows Ensemble for Strings and Piano, ROOTS to SHOOTS, the Accidental Orchestra—a 22-piece renaissance jazz orchestra, Mike Moss/4 Rivers, and Free Energy. Collaborations include electroacoustic composer James Dashow, choreographer Judith Moss, storyteller Regina Ress, and playwright Domnica Radulescu. Numerous grants include Meet the Composer (NewMusicUSA), NYSCA, Lower Manhattan Cultural Council (LMCC), RESTARTNY grant from LMCC for 2021 and CREATE Council on the Arts in 2022 and 2023. His record label, Fourth Stream Records, has produced multiple LPs, cassettes, and CDs including HELIX by the Accidental Orchestra, Intervals, Free Play, Dream Time, and In Between Gigs (New York Free Quartet), Pyramid, Upstream, Cross Current, Live at ACIA, etc.  Performances and commissions are wide-ranging— Little Island, Bridge Street Theatre, Turks and Caicos Friends of the Arts Foundation, Isthmus Jazz Festival, New York Loft Jazz Celebrations, Revelation Gallery and Westbeth Music Festivals.