Wet Ink Announces Fall Season In NYC Celebrating 20 Years Of Innovation And Collaboration

The "sublimely exploratory" (The Chicago Reader) Wet Ink Ensemble announces its fall 2018 concerts in New York City, celebrating the group's 20th anniversary season as a collective of composers, improvisers, and interpreters at the forefront of the performance and presentation of adventurous music. Described by Time Out New York as "a group [that] doesn't so much cross boundaries as disregard them," Wet Ink Ensemble's fall 2018 season includes a double album release event at The DiMenna Center, Miller Theatre at Columbia University's Composer Portrait of Kate Soper, a performance at the For/With Festival, a performance with Darius Jones as part of "For The People" at Roulette, and a collaboration with Peter Evans' Being & Becoming Ensemble at St. Peter's Church in Chelsea.

Of the anniversary, Executive Director Josh Modney says, "The 20th Anniversary season highlights the ethos of innovation through collaboration that has guided the work of Wet Ink throughout the ensemble's history, celebrating the music and the unique performance practice developed in the 'band' atmosphere of Wet Ink's core septet of composer-performers, and presenting exciting new projects with emerging and underrepresented artists and longtime collaborators. Since the group's first concerts in 1998, Wet Ink has moved fluently along a continuum of composition, improvisation, and interpretation, from early collaborations with Christian Wolff and ZS to pioneering portrait concerts of Peter Ablinger, Anthony Braxton, and the AACM composers, and deep, long-term collaborative work by members of Wet Ink. In that same spirit, Season 20 showcases the many facets of the group's work, featuring a retrospective look at 'classics' of Wet Ink's repertoire and new projects by Sky Macklay, Rick Burkhardt, and Wet Ink's four acclaimed composer-members (Alex Mincek, Sam Pluta, Kate Soper, and Eric Wubbels); the release of Wet Ink: 20 on Carrier Records; and new collaborations with renowned creative musicians Darius Jones, Peter Evans, Charmaine Lee, Cory Smythe, and many others."

Wet Ink launches its 20th anniversary season on Saturday, September 15, 2018 at 8:00pm at The DiMenna Center for Classical Music's Mary Flagler Cary Hallwith a concert celebrating two album releases-Wet Ink: 20, an album featuring the 28 musicians of the Wet Ink Large Ensemble released on Carrier Records on September 15, 2018, and Josh Modney: Engage, Wet Ink Executive Director Josh Modney's 3-disc debut solo violin album released on New Focus Recordingson August 3, 2018, described as "one of the most intriguing programs of the year" by The New York Times. The concert will feature works by longtime Wet Ink collaborators Rick Burkhardt and Sky Macklay, performed by Wet Ink's core septet of composer-performers, alongside works by Wet Ink members such as Eric Wubbels' the children of fire come looking for fire for violin and piano and the New York City premiere of Kate Soper's new solo work The Fragments of Parmenides with Soper herself on piano and vocals. The concert will also feature the world premiere of Josh Modney's Engage Quintet, a new collaboration that recontextualizes Modney's Violin Solos from the Engage album in an ensemble setting with renowned creative musicians Cory Smythe (piano), Charmaine Lee(voice), Sam Pluta (electronics), and Ian Antonio (percussion).

On Saturday, October 27, 2018 at 8:00pm, the season continues with a staged production of Kate Soper's IPSA DIXIT, part of Miller Theatre at Columbia University's Composer Portrait: Kate Soper. IPSA DIXIT ("She, herself, said it") is a genre-defying work of chamber music theatre that explores music, language, and meaning through blistering ensemble virtuosity and extended vocal technique. Developed over six years of collaboration with the Wet Ink Ensemble, IPSA DIXITuses elements of monodrama, Greek tragedy, and performance art to skewer the treachery of language and the questionable authenticity of artistic expression.IPSA DIXIT, called "Comprehensively astounding .... a twenty-first century masterpiece" by The New Yorker, was a finalist for the 2017 Pulitzer Prize in music. The composer, herself, performs the virtuosic score alongside members of the ensemble Wet Ink in this evening-length tour de force. This concert will also celebrate the CD release of IPSA DIXIT on New World Records (out October 12, 2018), featuring liner notes by Steve Smith.

Wet Ink makes an appearance on FOR, the first evening of the FOR/WITH Festival, organized by trumpeter/composer/writer Nate Wooley, at ISSUE Project Roomon Wednesday, October 31, 2018 at 8:00pm. Members of the Wet Ink Large Ensemble will present the U.S. Premiere of Catherine Lamb's Prisma Interius VII.Previously staged in London at Cafe Oto in March 2018, Lamb's work is the most recent development of a series of pieces constructed around the Secondary Rainbow Synthesizer, an instrument-in development with Bryan Eubanks-that spectrally filters a live sound input of the outer atmosphere to the listening space within which the the performance piece is situated. In this iteration, the piece is staged with violin, clarinet, guitar, cello, and the Secondary Rainbow Synthesizer.

On Monday, November 5, 2018 at 8:00pm, Wet Ink joins saxophonist/composer Darius Jones at Roulette to give the second performance of his composition America The Joke (premiered by Wet Ink in June 2018) as part of For The People, a special event curated by Jones to raise awareness in advance of the upcoming election. Jones writes, "For The People is a collection of compositions that express the many reasons why American citizens should vote in this year's November Congressional election. As artists we have the power to inform, inspire, and empower our community to action."

To close the fall season, Wet Ink teams up with renowned trumpeter/composer and longtime collaborator Peter Evans for an evening of sonic adventure for large ensemble on Saturday, December 1, 2018 at 8:00pm at St. Peter's Church in Chelsea. The concert features a new set of music by Peter Evans with 12 musicians from Wet Ink and Being & Becoming (Joel Ross, vibes; Nick Jozwiack, bass and cello; Savannah Grace Harris, drums; Peter Evans, trumpet), with special guests Mazz Swift (violin) and Levy Lorenzo (percussion). The evening also features Wet Ink flutist Erin Lesser performing Sam Pluta's Delay Line for solo flute and electronics, and the world premiere of a new work by Alex Mincek written for a sextet of Wet Ink musicians.

Program Information
Saturday, September 15, 2018 at 8:00pm
Wet Ink 20th Season Opener & Double Album Release - Wet Ink: 20 / Josh Modney: Engage
The DiMenna Center for Classical Music, Mary Flagler Cary Hall | 450 W 37th St | New York, NY
Tickets: $10 General Admission, Students Free. No pre-orders, cash only at the door.
Link: www.wetink.org

Program:
Eric Wubbels: the children of fire come looking for fire (2012), for violin and piano
Rick Burkhardt: Alban (2010), for Wet Ink septet
Sky Macklay: Fly's Eyes (2016), for Wet Ink septet
Kate Soper: The Fragments of Parmenides (2018), for solo voice with piano [NYC Premiere]
Josh Modney: Engage Quintet (2018) [World Premiere]

Performers:
Wet Ink Ensemble
Erin Lesser, flutes
Alex Mincek, saxophone
Ian Antonio, percussion
Eric Wubbels, piano
Josh Modney, violin
Sam Pluta, electronics
Kate Soper, soprano
Cory Smythe, piano
Charmaine Lee, vocals

Saturday, October 27, 2018 at 8:00pm
Miller Theatre Portrait: Kate Soper
Miller Theatre at Columbia University | 2960 Broadway | New York, NY
Tickets: $20-30; $17-$25 seniors; $7-18 students
Link: https://www.millertheatre.com/events/kate-soper

Program:
Kate Soper: IPSA DIXIT (2016) for soprano, flute, percussion and violin
Music by Kate Soper
Text by Various
Directed by Ashley Tata
Lighting Design by Anshuman Bhatia
Costume Design by Nina Vartanian
Projection Design by Bradley Peterson

Performers:
Wet Ink Ensemble
Kate Soper, soprano
Josh Modney, violin
Erin Lesser, flute
Ian Antonio, percussion

Wednesday, October 31, 2018 at 8:00pm
Wet Ink performs Catherine Lamb's Interius VIII on the For/With Festival
ISSUE Project Room Brooklyn | 22 Boerum Pl. | Brooklyn, NY
Tickets: $15 General Admission, $12 ISSUE members
Link: https://issueprojectroom.org/

Program:
Catherine Lamb: Prisma Interius VII (2018), for violin, clarinet, electric guitar, cello, and 2 synthesizers [U.S. Premiere]

Performers:
Wet Ink Ensemble
Josh Rubin, clarinet
Giacomo Baldelli, electric guitar
Josh Modney, violin
Mariel Roberts, cello
Laura Barger, synthesizer
Eric Wubbels, synthesizer

Monday, November 5, 2018 at 8:00pm
Wet Ink performs Darius Jones' America The Joke as part of For The People
Roulette | 509 Atlantic Ave | Brooklyn, NY
Link: https://roulette.org/

Program:
Darius Jones: America The Joke (2018)

Performers:
Wet Ink Ensemble
Sam Pluta, electronics
Josh Modney, violin
Eric Wubbels, piano
Darius Jones, saxophone
Additional Guest Artists, TBA

Saturday, December 1, 2018 at 8:00pm
Wet Ink + Being & Becoming
St. Peter's Church Chelsea | 346 W 20th St. | New York, NY
Tickets: $10 general admission, Students Free. No pre-orders, cash only at the door.
Link: www.wetink.org

Program:
Sam Pluta: Delay Line, for flute and electronics (feat. Erin Lesser)
Alex Mincek: New Work for Wet Ink
Peter Evans: New Collaboration with Wet Ink and Being & Becoming [World Premiere]

Performers:
Being & Becoming
Peter Evans, trumpet
Joel Ross, vibes and marimba
Nick Jozwiack, bass and cello
Savannah Grace Harris, drums
Wet Ink Ensemble
Erin Lesser, flutes
Alex Mincek, saxophone
Ian Antonio, percussion
Eric Wubbels, piano
Josh Modney, violin
Sam Pluta, electronics
Mazz Swift, violin
Levy Lorenzo, percussion

About Wet Ink Ensemble
For 20 years, the Wet Ink Ensemble has been programming and presenting concerts of adventurous new music at the highest level in New York City and around the world. Wet Ink has collaborated with a broad range of renowned artists, from Evan Parker to George Lewis to Peter Ablinger, and is equally committed to promoting the works of young and underrepresented composers, from today's most promising emerging voices to the next generation of artists. Wet Ink is co-directed by a core septet 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), 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. Wet Ink's first full-length album featuring the Large Ensemble, Wet Ink: 20, will be released on Carrier Records on September 15, 2018. The Wet Ink Large Ensemble's far-ranging experience includes a critically acclaimed portrait concert of Anthony Braxton, lauded as "Dense, wild, yet artfully controlled" (The New York Times), a run of outdoor performances of Arnold Schönberg's Erwartung (the first ever fully-staged opera production in Times Square), a retrospective of the work of the AACM composers at The Kitchen in 2008, and the release of Alex Mincek's Torrent (Sound American), selected as one of the Best Albums of 2017 by The New York Times and The Nation.

Wet Ink's seven co-directors are passionate educators, and the ensemble has been engaged in residencies at the Walden School, Duke University, Amherst College, Northern Illinois University, UC San Diego, Sacramento State University, UC Davis, Hannover Musik Hochschule (Germany), the Royal Academy of Music (UK), Smith College, and at the Jazz Composers Orchestra Institute (Miller Theater, NYC), among others. Wet Ink also regularly performs in Europe, including recent concert highlights at the Con Voce festival (Lucerne, Switzerland), the Sinus Ton festival (Magdeburg, Germany), and Café OTO (London, UK). Learn more at http://www.wetink.org/.