loadbang, the Steven Stucky Memorial Residency for New Music ensemble for this year, will visit campus for two concerts in early October.
Founded in 2008 and based in New York City, loadbang features a unique instrumentation of trumpet, trombone, bass clarinet and baritone voice. Dedicated to education and the cultivation of an enthusiasm for new music, loadbang has premiered more than 450 works written by members of the ensemble, emerging artists and today’s leading composers, including Pulitzer Prize winners David Lang and Charles Wuorinen; Rome Prize winners Andy Akiho and Paula Matthusen; and Guggenheim Fellows Chaya Czernowin, George Lewis, and Alex Mincek. Recent performance highlights include the Miller Theater, Symphony Space, MATA, the Look and Listen Festival, Da Camera of Houston and Rothko Chapel.
At Cornell, loadbang will collaborate with graduate composers on new works and engage with students in a variety of ways, including open rehearsals, master classes, chamber music coaching, and discussions about musicianship and innovation.
Andy Kozar, trumpeter of the ensemble, says that “one of the most rewarding aspects of this work is ability to work with students and collaborate with the next generation of creatives. This residency at Cornell gives us the opportunity to work with students and the community in the most complete way we’ve ever experienced! We’re so looking forward to performing new works by the student composers, coaching and performing alongside the student performers, and offering ourselves as resources to the entire student body as they develop their own unique creative voices.”
The ensemble was selected by a music department faculty committee, co-chaired by Kevin Ernste and Xak Bjerken. Ernste says of the selection, "We're excited to engage with loadbang, whose unique instrumentation and instrumental capacities presents interesting challenges for composers, affording insights for composers and performers alike into more expansive ways of thinking about instruments, instrumentality, and ensemble."
They will perform two concerts during their fall visit. On Thursday, Oct. 6 at 8 .m. in the Hans Bethe House Common Room, they will perform with students from the chamber music program, and on Friday, Oct. 7 at 7 p.m. in Barnes Hall, the ensemble performs a concert featuring their diverse repertoire, including selections by Max Vinetz, Chaya Czernowin and Cornell’s own Daniel Sabzghabaei.
The Residency for New Music was created to honor the memory of beloved colleague, educator, and composer Steven Stucky and was funded through the generosity of more than 50 donors.
