5-15 suggested donation.
Doors at 8 pm. Music shortly after
tonight’s concert will feature solo performances by artists working in acoustic + electronic sound work. The virtuosic saxophonist Rhonda Taylor is up in Seattle from Las Cruces, New Mexico, and this event is in support of her tour.
Rhonda Taylor: solo saxophone (acoustic)
Rhonda Taylor has been on faculty at New Mexico State University since 2003, where she is the College Associate Professor of Saxophone and Music Theory. She completed her D.M.A. at the University of Arizona, where she studied with Kelland Thomas. She earned her M.M. as a graduate assistant of John Sampen at Bowling Green State University. Her additional studies include performances in master classes held by Fred Hemke and Eugene Rousseau, as well as attending Domaine Forget Music Academie to study with Jean-Marie Londeix and Jean-François Guay. In 2002, she was awarded a scholarship to the International Clarinet and Saxophone Connection held at New England Conservatory, where she studied with Arno Bornkamp, Jean-Michel Goury, and Kenneth Radnofsky.
Dr. Taylor is dedicated to the creation of meaningful sonic art of our time. She has commissioned, premiered, and/or recorded music by such composers as Chris Arrell, Rick Burkhardt, Ben Leeds Carson, Michael Colgrass, Nathan Davis, Ben Grosser, Jeffrey Mumford, Bernard Rands, Justin Rubin, and Avi Tchamni.
Chris Icasiano: solo drums + electronics
Christopher Icasiano is a Filipino-American percussionist and composer. He grew up in Redmond, WA and has been playing drums since he was eight years old. While studying jazz at the University of Washington, Icasiano developed an interest in free-improvisation, experimental and avant-garde music, which has informed his musical approach ever since. His influences include 90’s R&B, hip-hop, contemporary classical, folk, metal and noise, and his music finds intersections between the experimental and the mainstream. He tours internationally with his drum-sax duo Bad Luck, several folk and pop bands, and as a solo artist.
As a curator, Icasiano creates mind-expanding experiences featuring unconventional music in club environments. He co-founded and co-organizes the Racer Sessions, a weekly Seattle free-improvisation jam session and performance series, and the grassroots arts organization Table & Chairs. His chicken adobo is delicious, he has run three marathons, and his current karaoke song is Luther Vandross’ “So Amazing.”
Neil Welch: solo saxophone + electronics
Neil Welch is widely recognized for his ability to weave several notes at once into chords. Called multiphonics or split tones, Neil uses these extended techniques to powerful effect. His work is deeply emotive, exploring the extremities of his instrument from near silence to guttural wails. All About Jazz Magazine called his solo work ”stunning and extraordinary.” and showed his saxophone as “not only something that can be blown into, but also as something that can be hit, sung into, or screamed down.”
Neil is a member of the bands Bad Luck, King Tears Bat Trip, and his own chamber group Sleeper. He is a founding member of Seattle’s acclaimed improvisation series the Racer Sessions, and in 2011 became a Table & Chairs recording artist and founding member. Neil has released 6 albums under his own name, including: A Response to the Wednesday Morning Shooting at Cafe Racer. May 12th, 2012 in Seattle, WA (2014), 12 Tiny Explosions (2013) , Boxwork (2012), Iron Creek (2011), Sleeper (2011), and Narmada (2007).
Noel Kennon will also present a mathematical construction based on the overtone series in pitch space title articulated by sine waves and viola . the construction (or tuning) exists much like a music scale though it contains 256 tones per its span of 3 octaves (so far).
