Bent Frequency presents Phil Kline’s Unsilent Night at the First Existentialist Congregation of Atlanta

Friday, December 13th, 2024
470 Candler Park Dr NE, Atlanta, GA 30307, United States

6:30 pm strolling performance begins at 6:45 pm sharp!

FREE and open to everyone, no experience necessary!

Unsilent Night is a mobile sound sculpture that was written specifically to be heard outdoors in the month of December. It takes the form of a street promenade in which the audience becomes the performer by playing composed, pre-recorded tracks through their phone and a portable speaker, or portable analogue play back system like a boom box! Think of it as caroling but with experimental, non-religious, holiday-adjacent sound art!

You can see a clip of it here:
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/9sg0wR_yDW4

We will walk for 45 minutes through historic Candler Park admiring the beauty of the neighborhood mixed with the immersive sound sculpture that is Unsilent Night. We will use First Existentialist Congregation of Atlanta as a meeting/stepping off point for the neighborhood walk.

Please feel free to bring lights, lanterns, and family and friends to participate!

Download your Unsilent Night Track here:

https://www.unsilentnight.com/participate

Note: if you plan to bring a boombox or another analogue player please reach out to us early to let us know, we have a very limited number of CDs and cassettes of the tracks available.

Immediately after the Unsilent Night walk, our friend composer and improvisor Majid Araim will be presenting his new opera "Regarding Bullfrogs and Universal Power Dynamics" at the First Existentialist Congregation at 8:00 pm. More information about this unique piece can be found here.

Funding for this program is provided by the Fulton County Board of Commissioners, Amphion Foundation, and the City of Atlanta Mayor’s Office of Cultural Affairs.

Join Bent Frequency and Ken Ueno for Wattage at the Atlanta Contemporary

Sip on a creatively crafted cocktail from the monthly Mixologist-in-Residence, peruse the SHOP, and experience current exhibitions, programs, or events for the evening.

Admission is free – cash/credit bar

Don’t miss this extraordinary night of music and art! RSVP HERE.

Prepare to immerse yourself in an evening where art, music, and experimentation collide! Atlanta Contemporary is thrilled to host an electrifying performance featuring Bent Frequency—the Southeast’s premier contemporary music ensemble—and their esteemed guest performer, Ken Ueno, in a collaboration that promises to challenge the boundaries of sound, form, and artistic expression.

Bent Frequency, led by percussionist Stuart Gerber and saxophonist Jan Berry Baker, has been a leader in Atlanta’s avant-garde music scene since 2003. Known for their commitment to diverse, socially conscious programming, they create immersive performances in unconventional venues. This event features new experimental works showcasing their adventurous spirit.

Joining them is Ken Ueno, a visionary composer and performer recognized for his innovative vocal techniques and sound installations. His collaboration with Bent Frequency promises a thrilling blend of experimental sound and virtuosic musicianship.

Ken Ueno is a composer, performer, sound artist, and scholar. Leading performers and ensembles around the world have championed Ueno’s music. His piece for the Hilliard Ensemble, Shiroi Ishi, was featured in their repertoire for over ten years. Another work, Pharmakon, was performed dozens of times nationally by Eighth Blackbird during their 2001-2003 seasons. A portrait concert of Ken’s was featured on MaerzMusik in Berlin in 2011. As a vocalist, Ueno is known for inventing extended techniques and has performed as a soloist in his vocal concerto with orchestras in Boston, New York, Warsaw, Vilnius, Bangkok, Sacramento, Stony Brook, Pittsburgh, North Carolina, and Berkeley. As a sound artist, his installations have been commissioned and exhibited by museums and galleries in Beijing, Guangzhou, Taipei, Mexico City, Art Basel, Los Angeles, and Hong Kong. One of his largest projects, Daedalus Drones, an installation (a fence-labyrinth housing a swarm of flying drones choreographed for performance with instrumentalists) was installed at the Asia Society of Hong Kong and featured on the New Vision Arts Festival in 2021.

Ueno currently serves as a Professor at the University of California, Berkeley. His writings have been published by the Oxford Handbook, the New York Times, Palgrave Macmillan, and Wiley & Sons. His bio appears in The Grove Dictionary of American Music. www.kenueno.com

Funding for this program is provided by the Atlanta Mayor’s Office of Cultural Affairs, Fulton County Board of Commissioners, the Amphion Foundation, the Copland Foundation, and the Alice M. Ditson Fund of Columbia University.

#getbent and join us on our tour of California!

UCLA: Sunday, November 3 , 7pm in Schoenberg Hall

https://schoolofmusic.ucla.edu/event/ucla-bent-frequency-resonate-2024/

Featuring the UCLA Library Resonate Call for Scores winning work by Yi-Ting Lu and works by Judith Shatin, Karlheinz Stockhausen, Robert Lemay, and George Lewis.

Cal State University Fullerton, Wednesday, November 6, 8pm in Meng Concert Hall

https://www.fullerton.edu/arts/music/events/nmf.php

Featuring the world premiere of Fragments from the Wasteland: What the Thunder Said by Pamela Madsen and works by Emily Koh, Karlheinz Stockhausen, George Lewis, Anne LeBaron, and Amy Williams.

San Jose State University, Thursday, November 7, 7pm

Featuring music by Emily Koh, Pamela Madsen, Robert Lemay, Amy Williams and George Lewis.

University of San Francisco, Friday, November 8, 1pm

Lecture: Community based advocacy through adventurous arts programming

C4NM (Center for New Music) San Francisco, Friday, November 8, 7:30pm

https://centerfornewmusic.com/event/bent-frequency-duo/

Featuring music by Emily Koh, Robert Lemay, Karlheinz Stockhausen, Judith Shatin, Anne LeBaron, Amy Williams, and George Lewis.

UC Berkeley, Saturday November 9

Reading of student works from the studio of Ken Ueno

Bent Frequency is excited to open their 24/25 season with “TE;XT” featuring music by Daniel Felsenfeld, Stuart Saunders Smith, Anne LeBaron, Paul Lansky, and Charles Norman Mason.

Thursday, September 19, 2024, 7:00 pm

Kopleff Recital Hall–Georgia State University (15 Gilmer St. Atlanta, GA 30303)

 “TE;XT” refers to the fact that most of the pieces on this program utilize text as a primary component and deal with interruption and disconnection. The use of the semi colon indicates a pronounced pause, cut, or interruption. In Presidential Address and Songs I-IX the text represents a break in what is normal, what is expected. Felsenfeld uses the transcript of the now-infamous Access Hollywood tape to highlight the myriad ways Trump’s candidacy and presidency broke with norms of public figures and of public discourse. Whereas Smith uses text–which is often non-syntactical or outright gibberish–not for its meaning, but as musical material itself. (Smith passed away in June of 2024 after a long battle with cancer, we present this work in memory of him and his work.) Interruption, or perhaps more appropriately disruption, can be a symbol of hope and overcoming inequality, as seen in the amazing heroines LeBaron portraits. Of course, interruption is at the heart of Songs of Parting. Here, Lansky explores the sorrow and sense of longing associated with losing a loved one. Finally, Mason’s Short Circuit explores the misfiring of neurons in the brain, causing the disruption of memory and its relation to time and meaning.

As artists in residence, Bent Frequency is partnering with the Georgia State University College of the Arts and School of Music to present this program.  Additional funding is provided by season support from the Atlanta Mayor’s Office of Cultural Affairs, Fulton County Arts Council, the Amphion Foundation, and the Ditson Foundation.

SEAMUS Atlanta - Adam Mirza and Bent Frequency present Forest in a City

 April 27th, 8pm at Eyedrum. 515 Ralph David Abernathy Blvd, Atlanta, GA 30312

Tickets: $10/$5 students at the door

Join us for the SEAMUS Atlanta Conference (The Society for Electro-Acoustic Music in the United States)

Forest in a City is a sound installation and immersive performance using wooden speaker-objects and featuring live performances by members of Atlanta new music ensemble Bent Frequency. The event imagines a new urban soundscape, a heterogenous combination of works and audio artifacts by SEAMUS composers that reflect on the nature of ongoing development within cities like Atlanta (“the city in a forest”). The installation will appear as an indoor “forest” of 8 wooden panels used as speaker-objects spread around the performance space. These panels were made by local Atlanta luthier, DJ Betsill, using wood from an 800-year-old “Sinker Cyprus” log found preserved in a swamp on the Georgia coast. Similar to John Cage’s Musicircus, multiple pieces (acoustic and electronic), will be played simultaneously in the gallery space.  We are inspired by Giorgio Magnanensi’s current practice using wooden panels with transducers (https://giorgiomagnanensi.com/soundgarden-2022), as well as David Tudor’s Rainforest IV and Janet Cardiff’s The Forty Part Motet. 

The event will take place at Eyedrum, one of Atlanta’s oldest experimental arts presenters, currently located in a former industrial/railroad building near downtown Atlanta.

Composers presented:

Iddo Aharony

Jeremy Castro Baguyos

Nicholas Cline

Kittie Cooper

Alex Christie

Garrison Gerard

David George Haskell

Holland Hopson

Daniel Karcher

Kerrith Livengood

Giorgio Magnanensi

Scott L. Miller

Adam Mirza

John Moeller

Daniel Smith

Performers:

Jan Berry Baker, saxophone

Stuart Gerber, percussion

This program is supported in part by the City of Atlanta Mayor’s Office of Cultural Affairs, the Fulton County Board of Commissioners, and the Amphion Foundation.

Bent Frequency is excited to present the six winning compositions chosen for the 2023-2024 Underscore. Having received over 530 applications from all over the world, representing an impressive array of compositional styles, we were absolutely thrilled with the overwhelmingly positive response of this year’s call. The review of applications was a rigorous and thorough one undertaken by Bent Frequency and our three guest composers, Kevin Day, Marti Epstein, and Amy Williams. It is indeed inspiring to be reminded of the wealth of musical creativity and diversity reflected in the submissions for this call.  

“This program is supported in part by the City of Atlanta Mayor’s Office of Cultural Affairs, the Fulton County Board of Commissioners, the Amphion Foundation, Arts & Entertainment Atlanta and the Atlanta Downtown Improvement District, and the Georgia Council for the Arts through the appropriations of the Georgia General Assembly. Georgia Council for the Arts also receives support from its partner agency – the National Endowment for the Arts.”

Underscore _ a call for scores 23/24

Sunday, March 3, 2pm

Kopleff Recital Hall

FREE!

Join us to celebrate these winning compositions and meet the composers who will be in attendance!

Chris Arrell: Breathless

Dayton Hare: An object of some concern

Amir Khalaf: Rib

Emilie LeBel: …and the higher leaves of the trees seemed to shimmer in the last of the sunlight’s lingering touch of them…

Charles Peck: Kindling

Anna-Louise Walton: Flex

Performed by

Sarah Kruser Ambrose, flute

Tim Fitzgerald, clarinet

Jan Berry Baker, saxophone

Adelaide Federici, violin

Jean Gay, cello

Erika Tazawa, piano

Stuart Gerber, percussion

Shelby Brooks, percussion

Featuring music by Sarah Hennies, Marc Mellits, and an improvisation-based work by Marc Fleury and Stuart Gerber (aka Church of Space).

In music patterns are created through repetitive sequences, harmonies, and rhythms, providing a structure that guides the listener through a given sonic landscape. These patterns, whether subtle or pronounced, create a sense of familiarity and organization within a specific piece. Simultaneously, within the music there are hidden dimensions and textures that lie within the sounds created. This interior world shares a profound similarity with the vastness and nature of the universe. Both encapsulate a depth and complexity that extends well beyond immediate perception. Within the intricate tapestry of sound and the vastness of the universe, there exists a spectrum of frequencies, harmonies, and resonances. As sound waves travel through a space, echoing and reverberating, they create an immersive experience and act in a way that mirrors the formations of galaxies, stars, and cosmic events of an ever-expanding universe. Both the space “within” sound and the vastness of the universe invite exploration and contemplation, where the interplay of resonances and vibrations reveals the interconnected beauty of existence.

This program is supported by the Georgia State University College of the Arts, the City of Atlanta Mayor’s Office of Cultural Affairs, and the Fulton County Board of Commissioners.

Bent Frequency presents Phil Kline’s Unsilent Night at 97 Estoria in Cabbagetown

Saturday, December 9th, 2023
97 Estoria - 727 Wylie St SE, Atlanta, GA 30316, United States

Social hour between 5:00-6:00pm, strolling performance begins at 6:00 pm sharp!

FREE and open to everyone, no experience necessary!

Please join us as we host the annual performance of Phil Kline's Unsilent Night.

Unsilent Night is a mobile sound sculpture that was written specifically to be heard outdoors in the month of December. It takes the form of a street promenade in which the audience becomes the performer by playing composed, pre-recorded tracks through their phone and a portable speaker, or portable analogue play back system like a boom box! Think of it as caroling but with experimental, non-religious, holiday-adjacent sound art!

You can see a clip of it here:
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/9sg0wR_yDW4

We will walk for 45 minutes through historic Cabbagetown admiring the beauty of the neighborhood mixed with the immersive sound scultpture that is Unsilent Night. We will use 97 Estoria as a meeting/stepping off point, please join us early and stay after for some holiday fellowship and community!
Please feel free to bring lights, lanterns, and family and friends to participate!

Download your Unsilent Night Track here:

http://unsilentnight.com/participate.html

Note: if you plan to bring a boombox or another analogue player please reach out to us early to let us know, we have a very limited number of CDs and cassettes of the tracks available.

Funding for this program is provided by the Fulton County Board of Commissioners, Amphion Foundation, and the City of Atlanta Mayor’s Office of Cultural Affairs.

Bent Frequency presents BREATHE - the music of Matthew Evan Taylor

Join us at Eyedrum on Friday, December 8 at 8pm (515 Ralph David Abernathy Blvd, Atlanta 30312)

Door is $5 students/$15 general admission (cash/venmo)

Bent Frequency is joined by composer/performer Matthew Evan Taylor. We will be performing Matthew’s Get Up! , Antsy, and BREATHE followed by an improvisation featuring Matthew Evan Taylor, Jan Berry Baker and Stuart Gerber

With an opening set by special guest Ipek Eginli (piano and electronics)

Bent Frequency performers include:

Adelaide Federici, violin

Josiah Coe, viola

Jan Berry Baker, saxophone

Erika Tazawa, piano

Stuart Gerber, percussion

Funding for this program is provided by the Fulton County Board of Commissioners, Amphion Foundation, and the City of Atlanta Mayor’s Office of Cultural Affairs.

Please join us as we kick off our 20th Anniversary Season

CONTACTS

Featuring Karlheinz Stockhausen’s seminal KONTAKTE for piano, percussion, and 4-channel electronic tape, world premieres by Dante De Silva and Robert Lemay, and works by Marti Epstein and Jeffery Earl Young!

Co-Artistic Directors Jan Berry Baker, saxophone and Stuart Gerber, percussion will be joined by special guests: Rebekah Alexander, Stephen Drury, and the Petrasek Duo

Bent Frequency will close the 2022-2023 RESONANCE season on May 7, 2023, with a 20th Anniversary celebration. Almost 20 years to the day of our debut, BF will celebrate with many of the brilliant musicians who have performed with us through the years and will be joined on stage by the Atlanta Improviser's Orchestra (AIO).

BF presents works by Louis Andriessen, George Lewis, Alvin Singleton and 2022 Pulitzer Prize winning composer, Raven Chacon. In keeping with our deep history of commissioning new works, Co-Artistic Directors Jan Berry Baker and Stuart Gerber will premiere Judith Shatin’s, Of Wells & Springs, written in honor of BF’s 20th Anniversary.

Performers Include:

Sarah Ambrose, flute
Ted Gurch, clarinet
Jan Berry Baker, saxophone
Adelaide Federici, violin
Tania Maxwell Clements, viola
Brad Ritchie, cello
Erika Tazawa, piano
Stuart Gerber, percussion
Khesner Oliveira, percussion

Members of the Atlanta Improviser's Orchestra (AIO)

Kopleff Recital Hall (15 Gilmer St SE, Atlanta, GA 30303) at 3:00 pm, FREE and open to the public.

BF celebrates not only this important two-decade milestone as an integral part of the artistic fabric of Atlanta, but also honors the reputation this city has earned as a destination for experimental arts.

BF is supported by the Atlanta Mayor’s Office of Cultural Affairs, Fulton County Arts Council, Georgia Council for the Arts, the Amphion Foundation, and the Alice M. Ditson Fund.

Marguerite Brown, Repetition Fable

Tim Feeney, Music of what happens

astrid hubbard flynn, Five by Three

Treya Nash, Nothing Motorised

Kyle Rivera, REEL

Pablo Sebastián Rubino Lindner, Vitrales

Performed by:

Sarah Kruser Ambrose, flute

Tim Fitzgerald, clarinet

Jan Berry Baker, saxophone

Adelaide Federici, violin

Tania Maxwell Clements, viola

Charae Krueger, cello

Erika Tazawa, piano

Stuart Gerber, percussion

We were thrilled with the overwhelmingly positive response for Underscore_A Call for Scores. Bent Frequency received nearly 400 applications of creative and high-quality compositions from all over the world, representing an impressive array of styles. The review of applications was a rigorous and thorough one undertaken by Bent Frequency and our three guest composer panelists, Ken Ueno, Katherine Young, and Matthew Evan Taylor.

It is indeed inspiring to be reminded of the wealth of musical creativity and diversity, reflected in the submissions received for this call.

BF is dedicated to forging long-term collaborations with composers and commits to partnering with one of the selected composers to secure funding for a future commission. This announcement will be made after the concert in February.

Bent Frequency would also like to express our sincerest gratitude to our guest judges. Underscore would not have been possible without their expertise, time, and thoughtfulness.

Matthew Evan Taylor–https://www.matthewevantaylor.com

Ken Ueno–https://kenueno.com

Katherine Young–https://katherineyoung.info

This program is supported in part by Georgia Council for the Arts through the appropriations of the Georgia General Assembly. Georgia Council for the Arts also receives support from its partner agency – the National Endowment for the Arts.

This program is also supported in part by the City of Atlanta Mayor’s Office of Cultural Affairs, the Fulton County Board of Commissioners, the Amphion Foundation, and the Ditson Foundation of Columbia University.

Bent Frequency presents Phil Kline’s Unsilent Night

Arches Brewing in Hapeville

Sunday, December 11th

social hour between 4:30-5:30, stroll between 5:45pm-6:30pm

Open to any and all, no experience necessary! Bring all of your friends and family, your phone and a portable bluetooth speaker. Unsilent Night is a mobile sound sculpture written by Phil Kline that is “performed” by all who stroll with us. We will walk for 45 minutes through downtown Hapeville after enjoying beverages at Arches. Please feel free to bring lights and fun lanterns!

Download your Unsilent Night Track here

Arches Brewing - 3361 Dogwood Dr., Hapeville, GA 30354

(photo cred: Steve Eberhardt)

Join us at Eyedrum

Saturday, December 10th

doors open at 8pm, music at 8:30pm

FREE

Featuring the Southeastern premieres of Emily Koh’s hyder(0)sion, Alvin Singleton’s Every Next Day and George Lewis’ Tuning In all written for the Bent Frequency Duo Project. Other works we are excited to perform for you include Adam Mirza’s Cracks, Blue by Andrew Staniland, and Madrigals, Book 1 by George Crumb.

Amy Petrongelli, soprano

Jan Berry Baker, saxophone

Daniel Tosky, double bass

Erika Tazawa, piano

Stuart Gerber, percussion

Eyedrum Art and Music Gallery - 515 Ralph David Abernathy Blvd, Atlanta, GA 30312

Tuesday, 29 November 2022 is #GivingTuesday; "a global day of giving fueled by the power of social media and collaboration." There are many organizations in Atlanta and elsewhere worthy of support by generous people like you. We hope that you will consider making a tax deductible donation to Bent Frequency this giving season!

Since its inception in 2003, Bent Frequency has been a staple of Atlanta’s art scene. This year, we celebrate 20 years… wow, we can’t believe it either! We are dedicated to contributing to the artistic fabric of this vibrant city by producing concerts and events that are of the highest musical and artistic levels and encourage audience participation and engagement in new and interesting ways. Many of our events are FREE and those that are not, are priced affordably.

It takes money to be able to present professional-level programming like this, and while we work hard to partner with granting agencies to make our events free and accessible to all, we still rely on your support as well.

As we close out 2022, and look forward to much more in-person music making, we hope you’ll consider a year-end, fully tax deductible donation to Bent Frequency to help us continue bringing new music to life in Atlanta and beyond. If you are able to donate (any amount is deeply appreciated), please DONATE HERE

Our fundraising goal for this 20th anniversary season is $3000. Thank you for your continued support of contemporary music. We wish you and yours all of the best in the New Year and hope to see you in 2023!

With Gratitude

Jan Berry Baker and Stuart Gerber, Co-Artistic Directors

What will your tax-deductible donation help to fund?

• Free or significantly reduced ticket prices for ALL the entire RESONANCE season! making contemporary classical music performed at the highest level accessible for all in the metro Atlanta area

• Professional-scale performance fees for our musicians, production and advertising costs, space rental, etc.

• Amplifying the voices of vital and relevant contemporary composers, largely under-presented, in classical music

We are thrilled to be collaborating with eyedrum art & music gallery and the Elevate Atlanta Festival on this program. We hope you’ll join us for all or part of the day. The music will start at 12:00 and go until about 4:45.

Celebrate influential music composer and theorist, John Cage at the inaugural John Fly on a Wall dance will also create a sight-specific dances performance inspired by legendary dance innovator, and long-time Cage collaborator, Merce Cunningham.

Musical performances from ATL’s Stuart Gerber, Jeremy Muller, Craig Dongoski, Liuba Khakhalina Khesner Oliveira, Victor Pons, Erika Tazawa, Jessica Petrasek, Emily Koh, Majid Araim, Ofir Klemperer, Adam Mirza, Ben Shirley, Klimchak, Jeff Young + more

Doors open 11am, performances begin at noon, event over by 5pm. ALL AGES welcome and admission is FREE!

Exhibits from legendary Black Mountain College Museum on view inside eyedrum!

This program is supported by the City of Atlanta Mayor’s Office of Cultural Affairs, and the Fulton County Board of Commissioners.With additional funding from, the Amphion Foundation, and the Alice M. Ditson Fund

TIMBER

This program is supported by the Georgia State University College of the Arts, the City of Atlanta Mayor’s Office of Cultural Affairs, and the Fulton County Board of Commissioners. With additional funding from, the Amphion Foundation, and the Alice M. Ditson Fund

MONDAY, MARCH 28

BENT FREQUENCY DUO PROJECT & DUET FOR THEREMIN & LAP STEEL • 8 PM • KOPLEFF RECITAL HALL • Free Admission

MONDAY, MARCH 28

BENT FREQUENCY DUO PROJECT & DUET FOR THEREMIN & LAP STEEL • 8 PM • KOPLEFF RECITAL HALL • Free Admission

Please join us to celebrate the 5 year reunion of the SoundNOW Festival in Atlanta! The new music scene in Atlanta has so much to offer, so be sure to check out the full line up of events between March 27- April 3. The festival features performances by Terminus Ensemble, Perimeter Flutes, Bent Frequency Duo Project, Duet for Theramin and Lap Steel, NeoPhonia New Music Ensemble, Pantera Percussion Trio, Chamber Cartel, Whispers of Night, Artifactual String Unit, Smol Ensemble, and Atlanta Contemporary Ensemble. All information about the festival can be found here: Atlantasoundnowfestival.com

Bent Frequency, ensemble in residence at Georgia State University, is a professional contemporary music ensemble based in Atlanta. Hailed as “one of the brightest new music ensembles on the scene today” by Gramophone magazine, Bent Frequency engages an eclectic mix of the most adventurous and impassioned players from the greater Atlanta area. Founded in 2003, Bent Frequency (BF) brings the avant-garde to life through adventurous and socially conscious programming, cross-disciplinary collaborations, and community engagement. One of BF’s primary goals is championing the work of historically underrepresented composers - music by women, composers of color, and LGBTQIA+. Its programming, educational outreach, and community events aim to be inclusive of the diverse and dynamic community they are a part of. BF does not have a fixed instrumentation. Instead it is a modular group that is flexible enough to present everything from large-scale chamber concerts to smaller, more intimate performances.

We have collaborated with some of the most ground-breaking composers working today and have produced large-scale events such as Ricardo Zohn-Muldoon’s chamber opera Comala at the International Cervantino Festival and Fiestas de Octubre in Mexico, Juan Trigos’ fully staged chamber opera DeCachetitoRaspado, Jennifer Walshe’s Barbie opera XXX_Live_Nude_Girls!!! and have held 3-day festivals celebrating the music of Steve Reich on the occasion of his 70th birthday and a Festival of New Music from Mexico. BF has appeared as ensemble-in-residence at the Tage Aktueller Musik in Nürnberg, Sam Houston State New Music Festival, Charlotte New Music Festival, New Music on the Point in Vermont and at the University of Georgia. In 2013, BF created the Bent Frequency Duo Project (Jan Berry Baker and Stuart Gerber). Together, they have commissioned over 30 new works for saxophone and percussion and have given countless performances across the USA, Mexico, and Europe. They have recently released their debut CD, Diamorpha, on the Centaur Label featuring a number of these new works.

BF has been awarded numerous prestigious and competitive governmental and foundational grants to fund the creation and promotion of New Music. Recent awards include the French American Cultural Exchange (FACE), Barlow Foundation, Georgia Council for the Arts, Copland Foundation, Fulton County Arts Council, Mayor’s Office of Cultural Affairs, Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation (National Endowment for the Arts and the Andrew Mellon Foundation), and Culture Ireland to name a few.Bent Frequency has partnered with many ensembles, dance groups, and visual artists in creating unique productions. Recent collaborations include producing Zohn-Muldoon’s Comala with PUSH Physical Theater, a John Cage MUSICIRCUS in celebration of the centenary of Cage’s birth with the Goat Farm Arts Center, Atlanta Poet’s group and visual artist Craig Dongoski, and multiple performances with CORE Performance Company including two, three-night series events entitled On Love and Secret at the Callanwolde Arts Center. Always looking for new ways to present music to reach as wide an audience as possible, Bent Frequency has performed in traditional concert halls, art museums, galleries, bike trails and even on the Atlanta Streetcar!

Duet for Theremin and Lap Steel is Scott Burland, Theremin and Frank Schultz, Lap Steel guitar. "The name of this Atlanta duo implies a proper classical recital, a rigid formality. But Scott Burland (theremin) and Frank Schultz (lap steel) don't do scripted, improvising not so much distinct sounds as evolving eddies of sound, vapors of tones that develop and transform gracefully. Hypnotic pulses and dreamy drones weave together to form a kaleidoscope of sounds and moods, ambient clouds and swooning collages that are as much about texture as they are timbre, like a long-lost soundtrack to a deep-sea documentary." - Columbia Free Times

“This program is supported in part by the City of Atlanta Mayor’s Office of Cultural Affairs,

and the Fulton County Board of Commissioners.” 

Bent Frequency is excited to present the music of the SEVEN winners of our recent call for scores, Underscore :

Michelle Boudreau        Berté Litice; la suite (introduction)

and En attendant Berté Litice (IV)

Alex Burtzos       pOwer trIo

Hong-Da Chin        ...as far as the eye can see...

Olga Krashenko        Field not Field

Kyle Rivera            Invocation of Eternal Voices

Mischa Salkind-Pearl    A Poppy of Erasure

Ethan Soledad        Integrity

Performers:

Sarah Kruser Ambrose, flute

Ted Gurch, clarinet

Jan Berry Baker, saxophone

Helen Kim, violin

Tania Maxwell Clements, viola

Jean Gay, cello

Erika Tazawa, piano

Stuart Gerber, percussion

Khesner Oliveira, percussion

These seven winning works will be presented in concert at Kopleff Recital Hall in Atlanta on February 27, 2022, 2:00 pm.  FREE Admission.

The winning composers will be provided with a modest $500 award to assist with travel expenses to attend the concert.  Please join us to meet and hear the works of these composers!

Livestream: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z9MNrNzrzyE

We were thrilled with the overwhelmingly positive response for the 2021-2022 Underscore; our first call for scores in over 15 years. Bent Frequency received nearly 500 applications of creative and high-quality compositions from all over the world, representing an impressive array of styles. The review of applications was a rigorous and thorough one undertaken by Bent Frequency and our three guest composers. It is indeed inspiring to be reminded of the wealth of musical creativity and diversity, reflected in the submissions received for this call.  

Bent Frequency would also like to express our sincerest gratitude to our guest judges:   

David Dominique (http://daviddominique.com/)

Sarah Hennies (https://www.sarah-hennies.com/)

Emily Koh (https://emilykoh.net/)

Underscore would not have been possible without their expertise, time, and thoughtfulness. 

After a COVID-forced hiatus in 2020, Bent Frequency is thrilled to be partnering with Arches Brewery in Hapeville for our annual performance of Phil Kline's "Unsilent Night." You might be asking yourself, what is "Unsilent Night"....

"Unsilent Night" is an original composition by Phil Kline, written specifically to be heard outdoors in the month of December, always as a free event. Over the past quarter century, "Unsilent Night" has become an international phenomenon, taking place in more than 100 cities, big and small, across five continents — from New York to San Francisco, and Brussels to Saskatoon. It takes the form of a street promenade in which the audience becomes the performer.
Originally the music was played using only cassette tapes in portable stereos, but as vintage boomboxes have become harder to find, more people use smartphones with portable speakers by downloading the free "Unsilent Night" app, which randomly selects one of four tracks to play. Together, all four tracks comprise "Unsilent Night." Participants start their devices simultaneously, then walk a carefully chosen route through the city’s streets, creating a unique mobile sound sculpture that is different from every listener’s perspective. No music experience is necessary, and people of all ages are invited to join or watch the walk.

We will gather at Arches Brewing between 5-5:45pm, where you can purchase a beer or kids’ beverage, then “perform” as we fill the streets of Hapeville with the four parts of Phil Kline’s work, "Unsilent Night." "Caroling" step off will be around 6:00. Our route will be a loop, bringing us back to Arches around 6:45pm. Bring battery powered lights, festive wear, friends and family and join us for this epic community event.

Each person should download a track (choose only 1) at http://unsilentnight.com/participate.html
and bring along some portable speakers for your phone or device (or email info.bentfrequency@gmail.com for hard copies of cassettes/CDs)

All events are free and family friendly. Goodazzfood truck will be onsite with delicious eats!

Please join Bent Frequency for our first in-person concert in nearly two years as we kick off our 2021-2022 season RENEW!

We're excited to be presenting our opening performance at eyedrum THE venerable Atlanta hub for experimental art https://www.eyedrum.org/.

BF's very first concert in 2003 was at eyedrum, therefore it seemed natural to host our first in-person concert of the post-pandemic world at eyedrum's recently opened new space. It's time to get back to live experimental music in Atlanta!

We will be presenting world premieres by Yiheng Yvonne Wu and Nick Demos, as well as music by Peter Van Zandt Lane and others.

In addition, we will be joined by special guests Katherine Young, Ofir Klemperer, Majid Araim, Matt Nelson, and Ben Shirley for a great evening of experimental and improvised music!

–$10/$5 at the door
–Doors open at 8:00
–Music starts at 8:30

Masks are required!

On Thursday, June 3, Bent Frequency will present our final streamed concert of the 2020-2021 SUSTAIN season (and we hope this will be our final streamed-only concert forever!). We will present music by Yvonne Wu (https://www.yvonnewu.com/), William Susman https://www.susmanmusic.com/bio, Gilda Lyons (http://www.gildalyons.com/), and composer/performer Katherine Young (https://katherineyoung.info/) performed by Sarah Kruser Ambrose, flute, Jan Berry Baker, saxophone, Katherine Young, bassoon, Erika Tazawa, piano and Stuart Gerber, percussion.

This concert will be streamed via the Georgia State University YouTube channel

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2u9Pvthp6o8

Funding for this program is provided by the Mayor’s Office of Cultural Affairs, Fulton County Board of Commissioners and the Alice M. Ditson Fund of Columbia University.

Concert at 5 PM PDT | 8PM EDT

Register for Concert Zoom Link here

Concert Program available for download here

Interactive roundtable with composers and performers to follow at 6 PM PDT | 9 PM EDT

Atlanta-based new music ensemble Bent Frequency, in partnership with the Lowell Milken Center for Music of American Jewish Experience, and Atlanta’s Breman Museum and Neranenah present Mare’ot/ Mirrors:  a live-streamed concert featuring extraordinary contemporary music by six women of Jewish heritage. The concert features music by Lera Auerbach, Alyssa Weinberg, Gabriela Lena Frank, Judith Shatin, Nomi Epstein and Betty Olivero. It will be followed by an audience interactive roundtable with conversations surrounding their process and their art, including composers Nomi Epstein, Judith Shatin and Alyssa Weinberg and performers Stuart Gerber and Jan Berry Baker.

Bent Frequency strives to reflect the incredible spectrum of artists contributing to contemporary classical music through consciously crafting and curating our season programs. Mare’ot/ Mirrors, is the second program in its 2020-2021 SUSTAIN series.

Program:

Table Talk (2016), Alyssa Weinberg (b. 1988); Stuart Gerber and Victor Pons, percussion
Prayer (1996/2009), Lera Auerbach (b. 1973); Jan Berry Baker, alto saxophone
Violin and Piano (2004), Nomi Epstein (b. 1978); Helen Kim, violin, Erika Tazawa, piano
Grito del Corazón (2001), Judith Shatin (b. 1949); Jan Berry Baker, alto saxophone, Stuart Gerber, percussion, Kathy Aoki, video artist
Mare’ot (1994), Betty Olivero (b. 1954); Sarah Ambrose, flute, Helen Kim, violin
Sonata Serrana No. 1 (2012), Gabriela Lena Frank (b. 1972); Eric Jenkins and Erika Tazawa, piano

This event is made possible by the Lowell Milken Center for Music of American Jewish Experience at The UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music with additional support from the Dean's Opportunity Fund.

Tickets are FREE but you must register in advance!

REGISTER HERE: https://tinyurl.com/22hb7e6k

LINK TO THE PROGRAM HERE

Concert at 7:00pm EST

Join us after the concert for a conversation with composers Gabriela Lena Frank, Judith Shatin and Nomi Epstein at 8:15pm

“Mirrors” includes music by Lera Auerbach, Alyssa Weinberg, Gabriela Lena Frank, Judith Shatin, Nomi Epstein and Betty Olivero.

Performers:
Sarah Ambrose, flute
Jan Berry Baker, saxophone
Helen Kim, violin
Erika Tawaza, piano
Eric Jenkins, piano
Victor Pons, percussion
Stuart Gerber, percussion

Classical music has long had an inclusivity problem. Bent Frequency’s mission is to do better in our, albeit niche, corner of the contemporary classical music world. We strive to better reflect, or mirror, the incredible spectrum of artists contributing to contemporary performance music through consciously crafting and curating our programming throughout the season. Please join us for Mirrors (Mare’ot), the second program of our 2020-2021 SUSTAIN series. This program features extraordinary music by six women of Jewish Heritage and conversations surrounding their process and their art.

Atlanta-based Bent Frequency is the Southeast’s premiere contemporary music ensemble. Founded in 2003, the group brings the avant-garde to life through adventurous and socially conscious programming, cross-disciplinary collaborations, and community engagement. Committed to exploding marginalized programming in classical music, one of BF’s primary goals is championing the work of historically underrepresented composers - music by women, composers of color, and LGBTQIA+. Hailed as “one of the brightest new music ensembles on the scene today” by Gramophone magazine, BF engages an eclectic mix of the most adventurous and impassioned players in Atlanta. Bent Frequency is an ensemble in residence at Georgia State University and is run by Co-Artistic Directors, Jan Berry Baker and Stuart Gerber. www.bentfrequency.com

Presented by Bent Frequency, The Breman Museum and Neranenah

Our 2020-21 Season, SUSTAIN, continues with "From a Distance"

Join us online, on facebook live and youtube, for a live streamed concert on Friday, November 6th at 8:00pm ET/5:00pm PT

http://www.youtube.com/gsusom

Featuring works by

Mara Gibson

Alvin Singleton

Peter Van Zandt Lane

Juan Trigos

Performed by

Ted Gurch, clarinet

Jan Berry Baker, saxophone

Helen Hwaya Kim, violin

Erika Tazawa, piano

Stuart Gerber, percussion

This program is supported in part by the Fulton County Board of Commissioners, the Atlanta Mayor’s Office of Cultural Affairs and the Alice M. Ditson Fund of Columbia University.

Happy Chinese New (Y)Ear!

Bent Frequency and special guest artists, Zhou Family Band from China celebrate the Chinese New Year, featuring contemporary and traditional folk works by Chinese composers.

Kopleff Recital Hall

15 Gilmer Street, SE, Atlanta, GA 30303

FREE admission, all ages welcome

Bent Frequency presents contemporary works by Chen Yi, Carolyn Chen, and Tonia Ko.
Performers: Sarah Kruser Ambrose, Ted Gurch, Jan Berry Baker, Tania Maxwell Clements, Daniel Tosky, Erika Tazawa, Stuart Gerber

Zhou Family Band is a Chinese folk music ensemble that is a member of the Chinese celebrity masters Zhou Zhengyu and other Chinese celebrities who have settled in the Linglin Village of Yinji, Anhui Province. Zhou Family Band has developed from the beginning of the Qing Dynasty to the present, and has passed down the family for six generations. At present, there are more than 100 musicians across the country.

Co-sponsored by the Confucius Institute at GSU and the School of Music at GSU.

Funding for this program is provided by the Fulton County Board of Commissioners.

We are THRILLED to bring Phil Kline's "UnSilent Night" to Arches Brewing (& Hapeville)! You might be asking yourself, what is "UnSilent Night"....

UnSilent Night is an original composition by Phil Kline, written specifically to be heard outdoors in the month of December, always as a free event. Over the past quarter century, UnSilent Night has become an international phenomenon, taking place in more than 100 cities, big and small, across five continents — from New York to San Francisco, and Brussels to Saskatoon. It takes the form of a street promenade in which the audience becomes the performer.

Originally the music was played using only cassette tapes in portable stereos, but as vintage boomboxes have become harder to find, more people use smartphones with portable speakers by downloading the free UnSilent Night app, which randomly selects one of four tracks to play. Together, all four tracks comprise UnSilent Night. Participants start their devices simultaneously, then walk a carefully chosen route through the city’s streets, creating a unique mobile sound sculpture that is different from every listener’s perspective. No music experience is necessary, and people of all ages are invited to join or watch the walk.

We will gather at Arches Brewing at 5:30pm, where you can purchase a beer or kids’ beverage, then “perform” as we fill the streets of Hapeville with the four parts of Phil Kline’s work, UnSilent Night. Our route will be a loop, bringing us back to Arches. Download your track (choose only 1) at http://unsilentnight.com/ and bring along some portable speakers for your phone or device or email info.bentfrequency@gmail.com for hard copies of cassettes/CDs.

All events are free and family friendly. Our good friend Home of Goodazzfood- GAF will be onsite all day with her delicious eats!

Arches Brewing: 3361 Dogwood Drive, Hapeville, GA, 30354

This event is FREE!

Bent Frequency presents Many Voices featuring internationally acclaimed bass, Nicholas Isherwood, and the Emory University Composition studio of Adam Mirza. Hosted by Emory University's Michael C. Carlos Museum.

Michael C. Carlos Museum: 571 S Kilgo Cir NE, Atlanta, GA 30322

LIMITED tickets available due to space. $10 adults, free for students (must show valid student ID at the door). Reserve your tickets on Eventbrite:
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/bent-frequency-presents-many-voices-featuring-nicholas-isherwood-and-the-emory-university-tickets-75650182733

The event will begin at 7:00pm in the Museum’s lower galleries. Emory music students in Prof. Adam Mirza’s class Mediated Sound have created a series of sound installations that respond to particular objects in the Museum’s permanent collection. The installations sonify the material and expressive voices of other people, from distant times and places around the world.

Beginning at 7:30pm, wander the lower galleries to hear a series of intimate performances by Bent Frequency, Nicholas Isherwood, and composer Jue Wang. At 8:30pm, join us upstairs in Ackerman Hall for the final performances of the concert.

Many Voices features sound installations by Emory University student composers, Abdallah Al-Obaidi, Luc Carbonneau, Bella Dodd, Chris Fenger, Ahmet Sirrik, and Candace Suh.

Bent Frequency presents music by:
Jue Wang
Frederic Rzewski
Cathy Berberian
Judith Shatin
Adam Mirza
Iannis Xenakis
Eve de Castro-Robinson

Since its formal establishment on Emory’s Atlanta campus in 1919, the Michael C. Carlos Museum has become one of the premier museums in the Southeast. The museum holds one of the most comprehensive collections in the region with artwork from ancient Egypt, Nubia, and the Near East; Greece and Rome; the Americas; Africa; and Asia as well as a collection of works on paper from the Renaissance to the present.

Through world-class permanent collections and special exhibitions, innovative programming, and one-of-a-kind opportunities to engage with art firsthand, the Carlos Museum serves Emory University and the Atlanta community as a dynamic interdisciplinary center that cultivates literacy in the arts and fosters understanding of diverse religions and civilizations.

Join Bent Frequency and MINT's InstallMINT artists for an evening of performance art and music!

Mint Gallery: 680 Murphy Avenue, Suite 2095, Atlanta, GA 30310

7-10pm. Free Admission

Bent Frequency performers: Jan Berry Baker (saxophone), Katie Taylor (viola), Erika Tazawa (toy piano), Stuart Gerber (percussion)

Featuring works by:
Laurie Anderson
Mara Gibson
Jeff Herriott
Erika Tazawa
Jennifer Walshe
Amy Williams
Julia Wolfe

InstallMINT artists:
Ashton Bird
In Kyoung Chun
Brittney Hart
Megan Mosholder
Leisa Rich
Brittany Watkins
Elise Williams