Splinter Reeds, the West Coast's first reed quintet, will come to campus Sept. 30 – Oct. 4 as the new Stucky Residency for New Music ensemble, hosted by the Department of Music in the College of Arts and Sciences. The group will collaborate with music students and faculty on composition and performance projects.
The ensemble formed in 2013 with the coming together of five colleagues highly active in multiple facets of the new music scene throughout the Bay Area and internationally. The sum of their wide range of experience – in settings including free jazz, improvisation, electronic music, pop, punk and metal as well as classical – has enabled them to rapidly zero in on a distinct aesthetic identity. Distinguishing themselves amongst even the relatively small number of professional reed quintets currently active worldwide, the ensemble is explicitly dedicated to cutting-edge composition and expanding the existing reed quintet repertoire through the collaborative development of new works by emerging and established composers. Splinter Reeds will present two public performances and a Composers’ Forum talk during this visit:
- On Wednesday, Oct. 2 at 7:30 p.m. in the Bethe House Common Room, a performance will highlight extended techniques for their instruments (oboe, clarinet, bass clarinet, bassoon, and saxophone).
- On Friday, Oct. 4 at 1:30 p.m. in Lincoln Hall 316, they will hold a Composers’ Forum where the ensemble will discuss their approach to new compositions.
- On Friday, Oct. 4 at 7:30 p.m. in Barnes Hall, their visit concludes with a performance showcasing the vast possibilities of the reed quintet. The program will include Trey Makler’s “can’t live with(out) you,” Laura Cetilia’s “adrift,” Paula Matthusen’s “Antenna Studies,” and collaborations with percussionist Mike Truesdell on Olivia Kieffer’s world premiere of “Contemporary Clavical Music II,” pianist Ariel Mo on Matthew Shlomowitz’s Fast Medium Swing (also a world premiere), and students from the Cornell Improvisation Ensemble on Pauline Oliveros’ “Thirteen Changes.”
Splinter Reeds will return to campus in the spring semester to perform premieres by Cornell graduate composers.
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.
