Ringmasters: Sarah Ritch

Sarah Ritch is the closest of close friends to the Spektral Quartet.  Before we'd even fully formed as a quartet, Aurelien and I got together on a Tuesday afternoon to read duets, drink a little vodka, and get to know each other.  Sarah was there, and the first to let us know that we had a long way to go if we were going to learn to match sounds in a string quartet.  Why was she there?  Oh yeah, she's married to Aurelien.

She's a savvy tech-expert and capable of wearing many hats: from composer, to Google Glass pioneer, to Director of Educational Outreach at the Beethoven Festival...and she gives a great interview involving music and technology.  Plus, here's another interview between her and another good buddy of the quartet, Andrew Tham.

I think this duo (with a very old-school Aurelien look going on) depicts how she may have hoped Aurelien and my reading session had ended:

Ringmasters: Bernard Rands

It's an honor to include the Pulitzer Prize-winning Bernard Rands in the killer stable of  composers for our Mobile Miniatures project.  He's worked with countless top artists, lauded in the press and received countless awards.  But, the most exciting part of working with him on this project is to experience his great sensitivity to line and poetic sensibilities as we develop his miniature musical moment.

2014 marks Bernard's 80th birthday, and we also have performances of his Second String Quartet to look forward to.  This is a finely sculpted piece with a great understanding of the quartet as a medium.  To hear a masterful composer in full command of a genre and wringing deep expression from string instruments, take a listen.  We can't wait to learn it!

Ringmasters: Julia Holter

I've known Julia Holter since my undergraduate years at the University of Michigan.  While I didn't know her well back then, I've followed her amazing progression into an indie sensation after her move to Los Angeles for grad school at Cal Arts.

Among several good friends of the quartet (and in the spirit of full disclosure: fellow Michigan alums Chris F-L and on our blog Alex Temple), long discussions were had about her intriguing and labyrinthine song Marienbad.   And I've been nothing short of enthralled with her new album Loud City Song.  I'm pretty confident I've listened to Into The Green Wild at least 30 times.  Check it out now:

Ringmasters: Jay Alan Yim

I've known Jay Alan Yim since my time as a graduate student at Northwestern University.  I had a fantastic time in his "Music Since 1975" class, including sprawling conversations about aesthetic issues that somehow wound up talking about initially unrelated issues and being forced to engage with music I thought (and continue to think, in some cases) that I hated.

Jay is a composer of incredible intellect and wide-ranging interests.  His scores can range from the carefully constructed and sculptural "Blue Voice of Air" (that you can check out below) to this spacious multi-layered structure with elements of improvisation I was a part of performing back in 2009.

I always imagine a bold, geometrically bristling modern sculpture when I hear this piece.  Also, fish making music...c'mon!

Ringmasters: Jen Wang

I first became acquainted with Jen Wang's music in Darmstadt last summer.  As a recipient of a "Staubach Honorarium", she had composed a new work for New York's excellent Talea Ensemble.  It was a great moment in the festival from my perspective as it showed that even in a place as famously rarified as Darmstadt, the zeitgeist has shifted toward acceptance of a wide range of musical aesthetics.

I've kept an eye on what she's been up to ever since with keen interest in what's happening in the Bay Area.  Jen is incredibly active as a composer and administrator as a co-Director of the Wild Rumpus collective and as curator at the Center For New Music.

A wonderfully sonically aware composer, Jen's sense for the development of sounds is on full display in this wonderful percussion quartet (make sure to click through to the second half):

Ringmasters: Liza White

We've gotten to know Liza White well since this last spring.  We premiered her "Zin Zin Zin Zin" (a raucous short work based on a scat by Mos Def) back in May, and had a fantastic time getting all its moving parts and criss-crossing lines into place for our debut disc.  You can look forward to the full piece then, and in the meantime we'll be working with her on a brand new ringtone.

Were you wondering if Liza knows how to put together an exciting and energetic piece of music?  If so, you haven't heard "Zin", but check out "Freestyle" on her website...each section of this barn-burner is based on different hip-hop dance moves!

And, because great music is great, check out Mos Def with The Roots...ZIN ZIN ZIN ZIN!

Ringmasters: Ted Hearne

On a personal level, I am nothing short of squealing with joy that Ted Hearne agreed to be a part of our Mobile Miniatures project.  I've listened to his album under the guise of R WE WHO R WE, his project with Philip White, countless times.  Check out the project and his music...two things I'm independently and mutually pumped about!

Check out the madness live, linked above, or listen to what may be my favorite cover of all time: his version of Mariah Carey's Emotions.  Y'know that original is pretty darn good too...