(WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass.) – Composers including minimalist pioneer Steve Reich, downtown lion John Zorn, avant-gardist Frederic Rzewski and jazz legend Charles Mingus will have their works performed as part of I/O Fest 2017, a four-day festival of new music at Williams College running Thursday, January 12, through Sunday, January 15, at various venues around Williamstown.

The festival includes concerts, a lecture, several world premieres, music of many composers, performances by the I/O Ensemble and IOTA, and New York City-based new-music quintet TAK. All events are free and open to the public. Neither tickets nor reservations are required.

The members of TAK – Laura Cocks, flute; Liam Kinson, clarinet; Charlotte Mundy, voice; Marina Kifferstein, violin; and Ellery Trafford, percussion — are each “individual virtuosos” in their own right (Lucy Shelton), and have performed individually across North America and Europe with ensembles such as the London Sinfonietta, International Contemporary Ensemble, JACK Quartet, Wet Ink Ensemble, and Grammy­-winning ensemble Roomful of Teeth. TAK has performed throughout New York City in spaces such as Roulette, New Amsterdam Records Headquarters, DiMenna Center for Classical Music, and Issue Project Room. In recent seasons, they have been invited to perform in collaboration with the American Composers Alliance, Innovations en concert (Montreal), the Queens New Music Festival (Queens, NY), and the Public Theater (NYC); they have held artist residencies at Avaloch Farm (New Hampshire) and Mount Tremper Arts (New York). TAK has had the pleasure of working with esteemed composers Mario Diaz de Leon, Lewis Nielson, Tyshawn Sorey, Sam Pluta, Ashkan Behzadi, and Natacha Diels, among many others. TAK’s in-house composers are Taylor Brook and David Bird.

TAK is dedicated to working with young composers, and has collaborated with several university composition programs to produce concerts of new commissions. Among these institutions are the Oberlin Modern Music Guild, the graduate composers of the “First Performance” student organization at New York University, and both the graduate and undergraduate composers of Columbia University for their Columbia Composers Concerts.

I/O Fest is the Williams College Department of Music’s annual immersion in the music of today. Over the course of four days and nights students, faculty, guest performers, and audiences delve deeply into new and adventurous music from around the world and down the street. Performances take full advantage of the ’62 Center for Theatre & Dance, making use of its technical capabilities and unconventional spaces. Featuring guest ensemble TAK, and performances by the I/O Ensemble, IOTA, and many others, I/O invites listeners to explore the music of now.

 

I/O Fest 2017 Schedule

Thursday, January 12 at 4:15 p.m., Bernhard Music Center, room 30

Prof. Ed Gollin offers a talk, “Musical Process in Tom Johnson’s Nine Bells.”

 

Thursday, January 12 at 8 p.m., CenterStage, ’62 Center for Theatre and Dance

I/O Ensemble – “Winternacht” Hans Abrahamsen’s masterpiece “Schnee” (Snow) and music of Tristan Murail and Zachary Wadsworth

 

Thursday, January 12 at 10:30 p.m., CenterStage, ’62 Center for Theatre and Dance

“After Hours” – “COMING TOGETHER” Bad Planets performs late night music to wake you up. Soul stirring works by Frederic Rzewski, Anthony Braxton, and Charles Mingus, and meditations by Pauline Oliveros.

 

Friday, January 13 at 4:15 p.m. CenterStage,’62 Center for Theatre and Dance

A workshop hosted by TAK Ensemble concentrating on contemporary music creation and performance

 

Friday, January 13 at 8 p.m., CenterStage, ’62 Center for Theatre and Dance

TAK Ensemble – “Currents” A program highlighting the New York based TAK ensemble’s maximalist virtuosity in works that live in their own visceral and imaginary sound worlds. Featuring genre defying music by Taylor Brook, Tyshawn Sorey, John Zorn, Kate Soper, David Bird, Jacob Walls, and Erin Gee.

 

Saturday, January 14 at 1 p.m., CenterStage,’62 Center for Theatre and Dance at Williams

Tom Johnson’s “Nine Bells,” performed by Ed Gollin

 

Saturday, January 14 at 8 p.m., CenterStage,’62 Center for Theatre and Dance at Williams

The student led IOTA Ensemble performs Michael Gordon’s “Yo Shakespeare” and works by Angélica Negrón, Anna Clyne, Alex Mincek, and current and former Williams student composers.

 

Sunday, January 15 at 1 p.m., The Clark Art Institute, Conforti Pavillion

A special one hour family event in which kids explore sound and create new music for live instruments. Presented by I/O Fest and Ephs Out Loud.

 

Sunday, January 15 at 2:30 p.m. The Clark Art Institute, Conforti Pavillion

“Out of the Box – Drumming” Steve Reich’s masterpieces “Drumming” (Parts I and II) and “Violin Phase”