Related Events
Doors at 7 pm | Show at 7:30 pm
Tickets: $15 ($5 with student ID, limited availability)
Students tickets may be purchased at the door or in advance by emailing jenny@crosstownarts.org.
Blueshift Ensemble performs a program of chamber music curated by composer and conductor Evan Williams featuring works by Williams and his musical mentors, friends, and colleagues in Crosstown Theater. The program includes works by Jennifer Jolley, Caroline Shaw, and Michael Fiday.
The music of Evan Williams has been performed across the country and internationally by members of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, the Seattle Symphony Orchestra, the International Contemporary Ensemble, QuinceEnsemble, Fifth House Ensemble, and at festivals such as SEAMUS, the New Music Gathering, the Electroacoustic Barn Dance, and the New York City Electronic Music Festival. He has been commissioned by notable performers and ensembles including the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra and Urban Playground Chamber Orchestra. His work can be found on recordings by The Namaste Ensemble’s “No Borders Quartet” and Levels. Williams has received a number of awards and honors, including serving as the Detroit Symphony Orchestra’s inaugural Classical Roots Composer-in-Residence in 2018. Williams holds a DMA in Composition with a cognate in Orchestral Conducting from the College-Conservatory of Music at the University of Cincinnati, where he also served as a teaching assistant in electronic music. He also holds degrees from Bowling Green State University and Lawrence University. Williams serves as Assistant Professor of Music and Director of Instrumental Activities at Rhodes College, where he teaches composition, music technology, and leads the Rhodes Orchestra. He previously held teaching positions at Lawrence University, Bennington College, and at the Walden School.
Jennifer Jolley is a composer, blogger, and professor person. She is also a cat lover and part-time creative opera producer. Jennifer’s work draws toward subjects that are political and even provocative. Her collaboration with librettist Kendall A, Prisoner of Conscience, has been described as “the ideal soundtrack and perhaps balm for our current ‘toxic’…times” by Frank J. Oteri of NewMusicBox. Her piece Blue Glacier Decoy, written as a musical response to the Olympic National Park, depicts the melting glaciers of the Pacific Northwest. Her partnership with writer Scott Woods, You Are Not Alone, evokes the fallout of the #MeToo Movement. Jennifer’s works have been performed by ensembles worldwide. She has received commissions from the National Endowment for the Arts, the MidAmerican Center for Contemporary Music, the Left Coast Chamber Ensemble, Quince Ensemble, and many others.
Caroline Shaw is a New York-based musician — vocalist, violinist, composer, and producer — who performs in solo and collaborative projects. She was the youngest recipient of the Pulitzer Prize for Music in 2013 for Partita for 8 Voices, written for the Grammy-winning Roomful of Teeth, of which she is a member. Caroline’s film scores include Erica Fae’s To Keep the Light and Josephine Decker’s Madeline’s Madeline as well as the upcoming short 8th Year of the Emergency by Maureen Towey. She has produced for Kanye West (The Life of Pablo; Ye) and Nas (NASIR), and has contributed to records by The National, and by Arcade Fire’s Richard Reed Parry.
Described as “clearly structured, colorful and unflaggingly compelling work” (Philadelphia Inquirer) and “a precise appeal to an inner ear beyond the mind” (Gramophone Magazine), the music of Michael Fiday is known for its expressive directness, inventive sound world, gradually unfolding dramatic narratives, and distinctive rhythmic energy. His work has been commissioned and performed internationally by a broad range of renowned performers spanning the worlds of classical and contemporary music, including Atlanta Symphony, Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, American Composers Orchestra, Oakland East Bay Symphony, Orquestra Sinfonica de Guanajuato, Percussion Ensemble of The Hague, Mantra Percussion, Percussion Group Cincinnati, Duo Damiana (flutist Molly Barth, guitarist Dieter Hennings), pianists Marc-Andre Hamelin and James Tocco, violinists Carla Kihlstedt and Graeme Jennings, and electric guitarists Seth Josel, Derek Johnson and Taylor Levine.
