Details:
On Sunday, June 11th, proudly hosted contemporary chamber quintet TAK Ensemble and jazz improviser Gerard Cox.
About the artists:
Regarded as “one of the most prominent ensembles in the United States practicing truly experimental music” (I Care If You Listen), TAK delivers energetic performances “that combine crystalline clarity with the disorienting turbulence of a sonic vortex” (The WIRE), and “impresses with the organicity of their sound, their dynamism and virtuosity” (New Sounds, WQXR).
Founded on the principles of curiosity, change, and caring communication, TAK is dedicated to the commissioning of new works and direct collaboration with composers and other artists and they have premiered hundreds of works to date. TAK is Laura Cocks, flute; Madison Greenstone, clarinet; Charlotte Mundy, voice; Marina Kifferstein, violin; Ellery Trafford, percussion.
2022-2023 marks TAK’s 10th anniversary season, celebrating a decade of cultivating creative programming at the highest level. Upcoming projects include a new commission from Tyshawn Sorey to be premiered at Lincoln Center in fall 2022, commissions from Michelle Lou and DM R with Joy Guidry to be premiered at TAK’s 10th anniversary celebration in May 2023, and new works from Eric Wubbels, Seth Cluett, Natacha Diels, Bryan Jacobs, Elaine Mitchener, Ann Cleare, Weston Olencki, and Jessie Cox. This season will also see the release of TAK’s first collaboratively composed work on dinzu artefacts.
Gerard Cox is a pianist and drummer from Columbus with a keen interest in musical surrealism and the percussive nature of the piano. Born to a piano teacher Mom and a jazz saxophone hobbyist father, clear “rockstar” inclinations were shown at age 8 in an appearance as J.S. Bach at an OMTA music festival and at 10 as Billy Idol in a look-a-like contest for the national pop/rock magazine Star Hits. Cox developed a love for jazz in high school on through college, studying both jazz piano and B3 organ. While initially taken with the straight-ahead jazz of Art Blakey and Clifford Brown, he followed John Coltrane’s discography into his later period music and this proved to be the gateway for a fascination with free jazz and all kinds of other outsider/experimental music.