Past DIGITAL PRESENTATION
Baryshnikov Arts Center, Five Boroughs Music Festival, Tippet Rise Art Center + Bay Chamber Concerts Co-Present

Coming Together (Digital World Premiere)

Quodlibet Ensemble with Reginald Mobley, countertenor

Available until November 3, 2020

This music collaboration created for film features Quodlibet Ensemble, a collective of virtuoso string players, and countertenor Reginald Mobley, who is as passionate about baroque and gospel music as he is social and political justice. In this film, created by violinist and Quodlibet’s founder Katie Hyun in collaboration with filmmaker and human rights activist Pastor Isaac Scott, the musicians perform Frederic Rzewski's Coming Together for narrator and ensemble, with text by Samuel Melville—one of the leaders of the revolt against police brutality at Attica Prison in 1971. Weaving together footage of the musicians performing solo at remote locations, this powerful work conveys a collective journey of moving from struggle to hope amidst challenging times. The film also includes the musicians performing songs and spirituals by early 20th century composer Florence Price, and J.S. Bach’s timeless Cantata No. 54, Widerstehe doch der Sünde (Just Resist Sin), recorded September 2020 at BAC’s John Cage & Merce Cunningham Studio.

The artists are partnering with VOTESart, a non-partisan organization founded by two members of Quodlibet that combines musical performances with raising awareness about voters’ rights and voter registration.

Program:

Frederic Rzewski Coming Together

Reginald Mobley, narrator
Quodlibet Ensemble (Rebecca Anderson, violin; Alex Fortes, violin; Katie Hyun, violin; George Meyer, violin; Ben Russell, violin; Beth Wenstrom, violin; Ayane Kozasa, viola; Kyle Miller, viola; Hannah Collins, cello; Paul Wiancko, cello; Joe Magar, electric bass)
Filmed individually by each performer.
Edited and produced by Paul Wiancko, Katie Hyun and Pastor Isaac Scott

Florence Price Four Songs
Bewilderment (Langston Hughes, arr. Alex Fortes)
My Soul’s Been Anchored In De Lord (spiritual, arr. George Meyer)
Rise Mourner (spiritual, arr. George Meyer)
I’m Going To Lay Down My Heavy Load (spiritual, arr. Alex Fortes)

J.S. Bach Cantata BWV 54

Reginald Mobley, countertenor
Quodlibet Ensemble (Alex Fortes, violin; Katie Hyun, violin; George Meyer, violin; Dorothy Kim, viola; George Meyer, viola; Michael Unterman, cello; Max Zeugner, bass; Jeffrey Grossman, organ)
Filmed at Baryshnikov Arts Center's John Cage & Merce Cunningham Studio on 9/4/20.
Edited and produced by Katie Hyun and Pastor Isaac Scott

Credits
Katie Hyun, program and video concept
Pastor Isaac Scott, producer/director, Quarterly Films, Isaac’s Quarterly
Pastor Kairi Chapman, producer/director, Quarterly Films, Isaac’s Quarterly
Noriko Okabe, audio engineer
Joe Levasseur, lighting designer


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Quodlibet Ensemble bridges Bach and Black Lives Matter

‘Coming Together’ concert raising awareness for voters rights available to watch now


Quodlibet Ensemble
Artist Bio

Quodlibet Ensemble

Quodlibet (/ˈkwɒdlɪbɛt/; Latin for "whatever you wish" from quod, "what" and libet, "pleases") 

Quodlibet is a collective of creators and string players with the aim to produce creative musical experiences that engage, entertain, and invite people to invest in their communities.  To reflect this, Quodlibet has partnered with VOTESart and committed to raising awareness on voters’ rights and registration.

The players hold degrees from the Curtis Institute of Music, the Juilliard School, Yale University, New England Conservatory, the Royal Conservatory of Music, the Cleveland Institute, and Harvard College among others. Currently they pursue careers as performing artists in both solo and prominent chamber ensembles that cover a wide range of musical styles, including ACRONYM, New Morse Code, Aizuri Quartet, Diderot String Quartet, Founders, A Far Cry,  American Contemporary Ensemble, NOVUS Trinity and Trinity Baroque Orchestra.  In addition to their performing careers, the members also hold teaching positions at the University of Kansas School of Music, visiting artist at the Crane School of Music in SUNY, and Musicambia, an organization dedicated to bringing music education into correctional facilities.  Quodlibet Ensemble has performed at the Baryshnikov Arts Center, Rockefeller University, the Essex Winter Series, Yale University British Arts Center and Dwight Chapel, the Maxwell Shepherd Arts Fund in Collinsville, CT,  and Spring Glen Church in Hamden, CT. Their debut CD, Quodlibet Ensemble: Concerti Grossi, in which all players adapted gut strings, was released in the fall of 2014.

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Reginald Mobley
Artist Bio

Reginald Mobley

Reginald Mobley is one of the most sought after countertenors on both sides of the Atlantic, noted for his “crystalline diction and pure, evenly produced tone” (Miami Herald). Highlights include extensive tours around Europe singing a repertoire encompassing Bach’s St. Matthew and St. John Passions with the Monteverdi Choir and English Baroque Soloists led by Sir John Eliot Gardiner.

He has also recently been invited to perform with the Royal Scottish National Orchestra, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Academy of Ancient Music, Budapest Festival Orchestra, Internationale BackAkademie Stuttgart, Balthasar-Neuman Choir, Wiener Akademy, Freiburger Barockorchester and Orkiestra Historyczna in Poland. The remainder of the 2019/20 season would have seen Reginald embark on his first Australian tour to perform with Bach Akademie Australia and Canberra International Music Festival, now postponed to 2022. A recording of Spirituals with piano will be released on the French label, ALPHA CLASSICS. In the United States, Mobley has recently been engaged in recorded concerts with the Washington Bach Consort, Quodlibet Ensemble for the Five Boroughs Music Festival in New York, Pacific MusicWorks in Seattle, Cantata Collective in Berkeley, Bach Collegium San Diego and Agave Baroque. Mobley has been appointed as the first Programming Consultant with the Haendel and Haydn Society in Boston, MA.

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Katie Hyun
Artist Bio

Katie Hyun

A winner of Astral Artists’ 2016 National Auditions, violinist Katie Hyun has been described as “a virtuoso by anyone's measure”( The Berkshire Review ). She has appeared in numerous festivals, including most recently the American Bach Soloists, Bravo! Vail, Chamber Music Northwest, Tippet Rise Arts Center, the Outer Banks Chamber Music Series, and Mostly Mozart.

Hyun is the founder and director of Quodlibet Ensemble, a collective of string players dedicated to engaging and inviting audiences to invest in their communities. To further that cause, Quodlibet has partnered with VOTESart to raise awareness about voters’ rights and voter registration. Hyun also serves on the faculty of Musicambia, an organization that brings music education to correctional facilities. Hyun recently made her debut recital with Astral Artists in Philadelphia, where she featured a program that showcased both the Baroque and modern violins. On modern violin, Hyun serves as concertmaster for NOVUS Trinity Wall Street and regularly performs both solo and chamber music in the New York and Philadelphia area. On Baroque violin, she appears frequently with the Trinity Baroque Orchestra and Seraphic Fire. She has made solo appearances with NOVUS Trinity Wall Street, the Houston Symphony, the Dallas Chamber Orchestra, the Philadelphia Orchestra, and the Columbia Festival Orchestra, among others.

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Paul Wiancko
Artist Bio

Paul Wiancko

Paul Wiancko has led an exceptionally multifaceted musical life as a composer and cellist. As a performer, he has collaborated with Midori, Yo-Yo Ma, Richard Goode, Mitsuko Uchida, Nico Muhly, and members of the Guarneri, Takács, JACK, Parker, Orion, and Juilliard quartets.

Chosen as one of Kronos Quartet’s “50 for the Future,” his own music has been described as “dazzling”, “compelling” ( Star Tribune ) and “vital pieces that avoid the predictable” (Allan Kozinn). His 25-minute quartet LIFT is featured on the Aizuri Quartet’s Grammy-nominated album Blueprinting , one of NPR’s Top 10 Classical Albums of 2018. Learn more at www.paulwiancko.com.

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Pastor Isaac Scott
Artist Bio

Pastor Isaac Scott

Pastor Isaac Scott is an Award Winning, Social Impact Multimedia Artist and Human Rights Activist. He is a Fellow at the Center for Institutional and Social Change at Columbia Law School and Founder & Lead-Artist for The Confined Arts at the Center for Justice at Columbia University, where he spearheads the promotion of justice reform through the transformative power of the arts.

His research at Columbia investigates social and institutional methods of dehumanization in the carceral system to decrease punitive triggers in the US criminal justice system. Pastor Scott’s passion for equal human rights runs deep, and comes as a result of being directly affected by the criminal justice system and its disenfranchising nature. Since returning to society in 2013, he's combined fine art, graphic design, and film & media to counter the existing negative narratives of people in prison and of those formerly incarcerated and directly impacted. Through The Confined Arts, Pastor Scott has organized art exhibitions, poetry performances, and storytelling projects to interrogate and bring about awareness around several important issues, such as juvenile justice, solitary confinement, prison conditions, the rising rate of women in prison and the media’s role in shaping public perception. As a result of the impactful work of The Confined Arts, Pastor Scott received the 2018, 2019, and 2020 Change Agent Award from the School of General Studies at Columbia University, where he currently studies Visual Arts and Human Rights as a Justice in Education Scholar Scholar. Today, Pastor Scott holds the esteemed title of Associate Pastor at God’s Touch Healing Ministry, located in East Harlem, NY, where he serves on Manhattan Community Board 11 on the nomination of City Council Bill Perkins. Pastor Isaac understands the healing power of the arts; it holds the power to transform both the artist and the audience. He also believes that art, in every form, can and does, effectively change perceptions and conquers stigma. Through his own lived experience, Pastor Scott personally understands the need for realistic representations of individuals, like himself, convicted of a crime in the past. Pastor Scott has dedicated his life to using his creativity, in every way possible, to continue educating and promoting change.

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Kairi Chapman
Artist Bio

Kairi Chapman

Kairi Chapman, a Harlem, New York native, has been a lifelong artist. Chapman's disciplines are in the fine arts tradition with a focus on figurative illustrations using primarily acrylic paint on canvas. He has explored many disciplines in the arts, from watercolors to clay sculptures, body painting, even limited theater performances.

Over the past three years, Chapman has explored film production as his latest medium – delving into a new frontier of storytelling.

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Noriko Okabe
Artist Bio

Noriko Okabe

Noriko Okabe is a trained classical musician turned recording engineer, aiming to capture the magic of music making. She works with WQXR, and as the concert recording engineer for Marlboro Music Festival in Vermont, and Music From Angel Fire in New Mexico, as well as various clients in NYC and Philadelphia.

She also freelances in audio related projects, including The Moth, Simon & Schuster Audio, Audible, and Pineapple Street Media.

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Joe Levasseur
Artist Bio

Joe Levasseur

Lighting designer Joe Levasseur has collaborated with many dance and performance artists, including: Pavel Zuštiak, Jennifer Monson, John Jasperse, Sarah Michelson, Neil Greenberg, Beth Gill, Donna Uchizono, and Brian Brooks.

His lighting design work has been seen throughout the United States, Europe, and South America. He has received two ‘Bessie’ Awards and a Knight of Illumination Award for his work on Meredith Monk’s Cellular Songs. Learn more at www.joelevasseur.com.

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