Ben Richter

Last updated
Ben Richter
Born1986
OriginUnited States
Genres
Occupation(s)composer, performer
Instrument accordion
Labels New World Records, Infrequent Seams, Indexical
Website https://www.benrichtermusic.com

Ben Richter (born 1986) is an American composer, accordionist, and director of Ghost Ensemble, an experimental chamber ensemble based in New York. [1]

Contents

Biography

Ben Richter was born in the United States in 1986. Specializing in microtonal accordion performance, he composes chamber music that explores subtle gestures, the interactions of gradual processes, modes of awareness, and Deep Listening. [2] [3] [4] [5] He has collaborated with Pauline Oliveros, Phill Niblock, Carmina Escobar, SEM Ensemble, Nieuw Ensemble, and The Dresden Dolls, among others. [6] He teaches at CalArts [7] and holds an M.M. in music from the Royal Conservatory of The Hague (2012) and a B.A. from Bard College (2008), where he studied with Kyle Gann, Joan Tower, and George Tsontakis and privately with Pauline Oliveros. In 2012, he founded Ghost Ensemble, which frequently performs his music and that of other living composers. [8]

Selected compositions

Richter's works include:

Discography

as Ben Richter

with Ghost Ensemble

with The Dresden Dolls

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cecil Taylor</span> American composer and poet (1929–2018)

Cecil Percival Taylor was an American pianist and poet.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pauline Oliveros</span> American composer and musician

Pauline Oliveros was an American composer, accordionist and a central figure in the development of post-war experimental and electronic music.

Joan Linda La Barbara is an American vocalist and composer known for her explorations of non-conventional or "extended" vocal techniques. Considered to be a vocal virtuoso in the field of contemporary music, she is credited with advancing a new vocabulary of vocal sounds including trills, whispers, cries, sighs, inhaled tones, and multiphonics.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Zeena Parkins</span> American musician

Zeena Parkins is an American composer and multi-instrumentalist active in experimental, free improvised, contemporary classical, and avant-jazz music; she is known for having "reinvented the harp". Parkins performs on standard harps, several custom electric harps, piano, and accordion. She is a 2019 Guggenheim Fellow and professor in the Music Department at Mills College.

Allen Strange was an American composer. He authored two books, Electronic Music: Systems, Techniques, and Controls and Programming and Meta-Programming the Electro-Organism. He co-wrote The Contemporary Violin: Extended Performance Techniques with his wife, Patricia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">International Contemporary Ensemble</span> Musical artist

The International Contemporary Ensemble (ICE) is a contemporary classical music ensemble, based in New York City and Chicago. ICE performs a diverse and extensive array of chamber, electro-acoustic, improvisatory, and multimedia works.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brenda Hutchinson</span> American classical composer

Brenda Hutchinson is an American composer and sound artist who has developed a body of work based on a perspective about interacting with the public and non-artists through personal, reciprocal engagement with listening and sounding. Hutchinson encourages her participants to experiment with sound, share stories, and make music. She often bases her electroacoustic compositions on recordings of these individual collaborative experiences, creating "sonic portraits" or "aural pictures" of people and situations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Amos Elkana</span> Israeli composer and improviser

Amos Elkana is an Israeli composer and improviser.

The Janáček Philharmonic Orchestra is a Czech orchestra based in Ostrava, Czech Republic. Named after composer Leoš Janáček, the orchestra performs its concerts at the City of Ostrava Cultural Centre.

Claudia Molitor is an English-German composer based in Brighton, East Sussex, England.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ray Aggs</span> Musical artist

Ray Aggs is a musician based in Glasgow. Primarily known for their distinctive guitar work, influenced by both West African highlife and post-punk, they also sing and play the violin.

<i>Sleep</i> (album) 2015 studio album by Max Richter

Sleep is an eight-and-a-half hour concept album based around the neuroscience of sleep by German-British composer Max Richter. It was released on September 4, 2015, accompanied by a one-hour version with variations, From Sleep, later remixed as Sleep Remixes.

Sky Macklay is an American composer of concert music and an oboist. She was winner of the Leo Kaplan Award in 2013 and 2016. Born in Waseca, Minnesota, she completed a Doctor of Musical Arts degree in composition from Columbia University in the City of New York in 2018. She also holds degrees from The University of Memphis (MM) and Luther College (BA). She is a founding member of Ghost Ensemble. Previously, she served as Assistant Professor of Composition at Valparaiso University. and serves as Lecturer of Composition at the Peabody Institute.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Taylan Susam</span> Musical artist

Taylan Susam is a Turkish-Dutch composer of experimental music. He is a member of the Wandelweiser group, which has been described by The New Yorker as "an informal network of twenty or so experimental-minded composers who share an interest in slow music, quiet music, spare music, fragile music."

<i>All Is Always Now – Live at The Stone</i> 2019 live album by Fred Frith

All Is Always Now – Live at The Stone is a 2019 three-CD box set of live improvised music performed by English guitarist Fred Frith with other musicians, including Theresa Wong, Ikue Mori, Pauline Oliveros and Laurie Anderson. It was recorded between 2007 and 2016 at The Stone in New York City, and was released in March 2019 by Intakt Records in Switzerland.

James Ilgenfritz is an American composer, bassist, and multi-instrumentalist. He is also a jazz sideman.

Ghost Ensemble is a New York-based experimental new music ensemble composed of flute, oboe, accordion, percussion, harp, viola, cello, two contrabasses, and conductor. Frequently commissioning new repertoire that merges classically notated music and improvisation with experimental sound practices, the ensemble follows an aesthetic that has been described as "music composed for a deep listening that fixes you in the present" that "uses sound to seek an altered consciousness, from a meditative awareness to a look, perhaps, into a different dimension". The ensemble is also closely connected to the music of Pauline Oliveros, who introduced several members of the ensemble before its inception. The group frequently performs the work of Oliveros and advocates for her philosophy of Deep Listening. Ghost Ensemble's 2018 debut LP features work by Oliveros, ensemble director Ben Richter, and founding oboist Sky Macklay; 2021 release Mountain Air features the Oliveros work of the same name and works by Marguerite Brown and Teodora Stepancic. Other composers commissioned by the ensemble include Catherine Lamb, Miya Masaoka, ensemble bassist James Ilgenfritz, Liisa Hirsch, Elizabeth Adams, Kristina Wolfe, Andrew C. Smith, and Kyle Gann. Performance collaborators have included Carmina Escobar and David Rothenberg. Ghost Ensemble performs nationally at venues such as REDCAT in Los Angeles and Pioneer Works in New York.

Norman Eugene Lowrey is a composer, mask-maker, performance/sound/video artist, and music educator. He studied composition privately with Samuel Jones in 1964–65, earned a Bachelor of Music from Texas Christian University in 1967, and completed his formal music education at the Eastman School of Music in Rochester New York. He received an M.M. in theory (1970), and a PhD in composition in 1974. Lowrey is also well known as an associate of the American composer Pauline Oliveros.

Idin Samimi Mofakham is an Iranian composer, born in 1982 to Hengameh Mofid and Kambiz Samimi Mofakham. He is married to Polish composer, Martyna Kosecka.

William “Bill” Dougherty is an American composer. He is the recipient of the 2021 Luciano Berio Rome Prize in Music Composition from the American Academy in Rome, the Charles Ives Scholarship from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, a Marshall Scholarship from the Marshall Aid Commemoration Commission, and residencies at the Civitella Ranieri Foundation, Cité Internationale des Arts, the Copland House, and the Internationalen Gesellschaft für Neue Musik (IGNM) Valais Residency at Schloss Leuk.

References

  1. 1 2 "Tides of the Wolf" http://imaginedtheatres.com/ben-richter/ Imagined Theatres. August 2019. Web. 18 Jan. 2020.
  2. ↑ Smoliar, Stephen. 2017. "The Joyous Cacophony of the Ives Band" http://therehearsalstudio.blogspot.com/2017/07/the-joyous-cacophony-of-ives-band.html The Rehearsal Studio. July 7, 2017. Web. 18 Jan. 2020.
  3. ↑ Wilhoite, Meg. 2018. "We Who Walk Again: CD Review" https://megsnewmusicblog.wordpress.com/2018/09/06/we-who-walk-again-cd-review Meg's New Music Blog. September 6, 2018. Web. 18 Jan. 2020.
  4. ↑ Olewnick, Brian. 2018. "Ghost Ensemble - We Who Walk Again" https://olewnick.blogspot.com/2018/05/ghost-ensemble-we-who-walk-again.html Just Outside. May 27, 2018. Web. 18 Jan. 2020.
  5. ↑ Grella, George. 2014. "Ghost Ensemble Embodies the Spirit of Rugged Independence" https://newyorkclassicalreview.com/2014/05/ghost-ensemble-embodies-the-spirit-of-rugged-independence/ New York Classical Review. May 18, 2014. Web. 18 Jan. 2020.
  6. ↑ "Ghost Ensemble with Pauline Oliveros" (PDF). Deep Listening Institute. Retrieved January 18, 2020.
  7. ↑ "School of Music: Ben Richter". California Institute of the Arts. Retrieved January 18, 2020.
  8. ↑ Meline, Gabe. 2018. "Ghost Ensemble and the 'Deep Listening' of Pauline Oliveros" https://www.kqed.org/arts/13831791/ghost-ensemble-and-the-deep-listening-of-pauline-oliveros KQED Arts & Culture. May 9, 2018. Web. 18 Jan. 2020.
  9. ↑ "Healing Ghost". Indexical. Retrieved January 18, 2020.
  10. ↑ Gottschalk, Kurt. 14 Oct 2013. "Ostrava 2013" https://nmbx.newmusicusa.org/ostrava-2013/ NewMusicBox. 14 Oct 2013. Web. 18 Jan. 2020.
  11. ↑ Bendova, Aneta and Podracky, Jan. 2 Sep 2013. "Ostravské dny 2013 naposledy" https://operaplus.cz/ostravske-dny-2013-naposledy/ OperaPlus. 2 Sep 2013. Web. 18 Jan. 2020.
  12. 1 2 Avant Music News. 18 May 2017. "AMN Reviews: Ben Richter – Panthalassa: Dream Music of the Once and Future Ocean (2017; Infrequent Seams)" https://avantmusicnews.com/2017/05/18/amn-reviews-ben-richter-panthalassa-dream-music-of-the-once-and-future-ocean-2017-infrequent-seams/ Avant Music News. 18 May 2017. Web. 18 Jan. 2020.
  13. ↑ Gottschalk, Kurt. 31 Jan 2016. "Kurt Gottschalk at Ostrava Days 2015 [REVIEW]" http://www.classicalite.com/articles/31327/20160131/exclusive-student-teaching-kurt-gottschalk-at-ostrava-days-2015-review.htm Classicalite. 31 Jan 2016. Web. 18 Jan. 2020.
  14. ↑ "Wind People". Indexical. Retrieved January 18, 2020.
  15. ↑ Carey, Christian. 24 Jun 2017. "Ghost Ensemble: We Who Walk Again (LP Review)" http://www.sequenza21.com/2018/06/ghost-ensemble-we-who-walk-again-lp-review/ Sequenza21. 24 Jun 2017. Web. 18 Jan. 2020.
  16. ↑ SCV News. 13 Jun 2019. "CalArts Faculty to Perform in Apophenia Wolf Concert" https://scvnews.com/calarts-faculty-to-perform-in-apophenia-wolf-concert/ SCV News. 13 Jun 2019. Web. 18 Jan. 2020.
  17. ↑ "New World Records". New World Records. Retrieved November 2, 2024.
  18. ↑ "Aurogeny". Infrequent Seams. Retrieved November 2, 2024.
  19. ↑ "Panthalassa: Dream Music of the Once and Future Ocean". Infrequent Seams. Retrieved January 18, 2020.
  20. ↑ "Rewild". New World Records. Retrieved November 2, 2024.
  21. ↑ "Mountain Air". Indexicals. Retrieved November 2, 2024.
  22. ↑ "Ghost Ensemble: We Who Walk Again". Indexical. Retrieved January 18, 2020.
  23. ↑ Margasak, Peter. 21 Dec 2018. "The Best Contemporary Classical Albums of 2018" https://daily.bandcamp.com/best-of-2018/the-best-contemporary-classical-albums-of-2018 Bandcamp Daily. 21 Dec 2018. Web. 18 Jan. 2020.
  24. ↑ "Lightbulb Ensemble & Ghost Ensemble Live at Pioneer Works". Indexical. Retrieved January 18, 2020.
  25. ↑ "IMDB - The Dresden Dolls: In Paradise". IMDB. Retrieved January 18, 2020.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.