International Contemporary Ensemble gives the world premiere performance of two new works by Lesley Mok and Chris Ryan Williams at Joe’s Pub alongside a solo set by Lesley Mok, and Fay Victor’s Flow to the Next. Commissioned by ICEensemble as part of their 2021-2022 “Call for __” Commissions Program, the new works include Mok’s Stilled leaf-chatter and Williams’s Odu: vibration 1.

Lesley Mok’s stilled leaf-chatter emerges from the improvisational sensibilities of violinist edi kwon, pianist Cory Smythe, and guitarist Dan Lippel. The piece is an attempt to find a poetic resonance in the simultaneity of individual expressions. Her solo set, Hologram: becoming visible to myself, creates an environment in which various sonic artifacts from my life are presented in relationship to one another. Drawing upon Jacques Lacan’s mirror stage theory that describes how infants learn to identify emerging perceptions of selfhood, the artifacts create a hologram of my life and project a self to whom this image is recognizable. Hologram is a refusal to accept feelings of fragmentation and alienation within myself and attempts to create unity between the self that I see and my mirror image.

Chris Ryan Williams’ Odu: vibration 1 brings together vocalist Fay Victor, bassoonist Rebekah Heller, and Lester St. Louis on electronics. The piece creates a sense of intimacy (telling stories by a fire pit, gathering around a grandmother's kitchen) focusing on Rebekah Heller and Fay Victor as a duo. The setting and pre-recorded materials focus on their memories and create an intimate setting at Joe’s Pub, accompanied by a light sculpture created by Chris Ryan Williams and Josephine Wang.

Fay Victor’s FLOW TO THE NEXT (2020) is an interdisciplinary performance work for mixed ensembles - large or small. Players are asked to bring in text for this work and create an individual path through the score using melody, text and improvisation. The player aims to create a seamless fluidity through their chosen path all the while listening and interacting with the wider ensemble to feel the application of their specific approaches. Because the players have agency in the ‘Flow’ and the choice of text materials, performances of FLOW TO THE NEXT will never be the same.

PROGRAM

Fay Victor: FLOW TO THE NEXT (2020)
Lesley Mok: stilled leaf-chatter (2022)
Lesley Mok: Hologram: becoming visible to myself (2022)
Chris Williams: Odu: Vibration 1 (2022)

PERFORMERS

Fay Victor, voice
Rebekah Heller, bassoon
Chris Williams, trumpet
Lesley Mok, drum set
Cory Smythe, piano
Dan Lippel, guitar
edi kwon, violin
Lester St. Louis, cello, electronics, sound design

International Contemporary Ensemble Website
Lesley Mok Website
Chris Ryan Williams Website
Fay Victor's Website
Lesley Mok Bandcamp
Chris Ryan Williams Bandcamp
Fay Victor's Bandcamp

Photos courtesy International Contemporary Ensemble