BlackBox Ensemble
After-hours at PS21: concert by the BlackBox Ensemble
BlackBox presents a wide-ranging sonic portrait of Julius Eastman curated by Eastman scholar Isaac Jean-Francois. Featuring works by Hildegard von Bingen, Peter Maxwell Davies, and Julius Eastman.
This concert takes place after the performance of Femenine by Kyle Marshall Choreography, with live music by the BlackBox Ensemble. All Femenine ticket holders receive free admission to this concert. Purchase Femenine tickets here.
PERFORMERS
Annie Nikunen, Flute
Tyler Neidermayer, Clarinet – Bass Clarinet – electronics
Leonard Bopp, Trumpet
Lauren Conroy, Violin
Dudley Raine IV, Viola
Jordan Bartow, Cello
Samuel Zagnit, Bass
Yifei Xu, Piano
J Clancy, Percussion
Luke Paulino, Countertenor
The BlackBox Ensemble is a collective of contemporary music performers based in New York City dedicated to exploring the experimental boundaries of the music of our time through projects that are innovative, impactful, and resonant with our contemporary moment. Our wide-ranging, multidisciplinary projects have brought us from major concert halls to museum galleries, the mountainous landscape of the Berkshires, the woods of Michigan, the Hudson River waterfront, and an underground karaoke bar in midtown Manhattan. Founded in 2018, our 2024-2025 season includes concerts at home in New York and around the country, including the season-opening performance of the Southern Exposure Series at the University of South Carolina, performances at the Timucua Arts Foundation, University of North Carolina – Pembroke and the Fayetteville Technical Community College Fine Arts Series, and residencies at the University of Chicago, University of Florida, and University of Central Florida. At home in New York, the ensemble will present a program of NYC premieres in November in our new home space at the Church of St. Luke and St. Matthew, and will conclude the season with a performance on Bang on a Can’s LongPlay Festival in downtown Brooklyn in May 2024, presenting a sonic portrait of the musical influences of Julius Eastman co-curated with Eastman scholar Isaac Jean-Francois.
Our 2023-2024 season included major performances in New York City and beyond. Highlights included The Sound of Space Between Us, a site-specific, outdoor music and dance performance at the Clark Art Institute in Williamstown, Massachusetts, and the live premiere of Borrowed Landscape, a radio play by German playwright duo tauchgold with music by Dai Fujikura, at the Noguchi Museum and Smithsonian Museum of Asian Art. In addition, we celebrated our 5-year anniversary with our inaugural BlackBox Festival, which featured multiple world and NYC premieres by frequent composer collaborators and included our debut at NYC’s historic Roulette Intermedium. Finally, our season included residencies at University of Florida, University of Michigan, NYU, and the Kaufman Music Center’s Special Music School.
Past seasons have included world premieres by Paul Novak, Annie Nikunen, Erich Barganier, Cole Reyes, and composer-vocalist Tanner Porter. The ensemble was a 2022 recipient of Chamber Music America’s Ensemble Forward grant for emerging ensembles, through which they received coaching and mentorship from Alan Pierson, Conductor and Co-Artistic Director of Alarm Will Sound. They have since been supported by the New York State Council on the Arts, Brooklyn Arts Council, Chamber Music America, Amphion Foundation, and Aaron Copland Fund.
Amphion Foundation, Dwight and Ursula Mamlok-Stiftung
