Breath/Carries/Ritual
by
Yiheng Yvonne Wu, Jennifer Torrence, Ayako Kato
Conceived by Yiheng Yvonne Wu and co-devised by all three performers, Breath/Carries/Ritual is a transdisciplinary exploration of “things we carry.” Grounded in the body and the breathing cycles of the performers, movement and sound become one another. Stories emerge of burdens, sundries, and things that push us forth.
For Three Sleepless Nights
by
Mabel Kwan, piano; Jason Roebke, bass; Ayako Kato, dance
JAM (Jason, Ayako, Mabel) trio
For Three Sleepless Nights is a trio by pianist Mabel Kwan, double bassist Jason Roebke, and dancer Ayako Kato. Their craft to pursue tranquility with the play of kinetic and sonic space, silence, and stillness generates a void for the flow of wind, gravity, and grace to come in.
Friday, December 15, 2023
Doors: 8:00pm/Show 8:30 pm
Constellation Chicago
3111 N Western Ave, Chicago, IL 60618
Reserve your Ticket Here
Tickets $20 door
$5 - livestream
Sponsors
University of Colorado Colorado Springs, Visual and Performing Arts Department
University of Colorado President’s Fund for the Humanities
Artist Biographies
Yiheng Yvonne Wu is a composer and interdisciplinary artist whose work ranges from conventionally notated pieces to staged experimental works. Interdisciplinary projects have incorporated ASL, poetry, dance, and installation. Wu has received commissions from the La Jolla Symphony, Arraymusic,
Michael Mizrahi, Figmentum, and the Bardin-Niskala Duo, among others. Her music has been performed by the MIVOS string quartet, a.pe.ri.od.ic, Bent Frequency, and Ensemble SurPlus and featured in the WasteLAnd concert series, the University of Tennessee Contemporary Music Festival,
New Music on the Bayou, SoundSCAPE, and Aspen Music Festival. Collaborators have included Jennifer Torrence, Ayako Kato, Bonnie Whiting, Jessica Aszodi, Rachel Beetz, Dustin Donahue, and Todd Moellenberg. She was awarded the 2018 Judith Lang Zaimont Prize by the IAWM and the 5th
Mivos/Kanter String Quartet Composition Prize. She is Assistant Professor of Music at the University of Colorado Colorado Springs. yvonnewu.com
Jennifer Torrence is a percussionist, performer, and artistic researcher based in Oslo, Norway. Originally from the United States, she has performed and taught in a variety of contexts across the entire globe. Much of her work is built upon deep collaborative processes with composers and artists from various experimental practices. In addition to solo and collaborative projects she is a member of the Norwegian ensemble, Pinquins. Her artistic research has been supported by the Norwegian Academy of Music (NMH) and the Stockholm University of the Arts. She holds a PhD in Artistic Research from NMH and the Norwegian Artistic Research Programme. Jennifer is Associate Professor
II of percussion at the Norwegian Academy of Music. For more information
see www.jennifertorrence.com
Pianist Mabel Kwan is fascinated by sounds, contradictions, and our perception of what is familiar or strange. She is a founding member of Ensemble Dal Niente, Restroy, Mega Laverne and Shirley, Fifth Season, and Honestly Same. A native of Austin, Texas, her interest in art and music began at an early age when she started accompanying her father on lieder, arias, and Chinese folk songs. Mabel is a 2017 3Arts Awardee, 2018 High Concept Labs Artist, and 2020 City of Chicago Esteemed Artist. mabelkwan.com
The diversity of Jason Roebke’s musical associations make him one of the most sought after bassists, composers, and educators in Chicago and beyond. He composes music that is extreme in its pairing of silence and explosive gestures. His music is rooted in jazz and takes inspiration from experimental music, noise, and improvisation. Solo performance and a duo with dancer Ayako Kato
are also at the forefront of his creative activities. As a double bassist, his playing is intensely physical, audacious, and sparse. The Chicago Reader described his work as “a carefully orchestrated rummage through a hardware store.” Roebke studied privately with saxophonist and composer Roscoe Mitchell as well as legendary double bass pedagogue Stuart Sankey. In 2009, he was awarded the Fellowship in Music Composition from the Illinois Arts Council. Roebke tours widely in the US and Europe. jasonroebke.info
A 2023 United States Artist Fellow, Ayako Kato has been described as, “moving everyday sculptures, artfully cast in naturalness” (Luzerner Zeitung, Switzerland). Founded in 1998, and grounded in the principles of fūryū, (Japanese word for “wind flow"), the cyclical transformation of human motion in Nature, Ayako Kato/Art Union Humanscape has been in deep collaboration with over 70 musicians. She just returned from Japan tour 2023 at thirteen locations as Suzuribako ensemble with Sebastian Strinning, saxophone, and Frantz Loriot, viola. She is currently preparing for ETHOS IV: Degrowth/Cycle/Rebirth at the Dance Center Columbia College as part of their Chicago Artist Spotlight Festival in April 2024. Ayako creates solos, ensemble pieces, and movement installations for traditional stages and site-specific locations. She has received the 2022 Esteemed Artist Award from the City of Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events; the 2021 Artist Fellowship Award in Choreography by the Illinois Arts Council; a 3Arts Residency Fellowship at Camargo Foundation, France and Montalvo Arts Center in Saratoga, CA; a 3Arts Award in Dance; 2021 and 2022 High Concept Labs Fellowships, Chicago, IL; and Best of Dance by the Chicago Tribune. ayakokatodance.com
