Contemporary Ensemble

UB's Contemporary Ensemble is devoted to the preparation and performance of the music of our time.  In addition to developing and expanding the experience of its performers, the ensemble is at the service of the History, Composition and Theory Departments. Students are strongly encouraged to make proposals for projects to be considered for future presentations of the Ensemble. For instance, History and Music Theory students can take advantage of the ensemble by using it to present an analysis of a work, allowing them to illustrate their example with live music. Composition students may write works to be read by the group, and eventually performed in concerts. Students can be present at readings at the beginning of the semester and listen to their piece while still in the creative process, enhancing the possibilities for making changes before the performance takes place at the end of the semester. Past concerts have featured the work of Cage, Carter, Feldman, Globokar, Rzewski and Stockhausen, among others. In our most recent program, we performed the beautiful Folk Songs by Luciano Berio, together with the thrilling world premiere of Syntaxis-Syntexis by Vittorio Zago and For Toru, by Lukas Foss.

The Contemporary Ensemble is under the leadership of pianist James Avery.

Registration

The instrumentation of the ensemble is carefully chosen after consultation with the performance faculty.
Auditions are held at the beginning of each semester.  Contact James Avery for additional information.

Undergraduates:  MUS 447, 2.0 credits
Graduate Students:  MUS 547, 2.0 credits

Rehearsal Schedule is determined each semester after the ensemble is chosen.