Beisel/Harris Duo and Ben Zucker
With local collaborators
Sunday, April 30
Convivium 33 Gallery, 1433 E 33rd St, Cleveland
Doors at 7:30, music at 8:00
$15 suggested donation, no one will be turned away for lack of funds
Emily Rach Beisel is a Chicago-based improvisor, composer, educator, curator and woodwind specialist. Beisel is known for visceral performances combining extended instrumental techniques with heavy amplification and timbral effects. Their solo work frequently explores the intersection between avant-garde art music and extreme metal genres such as mathcore, doom, and death metal. As a curator, Beisel seeks to increase the visibility and involvement of women and nonbinary artists in the creative music community. They founded the Pleiades Series at Elastic Arts, presenting monthly performances along with a community-based free improvisation jam for femme and nonbinary performers.
Rach Beisel is a member of the contemporary ensemble Fonema Consort, touring most recently in Brazil, Mexico, Minneapolis and New York and premiering works of living composers including James Dillon, Richard Barrett and Julio Estrada. Rach Beisel also works as a woodwind doubler at Chicago-land theaters including the Marriott Theater, Paramount Theater and multiple productions with Chicago's feminist Firebrand Theater Company. As an educator, Rach Beisel maintains a private studio in addition to teaching positions at Harold Washington College and Oak Park School of Music.
Rach Beisel holds a Master of Music degree from Northwestern University and is a member of the American Federation of Musicians Local 10-208.
www.emilybeisel.com
Bill is a Chicago-based drummer and improviser working at the fringes of improvisation, noise, rock, folk, and bluegrass. His work has been presented at places ranging from centers for improvised and creative music such as Elastic Arts, Constellation, and ESS; to vital rock and indie clubs such as The Empty Bottle, The Hideout, Evanston Space, Beat Kitchen, and Spot Tavern; to concert halls and centers for the arts such as Lincoln Hall, Old Town School of Folk Music, Navy Pier, and The Chicago Museum Of Contemporary Art.
Some of his primary groups are Je'raf; KAH, an improvising trio with Jeff Kimmel and Ishmael Ali; Hearsay, with Allen Moore and Ishmael Ali; Joybird, with Jess McIntosh and Aaron Smith; and Errata, with Ishmael Ali and Eli Namay. Some of his most frequent collaborators include Ishmael Ali, Jake Wark, Carol Genetti, Emily Beisel, Allen Moore, Timothee Quost, Dave Rempis, Jess McIntosh, Jim Baker, PT Bell, Gerrit Hatcher, Eli Namay, Peter Maunu, Matt Piet, Brianna Tong, Wills McKenna, David Fletcher, Aaron Smith, Jeff Kimmel, Molly Jones, and Keefe Jackson.
In 2015 he started Amalgam, a 100% artist-run collective and label dedicated to showcasing works of improvised and experimental music in Chicago and elsewhere, with a bi-monthly series at Cafe Mustache in Chicago. Since 2015, they've released 40 releases. Bill is also an audio engineer working in both studio and live situations, and operates an independent studio in Chicago with engineering, mixing, mastering, and production credits on labels such as Amalgam, Astral Spirits, No Index, 577 Records and Ears&Eyes. In 2020 he started and co-operates a recording studio called Marmalade with Ishmael Ali, PT Bell, and Louis Clark.
www.billyharris.net
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Ben Zucker practices acts of conceptual juxtaposition and experiential speculation, as an intentionally wide-ranging composer, audiovisual artist, and multi-instrumentalist. He has contributed to experimental music scenes of the Bay Area, New England, London, Chicago, and beyond, working with musicians including Anthony Braxton, Gareth Davis, Myra Melford, Karen Borca, The Crossing, The Vocal Constructivists, Rinde Eckert, and the San Francisco Choral Artists, in addition to frequent performances as an ensemble contributor, and bandleader of the experimental jazz quartet Fifth Season, and creative music collective Mad Myth Science. Their composed works have received awards and performances by ensembles including the Mivos Quartet, the Los Angeles Percussion Quartet, Khorikos, Ensemble Dal Niente, and the Chicago Composers Orchestra, as well as being performed at DOCNYC, the Darmstadt Fereinkurse, Art Omi, Trinity College Dublin, Nordic Percussion Festival, Ostrava New Music Days, Ear Taxi Festival, and the Banff Centre. He has been acclaimed as a "master of improvisation" (IMPOSE Magazine) and “more than a little bit remarkable” (Free Jazz Blog) for his solo albums combining brass, percussion, voice, and electronics, released on labels including Whitelabelrecs, Dinzu Artefacts, ears&eyes records, Shimmering Moods Records, Amalgam, Verz Imprint, and I Low You. They currently live in Chicago, working as doctoral student at Northwestern University, student labor organizer, Vice President of New Music Chicago, and as varied and caffeinated a freelance life as possible.
https://www.benzuckersounds.com/about