Yarn/Wire/Currents is an ongoing collaboration with piano and percussion ensemble Yarn/Wire, inaugurated in 2013 as an outgrowth of their ISSUE Project Room residency. Focused on the creation of new works specifically for their unique instrumental combination, the series serves as an incubator for experimentation; a diverse range of American and International composers explore intersections of composition, technology, installation, live performance, music theater, and more.
Yarn/Wire is a New York-based percussion and piano quartet (Ian Antonio and Russell Greenberg, percussion / Laura Barger and Ning Yu, pianos). Noted for their “spellbinding virtuosity” and “restlessly curious” programming (TimeOut NY), the ensemble is admired for the energy and precision it brings to performances of today’s most adventurous music. Founded in 2005, Yarn/Wire is dedicated to expanding the repertoire written for its instrumentation, through commissions and collaborative initiatives that aim to build a new and lasting body of work. Influenced by its members’ experiences with classical music, avant-garde theatre, and rock music, the ensemble champions a varied and probing repertoire.
Yarn/Wire has commissioned many American and International composers including Raphaël Cendo, Peter Evans Alex Mincek, Thomas Meadowcroft, Misato Mochizuki, Tristan Murail, Sam Pluta, Kate Soper, and Øyvind Torvund. The group has given the United States premieres of works by Enno Poppe, Stefano Gervasoni, and website Georg Friedrich Haas, among others. As well, the ensemble enjoys collaborations with genre-bending artists such as Tristan Perich, David Bithell, Sufjan Stevens, and Pete Swanson. Yarn/Wire appears internationally at prominent festivals and venues including the Lincoln Center Festival, BAM, New York’s Miller Theatre, River-to-River Festival, La MaMa Theatre, Festival of New American Music, London’s Barbican, the Edinburgh International Festival, Shanghai Symphony Orchestra Hall, and Hong Kong New Music Ensemble.
