Performing Sarah Hennies’ work, "Spectral Malsconcities" and a world premier by Yaz Lancaster, Bearthoven [ \'bâr-toh-vən\ ] is a piano trio creating a new repertoire for a familiar instrumentation by commissioning works from leading young composers. Karl Larson (piano), Pat Swoboda (bass), and Matt Evans (percussion) have combined their individual voices and diverse musical backgrounds, coming together to create a versatile trio focused on frequent and innovative commissioning of up-and-coming composers. Bearthoven is rapidly building a diverse repertoire by challenging composers to apply their own voice to an instrumentation that, while common amongst jazz and pop idioms, is currently foreign in the contemporary classical world.
Karl Larson is a Brooklyn-based pianist and specialist in the music of our time. A devoted supporter of contemporary composers and their craft, Larson has built a career grounded in commissioning and long-term collaborations. He frequently performs in a variety of chamber music settings, most notably with his trio, Bearthoven, a piano / bass / percussion ensemble focussed on cultivating a diverse new repertoire for their instrumentation. As a soloist, Larson is known for championing the works of his peers and the recent canon alike, often gravitating towards long-form, reflective works of the 20th and 21st centuries. Through his work with Bearthoven, collaborations with a wide variety of chamber musicians, and his solo projects, Larson has helped to generate a large body of new work, resulting in world premiere performances of pieces by notable composers including David Lang, Sarah Hennies, Chris Cerrone, and Michael Gordon.
Patrick Swoboda is a Brooklyn-based bass player active across musical worlds. Dedicated to performing the works of living composers, Pat has worked closely with Michael Gordon, Du Yun, David Lang, Sarah Hennies, and Scott Wollschleger. Recent highlights include performing and recording David Lang’s powerful and introspective opera The Loser with Bang on a Can and LA Opera, premiering and touring Michael Gordon’s Mixed Tulips with Bearthoven, and appearing on NPR Music’s Tiny Desk concert series with LADAMA. Pat is a member of chamber orchestras Contemporaneous and Hotel Elefant, and has performed with the International Contemporary Ensemble, Ensemble Signal, and many other vital groups. Also an accomplished orchestral musician, Pat has performed with the American Symphony Orchestra, American Composers Orchestra, Albany Symphony Orchestra, Riverside Symphony, and New York Pops Orchestra. On Broadway, Pat has performed in the pits for Les Miserable, Paramour, The Nance, and A Christmas Story. Pat is a two time Bang on a Can Summer Institute fellow as well as a two time OneBeat fellow.
Matt Evans is a Brooklyn based drummer and producer creating electro-acoustic music that considers the interconnectedness of landscapes, both real and imagined. His compositions draw inspiration from millennial esoterica, natural phenomena, and science fiction, resulting in hypnotic soundscapes and surreal sonic worlds. Combining a meticulous drum-driven approach with imaginatively processed keyboards and samples, Matt crafts a rhythmic, post-ambient music that’s been described as "hyperreal and phantasmal" (Wire Magazine), and "a form of chill complexity" (New York Times). Matt has presented solo projects at the Guggenheim, The Kitchen, Roulette, and 2220 Art+Archives and has released records with Moon Glyph, Whatever’s Clever, Dinzu Artefacts, NNA Tapes, Deathbomb Arc, New Amsterdam, Cantaloupe, Perfect Wave, and Thrill Jockey.
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Elephant Ornament is a performance project led by Graham Rosen, a music producer and recording engineer based in Cleveland, OH. His electro-acoustic pieces are built with sampled audio and rotating phases. Primarily composed in Ableton Live, Elephant Ornament experiments with sound collage, beats, and meters.
$15 suggested donation, no one will be turned away for lack of funds