Grant Recipient
Bent Frequency
Project Support – Chamber Music Showcase
Hailed as “one of the brightest new music ensembles on the scene today” by Gramophone magazine, Atlanta-based Bent Frequency (BF) has established itself as the Southeast’s premiere contemporary music ensemble. Founded in 2003, BF brings the avant-garde to life through adventurous and socially conscious programming, cross-disciplinary collaborations, and community engagement. A champion of historically under-recognized composers, BF’s events aim to be inclusive of their diverse and dynamic community, ushering the contemporary music experience from the strict formality of the concert hall into the fresh air of artistic expression and experimentation.
At the heart of the ensemble is the unparalleled musicianship of BF performers, an eclectic mix of the most adventurous and impassioned players from the greater Atlanta area. BF does not have a fixed instrumentation. Instead, it is a modular group, flexible enough to present large-scale productions to smaller, more intimate chamber performances. BF’s extensive programming ranges from formal concert-hall performances to productions in museums, galleries, movie theaters, bike trails, and even on the Atlanta Streetcar! Unique public art and community inclusive events have included: Sila: the Breath of the World (80 musicians performing in downtown’s Woodruff Park), A wave and waves (an immersive concert featuring 100 percussionists performing in a parking deck), “Music for a Captive Audience” (14 concerts on the Atlanta Streetcar), and “A Bicycle Built for 111” (involving a “band” of 111 community cyclists performing on the Atlanta’s Beltline).
Recent multi-disciplinary collaborations have included the Sonification of the Japanese Garden with Berlin-based video and sound artist Michael Fowler, A Chance Happening celebrating the music of John Cage and Black Mountain College, a John Cage MUSICIRCUS with Atlanta Poet’s group and visual artist Craig Dongoski, multiple performances with CORE Performance Dance Company at the Callanwolde Arts Center and High Museum of Atlanta, and a staging of composer/filmmaker Sarah Hennies’ Contralto, examining the relationship between gender and sound, at the Plaza Theater. BF has also partnered with The Center for Civil and Human Rights, Georgia Innocence Project and UGA Law, Art and Music Schools to produce The Innocents, concerts, conversations, and lectures addressing art’s role in advocacy surrounding wrongful convictions and injustices in the US penal system.
Continually seeking to connect with global audiences, BF has staged large-scale works including Ricardo Zohn-Muldoon’s chamber opera Comala at the International Cervantino Festival and Fiestas de Octubre in Mexico, Juan Trigos’ fully staged chamber opera DeCachetitoRaspado, Jennifer Walshe’s Barbie opera XXX_Live_Nude_Girls!!!, as well as festivals celebrating the Chinese New Year and New Music from Mexico. BF has appeared as ensemble-in-residence at the Tage Aktueller Musik in Nürnberg, Sam Houston State New Music Festival, Charlotte New Music Festival, and New Music on the Point in Vermont.
In 2013, Artistic Directors Jan Berry Baker and Stuart Gerber created the Bent Frequency Duo Project. Together, they have commissioned more than 50 original works and given hundreds of performances on national and international stages. Their debut CD, Diamorpha, was released on the Centaur Label featuring a number of these new works.
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