Lina Andonovska
flutes
Curiosity, fearlessness and versatility carry Lina Andonovska’s artistry around the globe. Andonovska is a rare breed in the flute world; a name that you’ll discover on both the pages of Rolling Stone and the Australian Chamber Orchestra roster, she has not only cultivated partnerships with leading composers including Louis Andriessen, Donnacha Dennehy and flautist Claire Chase, but also deep community ties from Timor Leste to Tokyo’s incubator Wonder Site.
She has collaborated with groups including Ensemble Modern, Crash Ensemble, Deutsches Kammerorchester and stargaze. She is critically acclaimed for her interpretation of new music; Rolling Stone Magazine hailed her performance at Bang On A Can Summer Festival as “superbly played, (ranging) from sustained ‘somebody-please-get-that-tea-kettle’ squeaks to the flit and flutter of its beautifully lilting trills…”
As an orchestral player she has worked with the BBC Symphony Orchestra, Australian Chamber Orchestra, Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra, Southbank Sinfonia and most of Australia’s symphony orchestras. As concerto soloist she has performed on concert hall stages in Europe, the UK, South America, Asia and Australia.
Recent performance credits include a solo performance at the Melbourne International Arts Festival that was noted as “re-defining the act of going solo “ (The Age), Brett Dean’s flute concerto ‘Siduri Dances’ with Deutsches Kammerorchester, Tokyo Experimental Festival Grand Prize, appearances with stargaze at the Edinburgh International Festival, Berlin’s acclaimed Unerhörte Musik series and a solo recital at Musica Nova Helsinki. Lina released her debut solo album with Diatribe Records label in early 2020, which was described as “brimming with energy and bold textures, though marked throughout by nuance. A name to watch out for.” (All About Jazz).
Ashley Bathgate
cello
American cellist Ashley Bathgate has been described as an “eloquent new music interpreter”(New York Times) and “a glorious cellist”(The Washington Post) who combines “bittersweet lyricism along with ferocious chops”(New York Magazine). Her “impish ferocity”,
“rich tone” and “imaginative phrasing” (New York Times) have made her one of the most sought after performers of her time. The desire to create a dynamic energy exchange with her audience and build upon the ensuing chemistry is a pillar of Bathgate’s philosophy as a performer. Dynamism drives her to venture into previously uncharted areas of ground-breaking sounds and techniques, breaking the mold of a cello’s traditionally perceived voice. For the past ten years Bathgate was a member of the acclaimed sextet Bang on a Can All-Stars. She is also a member of the chamber music group HOWL, TwoSense with pianist Lisa Moore, and Bonjour, a low-strung, percussive quintet.
In 2015 Bathgate gave the world premiere of What Moves You, a collaborative performance project with jookin’ dance sensation Lil Buck at the Spoleto Festival USA in Charleston, NC, as well as the world premiere of a new Cello Concerto written for her by Kate Moore for the Gaudeamus Festival in Utrecht, NL. Subsequently, she released her debut album, Stories for Ocean Shells, featuring a set of works for solo cello, composed by Moore, which was released in 2016 on Cantaloupe Music. That year Bathgate also commissioned the ‘composer collective’ Sleeping Giant to write ASH, a six-movement suite for solo cello. Both ASH and her latest album, 8 Track, featuring new multitrack works by Alex Weiser and Emily Cooley, as well as a new rendition of Steve Reich’s Cello Counterpoint, will be commercially released this coming season. Most recently, she premiered a new evening length work by Michael Gordon, House Music, at the 2018 Cello Biennale in Amsterdam, NL. Her recorded work can be found on Albany Records, Cantaloupe Music, Innova Recordings, La-La Land Records, Naxos, New Amsterdam, Nonesuch, Starkland and Uffda Records.
Bathgate resides in Saratoga Springs, NY. ( www.ashleybathgate.com )
Maiani da Silva
violin
Brazilian and American violinist Maiani da Silva enjoys a richly varied career as a freelancer, feeling equally at home playing in concert halls, recording studios, breweries, and parked cars. An omnivorous musician, Maiani performs contemporary/cross-over works, and can also occasionally be found playing percussion in an Afro-Brazilian band, and even unintentionally interpretive dancing during measures of rest.
Maiani is the new violinist with Eighth Blackbird, one of the world’s preeminent new music chamber ensembles. She has also collaborated with various cutting-edge contemporary artists, from members of Bang On A Can All Stars, Wild Up, The Industry, Shattered Glass, Kinds of Kings, Aperture Duo, L.A. Ballet, Martha Graham Dance Company, to Taylor Mac, Childish Gambino, Joey Arias, My Brightest Diamond, Rod Stewart, Avery*Sunshine, Kanye West, and Peter Gabriel.
Not one to shy away from bold projects and collaborations, Maiani performed the West Coast premiere of Ragnar Kjartansson’s Bliss, as part of the L.A. Phil’s Fluxus Festival, and Taylor Mac’s 24 Decade History of Popular Music(premiere in Brooklyn and tour), as well as Mac’s Holiday Sauce tour. Recordings include an album with the Summa Trio (Navona Records/Naxos), Netflix’s Dear White People, and When They See Us, among others.
Maiani is the co-founder of The Furies, an intersectional feminist duo whose mission is to empower the female-identified experience through music and performance art. Maiani also enjoys playing caixa (snare) as a member of Batalá New York, dancing, lip-syncing, collecting fossils, and in-person philosophical debates. Maiani is an Associate Fellow of the Berkeley College at Yale University.
Matthew Duvall
percussion
Read more about Matthew here.
Zachary Good
clarinets
Zachary Good is a Chicago-based instrumentalist (clarinets and Baroque recorders), improviser, and performer. He approaches music making with a variety of perspectives, ranging from historically-informed to experimental practices, while working across a spectrum of genres and techniques.
Zachary is clarinetist of Eighth Blackbird, a founding Co-Artistic Director of the performance collective Mocrep, and one-third of the clarinet/percussion/cello trio ZRL. He has frequently performed with International Contemporary Ensemble, Music of the Baroque Chicago, Manual Cinema, and Ensemble Dal Niente. He has been a featured
soloist with International Contemporary Ensemble, DePaul University’s Ensemble 20+, and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra’s All Access Chamber Series. His discography includes releases on No Index, Homeroom, Parlour Tapes+, ears&eyes, and more.
He is a middle school band director at the Chicago Waldorf School. Alongside the musicians of Eighth Blackbird, he was Visiting Instructor at the University of Richmond during the 2019–20 academic year. In 2018, Zachary worked closely with cellist YoYo Ma to mentor young musicians at the second annual Youth Music Culture Guangdong Festival in Guangzhou, China. As a Fellow and clarinetist in the Civic Orchestra of Chicago from 2014–2016, he helped conceive and establish the Orchestra’s New Music Workshop.
Born in Pittsburgh, Zachary is currently a doctoral candidate at Northwestern University’s Bienen School of Music. He holds degrees from Oberlin Conservatory of Music and DePaul University’s School of Music. His body of research is looking into the phenomena and functionality of dyad multiphonics on the soprano clarinet.
Lisa Kaplan
piano
Read more about Lisa here.