Left Field Series w/ “We Always Swing”® Jazz Series
We are once again excited to announce “The Left Field Series” - a programming adventure presented in partnership with the Jazz Series. Together, Dismal Niche and the Jazz Series will present 4 concerts celebrating the avant-garde tradition of expression outside the confines of convention with some of the world’s most vital, forward thinking and
expressive artists and musicians.
Kelly Moran
with Bill MacKay
Friday, March 6th
Whitmore Hall
7pm doors, 7:15 Bill MacKay, 8pm Kelly Moran
Kelly Moran is a New York-based composer and pianist who has spent her career excavating the sonic possibilities of the piano. In the past decade, Moran has released numerous acclaimed albums that have challenged the piano’s traditional, classically-imposed school of thought with a more contemporary approach. Her unique strand of experimental piano compositions, which conjure hypnotizing textures and dramatic compositional arcs, have been included on year-end lists across classical, avant-garde, and metal genres.
Moran’s most recent album, Moves in the Field, was praised by the New York Times for being “a softhearted but steel-skinned set of 10 piano pieces that are as rapturous as a waterfall or as delicate as vapor. Her first album in six years, it is the redemptive conclusion in an extended span of personal tragedy and professional doubt, all ingrained in its sweeping songs.”
An accomplished and highly sought-after composer, Moran has collaborated with visionary contemporaries including FKA Twigs, Yves Tumor, The Avalanches, Kelsey Lu, Oneohtrix Point Never, and classical musician Margaret Leng Tan.
Bill MacKay is a Chicago-based guitarist and composer whose exploratory guitar work ranges from the avant-garde to the American songbook. As a prolific collaborator and solo artist, MacKay uses his instrument to manifest sublime beauty and effervescent grace like only a select few can.
Caroline Davis
with Big Here
Saturday, April 4th
Firestone Baars Chapel at Stephens College
Left Field Series w/ We Always Swing
7:00 doors, 7:30 Big Here, 8pm Caroline Davis
TICKETS
Mobile since her birth in Singapore, composer, saxophonist, and vocalist Caroline Davis’s expression covers a wide range of styles, owed to her shifting environment as a child. From angular, melody-present instrumental outfits to soulful, quirky song writing, Caroline’s persona is recognizably present. As an improviser and saxophonist, she has released six albums under her name and has won Downbeat’s Critic’s Poll Rising Star. Through the years, her work continues to garner praise in domestic and international publications.
Davis has shared musical moments with Lee Konitz, John Zorn, Angelica Sanchez, The Femme Jam, Matt Mitchell, Terry Riley, Miles Okazaki, Geoffrey Keezer, and Billy Kaye, among many others. Her composition work has led to resident fellowships at MacDowell, The Jazz Gallery, The Rockefeller Estate, and ICE Ensemble Evolution; and she has been awarded Jerome Hill, CMA, and NYFA fellowships. Her compositions often integrate science and music, influenced by her Ph.D in Music Cognition. Caroline is an advocate for gender equity (This Is A Movement, The New School) and abolition (Justice for Keith Lamar).
Big Here is an audiovisual duo based in Columbia, Missouri, known for immersive, improvisational performances that dissolve the boundaries between sound and sight.
