This concert is the fourth event of the Beyond: Microtonal Music Festival hosted by Music on the Edge. This performance will feature JACK Quartet, pianist Conor Hanick, and Ekmeles Vocal Ensemble. The performance will feature works by Marcos Balter, Paul Gallagher, Austin Wulliman, Feliz Anne Reyes Macahis, and a world premiere by Mathew Rosenblum.

If you are interested in attending multiple Beyond: Microtonal Music Festival performances, festival ticket packages are also available. 

About JACK Quartet:

Founded in 2005, JACK Quartet is a string quartet that champions music by 20th- and 21st-century composers.They curate and perform programs that include a variety of musical styles by established and under-represented artists. With each program, they aspire to create transformative experiences. JACK Quartet is the Quartet in Residence at The New School in New York City, and they teach at music festivals, conservatories, and universities

About Conor Hanick:

Pianist Conor Hanick is regarded as one of his generation’s most inquisitive interpreters of music new and old whose “technical refinement, color, crispness and wondrous variety of articulation benefit works by any master.” (New York Times) He is a fierce advocate for the music of today and has worked with composers to premiere over 200 pieces. Hanick is the director of Solo Piano at the Music Academy of the West and serves on the faculty of The Juilliard School, Mannes College, and the CUNY Graduate Center.

About Ekmeles: 

Ekmeles is a vocal ensemble dedicated to the performance of new and rarely-heard works, and gems of the historical avant garde. They have a special focus on microtonal works. They are the recipients of the Ernst von Siemens Music Foundation’s 2023 Ensemble Prize, the first American group to receive the honor. As part of their work expanding the possibilities of tuning and technique in vocal music, Ekmeles has given world premieres by composers including John Luther Adams, Taylor Brook, Courtney Bryan, Ann Cleare, Zosha Di Castri, Erin Gee, Martin Iddon, Hannah Kendall, George Lewis, Christopher Trapani and James Weeks. In addition to creating their own repertoire, Ekmeles is dedicated to bringing the best of contemporary vocal music to the United States that would otherwise go unheard.

About Music on the Edge:

Co-directed by Eric Moe, Mathew Rosenblum, and Amy Williams, Music on the Edge (MOTE), of the University of Pittsburgh Department of Music, presents a series of concerts each year featuring visiting artists as well as the Music on the Edge Chamber Orchestra, conducted by Roger Zahab. The series is devoted to the performance of contemporary music by professional musicians.