One of our all-time hits - The first quartet piece ever written by Marcelo Zarvos!

Nepomuk's Dances: I. Arrival

ETHEL performs "Queen Mab" by Missy Mazzoli

Queen Mab - Missy Mazzoli

This is the second of three Mary Ellen Childs works commissioned for our program, "Documerica."

Ephemeral Geometry: Lines

A movement from Ulysses Owens Jr.'s commissioned "Documerica" work.

The Simplicity Of Life: Revival Crusade — Ulysses Owens, Jr.

Epic Soda — Dorothy Lawson

03 After Dust

One of the greatest hits of our work with young Navajo composers at the Gran Canyon Music Festival's Native American Composers Apprenticeship Project. This screaming showpiece was written by a 17-year-old Rodney Yazzie.

Possessed by Obscurity

Kip got the blues. Real bad. And REAL hot.

Jay - Red

1 - 09 Tsintskaro Memory

From ETHEL's latest work-in-progress, "Circus!"

"Waltz" - from "Circus!"

The River continues ETHEL’s deeply successful nine-year collaboration with Native American musician, instrument builder and three-time GRAMMY® Award-winner Robert Mirabal. The live performance immerses the audience in a flow of music, narrative, and ritual, created by ETHEL and Mirabal exclusively for this program, evoking timeless Native American traditions through contemporary artistry. As delivered by these master performers, the effect is breathtaking, even ecstatic.   

From “An Kha Na" to “PeaceCalls,” through rushing rapids and still, sacred spaces, ETHEL and Robert Mirabal evoke the magic and majesty of “the river” which connects us all. In retreat together at Mirabal’s home on the Taos Pueblo, each of the artists brought original musical or poetic works with special significance to the group: Mirabal’s own “An Kha Na,”his tribal “Wi-Wa,” Kip Jones’s “Tuvan Ride,” “Jay-Red” and “Tsoma,”Dorothy Lawson’s “Gat’te,” Ralph Farris’s “Rana-Run”and “Waterfall.”  As the Pueblo River rushed past the door, storms came and went and coyotes howled in the night, the pieces grew in scope and depth, each player contributing layers and insights. Influences were drawn in from Hawaii, Arizona, Mexico, Ecuador, Morocco, Nigeria, India, Mongolia, Tibet, Japan and Soviet Georgia. In sum, the sound is dazzling, and the spirit full of generosity, love and gratitude. Every audience will find their hearts healed and their hope raised.

“The River resides somewhere beyond the intersection of ceremony and show biz, at a place where multicultural collaboration becomes sacred art.” - Seattle Times

“For nearly 18 years…ETHEL has been exploding the boundaries of conventional quartet music by combining its classical training with rock ’n’ roll enthusiasm and musical traditions from around the world.” - New Orleans Advocate

Buy here!

14 Tsoma

13 Wi - Wa

9 Tsintskaro Memory

8 Rana Run

7 Run For Rain

6 Clean Dirge, Dirty Dirge

5 Peace Calls

4 Chant

3 Skywatchers

2 Tuvan Ride

1 An Kha Na

Teaser from ETHEL's latest project, "Circus: The Lives Behind the Big Top"

Circus - March 2016

Waltz

ETHEL performs with Laurence Hobgood in his latest project for jazz trio and string quartet, "tessaterra"

"Georgia On My Mind" - from "tessaterra" by Laurence Hobgood

2fer (2008) by Ralph Farris

In Ralph’s words -- "2fer is a re-imagined version of TwoForThePriceOfOne, which came to life as part of a commission by my dear friend Jim Deaderick, and featuring our dear Dorothy working her magic on a very intricate bassline. First performed on "Wait for green," ETHEL's 2008 collaboration with choreographer Annie-B Parson, the original groovy loop was used towards the end of the show, as a slightly warped framework upon which themes from the evening were layered and interwoven. This version is closer to the original concept -- a warped framework outlining a more conventional(?) song format, with a beginning, a middle, and an end."
 


2fer

Chai (2004) by Dorothy Lawson
 
In Dorothy's Words -- "Chai started as an exploration of a rock style for string trio. It's the second piece I've ever written down, and I'm as amused as anyone at the form it took, as it was originally conceived as a string trio. Never one to be left out of a tea party, ETHEL got her hands on it and made another place at the table. Her manners are a little rough, but the brew is nice and spicy." 


Chai

Described as “indefatigable and eclectic” (The New York Times) and “vital and brilliant” (The New Yorker), the string quartet ETHEL continues to be a pacesetter of post-classical music. Formed in 1998, the New York City-based ETHEL comprises Ralph Farris (viola), Dorothy Lawson (cello), Kip Jones (violin) and Tema Watstein (violin). 

ETHEL performs adventurous music by celebrated contemporary composers such as Julia Wolfe, Phil Kline, David Lang, John King, Raz Mesinai, John Zorn, Steve Reich, Kenji Bunch, JacobTV, Don Byron, Marcelo Zarvos, Evan Ziporyn and Mary Ellen Childs. 

Upcoming highlights for the 2012-13 season include: a concert tour of the Netherlands; a week-long workshop/performance of “ETHEL’s Documerica” at New York City’s Park Avenue Armory; and nationwide tours of “Tell Me Something Good” with rock icon Todd Rundgren, of “Music of the Sun” with Native American flutist Robert Mirabal, and of “And Other Stories...” with guitarist Kaki King.  ETHEL currently serves as the Ensemble-in-Residence at the Grand Canyon Music Festival as part of the Native American Composers Apprenticeship Project, the official house band of TEDxManhattan, and more.

For more information, please visit http://www.ethelcentral.org.    



ETHELCentral

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