TEMPERATURA
w/ Leah Asher, Maya Bennardo, Christian Streit Smith 20:30 (doors: 20:00) Tickets online: regular €10 / discount €7 – at the door: €12,5*
Tuesday 25 November, TEMPERATURA presents an acoustic popup event with selected compositions and improvisation sets by Leah Asher, Maya Bennardo, and Christian Streit Smith.
Violinist/violist, composer, and visual artist Leah Asher is an avid performer of contemporary music and creator of new artistic works. Leah is the executive director and violinist of The Rhythm Method string quartet and co-creator of performance art duo Meaningless Work with Nicolee Kuester. Leah regularly performs with New York-based ensembles such as International Contemporary Ensemble, Talea Ensemble, and S.E.M. Ensemble. She formerly served as solo violist of NOSO Sinfoniettaen and co-principal viola of the Arctic Philharmonic. As a composer, Leah has been commissioned by ensembles including andPlay, Chartreuse, Periapsis, NorthArc Percussion Group, The Great Learning Orchestra, and Ensemble Hybrid. She serves on faculty at Lake George Composer’s Institute, the Composers Conference, and the Lucerne Festival Academy, and has conducted many residencies at universities including NYU, Columbia University, Berklee College of Music, Hunter College, and BGSU. Recent releases include Leah’s solo album ‘Retreat into Afters’ on SCRIPTS records, The Rhythm Method’s ‘Pastorale’ on New Focus Recordings, and The Rhythm Method’s ‘Seaglass’ on Gold Bolus Recordings. Leah joined the faculty of Manhattan School of Music in 2022.
Maya Bennardo is an active performer and composer living in Stockholm, Sweden. Maya is interested in opening the dialogue and blurring the boundaries between composers and performers, and is devoted to performing music of the present. She is a founding member of the violin/viola duo andPlay, described by I Care If You Listen as “enthusiastic champions for new music and collaboration.” She performs new and traditional repertoire for violin and piano with pianist Karl Larson in their Bennardo-Larson Duo and is a former member of the internationally renowned Mivos Quartet. Maya’s compositions are characterized by slow, unfolding timbral movements–exploring the co-existence of pitch and noise. Her compositions have grown naturally out of her improvisational practice on the violin, and the two continue to inform each other.
Christian Streit Smith (USA/NL) is a percussionist based in The Hague. He performs experimental music (composed and improvised), in many different constellations from solo to large ensemble to theater. In addition to his work as a musician, he works part time as a landscaper.
Program
‘Discrete Species’ by Douglas Farrand and Christian Streit Smith ‘silver birch vignettes’ by Maya Bennardo ‘Upon the Wheel’ by Leah Asher Solo improvisation – Leah Asher Trio improvisation – Leah Asher, Maya Bennardo, and Christian Smith
