Wet Ink Ensemble: New Works by Aurora Nealand, Alex Mincek, Jo Kondo, and Jürg Frey

About

Wet Ink Ensemble concludes its 27th concert season with the world premiere of an octet by Aurora Nealand, performed as the culmination of her time in Wet Ink's Artist-in-Residence program. The program also includes the world premiere of a Wet Ink commission by Jo Kondo, written for Erin Lesser \(flute\), Ian Antonio \(percussion\), and Eric Wubbels \(piano\); the NYC premiere of Assemblage: Trace/Mobile, a dectet by Wet Ink founding member Alex Mincek; and a performance of Jürg Frey's luminous, meditative trio Paysage pour Gustave Roud, performed by Madison Greenstone \(clarinet\), Mariel Roberts Musa \(cello\), and Laura Barger \(piano\). Wet Ink's Artist-In-Residence \(AIR\) program provides an open platform for composer-performers who are invited to create new work for/with Wet Ink, perform with the ensemble, present their own solo projects and bands, and work with Wet Ink's open, collaborative model however they find meaningful. Past participants in the AIR program have included Ingrid Laubrock, Ben LaMar Gay, Carolyn Chen, Gelsey Bell, Vicente Atria, Rick Burkhardt, Katherine Young, Nick Dunston, and Charmaine Lee. Aurora Nealand saxophone \(2025-26 Artist-In-Residence\) Erin Lesser flute Madison Greenstone clarinet Alex Mincek saxophone Gareth Flowers trumpet Ian Antonio percussion Laura Barger piano Eric Wubbels piano/conductor Modney violin Johnna Wu violin Mario Gotoh viola Mariel Roberts Musa cello Sam Pluta electronics Presented by Wet Ink Ensemble in partnership with Roulette. A livestream will be available free of charge at 8pm on the day of the performance and archived for future viewing. The Wet Ink Ensemble is a NYC-based collective of composers, performers and improvisers dedicated to adventurous music-making. Named "The Best Ensemble of 2018" by The New York Times, Wet Ink's work is rooted in an ethos of innovation through collaboration, extending from the music and the unique performance practice developed in the "band" atmosphere of Wet Ink's core octet of composer-performers, to projects with a broad range of renowned creators, from Evan Parker to George Lewis to Peter Ablinger, and committed performances of music by young and underrepresented composers, from today's most promising emerging voices to the next generation of artists. Recent Wet Ink releases include Action, Choice, Thought \(Carrier Records\), featuring Wet Ink's core ensemble; and Missing Scenes \(Carrier Records\), featuring the 20 musicians of the Wet Ink Large Ensemble. Wet Ink has been presenting an annual concert series of contemporary music in NYC for over 25 years, and has supported adventurous creators through an Artist-In-Residence program since 2019.Wet Ink is co-directed by an octet of acclaimed creative musicians who collaborate in band-like fashion, writing, improvising, preparing, and touring pieces together over long stretches of time. These directors are Erin Lesser \(flutes\), Alex Mincek \(saxophone\), Ian Antonio \(percussion\), Eric Wubbels \(piano\), Modney \(violin\), Mariel Roberts \(cello\), Kate Soper \(voice\), and Sam Pluta \(electronics\).