TAK Ensemble (Laura Cocks, Madison Greenstone, Charlotte Mundy, Marina Kifferstein & Ellery Trafford)

The Graham Foundation

Madlener House
4 West Burton Place
Chicago, Illinois 60610
FREE / RSVP HERE
FREE / RSVP HERE

TAK Ensemble visits for two days—performing works by Tyshawn Sorey, Ashkan Behzadi, Eric Wubbels, Bethany Younge, and their first group composition on October 19; and guiding a workshop on October 20.

The Saturday performance features Tyshawn Sorey’s For jaimie branch (2022); Ashkan Behzadi’s “Deseo” from Love, Crystal and Stone (2017); Eric Wubbels’ “Root and Vein” from Interbeing (2023); Bethany Younge’s At Midnight I Walked into the Middle of the Desert (2019); and Artefacts (2024), composed by TAK Ensemble.

TAK is Laura Cocks, flute; Madison Greenstone, clarinet; Charlotte Mundy, voice; Marina Kifferstein, violin; Ellery Trafford, percussion.

Founded in 2013, the New York ensemble has premiered hundreds of works to date, by composers including Ashkan Behzadi, David Bird, Taylor Brook, Ann Cleare, Seth Cluett, Jessie Cox, Natacha Diels, Erin Gee, Bryan Jacobs, Brandon Lopez, Michelle Lou, Jessie Marino, Elaine Mitchener, Weston Olencki, Tyshawn Sorey, Eric Wubbels, Bethany Younge, and many others. They have released seven albums, including Oor (2019), which launched their in-house media label, TAK Editions. TAK has conducted residencies at Columbia University, Cornell University, Harvard University, New York University, Oberlin Conservatory, Stanford University, and Wesleyan University. The ensemble has also collaborated with the New York Philharmonic’s Very Young Composers Program and Juilliard’s Music Advancement Program. From 2022-2023, TAK served as the Long-Term Visiting Ensemble in Residence at the University of Pennsylvania.

Workshop: In “The Creative Score: Unconventional Notation for Unconventional Music,” you will examine non-traditional scores from works within TAK’s repertoire, from the physical and symbolic to the graphic and spatial. The ensemble members will guide you through learning excerpts of their most theatrical, uncanny, and strange compositions. You will also create your own notation systems and symbologies to be performed by TAK and workshop participants. This workshop is intended for a general audience of the musically curious. Graham Foundation, 4 West Burton Pl., Sunday, October 20, 1 p.m. FREE / RSVP HERE.

Presented in partnership with the Graham Foundation; additional support provided by New Music USA’s New Music Inc program and the Farny R. Wurlitzer Foundation Fund