On Saturday (Jan. 14), the 24-member modern music collective wild Up presents a new concert of bird-themed music at the Armory Center for the Arts in Pasadena at 8 pm. The group takes on pieces by composers Oliver Messiaen, Brian Ferneyhough, Charlie Parker, Joseph Haydn, Chris Kallmyer (Music MFA 09), CalArts faculty member Mark Menzies and indie rocker Andrew Bird.
More about the Orinthology program from wild Up:
For centuries artists have been obsessed with the study of birds, their sounds, and the freedom with which they move through the world. [On Saturday] we follow a few visions of flight, through jazz, the avant-garde, and indie pop, with sounds that are old, new and in between.
Also on the program are arrangements by bassoonist Archie Carey (Music MFA 11) and pianist Richard Valitutto (Music MFA 11), with several other CalArtians performing, including Matt Barbier (Music MFA 10), Andrew McIntosh (Music MFA 08), Melinda Rice (Music MFA 06), Derek Stein (Music MFA 11) , Andrew Tholl (Music DMA 11) and Brian Walsh (Music MFA 08).
Though a relatively young ensemble, wild Up has already gained attention from Times reviewer Mark Swed and Brian Holt’s Out West Arts blog.
In May of last year, wild Up partnered with CalArts for the culmination of a festival of composer Sofia Gubaidulina’s music, as part of her residency with the Institute. At a concert held at REDCAT, 20 wild Up musicians joined 60 more from CalArts for a lauded performance of Gubaidulina’s most known and biggest work, Offerotorium, which featured Menzies on violin.
Before this weekend’s concert, members of wild Up are scheduled to appear on KPFK’s Global Village with John Schneider today (Jan. 12) at 10 am, and wild Up founder/conductor Christopher Rountree joins Arts Alive with Brian Lauritzen for broadcast on KUSC Saturday morning at 8 am.
The group’s live recordings from 2011 performances are available on their bandcamp page. In the video above, wild Up covers Gimmie Gimmie Gimmie by the Dirty Projectors/Black Flag live at Beyond Baroque in Venice, Calif., last November.