NEW MUSIC IDOL

Pioneered in 2010 at the HuB Incubator in Sarasota Florida, New Music IDOL partners Sybarite5 with collegiate level composition students to foster new works and excitement. Aided by professors, students study music composed for Sybarite5 and then create short competition pieces that are performed and critiqued in an American Idol style setting. The new compositions are performed live casual concert setting complete with a panel of Judges and a winner is chosen via live text to vote system. New Music Idol transforms classical music composition into something both relevant and exciting for audiences, composers and performers.

THE SHUFFLE EFFECT:

From the moment that their bows hit the strings, Sybarite5 engages the senses and redefines the rules. The Shuffle Effect sets a new standard in audience experience. The traditional set program list is replaced with an iPod containing the group's repertoire. The program for the concert is determined Live from the stage, as the players press shuffle on the iPod and play whatever piece shows up on the screen.

Audiences must be prepared for anything - from Radiohead to Mozart, The Shuffle Effect allows the musicians to showcase their skill, innovation and vibrancy. This group of talented young musicians is changing the face of classical music and redefining how chamber music is performed and enjoyed.

EVERYTHING IN ITS RIGHT PLACE

Sybarite5 has quickly established a reputation for questioning audiences’ perceptions of “What is music?” and “Who plays what?” Inspired by the alternative band Radiohead, the Quintet continues to push the boundaries of what is concert music. Everything In Its Right Place brings it all full circle in a cohesive showcase of Sybarite5’s regular playlist, including music by Radiohead, Piazzolla, Barber and Dvorak, as well as groundbreaking new compositions for the group by Mohammed Fairouz, Andy Akiho, Francis Schwartz and Dan Visconti

RADIOHEAD REMIXED:

Unsatisfied with the confines of the stereotypical classical music canon, in 2007 Sybarite5 began a project to actively commission composers to write arrangements and music inspired my the British rock band Radiohead. The project has yielded genre busting collaborations with Paul Sanho Kim and Adam Schoenberg, some of which are available on recent Sybarite5 albums.

THE DIDO PROJECT:

A ground breaking multimedia performance of Purcell's opera Dido & Aeneas premiered in Samsung's state of the art facility at the Time Warner Center in New York City is now scheduling a USA tour.

This unique collaboration with stage director Pat Diamond marks the melding of the art, humanism & technology as we know it today. Read the NY Times Review HERE

"A multimedia performance installation of Dido and Aeneas using electronic audio and video equipment alongside live performers to establish the landscape of this human struggle both visually and aurally.

Using audio and video monitors, we get a glimpse into the internal life of these characters, and see what makes them come alive. At some points, the monitors are used to represent the chorus of the piece. The chorus serves two purposes in the piece, both as catalysts, which in this case is the internal voice of the main characters pressing them in one direction or another in the same way that the Ancient Roman Gods would influence individual lives. The other purpose is as confidants or sounding boards. Either way, in this production, they are the internal representation of the main characters' emotional landscape. The choral moments are all recorded on audio, the idea being that they become bodiless voices inside the heads of the main characters, with accompanying video images that reflect the points of view being sung about. The dance moments, which often accompany the choral singing, are an extension of whatever point of view comes across in the choral section, and the images on the video screens, in essence, become the "dancers". In general, I feel like there are two points of view given by the chorus- one is the reality of the situation in reality, and the other is the potential dream."

-Pat Diamond, Director