SYBARITE5 + FRIENDS

SYBARITE5 + BLYTHE GAISSERT, mezzo Soprano

“Gaissert holds forth, like a boss, in the octave below middle C. the quality of the string players, drawn from the Attacca Quartet, Aizuri Quartet, and Sybarite5, gives the set a luxurious finish.” — THE NEW YORKER

Always endeavoring to explore new musical terrain, Sybarite5 joins forces with award winning vocal chameleon Blythe Gaissert for a stunning otherworldly collaboration. This first-ever string quintet + mezzo soprano, & electronics program features some of Sybarite5’s favorite new works, alongside Mahler, Purcell and award winning selections from Gaissert's debut album HOME.

  • In addition to selections from Sybarite5’s favorite eclectic playlists, Program may include collaborative works such as:

  • “Archaeology” by David T. Little with text by Royce Vavrek,

  • “Nous Deux” by Martin Hennessy with text by Paul Eluard,

  • “Home is where I take my shoes off” by John Glover with text by Kelley Rourke,

  • “ramonanewyorkamsterdamn” text and music by Kamala Sankaram

These works will be woven in with traditional canon selections such as

  • Dido's Lament / The peace I've Found by Henry Purcell
    and selections from Gustav Mahler’s Rückert-Lieder 

SYBARITE5 + PERCUSSION (Shane Shanahan)

Sybarite5 is joined by Grammy winning percussionist and Co-Artistic Director of Yo-Yo Ma’s Silkroad ensemble Shane Shanahan. The program features original music by Shane Shanahan, such as LAZ & Audacity, as well as compositions like Future Shock by William Britelle, and Alabama by John Coltrane.

SYBARITE5 + SANTOUR (Ehsan Matoori)

Sybarite5 is joined by Iranian santour virtuoso Ehsan Matoori for an evening of new Persian-inspired compositions and collaborations such as Naqsh-e Jahan and Tehran When Lonely.

SYBARITE5 + HACKED THEREMINS (Jakub Ciupinski)

Always endeavoring to explore new musical terrain, Sybarite5 joins forces with “hacked” theremins composer & performer Jakub Ciupinski for a stunning, otherworldly collaboration. This first-ever string quintet + theremins program features some of Sybarite5’s favorite new works alongside Jakub’s original compositions for both solo hacked theremins and the entire ensemble.

SYBARITE5 + ORCHESTRA

SYBARITE5 + ORCHESTRA:
BEATBOX CONCERTO

Concerto for Sybarite5 & Orchestra, by Dan Visconti
Two widely acclaimed contemporary peers – American composer Dan Visconti and the classical music rock stars of string quintet Sybarite5 – premiered the first work composed for string quintet and orchestra, Beatbox, in March of 2015. The inspiration for Dan Visconti’s new concerto for Sybarite5 is America’s rich heritage of folk and vernacular styles. The 19-minute work is a journey across a varied musical landscape colored by lyricism, directness of expression, and rhythmic drive. The concerto reflects the energy and free-wheeling spirit of improvisation and ends in a bang. The piece shows off Sybarite5 both as a unit and through emphasis on individual solo playing, with the orchestra’s backbeat propelling the work forward. A rich palette of timbres and special playing techniques infuses the music with the raw, virtuosic character of improvised styles. Above all, the audience is drawn in with a work that is fresh, accessible, and relevant.

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SYBARITE5 + ORCHESTRA:
EVERYTHING IN ITS RIGHT PLACE

Sybarite5’s most popular touring program, now available with orchestra

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 now accompanied by a symphonic orchestra. Selections include music by Piazzolla, as well as fan favorites written for the group by Jessica Meyer,  Piotr Szewczyk, Eric Byers, Shawn Conley, and Dan Visconti.

SYBARITE5 + ORCHESTRA: POPS

Sybarite5 brings their chops to the Pops. The groups plugs in and joins Symphony Orchestra as a soloist for some of their favorite and most accessible tunes from  Radiohead, Led Zeppelin,  A-ha, Piazzolla, & Grieg. This collaboration was pioneered by an invitation from Maestro Gary Sheldon and the Landcaster Festival Orchestra and featured a mind-blowing collaboration with Dennis DeYoung of Styx on his epic song Come Sail Away.

SYBARITE5 + OPERA

SYBARITE5 + OPERA: AS ONE

As One is a chamber opera composed by Laura Kaminsky with a libretto by Mark Campbell and Kimberly Reed, and is a coming-of-age story about a transgender woman.

The opera is rescored for Sybarite5 and two singers, (Blythe Gaissert, mezzo-soprano & Michael Kelly, baritone,)  and consists of 15 discrete songs. Opera News describes the music as "grounded by a rhythmic pulse that, like Hannah, retains its core identity but transitions through the opera from driving pizzicatos to a hypnotizing ostinato.The Washington Post described its music as portraying "fiddling and Americana; now, through halting dissonances, the pain of a difficult place in the road; now, through the juxtaposition of plucked violin and singing cello, the exploration of two voices merging into a single identity. 

SYBARITE5 + OPERA: 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.

“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

SYBARITE5 + TECHNOLOGY

SYBARITE5 + 3D VIDEO

Sybarite5 partners with GLMMR to present a live multi-media performance of selections from the Radiohead Remixed project. The performance includes visuals from mind-bending 3D video projection artist,  GLMMR – (Aka David Adam Moore)

 

SYBARITE5 + INSTAGRAM: COMPOSOGRAMS

Composagrams partners with composition students and faculty to create 60 second social media driven compositions for Sybarite5+video rolled out in a media campaign via Instagram & Facebook. Compositions may also be performed live with video projections. 

SYBARITE5 + COMPOSERS:
SO YOU THINK YOU CAN COMPOSE?

With So You Think You Can Compose, Sybarite5 brings the energy of So You Think You Can Dance to colleges and universities by partnering with composition departments to create and showcase new student works. The works are performed by Sybarite5 in a live casual concert complete with a panel of judges, and a winner is chosen via live text-to-vote system. So You Think You Can Compose transforms classical music composition into something both relevant and exciting for audiences, composers and performers.

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On So You Think You Can Compose:

“It is distinctive, it is exceptionally well done, and it connects in such meaningful ways with places like Luther where music is so deeply valued.  It offers such meaning and purpose to the student composers.  I cannot even begin to explain how wonderful the performance was. This is one of my most favorite nights of artist and student interaction ever.”

-Tanya Gertz, Luther College