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Wild Up
Called “a raucous, grungy, irresistibly exuberant…fun-loving, exceptionally virtuosic family” by Zachary Woolfe of The New York Times, Wild Up has been lauded as one of classical music’s most exciting groups by virtually every significant institution and critic within earshot. The Grammy Award-nominated ensemble was started by Artistic Director Christopher Rountree—his vision of a group of young musicians that rejected outdated traditions and threw classical repertoire into the context of pop culture, new music, and performance art.
*Programming and artists subject to change, please refer to the participating organization’s calendar listing for the most up-to-date program.
Events
California Festival
We’re Here, What Now? is a new collaboration between interdisciplinary artist Susan Silton, composer Sarah Hennies, poet Lynne Thompson, the six-member women’s whistling group The Crowing Hens, and ensemble Wild Up, led by artistic director Christopher Rountree. Wild Up will present a workshop concert and conversation with the artists.
Piece(s)/Composer(s)
WE'RE HERE, WHAT NOW?
Susan SILTON, Sarah HENNIES, Lynne THOMPSON, Christopher ROUNTREE
Program Notes
We’re Here! What Now? is conceived as an assertion of survival in the face of compounded loss—whether it is the loss of a homeland, civil rights, glaciers, or the loss of shared ethics, purpose, truths, and facts. The project takes inspiration from a family whistle—used to gather family in public—passed down to Silton through multiple generations by her father, whose family fled Nazi Europe in 1938. The work is also posited as future-forward: how do we as women—queer, trans, lesbian, cisgender, BIPOC—pick up the pieces of loss, dwell in it, activate it, resist against it, whistle a different tune? At its core, this work speaks to the regenerative power in loss and the shared power of music—from the mouth, from the hand, from the heart—to help forge a path. It is a work about gathering those in a crowd who are listening.
About Wild Up