Be New Too

Pittsburgh, PA–Kamratōn will host Be New Too, a concert at St. Paul of the Cross Monastery on November 11 at 7 pm. Join us as we create a kaleidoscopic sonic impression of Pittsburgh born writer Gertrude Stein’s poem, New, through a series of twelve world premiere miniature compositions and a full-length work by Ramin Akhavijou. Also on the program is Cranks and Cactus Needles by Annie Gosfield, suggesting sounds “distant and ghostly, like a Victrola down the hall.” Admission is free, but donations to support Kamratōn’s unique programming are appreciated. For more information visit www.kamraton.org. Kamratōn’s mission is to challenge the boundaries of music performance, expand the contemporary chamber music repertoire, and celebrate the role of women as leaders in the arts.

About Kamratōn: When a group of frequent collaborators founded Kamratōn in 2015, they aimed to offer something vital and original to Pittsburgh’s musical community. Now entering its fourth season, Kamratōn is an all-female contemporary chamber ensemble committed to a mission of presenting women-created and women-curated new music. They have developed an aesthetic and a practice that is experimental and collaborative. Their instrumentation consists of Jennifer Sternick (violin), Cecilia Caughman, (cello) Sarah Steranka (flute), Emily Cook (clarinet), and Anna Elder (soprano voice). The ensemble produces 3-4 concerts a season in Pittsburgh including She Scores, an annual collaborative series that programs new and existing works by women composers. They have premiered new works by Christine Burke, Lu-han Li, Nancy Galbraith, Laura Schwartz, Curtis Rumrill, David Gerard Matthews, and Ryan McMasters to name a few. Kamratōn has performed on Beyond Microtonal Festival and Symposium presented by Music on the Edge, at Kent State’s performance series, and was a featured ensemble at Re:Sound Festival in Cleveland in June of 2018. They kicked off their 2018-2019 season by opening up Alia Musica’s Pittsburgh Festival of New Music with The Dream Songs Project in September of 2018. This season, the group is presenting its first opera, Her Holiness: The Winter Dog, by Curtis Rumrill and librettist Zachary Webber in collaboration with the vocalists of Quince Ensemble and Shana Simmons Dance for The New Hazlett Theater’s Community Supported Art program. They are also continuing their signature She Scores series highlighting women composers, and presenting a collaborative series of compositions which will create a kaleidoscopic impression of Gertrude Stein’s poem, New. The ensemble has received support from The Heinz Endowments, The Pittsburgh Foundation, and The Opportunity Fund.