yMusic, Bill T. Jones & Dianne McIntyre
Hailed by National Public Radio’s Fred Child as “one of the groups that has really helped to shape the future of classical music,” yMusic is a group of six New York City instrumentalists flourishing in the overlap between the pop and classical worlds. Their virtuosic execution and unique configuration (string trio, flute, clarinet and trumpet) have attracted the attention of high profile collaborators—from Dirty Projectors to My Brightest Diamond—and more recently inspired an expanding repertoire of original works by some of today’s foremost composers.
This Fall, yMusic will release Balance Problems, the much-anticipated follow-up to 2011’s Beautiful Mechanical (Time Out New York’s #1 Classical Record of the Year). The record features stunning new compositions from Nico Muhly, Sufjan Stevens, Andrew Norman, Mark Dancigers, Jeremy Turner, Marcos Balter and Timo Andres, all realized through the ensemble’s striking performances.
In addition to performing its own repertoire, yMusic serves as a ready-made collaborative unit for bands and songwriters. In the 2013-14 season, yMusic recorded Mutilation Rag for Beck‘s Song Reader compilation and performed three concerts at Lincoln Center, two in the Atrium, collaborating with Blake Mills and premiering works by Gabriel Kahane, Mark Dancigers and Dawn of Midi’s Qasim Naqvi, and one in collaboration with José González as part of the Lincoln Center Out of Doors Festival.
Since their inception in 2008, yMusic has striven to bring a classical chamber music aesthetic to venues outside the traditional concert hall. Its members have individually toured and recorded with artists such as Bon Iver, Paul Simon, Bjork, The National, Meredith Monk, Antony & the Johnsons, David Byrne, The New York Philharmonic and Sufjan Stevens.
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Bill T. Jones (Artistic Director) is the recipient of the 2014 Doris Duke Artist Award; the 2013 National Medal of Arts; the 2010 Kennedy Center Honors; a 2010 Tony Award for Best Choreography of the critically acclaimed FELA!; a 2007 Tony Award, 2007 Obie Award, and 2006 Stage Directors and Choreographers Foundation CALLAWAY Award for his choreography for Spring Awakening; the 2010 Jacob’s Pillow Dance Award; the 2007 USA Eileen Harris Norton Fellowship; the 2006 Lucille Lortel Award for Outstanding Choreography for The Seven; the 2005 Wexner Prize; the 2005 Samuel H. Scripps American Dance Festival Award for Lifetime Achievement; the 2005 Harlem Renaissance Award; the 2003 Dorothy and Lillian Gish Prize; and the 1994 MacArthur “Genius” Award. In 2010, Mr. Jones was recognized as Officier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres by the French government, and In 2000, The Dance Heritage Coalition named Mr. Jones “An Irreplaceable Dance Treasure.”
Mr. Jones choreographed and performed worldwide with his late partner, Arnie Zane, before forming the Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company in 1982. He has created more than 140 works for his company.
Dianne McIntyre is “one of modern dance’s reigning divas” (Time Out New York, 2012). Since 1972 she has choreographed scores of concert dances, four Broadway shows, 30 regional theatre productions, a London West End musical, three feature films, three television productions, stage movement for recording artists and five original full-length dance-dramas. Her company, Sounds in Motion/Dance Visions, Inc. operated a studio/school in Harlem, mentored countless dance artists and toured internationally in the 1970s and 80s. Known for collaborations with musicians in jazz, blues, soul, world and avant-garde (Olu Dara, Butch Morris, Cecil Taylor, Lester Bowie) McIntyre also has the opportunity to work with writers and directors (Ntozake Shange, OyamO, Regina Taylor, August Wilson, Des McAnuff, Marion McClinton, Woodie King, Jr., Jonathan Demme, Douglas Turner Ward). Her individualistic movement style reflects her affinity for cultural histories, personal narratives and the boldness, nuances, discipline and freedom in music and poetic text. Dance companies, including Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, as well as forty plus university ensembles and the major dance festivals have commissioned her choreography and teaching residencies. As a Tamiris specialist she recreated that choreographer’s 1937 How Long, Brethren? from Negro Songs of Protest. Awards include John S. Guggenheim Foundation Fellowship, three New York Dance and Performance “Bessie” Awards (1989, 1997, 2006), NEA, NYSCA grants and fellowships, AUDELCO and Helen Hayes theatre awards, Honorary Doctor of Fine Arts Degrees from SUNY Purchase and Cleveland State University, ADF Endowed Chair for Distinguished Teaching, and an Emmy Award nomination for HBOs “Miss Evers’ Boys.” She also choreographed the film “Beloved” based on the novel by Toni Morrison. Her recent and present projects include choreography for Sweet Honey in the Rock’s fortieth anniversary tour, for The Ohio State University and Sarah Lawrence College dance students and a solo for Roxane D’Orleans Juste “She Who Carries the Sky” with the Límón Dance Company which premieres at the Joyce Theater April 29. Ms. McIntyre’s mentors include faculty of OSU, Gus Solomons jr, Louise Roberts and Richard Davis.