CCIII: Cultural Constructions Spring 2004

Spring 2004 Cultural Constructions Ensemble
Fernando Brandao, Abraham Gomez-Delgado, Shu-ni Tsou, Jimmy Ryan
photo credit: Michael McLaughlin


PRESS RELEASE:

Friday, May 7th, 2004 at 8pm
Cultural Constructions III: China meets Brazil meets Puerto Rico meets Appalachia
Institute of Contemporary Art (ICA) Theater
955 Boylston Street, Boston
MBTA Green Line: Hynes/ICA
General admission is $10; $8 students and seniors
Tickets are available beginning April 16th at Twisted Village or (617) 354-6898

Shu-ni Tsou, Chinese bamboo flutes; Fernando Brandão, flute; Abraham Gomez-Delgado, Latin percussion; Jimmy Ryan, mandolin

Media Contact for Cultural Constructions III:
Scott Menhinick, Improvised Communications
(781) 893-9424
scott@improvisedcommunications.com

On Friday, May 7th at 8pm, four musicians, each representing a different cultural and musical tradition, will come together at Boston's Institute of Contemporary Art (ICA) Theater to exchange ideas and musical vocabularies in a concert entitled Cultural Constructions III: China meets Brazil meets Puerto Rico meets Appalachia. This is the third event in the semi-annual Cultural Constructions series founded in May 2003 and curated by Boston-area composer/musicians Michael McLaughlin, Ellen Band, Tom Hall, Ken Field, and Jonathan LaMaster.

Funded by LEF New England and produced in cooperation with the Boston Creative Music Alliance (BCMA), this season's concert features Shu-ni Tsou (Chinese bamboo flutes), Berklee and Longy faculty member Fernando Brandão (flute), Abraham Gomez-Delgado (Latin percussion), and Jimmy Ryan (mandolin). Each musician will perform solo, documenting his/her musical specialty in its own context, and the quartet will perform music by curators Hall and Field, along with new collectively composed and improvised works created during a month of rehearsals and cross-cultural dialogue.

Ms. Tsou, the winner of two championships at the 1995 National Taiwan Music Competition, has extensive experience performing traditional Chinese music as well as collaborating with prominent American improvisers like John Zorn, Butch Morris, Elliot Sharp, and Oliver Lake. Mr. Brandão is a Brazilian-born musician/composer/educator active in both the jazz and classical worlds, who has performed with his brother Sergio Brandão, Emmanuel Music, the New World Guitar Trio, George Garzone, Luciana Souza, and his own quartet among many others. Mr. Gomez-Delgado, a native of Puerto Rico, is a guitarist, singer, percussionist, and founder of the award-winning avant salsa/rock quintet Jayuya and the eight-piece post-salsa big band Zemong, El Gallo Bueno. Mr. Ryan has presented his own alt-country blend of rootsy rock, bluegrass, and world music as a founder of the Blood Oranges and in collaborations with Catie Curtis, Morphine, and Warren Zevon.