“It was 15 years ago on a bus ride between Elyria, Ohio, and Chicago—probably somewhere near Gary, Ind., she thinks—that the flutist Claire Chase decided to found the International Contemporary Ensemble, known as ICE,” writes Michael Cooper in Monday’s (10/17) New York Times. “The ensemble has performed hundreds of new works … The group is about to embark on one of its biggest transitions yet: Ms. Chase is stepping down from her leadership position there to become, in her words, a member of the band, and to be able to devote more time to her blossoming career as a soloist…. The ICE experiment as a collective offers a different paradigm…. Its bassoonist, Rebekah Heller, is also a fund-raiser…. The sax player, Ryan Muncy, also writes grant proposals…. One of the group’s percussionists, Ross Karre, also runs its free digital media library of its performances, DigitICE…. The collective’s leadership will fall to three people. Two will be artistic directors: Joshua Rubin, a founding clarinetist with the ensemble who has already been serving in that role alongside Ms. Chase for the past year, and Mr. Karre, who will join him. The group’s executive director, Vanessa Rose, joined last summer.”
Posted October 17, 2016
