Ghost Ensemble dedicates itself to long-term study of experimental music with a focus on new perceptual perspectives that explore the experience of listening. The musicians of Ghost Ensemble “use sound to seek an altered consciousness, from a meditative awareness to a look, perhaps, into a different dimension” (George Grella, The New York Classical Review). Since its inception in 2012, the group has performed in concert halls, churches, galleries, and chamber music venues across New York City, and explored outdoor soundscapes from the courtyards of Wall Street to the caves at Inwood Hill Park. In 2013 and 2014, Ghost Ensemble inaugurated the release of Pauline Oliveros’s Anthology of Text Scores with the composer at Eyebeam and was featured in the East Bank Music Series and Queens New Music Festival; the 2015-2016 season began with a double-header at Pioneer Works in Red Hook with the experimental gamelan group Lightbulb Ensemble. Ghost Ensemble collaborates frequently with record label and concert producers Indexical, including a 2016 commissioning project and May 2018 California concert series. Ghost’s debut LP, We Who Walk Again, was released on May 18, 2018 on Indexical Records.
Ghost Ensemble’s core lineup features Martha Cargo (flute), Sky Macklay (oboe), Ben Richter (accordion), Lucia Stavros (harp), Chris Nappi (percussion), Carrie Frey (viola), and James Ilgenfritz (contrabass), with conductor Carl Bettendorf and frequent collaborators including flutists Alice Jones and Margaret Lancaster; cellists Meaghan Burke, Maria Hadge, Lester St. Louis, and Tyler Borden; and bassists Rebekah Griffin Greene, Kyle Motl, and Shayna Dulberger. Former members include violist Hannah Levinson, bassist Joshua Morris, harpist Somna M Bulist, multi-instrumentalist Damon Loren Baker, and percussionist Joe Tucker. The ensemble has also featured the talents of Lucie Vítková, David Rothenberg, Nathan Koci, David Bloom, Tyler Mashek, Ellery Trafford, Brooks Frederickson, Tomek Arnold, Russell O’Rourke, John Rot, and David Bird. Composers who have created new works for the ensemble include Liisa Hirsch, Kyle Gann, Andrew C Smith, Elizabeth Adams, Teodora Stepancic, Kristina Wolfe, John Rot, Leonie Roessler, Somna M Bulist, Lucie Vítková, Joshua Morris, and composer-members Ben Richter and Sky Macklay.
Ghost Ensemble’s 2018-2019 season is supported by an FCA Emergency Grant and generous contributions from Dr. Ruth Martin, Karen Panth, Caroline Mallonee Huebner, Kevin Kay, Sky Macklay, Seth Brenzel, John Suskind, Eoin Callery, Laurie Furdyna, Ian Schulz, Robert Strizich, Stefanie Ilgenfritz, Heide Ilgenfritz, Charles Underriner, Hannah Salomons, Laura Cocks, Ted Moore, Hannah Wertheim, Thomas Buckner, Lanier Sammons, Kristen Reed, White Wave, Miya Masaoka, Andrew Smith, Helena Martin, Raymond Martin, Teodora Stepancic, and fourteen anonymous donors.
For booking, media, or other inquiries, please contact ensemble director Ben Richter at ben@ghostensemble.org.
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GHOST ENSEMBLE 