ABOUT THE ENSEMBLE
COLLECT/PROJECT
Frauke Aulbert, voice
Shanna Pranaitis, flute
Eva Zöllner, accordion
Francisco Castillo Trigueros, electronics
“These intrepid virtuosi are refashioning musical experimentation, and I definitely want to be there while they are doing it.” -George Lewis
As a transatlantic ensemble based in sister-cities Chicago and Hamburg, Collect/Project specializes in experimental music and performance with an interest in unorthodox and deeply collaborative experiences grounded not only in classical and contemporary performance techniques, but also steeped in popular and folkloric traditions. Described as “intrepid virtuosi refashioning musical experimentation” by George Lewis, Collect/Project seeks to deploy the creativity of the performer beyond what might be considered normal boundaries.
Dedicated specialists and advocates of new music, Collect/Project regularly commissions new works, providing a wider exposure for the music of living composers, and participates in educational residencies with universities and festivals which seek to provide composers and performers an opportunity for experimentation and collaboration. Recent university appearances include the University of Minnesota, University of Illinois, Western Michigan University, University of Central Missouri, Northwestern, and UCBerkeley.
Collect/Project’s flexibility and unique instrumentation has led to collaborations and performances in the US, UK, and Germany, with appearances at the Blurred Edges Festival (Hamburg), Radialsystem (Berlin), Sonic Fusion Festival (Manchester), Ear Taxi Festival (Chicago), and upcoming tours in the United States, Asia and Latin America.
The collection and projection of the music hidden within a score requires dedicated work of a most sensitive musician to give life to what existed, however intangible, before the committing to paper, and not merely reproduce the symbols on the paper. Collect/Project believes the art of music is desperate for interpreters with courage for such performances. Comprised of Shanna Gutierrez (flutes), Frauke Aulbert (voice), Eva Zöllner (Accordion), and Francisco Castillo Trigueros (electronics), Collect/Project is dedicated to reshaping the way music is created and experienced.
Francisco Castillo Trigueros
electronics
Francisco Castillo Trigueros (b. 1983) is a composer of contemporary chamber, orchestral and electronic music from Mexico City residing in Chicago. He has received numerous distinctions such as the BMI Student Composer Award, the Nouvel Ensemble Moderne Young Composer's Forum Jury prize, two honorable mentions in the Morton Gould Young Composer Awards, and four nominations for the Gaudeamus Music Prize. He often works with ensembles that integrate instruments and performers from different parts of the world and also composes for traditional classical music formations, sometimes including the use of electronics. Francisco recently received a Ph.D at the University of Chicago, where he served as Computer Music Studio Manager for three years, and is currently teaching Digital Music Composition at Columbia College Chicago, and Theory and Composition at the New Music School. His mentors include Augusta Read Thomas, Shulamit Ran, and Howard Sandroff, among others. Current projects include a large-scale collaborative work with video artist Marco G. Ferrari, a new piece for Ensemble Dal Niente, and the music for a video-dance by Delfos Danza Contemporanea. www.franciscocastillotrigueros.com
FRANCISCO TRIGUEROS
Shanna Pranaitis
flute
As a specialist in contemporary performance practice and techniques, flutist Shanna Pranaitis is dedicated to promoting and advancing contemporary music in cultural life today through innovative performances and educational projects. She appears throughout the United States and throughout the world as a soloist, clinician, and in various chamber collaborations, including Collect/Project, Nova Musica, and Sonic Hedgehog. She has performed as a guest with the Collegium Novum Zürich, ensemble interface, and ensemble TZARA, in addition to concerts and residencies in Germany, Portugal, Switzerland, The Netherlands, South Korea, Mexico, Colombia, and the United Kingdom.
An important part of her work is the close cooperation with composers of her generation. She is the co-founder of FluteXpansions, an e-learning laboratory for contemporary flute performance practice and techniques. She has received numerous awards and accolades for her performances including, prizes at the 2011 and 2013 Stockhausen Courses, the Darmstadt Summer Courses for New Music, and NewMusicUSA project grants. She was a founding member of Chicago-based Ensemble Dal Niente and recipient of the 2012 Kranichstein Prize for Interpretation. Premieres and performances of pieces written specifically for her have led to appearances at such festivals as the Gaudeamus Muziekweek, Darmstadt New Music Courses, Blurred Edges, Omaha Under the Radar, Ear Taxi Festival, ICMC, Electronic Music Midwest, and the National Flute Association. Shanna studied contemporary music under Matthias Ziegler, Camilla Hoitenga, Eva Furrer, Philippe Racine, and Kathinka Pasveer. Such has served as indispensable enrichment to her performance studies at the University of Michigan (Amy Porter) and Northwestern University (Walfrid Kujala), where she received her masters and bachelors degrees, respectively. She performs on a Burkart flute and (open-hole) piccolo and Kingma open-hole bass and alto flutes. www.shannagutierrez.com
SHANNA PRANAITIS
Frauke Aulbert
coloratura soprano, multivocalist
As “Hamburg’s queen of avantgarde” (Hamburger Abendblatt), Frauke Aulbert boasts a vocal range of four octaves and has specialized in the contemporary vocal performance having mastered overtone- and undertone-singing, multiphonics and other timbre-altering techniques, in addition to her formal training in lyrical singing. As a vocal-sound-researcher she studies, describes and sings many different genres - including gamelan, jazz, dhrupad, beatboxing, – and applies those sounds to her interpretation of contemporary vocal music. Improvisation and performances of pieces specifically written for her voice have led to festivals all over Europe. International concert tours have included Brasil, Georgia, Tunisia and the USA. In 2015 she will sing (among others) in Australia, at the Biennale of Contemporary Music in Curitiba, Brasil, at Warsaw Autumn in Poland, and at the Deutsche Oper Berlin. She was awarded the first prize by the Stockhausen Foundation for interpreting the INDIANERLIEDER, and received long-term artists residencies in Rome and Paris (Goethe Institut and Cité International des Arts). Frauke Aulbert has collaborated with the composers Georges Aperghis, Vinko Globokar, Hans-Joachim Hespos, Simon Stockhausen, Geoffroy Drouin and Alexander Schubert. Her work and her concerts are supported (among others) by the Ministry of Culture of Germany, IMPULS, the Stockhausen Foundation and the Deutsche Auswärtige Amt. She studied in Kiel, Santa Cruz de Tenerife and Hamburg (diploma) and has attended masterclasses with Lauren Newton, Sainkho Namchylak, David Moss, Michael Vetter, Michiko Hirayama, Linda Wise and Amelia Cuni. Her dissertation examined “Overtone Singing in Contemporary Music.” stimmkuenstlerin.de
FRAUKE AULBERT
DOWNLOAD PRESS KIT
Eva Zöllner
accordion
Eva Zöllner was educated as classical accordionist at the Academy of Music in Cologne and at the Royal Danish Academy of Music in Copenhagen where she studied with Prof. Geir Draugsvoll. She is one of the most active accordionists of her generation and devotes herself to contemporary music. Eva has performed as a soloist in most European and Latin American countries, throughout Asia, Australia, Canada and in the USA. She appears in productions ranging from experimental solo performances to concerts with renowned contemporary music ensembles and opera companies (latest at the English National Opera in London). CD recordings and radio productions document her work. She is also active as guest lecturer and jury member for institutions all around the world. An important part of her work is the close cooperation with composers of her generation. She has premiered more 100 new works for accordion. Lately she has been particularly interested in the potential of the accordion within electroacoustic music and multimedia art. In 2015 Eva Zöllner received a prestigious grant from the German Government for 6 months of artist residency at the Cite Internationale des Arts in Paris. Currently she lives in Hamburg and as a nomadic musician, traveling around the world to explore her instrument in different cultures and contexts. www.eva-zoellner.de
