Monday, April 16th, 2018
Jelloslave (aka Purple Orange), hailed by Rebecca Lang of the Star Tribune as “…an infectious, mysterious melee of genres.” partners with the American Composers Forum to present three works by the winners of the 2018 ACF Showcase national competition on Saturday, June 2 at the Open Eye Figure Theatre in Minneapolis, MN. Composers Robin Holcomb (Seattle, WA), Larry McDonough (Saint Paul, MN), and Harriet Steinke (Detroit, MI) will be in residence, working with Jelloslave (aka Purple Orange) during rehearsals May 31st & June 1st with the performance on June 2, 2018. Jelloslave (aka Purple Orange) will also feature works by Mary Ellen Childs, Michelle Kinney, and Jacqueline Ultan.
The 2018 ACF Showcase Concert will take place Saturday, June 2, 2018 at the Open Eye Figure Theatre (506 E 24th Street Minneapolis, MN 55404). Doors open at 6:45 PM, with a concert start time of 7:30 PM and a reception following the concert. To reserve your seat(s) please visit this L-I-N-K
About the winners
Robin Holcomb (Seattle, WA)
Pianist, composer, librettist, singer and songwriter Robin Holcomb has performed internationally as a solo artist and ensemble leader in venues including Carnegie Hall, The Meltdown Festival, The United Nations, Teatro Manzoni, Queen Elizabeth Hall, the Moers Music Festival, The Festival of Perth, The Hong Kong Arts Festival, Arts at St. Ann’s – the Guimarães, Verona, San Francisco, Vancouver, and Earshot Jazz Festivals – Royce Hall at UCLA and the Seattle Opera House.
Recent recordings include The Point of It All and Solos (Songlines), and John Brown’s Body (Tzadik). The Big Time, Little Three, Rockabye and Robin Holcomb are four critically acclaimed recordings of Ms. Holcomb’s songs, and instrumental compositions, on the Nonesuch label.
Other recordings featuring her performances and distinct arrangements include Things About Comin’ My Way: A Tribute to the Music of the Mississippi Sheiks (Red Hen), Rogues Gallery: Pirate Ballads, Sea Songs, and Chanteys and Son of Rogue’s Gallery (Anti), The Anthology of American Folk Music: Revisited (Shout Factory), Burt Bacharach and Serge Gainsbourg tribute compilations (Tzadik) and Bill Frisell’s Nashville.
Ms. Holcomb is a founder and co-director of The New York Composers Orchestra and WACO (The Washington Composers Orchestra), for which she is also conductor, pianist and a principal composer. Other current performing ensembles include a longstanding duo project with cellist Peggy Lee, and The Robin Holcomb Ensemble. Composing instrumental and vocal music for a wide variety of chamber ensembles and soloists, Ms. Holcomb has been commissioned to create scores for dance, film, and theatre. She has created distinctive song cycles on subjects ranging from Rachel Carson to The Everett Massacre to her experiences sharecropping tobacco in North Carolina. She studied Sundanese gamelan performance at the University of California at Santa Cruz and graduated with a degree in Music Composition Utilizing Non-Western resources.
“Ms. Holcomb’s long form piece, Before the Comet Comes, is staggeringly beautiful.” (New York Times) “…this fascinatingly eclectic pianist, composer, and singer has few qualms about mingling folk, jazz, chamber music, and points between and beyond in arresting original music.” (New Yorker) “Satie goes to Appalachia, Morricone goes to the Knitting Factory, and you, dear art-folk fan, die and go to heaven.” (Village Voice)
Larry McDonough (Saint Paul, MN)
Larry McDonough is a St. Paul jazz pianist, singer, composer, and arranger, performing around the world and recording with his group the Larry McDonough Quartet as well as solo, and in duos and trios. He has performed and recorded with legendary saxophonist and composer Benny Golson, Trombonist Fred Wesley, and trumpeter Duane Eubanks, as well as a who’s who of local jazz artists, and was inducted into the Minnesota Rock Country Hall of Fame for his work in the group Danny’s Reasons. He has released nine CDs and DVDs as a leader, including “Simple Gifts,” which reached number 29 on the CMJ Jazz Chart and has been played on hundreds of stations around the country and throughout the world, and most recently, the two-CD set “Alice in Stonehenge and other AcoustElectric Adventures.” He also is a lawyer and law professor selected by William Mitchell College of Law as one of “100 Who Made a Difference” over the 100-year history of the school. Larry directs pro bono legal services for the poor at Dorsey & Whitney.
Harriet Steinke (Detroit, MI)
Harriet Steinke is a composer and collaborator currently based in Detroit, Michigan. She has received recent premieres with the 2017 Ann Arbor SongSlam, the 7Songwriter’s series (NYC), the Dulciana Choir (Dublin, Ireland), and Coral Paulistano (São Paulo, Brazil) as well as premiere from recent collaborations with students at Univeristy of Michigan, Cleveland Institute, Indiana University and Butler University. Her work has also earned recognition by the American Prize in the Opera/Theatre/Film and Choral Music divisions as well as publications with both Colla Voce Music and Hal Leonard Corporation.
Harriet received a B.M. in Music Composition and a minor in English Literature from Butler University where she studied with Frank Felice, Ronald Caltabiano, and Michael Schelle. She did additional study in harmony and counterpoint at the EAMA (European American Musical Alliance) Nadia Boulanger Institute in Paris, France as well as German language and literature at the Freie Universität in Berlin, Germany.
In addition to composition, Harriet currently works as an operations assistant for Detroit Chamber Winds & Strings and the Great Lakes Chamber Music Festival. In her free time Harriet enjoys going to concerts, reading nonfiction, and eating vegetables.
About Jelloslave (aka Purple Orange)
Jelloslave (aka Purple Orange) is a quartet featuring Jacqueline Ultan and Michelle Kinney on cellos, Gary Waryan, tablas and Greg Schutte, drums. The collective diversity of our individual influences fuels the Jelloslave sound, which draws from European classical, western and other world folk traditions and the Hindustani classical rhythms of the tablas. Jelloslave’s concerts are known for their dynamic, improvisational & spontaneous revisions of their repertoire. In addition to performing in festivals & major venues throughout the Twin Cities for the past 15 years, the band toured to enthusiastic audiences with the support of a MN State Arts Board Arts Tour Grant. Jelloslave has produced 2 critically acclaimed full-length CDs, Touch It & Purple Orange.
Program Funding
Funded, in part, by the Dr. Fred Noah Gordon Charitable Fund of the Minneapolis Foundation. This event is also made possible by the voters of Minnesota through a Minnesota State Arts Board Operating Support grant, thanks to a legislative appropriation from the Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund, and a grant from the Wells Fargo Foundation Minnesota.