Estonian sextet Ensemble U is performing at St. Cloud State University Nov. 3.
Ensemble U performs at 8 p.m. Nov. 3 in the Performing Arts Center Recital Hall. Admission is free.
The performance is the third event in the School of the Arts’ 2015-16 Creative Art Series. The 10 events in the second-annual series are designed to expand students’ experiences and the public’s perspectives by introducing them to new concepts and perceptions in the School of the Arts four disciplines — art, film, theater and music.
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Ensemble U performs contemporary, experimental and improvised music using the flute, clarinet, violin, violoncello, percussion and piano. Founded in 2002, the group performs without a conductor and often commissions new works by composers from Estonia and throughout the world.
“They are world-class performers,” Miller said. “They really are among the best in their country Estonia, and they’re tremendously active.”
The group performs both masterworks of modern composers and experimental compositions, improvised works and pieces with untraditional notation. It has performed at numerous festivals and concerts throughout Europe and at the contemporary Estonian culture Bioest in New York City.
Miller connected with the group while serving as a Fulbright Scholar at the Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre in Tallinn, where he taught at the university and became active in the local music scene as a composer and performer.
He was able to work with members of the ensemble through the university and through performing and invited them to perform and speak at St. Cloud State.
In addition to performing, the group will present master classes on music entrepreneurship in a post-Soviet republic and improvisation and with the St. Cloud State orchestra and collaborative chamber ensemble on improvisation and improvisation pedagogy. They will also hold an open rehearsal at 3 p.m. Nov. 2 in the Performing Arts Center Recital Hall.
Ensemble U’s performance and residency supported in part by the Steven Fuller Fund.
Each visiting artist in the Creative Art Series offers a master class workshop for students and presents a free public performance to open the experience to members of the public. The series also includes highly-celebrated events by St. Cloud State’s own students and faculty.
