2022-11-10

• 7pm-10pm: Guðmundur Steinn Gunnarsson & the USA Clangers (w/ Jonathan Pfeffer, Liz Meredith, Shayna Dunkelman), Madison Greenstone, Kwami Winfield @ ridgewood presby church (all ages), 59-14 70th ave, ridgewood, queens // [TICKETS]

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Guðmundur Steinn Gunnarsson & the USA Clangers

Guðmundur Steinn Gunnarsson will be traveling in the U.S. along with his band The USA Clangers in early November.

The USA Clangers is a motley crew of 21st-century sound outsiders/media scavengers cherry-picked by Icelandic composer Guðmundur Steinn Gunnarsson to realize his gentle alien outsider Low Tech/High Life chamber music for all sentient beings. Playfully pitched between chaos and control, the primordial and the undiscovered, Gunnarsson’s ill-at-ease ambiance is built around a singular approach to rhythm that maintains the slippery sense of “everything is about to fall apart yet we all find a way to move as one undulating organism.” The USA Clangers read from animated scores that scroll on laptop and tablet screens, but use prepared and found percussion, classical guitar, viola, recorders, toys, and household objects. The group’s name references a late 1960s British children’s TV series in which soup dragons and knitted aliens try to find peace on a hollow planet. Recommended if you like Harry Partch, Maher Shalal Hash Baz, The Shadow Ring, Fat Worm of Error. // @gudmundursteinngunnarsson + gudmundursteinn.net

In addition to Guðmundur, the USA Clangers are:

Jonathan Pfeffer writes, organizes, makes music, draws, solves and creates problems. His interests right now explore small everyday acts of defiance and subtle comedies of error as responses to the anonymizing influence of the built world on collective ritual and individual identity. His hope is always to document unique experiences of time and space. He lives in Philadelphia, PA. @jonpfff

Liz Meredith is a violist, improviser, and composer from Baltimore, MD. Her music explores intersections between acoustic chamber music, instrumental improvisation, electro-acoustic composition, and ambient music. She has performed at rock clubs, D.I.Y. spaces, art galleries, chamber music venues, music festivals, and academic conferences throughout the United States.  // @lizzie_meredith + lizmeredith.com

Shayna Dunkelman is known for her versatile and unique percussion techniques, and use of electronics to access a sonic pallet not found in acoustic percussion. In addition to solo performances, Dunkelman tours with the Puerto Rican band Balún, multi-instrumentalist Emily Wells, electro-acoustic duo Peptalk, Pakistani singer and author Ali Sethi, and her percussion duo Nomon with her sister Nava Dunkelman. Dunkelman became increasingly active in the alternative music scene as a member of the band Xiu Xiu, touring the world for 6 years. // @00esdot00 + shaynadunkelmanmusic.com

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Madison Greenstone

They have performed as a featured artist of the Darmstadt Ferienkurse für Neue Musik and the Lucerne Festival Academy. Notable performances have been as a soloist presented by ISSUE Project Room, as part of the Merce Cunningham Centennial Night of 100 Solos in Los Angeles, in recital at the Vigeland Mausoleum (Oslo) and at the Fondation Abbaye Royaumont. Madison is the clarinetist of TAK Ensemble, a founding member of the [Switch~ Ensemble], and has performed as a guest with Alarm Will Sound, Either/Or, and Argento New Music Project. They can be heard on Wandelweiser Editions, Another Timbre, TAK Editions, Unknown Tapes, eë editions (AT), Impakt Collective (DE), and upcoming on Relative Pitch Records.

Madison is a doctoral candidate at UC San Diego, where they learn greatly from the mentorship of Anthony Burr and Charles Curtis. They hold a Bachelor’s degree from the Eastman School of Music where they studied with Kenneth Grant and Jon Manasse. Since 2012 they have pursued periodic studies with Ernesto Molinari within the framework of different festivals and masterclasses. @mads_green_stone + madison-greenstone.com

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Kwami Winfield

Soless Dialtone (@soleless_dialtone) is the project of multi-disciplinary sound artist, composer, and improviser Kwami Winfield. Her compositions for dance film Stellar and her modeling on rooftops in Queens have been called "dreamy" by The New York Times and NYC Noise, respectively. Her recent collaborators include C. Spencer Yeh, with whom she has performed at the venerable seCret loCation, and Sam Hafferty, with whom she recorded a track for the STUFF I LIKE VOL.3 comp. Winfield makes compelling choices and can be found on the internets and in/on NYC's coolest rooms and rooftops, playing at least half a dozen instruments and sharing her process generously. // @soless_dialtone