I/O Fest returns to Williams

WILLIAMSTOWN – For the fourth year, the I/O Fest, an annual series of concerts presenting music that defies categories and crosses musical boundaries, is coming to the Williams College ’62 Center for Theatre and Dance.

The festival starts tonight (Jan. 10) and continues through Saturday (Jan. 12).

“For opening night, we present a composer/performer double bill featuring artists with strong local ties presenting new work that utilizes, but is not defined or limited by technology,” said Matthew Gold, one of the festival directors.

Paul de Jong’s Mild Stimulants (featuring music for cello, loops, samples and video) gets things started at the CenterStage at 8 p.m. tonight. The fest continues at 9:45 with “After Hours,” Melissa St. Pierre’s Alien Clangs and Clanks (featuring new music for prepared piano).

On Friday night (Jan. 11), “The Box” (a series featuring music by living composers), originally conceived by Williams composers David Kechley and Ileana Perez Velázquez to present the music of living composers in an intimate setting and a performance space more flexible than a traditional concert hall, comes to the CenterStage at 8 p.m.

On Saturday, the 2 p.m. matinee “Out of the Box,” Syntax of Snow, features several Williams students performing through the IOTA program, as does the 8 p.m. show, Currents.

“The IOTA ensemble program, curated, organized and performed entirely by students is always both a highlight and a window into what the next generation is doing,” Dir. Gold said. “This year we are extremely excited to be able to present guest ensemble Contemporaneous, a New York-based ensemble of young musicians founded at Bard in 2010, in a shared program with IOTA.

“Their collective passion for new and adventurous music, and their tireless dedication to developing and promoting the next generation of composers is an inspiration, and a great way to start the year.”

More information about the festival can be found online at music.williams.edu.

Posted by Catherine M. Krummey on January 10, 2013. Filed under Arts and Entertainment. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry