Call and Response: Dr. Indre Viskontas + Sound Quartet
An experiment in arts and lectures, combining performance and presentation in the form of Call and Response: a specialist in any field gives a presentation—of any kind—in their area of expertise, followed by an informal Q&A, and a musical response by some of the Bay Area’s finest creative musicians.
Curated by Kristina Dutton and Evan Karp, this show features a presentation by Dr. Indre Viskontas, followed by a musical response by Aram Shelton Sound Quartet!
B I O S
Dr. Indre Viskontas is a neuroscientist and opera singer, straddling the line between science and art. She is a Professor of Science and Humanities at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, where she is pioneering the application of neuroscience to musical training and an adjunct Professor of Psychology at the University of San Francisco. She is also the principal investigator of The Ensemble Project, designed to explore the relationship between music and empathy. She has published more than 35 empirical articles and book chapters related to the neural basis of memory and creativity. She is the founder and director of Vocallective, a vocal chamber music ensemble, and Opera on Tap: San Francisco, a chapter of the nation-wide organization whose mission is to create a place for opera in popular culture. A passionate science communicator, Dr. Viskontas co-hosted Miracle Detectives, on The Oprah Winfrey Network. In 2014, The Great Courses released her best-selling 24-lecture course 12 Essential Scientific Concepts and her next course, Brain Myths Exploded, is slated to be released in 2016. She currently co-hosts Inquiring Minds, a popular science podcast, is a sought-after public speaker, a frequent contributor to MotherJones.com, an Editor of the journal Neurocase and a frequent performer of opera and chamber music.
Sound Quartet is an Oakland based group focusing on creative jazz informed by their collective backgrounds and mutual interest in challenging traditional concepts of jazz through the use of adventurous harmonics and inventive forms. The unique improvisational approaches of the members are grounded in high level instrumental proficiency paired with a playful and open minded sensibility.
Aram Shelton is a saxophonist, clarinetist, improviser and composer based in Oakland, California. Since 2000 he has created original music that uses open ended improvisation as an integral component. In Oakland the projects Sound Quartet, Tonal Masher, Broken Trap Ensemble, and Ton Trio II represent his music. He is connected to Chicago (where he lived from 1999 to 2005) through his Quartet, the cooperative sextet Fast Citizens (Delmark), and Jason Adasiewicz’ Rolldown (Cuneiform).
Mark Clifford is a vibraphonist, composer, and percussionist equally involved in free improvisation, new music, jazz, and indie music, and is a part of multiple projects in the Bay Area and around the country. His performance experience spans worldwide, and he has had the honor of playing alongside an array of wonderful musicians including Tatsuya Nakatani, Jeff Parker, Wu Fei, Moe! Staiano, Ron Miles, So Percussion, Scott Amendola, Greg Gizbert, Paul Riola, and Josh Berman.
Safa Shokrai is inspired by visual art, architecture, and movement. They inform the color and tone of his work. He has performed in a wide range of groups, ranging from punk-jazz (The Drift) to world music (Rupa & The April Fishes) to old-timey swing (Tin Cup Serenade). He has played bass since he was a preteen, and had the privilege to study with the great Ray Brown and San Francisco great Marcus Shelby.
Drummer and composer Britt Ciampa was born in Ohio, raised in the mountains of Colorado, and schooled in music under the tutelage of New York avant-garde jazz luminary Kevin Norton. Currently a resident of the San Francisco Bay Area, Ciampa is active in a myriad of creative music projects ranging from free-jazz to art rock to noise metal, and performs as a bandleader, collaborator, and sideman in groups such as Britt Ciampa Hugs You, The Sound Quartet, Goddess Aphonic, and The Classical.
M O R E
For video, audio, and more information about the featured performers, visit emtab.org/call-and-response-mar-20-2015/ .
Drinks for sale. Delicious complimentary refreshments.
All ages. $5-20, with almost all of the proceeds going directly to the artists. No one turned away for lack of funds. All ticket purchases over $10 receive a gift.