2021-2022 Concert Season
February 18-22: The Parish School Residency - Houston, TX
What Is Noise presents a virtual and in-person educational residency to The Parish School in Houston, TX. In conjunction with their curriculum, WIN will explore traditions of Mardi Gras with the students. The residency, will culminate in an original soundtrack with artwork on display for families to enjoy, as well as a live Mardi Gras parade!
February 21-22: The University of Houston - Houston, TX
What Is Noise will be in residency at the Moores School of Music at the University of Houston. The residency will include a reading session of works by student composers, featuring new works by Miles Bi, Antonio Sanz Escallon, Alex Perez, Benjamin Petree and Alex Staten.
We will also present a recital of works by George Crumb, Jennifer Jolley, Daniel Whitworth, Roger Zare and MSM faculty member Rob Smith. For more information please visit: A.I Lack Series Recital Calendar
2020-2021 Concert Season
November 30 - December 4, 2020: The Parish School Residency - Houston, TX
What Is Noise presented a virtual educational residency to The Parish School in Houston, TX. Primary students took a virtual field trip to explore holidays and traditions around the world with What Is Noise. The residency, entitled RING! A Primary Interactive Arts Collaboration! culminated in an original soundtrack and artwork that was on display for families to enjoy.
December 4, 2020: Resonance Works Chamber Series - Pittsburgh, PA
“In An Expanding Universe” is a sextet’s answer to the question: is our world now smaller or bigger? As we all stay home during the COVID-19 pandemic, we can no longer make music with those outside our own households, but we can explore music and ideas with people and cultures around the world and look out into the galaxy for a sense of meaning and wonder.
Featuring solo and chamber works by composers from Cuba, Poland, Syria, and Australia, composers of Japanese, Chinese, and Korean descent, and works inspired by Armenia and the stars and galaxies, “In An Expanding Universe” presents global musical perspectives in honor of Resonance Works’ commitment to equity by sharing music by creators of multiple genders, races, nationalities, and sexual orientations.
The recital, which premiered on December 4th, is still available for viewing. Click here to purchase tickets!
May 3 - 7, 2021: The Parish School Residency - Houston, TX
To follow up with our first residency back in December, What Is Noise will be working with the upper classes on a unit featuring the sounds and traditions of Japan. The program, RING! A Secondary Interactive Arts Collaboration! will culminate in an original soundtrack and artwork to be on display for families to enjoy through a drive-through exhibit.
2018-2019 Concert Season
November 19-20, 2018: Virginia Area Residency - Rockbridge County and Buena Vista City Schools
What Is Noise will present educational residencies to Rockbridge County and Buena Vista City Schools in Virginia. Collaborating with music directors Ms. Shannon Light and Mrs. Jennifer Matthias, the ensemble will introduce the children to new music through the performance of works by living composers. The goal of this residency is to introduce them to new styles and genres of music as well as to different styles of music making. Each member of the ensemble has a unique background and we hope to share that with the children we will be working with.
March 23, 2019: CD Release Concert - Brambleton, VA
March 25-27, 2019: Montgomery County Residency - Albert Einstein High School
What Is Noise will present an educational residency program at Albert Einstein High School in Kensington, MD. This collaboration with Instrumental Music Director Mr. Brendan Kelly has developed throughout the past few years. The program, entitled “Music: A Home Away From Home.” will feature works written by living composers that are representative of their home. Many of us have transplanted to new places and find that our ‘home’ is always a part of us, even as we establish ourselves somewhere new. At the same time, a new place can become home. The pieces we have selected for this program present that dichotomy through music.
This residency is supported in part by funding from the Montgomery County government and the Arts and Humanities Council of Montgomery County.
2017-2018 Concert Season
March 14-21, 2018: Berklee College of Music - Eleanor Aversa and the Mother Jones Memorial
March 15, 2018 at 7pm Oliver Colvin Hall
March 16, 2018 at 7:30pm Irish Cultural Center
March 19, 2018 at 12pm Boston Arts Academy
What Is Noise collaborates with Berklee composer Eleanor Aversa to perform Aversa's Victory at Arnot.
The story of the piece celebrates the courage to battle injustice, the value of teamwork, and the joy of finding creative solutions to seemingly intractable problems. In 1899, Mary "Mother" Jones came to a small Pennsylvania mining town to help with a strike for safer working conditions and a living wage. She insisted that resistance remain peaceful despite the illegal tactics used by the coal corporation. Then she organized an army of women, telling them to arm themselves with their mops and dishpans. “I abhor violence,” she said. “I favor drama…” The story also features union president William Wilson, an immigrant who had worked in the mines since he was eight years old. He later became our country’s first Secretary of Labor.
February 4, 2018: Constellation Concert Series with the University of Alabama in Huntsville
What Is Noise featured as part of the innovative Constellation Concert Series at the University of Alabama in Huntsville. The ensemble shares a stimulating program of contemporary classical music by living composers to better connect audiences with the chamber music of our time.
May 24 - June 3, 2017: Recording studio album at Overneath Creative Collective in Kalamazoo, MI
What Is Noise records David T. Little's descanso (waiting); Lansing McLoskey's Requiem, v. 2.001; Steven Stucky's Ad Parnassum; and Joshua Burel's Roanoke. Anticipating winter album release.
2016-2017 Concert Season
Kalamazoo, MI: March 29-30, 2017
The Best Thing Ever with West Michigan composer Adam Schumaker features What Is Noise and soprano Jessica Louise Coe in a setting of poetry by Laura Theobald and the predictive text software on her iPhone.
For more information about the composer visit: https://adamschumaker.wordpress.com
Boston, MA:
Friday, October 7, 2016 at 8pm
Longy School of Music of Bard College
27 Garden St.
Cambridge, MA
Saturday, October 8, 2016 at 2pm
The Space
128 Brookside Ave.
Jamaica Plain, MA
Saturday, October 8, 2016 at 7pm
Educational and Community Center
32 Harvard St.
Brookline, MA
2015-2016 Concert Season
Michigan Tour 2016:
Residency Programs:
March 7, 2016: Hope College - Music Theory Lecture
March 8, 2016: Grandville Public Schools - Educational Residency Programs
March 9, 2016: Jenison Public Schools - Educational Residency Programs
March 10, 2016: West Ottawa Public Schools - Educational Residency Programs
Concerts:
March 9, 2016: 7:30 pm in John and Dede Howard Recital Hall at Hope College; Holland, MI
St. Louis 2016:
March 5, 2016: Featured guest artist for Young Composers Competition through the Community Music School at Webster University with featured guest composer Lansing McLoskey; St. Louis, MO
3:00 PM on Saturday, March 5 at Community Music School Auditorium at Webster University
2014-2015 Concert Season
June 14-28, 2015: Ensemble-in-residence at Taneycomo Festival Orchestra; Branson, MO
7:30 PM on Monday, June 15 at Vintage Paris Cafe through the White River Art Alliance
7:30 PM on Monday, June 22 at Branson Art Walk
June 11, 2015: Concert
7:30 PM at the University of Missouri; Columbia, MO
January 29-31, 2015: Festival of New Music Performance
Festival of New Music at Florida State University; Tallahassee, FL
June 14-28, 2015: Ensemble-in-residence at Taneycomo Festival Orchestra; Branson, MO
7:30 PM on Monday, June 15 at Vintage Paris Cafe through the White River Art Alliance
7:30 PM on Monday, June 22 at Branson Art Walk
2013-2014 Concert Season
Performed by What Is Noise founding members:
Sarah Jane Young (flute); Lisa Kachouee (clarinet); Tommy Dobbs (percussion); Cholong Park (piano); Joshua Burel (violin); Justin Page (cello); Jamie Wind Whitmarsh (percussion/conductor)
May 5, 2014
8:00pm - Carnegie Hall (Weill Recital Hall); New York, NY
Performed: “American Stories” Program
Andy Akiho to wALk Or ruN in wEst harlem
Tania León Tumbao
Edward Knight Raven
David T. Little descanso (waiting
Katherine Hoover Kokopeli, op. 43
Joshua Burel Roanoke
Ellen Taaffe Zwilich Divertimento
Jennifer Higdon Zaka
May 2, 2014
5:30pm - George Mason University Fairfax, VA
Performed: “American Stories” Program
May 1, 2014
7:30pm - University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (Person Recital Hall)
Performed: “American Stories” Program
April 29, 2014
6:30pm - University of North Carolina at Asheville
Performed: “American Stories” Program
April 28, 2014
7:00pm - Furman University; Greenville, SC
Performed: “American Stories” Program
February 23, 2014
8:00pm - The Florida State University (Opperman Hall); Tallahassee, FL
Performed: “American Stories” Program
February 18, 2014
6:30pm - The Florida State University (Cawthon Hall); Tallahassee, FL
Colloquium Presentation & Performance: press kits, rehearsal techniques, and composer collaborations
Performed: Andy Akiho to wALk Or ruN in wEst harlem
February 10, 2014
2:30pm - The Florida State University (Westcott 060); Tallahassee, FL
Masterclass performance with eighth blackbird
Performed: Joshua Burel Roanoke
February 4, 2014
2:30pm - The Florida State University (Westcott 060); Tallahassee, FL
Masterclass performance with the Penderecki String Quartet
Performed: Joshua Burel Roanoke
December 2, 2013
8:00pm - The Florida State University (Opperman Hall); Tallahassee, FL
New Music Ensemble Concert
Performed: Joshua Burel Roanoke
Andy Akiho to wALk Or ruN in wEst harlem
November 20, 2013
8:00pm - The Florida State University (Lindsay Recital Hall); Tallahassee, FL
Performed: Katherine Hoover Kokopeli, op. 43
November 17, 2013
8:00pm - The Florida State University (Longmire Recital Hall); Tallahassee, FL
Flute Gala Recital
Performed: Ellen Taaffe Zwilich Divertimento