Vox Arcana Leads off 2012-2013 Sonic Frontiers Concert Series at UA

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — The trio Vox Arcana will open the 2012-2013 Sonic Frontiers season at The University of Alabama.

The concert, which is free and open to the public, will be at 7:30 p.m. Friday, Sept. 28, in the Moody Music Building recital hall on the UA campus.

Sonic Frontiers encompasses genre-defying concerts featuring musicians from Chicago, New York City, Germany, the Czech Republic and Alabama.

The sponsors of the series are New College, The College of Arts and Sciences, the School of Music and Creative Campus.

For more information, phone 205/348-9928 or visit creativecampus.ua.edu/project/sonic-frontiers.

Vox Arcana, based in Chicago, is led by percussionist/composer Tim Daisy and features James Falzone on clarinet and Fred Lonberg-Holm on cello and electronics. These internationally-acclaimed musicians have worked with a range of artists, including American minimalist composer Morton Feldman, Chicago avant-garde jazz musician Ken Vandermark, and the alt-rock band Wilco.

The group’s off-kilter instrumentation contrasts soaring, lyrical clarinet melodies with pleasantly burbling marimba figures and spiky electronic textures. The result is a lilting, gently swinging combination of contemporary chamber music and improvised music.

The group’s 2010 release, “Aerial Age,” was called “smartly conceived and perfectly executed” by the Chicago Jazz Music Examiner. The trio is touring in support of their third release, “Soft Focus.”

In addition to Vox Arcana, the concert series will include Ullman/Swell Quartet featuring German saxophonist Gebhard Ullman at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 17, in Moody Recital Hall. That concert also is free and open to the public.

In 2013, the series will offer George Cremaschi, bassist and composer visiting from the Czech Republic, in January; Raudelunas, the revival of a 1970s Tuscaloosa intermedia arts collective, in February; banjoist/composer Holland Hopson and percussionist/composer Justin Peake in March; and the UA Percussion Ensemble performing a work by New York-based composer Aaron Siegel in April.

Sonic Frontiers began in 2012 under the direction of series founder and artistic director Dr. Andrew Raffo Dewar, a composer, musician and assistant professor in New College and the School of Music.

Under the auspices of UA’s Office of Academic Affairs, Creative Campus is a collaborative system connecting students, faculty and community to nurture innovative thinkers who turn ideas into action. Creative Campus seeks to serve as a hub of collaboration and creative activity at The University of Alabama. At the heart of Creative Campus is the undergraduate and graduate intern program. For more information on Creative Campus visit http://www.creativecampus.ua.edu.

New College and the School of Music are part of UA’s College of Arts and Sciences, the University’s largest division and the largest liberal arts college in the state. Students from the College have won numerous national awards including Rhodes Scholarships, Goldwater Scholarships and memberships on the USA Today Academic All American Team.