Ghost Ensemble is a New York-based experimental new music ensemble composed of flute, oboe, accordion, percussion, harp, viola, cello, two contrabasses, and a conductor. The ensemble frequently commissions new works that merge classically notated music and improvisation with experimental sound practices. They follow an aesthetic that has been described as "music composed for a deep listening that fixes you in the present,"Wilhoite, Meg. 2018. "We Who Walk Again: CD Review" https://megsnewmusicblog.wordpress.com/2018/09/06/we-who-walk-again-cd-review Meg's New Music Blog. September 6, 2018. Web. 18 Jan. 2020. that "uses sound to seek an altered consciousness, from a meditative awareness to a look, perhaps, into a different dimension".Grella, George. 2014. "Ghost Ensemble Embodies the Spirit of Rugged Independence" https://newyorkclassicalreview.com/2014/05/ghost-ensemble-embodies-the-spirit-of-rugged-independence/ New York Classical Review. May 18, 2014. Web. 18 Jan. 2020.
The ensemble is closely connected to the music of
Pauline Oliveros
Pauline Oliveros (May 30, 1932 – November 24, 2016) was an American composer, accordionist and a central figure in the development of post-war experimental and electronic music.
She was a founding member of the San Francisco Tape Music Center ...
, who introduced several members of the ensemble before its inception.Joseph, Dan. May 14, 2014. "The Musical Ecologies Radio Hour: Ghost Ensemble" https://wavefarm.org/wf/archive/39vnf8 Wave Farm. May 14, 2014. Web. 18 Jan. 2020.
The group frequently performs the work of Oliveros and advocates for her philosophy of
Deep Listening
Pauline Oliveros (May 30, 1932 – November 24, 2016) was an American composer, accordionist and a central figure in the development of post-war experimental and electronic music.
She was a founding member of the San Francisco Tape Music Center ...
.Wooley, Nate. 16 Nov 2013. "Ghost Ensemble on Deep Listening" http://soundamerican.org/sa_archive/sa7/sa7-ghost-ensemble-on-deep-listening.html Sound American 7. 16 Nov 2013. Web. 18 Jan. 2020.Meline, Gabe. 2018. "Ghost Ensemble and the 'Deep Listening' of Pauline Oliveros" https://www.kqed.org/arts/13831791/ghost-ensemble-and-the-deep-listening-of-pauline-oliveros KQED Arts & Culture. May 9, 2018. Web. 18 Jan. 2020.Carey, Christian. 24 Jun 2017. "Ghost Ensemble: We Who Walk Again (LP Review)" http://www.sequenza21.com/2018/06/ghost-ensemble-we-who-walk-again-lp-review/ Sequenza21. 24 Jun 2017. Web. 18 Jan. 2020. Ghost Ensemble's 2018 debut LP features work by Oliveros, ensemble director Ben Richter, and founding oboist Sky Macklay. The 2021 release '' Mountain Air'' features the Oliveros work of the same name and works by Marguerite Brown and Teodora Stepancic.Olewnick, Brian. 2018. "Ghost Ensemble - We Who Walk Again" https://olewnick.blogspot.com/2018/05/ghost-ensemble-we-who-walk-again.html Just Outside. May 27, 2018. Web. 18 Jan. 2020. Other composers commissioned by the ensemble include
Catherine Lamb
Catherine Lamb (born 1982 in Olympia, Washington) is an American composer and violist, and a winner of the 2020 Ernst von Siemens Composer Prize.
Career
Lamb describes her music as exploring "the interaction of tone, summations of shapes and shad ...
,
Miya Masaoka
Miya Masaoka (born 1958, Washington, D.C.) is an American composer, musician, and sound artist active in the field of contemporary classical music and experimental music. Her work encompasses contemporary classical composition, improvisation, ele ...
, ensemble bassist James Ilgenfritz, Liisa Hirsch, Elizabeth Adams, Kristina Wolfe, Andrew C. Smith, and
Kyle Gann
Kyle Eugene Gann (born November 21, 1955, in Dallas, Texas) is an American composer, professor of music, critic, analyst, and musicologist who has worked primarily in the New York City area. As a music critic for ''The Village Voice'' (from 1986 ...
.Gann, Kyle. 11 May 2014. "Louder Sang that Ghost, “What Then?”" https://www.artsjournal.com/postclassic/2014/05/louder-sang-that-ghost-what-then.html Artsjournal: PostClassic. 11 May 2014. Web. 18 Jan. 2020. Performance collaborators have included Carmina Escobar and
David Rothenberg
David Rothenberg (born 1962) is a professor of philosophy and music at the New Jersey Institute of Technology, with a special interest in animal sounds as music. He is also a composer and jazz musician whose books and recordings reflect a long ...
.SCV News. 13 Jun 2019. "CalArts Faculty to Perform in Apophenia Wolf Concert" https://scvnews.com/calarts-faculty-to-perform-in-apophenia-wolf-concert/ SCV News. 13 Jun 2019. Web. 18 Jan. 2020. Ghost Ensemble has performed nationally at venues such as
REDCAT
Roy and Edna Disney CalArts Theater (REDCAT) is an interdisciplinary contemporary arts center for innovative visual, performing and media arts in downtown Los Angeles, California, located inside the Walt Disney Concert Hall complex. Named for ...
in Los Angeles and
Pioneer Works
Pioneer Works is a Nonprofit organization, nonprofit cultural arts center in the Red Hook, Brooklyn, Red Hook neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York City that was founded by artist Dustin Yellin in 2012. Pioneer Works includes a large exhibition spac ...
in New York.
Discography
*''interius/exterius'' - LP (greyfade, May 2025), with
Catherine Lamb
Catherine Lamb (born 1982 in Olympia, Washington) is an American composer and violist, and a winner of the 2020 Ernst von Siemens Composer Prize.
Career
Lamb describes her music as exploring "the interaction of tone, summations of shapes and shad ...
*''Rewild'' - CD (
New World Records
New World Records is a record label that was established in 1975 through a Rockefeller Foundation grant to celebrate America's bicentennial (1976) by producing a 100-LP anthology, with American music from many genres.Ben Richter
*''Mountain Air'' - CD (
Indexical
In semiotics, linguistics, anthropology, and philosophy of language, indexicality is the phenomenon of a '' sign'' pointing to (or ''indexing'') some element in the context in which it occurs. A sign that signifies indexically is called an index o ...
, September 2021), works by
Pauline Oliveros
Pauline Oliveros (May 30, 1932 – November 24, 2016) was an American composer, accordionist and a central figure in the development of post-war experimental and electronic music.
She was a founding member of the San Francisco Tape Music Center ...
,
Teodora Stepančić
Teodora () is a feminine given name, a variation of the name Theodora.
Notable people with the name include:
* Teodora Sava (born 2001), Romanian singer
*Teodora Albon (born 1977), Romanian football referee
* Teodora Ginés, (1530–1598), Domin ...
Indexical
In semiotics, linguistics, anthropology, and philosophy of language, indexicality is the phenomenon of a '' sign'' pointing to (or ''indexing'') some element in the context in which it occurs. A sign that signifies indexically is called an index o ...
Pauline Oliveros
Pauline Oliveros (May 30, 1932 – November 24, 2016) was an American composer, accordionist and a central figure in the development of post-war experimental and electronic music.
She was a founding member of the San Francisco Tape Music Center ...
, Ben RichterMargasak, Peter. 21 Dec 2018. "The Best Contemporary Classical Albums of 2018" https://daily.bandcamp.com/best-of-2018/the-best-contemporary-classical-albums-of-2018 Bandcamp Daily. 21 Dec 2018. Web. 18 Jan. 2020.
*''Lightbulb Ensemble & Ghost Ensemble Live at Pioneer Works'' (
Indexical
In semiotics, linguistics, anthropology, and philosophy of language, indexicality is the phenomenon of a '' sign'' pointing to (or ''indexing'') some element in the context in which it occurs. A sign that signifies indexically is called an index o ...