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Catherine Lee
Considered a “new breed of instrumental specialist,” (New Music Buff) Dr. Catherine Lee offers “immaculate, masterful oboe playing” (The Double Reed) in combination with inspired and discerning musicality across an impressive range of genres and styles. In addition to her classical, contemporary, interdisciplinary collaborations, and free improvisation performance, Lee regularly commissions evocative new music that showcases her “deep understanding of the expressive possibilities of her instruments in both traditional and extended techniques.” (New Music Buff) Lee also creates music, textile, video and photography pieces inspired by, and in collaboration with Bombyx mori, the domesticated silkmoth, creatively illuminating the life stages and silk cocoons of these amazing creatures.
With a Juno Award nomination for Classical Album of the Year (solo artist), Lee’s second solo album, Remote Together (2021 – Redshift), received unanimously positive reviews from an international array of media. A musical exploration of metamorphosis, Remote Together takes the listener on a compelling, evolutionary journey responsive to pandemic culture. Lee’s first solo album, social sounds (2013, Teal Creek Music) featured works by Canadian composers and also received wide acclaim, being “a CD as compelling as it is eminently listenable.” (The WholeNote) A founding member of the Lee+Hannafin Duo alongside Matt Hannafin, Lee is also part of the Re:Soundings trio which performed Roscoe Mitchell’s seminal work Nonaah at the Park Ave Armory (NYC, 2019) and whose recording of the piece is available on “Roscoe Mitchell and Ostravaska Banda” (WideHive Records, 2020). A former member of Orchestre Symphonique de Longueuil, Catherine has also appeared with the Oregon Symphony, Oregon Ballet Theatre Orchestra, Portland Opera Orchestra, Les Grands Ballets Canadiens de Montréal among others. A well known researcher and dedicated teacher, Lee is on faculty at Willamette University and holds a Doctor of Music in Oboe Performance from McGill University (Montreal, Quebec), and certification from the Deep Listening Institute (New York).
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Roscoe Mitchell with Ostravska Banda: Distant Radio Transmission
by Alberto Bazzurro
Decisamente prolifico, in anni recenti, Roscoe Mitchell, e non ce ne rallegreremo mai abbastanza. Certo, con lui c'è sempre il rischio del prodotto non perfettamente a fuoco, centrato, in poche parole all'altezza del suo grande talento (e ormai, varcata la soglia degli ottanta, acclarato magistero, e da un po'), ma per fortuna non è questo il caso: in questo lavoro con la Ostravska Banda così felicemente articolato è in qualche modo raccolto, quintessenziato, il succo del suo sapere (e ardire) ...
Continue ReadingRoscoe Mitchell with Ostravska Banda: Distant Radio Transmission
by Mark Corroto
Sometimes music makes you want to become a better dancer, or maybe even a better lover. With Roscoe Mitchell's music, you can't help but aspire to be a better listener. The co-founder of the Art Ensemble of Chicago and the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians creates sounds that transcend jazz, new classical, and avant-garde musics. With Distant Radio Transmission he presents music that he previously recorded (solo or in small improvising groups) and reworked for a 33-piece orchestra, ...
Continue ReadingRoscoe Mitchell with Ostravska Banda: Distant Radio Transmission
by Karl Ackermann
Roscoe Mitchell, a co-founder of the AACM and Art Ensemble of Chicago, continues to discover new intersections of jazz, classical and avant-garde music with Distant Radio Transmission. As he approaches eighty years of age Mitchell has waved off time and tradition, reinventing the AEoC brand with the orchestrated--sometimes operatic--We Are on the Edge: A 50th Anniversary Celebration (Pi Recordings, 2019), a project that bore little resemblance to the group's historical discography. On this album, he draws on past compositions to ...
Continue Readingn a “mission to lead her tribe of double reeds to a new vision appropriate to the new century. Brava! Long live Catherine’s Oboe.” – New Music Buff, 2021
“the inherent beauty of her instruments’ timbres are maximized by the musicality she brings to even the most experimental setting. Her instruments allow for such natural human expression they can’t help but engage no matter how abstract” – Textura, 2021
“Lee showcases her beautiful dark tone on all three instruments and her mastery of 20th-century techniques… a direct reflection of current society” – The Whole Note, 2021
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Recordings: As Leader | As Sideperson
