Open Music Ensemble

The Ensemble is an improvisational, spontaneous-music cooperative, designed to encourage musicians to allow the music they create to come through them rather than be made by them. Most of the notes, rhythms, and sounds in an Ensemble performance are intuitively created by the Ensemble members during the performance as they listen to each other and permit themselves to respond spontaneously to what they hear. By thus standing out of the way, the Ensemble's sounds and rhythms move to a deeper level and offer the listener a more profound musical experience. We call this way of performing "Open Music".

An Open Music Ensemble performance is not only improvised but it is often structured in advance specifically for the occasion or location. For example, when performing for a celebration of Losar, the Tibetan New Year, the Ensemble created and performed a piece inspired by three Tibetan melodies recorded in 1921 on the first Mount Everest expedition, and for the Rubin Museum of Art the Ensemble created and performed selections inspired by traditional North Indian ragas. To commemorate the events of September 11, 2001 we created sonic environments at Trinity Church and at the META Center to facilitate and support meditation and healing. We call this form of performance a "structured improv". The Ensemble very much welcomes opportunities to perform for such special events.

The Ensemble has recently begun to work with dancers and currently is considering collaborating as a music partner with several dance companies.

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