DISCOVERY
25 April, 2024 | DePaul University | Brennan Recital Hall
What is Discovery?
DISCOVERY is ~Nois’ season closing concert where we get to bring back music or experiences we’ve discovered throughout the year.
This year, our discoveries include Augusta Read Thomas’ newest saxophone quartet, our incredible new Administrative Assistant Intern Natalia Warthen and her SiP Duo, a music video for our next album, and this year’s world premieres from our Creative Fellows!
Concert Program
Eternal Present (2023)
I. Now
by Shelley Washington
For saxophone quartet. Commissioned by ~Nois as part of “Kinds of ~Nois”.
“A moment of stillness, reflection, and the feeling of being eternally present in the moment.”
Shakespeare’s Jesters (2023)
by Augusta Read Thomas
For saxophone quartet. Commissioned by ~Nois by generous support from an anonymous donor. 9 minutes.
"Jester or Gesture? Both? You decide”
Battle Theme for ~Nois (2024)
by Ezra Weisz
For Saxophone Quartet.
Commissioned as part of ~Nois’ 2024 Young Creators Fellowship. 3 minutes.
Of a Hazy Pastorale (2024)
by Fabrizio Milcent
For Saxophone Quartet.
Commissioned as part of ~Nois’ 2024 Young Creators Fellowship. 13 minutes.
A Whale’s Cry (2022)
by Minoo Dixon
For two alto saxophones. Commissioned by SiP Duo. 7 minutes.
"A Whale's Cry is a cautionary tale that paints an auditory portrait of our failures, loss, nostalgia, and hope, illuminating the realistic future that is instore for our inactions."
…can you see me? (2024)
by Daijana Wallace
For Baritone Saxophone, Alto Saxophone, and looper pedal. Commissioned by SiP Duo. 7 minutes.
"This piece should feel incredibly and gentle, at times closed off, and at times teeming with a sense of urgency and yearning."
Sun Thrower
(2022)
by Darian Donovan Thomas
VIDEO by Four/Ten Media
For saxophone quartet, electronics. Commissioned by ~Nois. 10 minutes.
“I trust you’ve experienced a fit of dancing or that one memorable party we all seem to have had, and remember how music operated in that space. How it felt to radiate.”
The Performers
~Nois
Take your preconceived notions of ‘noise’ and toss them out the window. Equal parts “fiendishly good and fiendishly goofy” (Chicago Tribune), ~Nois is a Chicago-based saxophone quartet dedicated to connecting with diverse audiences through the creation of new work. Since its founding in 2016, “~Nois continues to legitimize the saxophone quartet as a premiere ensemble formation for classical music” (Brutal New Music) through commissioning today's most inspiring compositional voices.
Hailed as “technically superb and musically brilliant” (Cleveland Classical) ~Nois has been awarded top prizes at prestigious chamber music competitions including the M-Prize International Arts Competition, the Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition.
SiP Duo (Guest Artists)
Nice to see you here! We are Jacob Nance and Natalia Warthen, but you can call us SiP, or Saxophone in Progress. We’re a newly established saxophone duo that founded in summer 2022 at Michigan State University—Go Green! This unique ensemble took shape through long walks to and from the Panera on campus, fueled purely by their Charged Lemonade, stories of Jacob’s hometown (spoiler alert: Lubbock is flat), and Natalia’s vivid descriptions of the trials and tribulations of the Twilight franchise.
We learned so much in these summer walks, but also stumbled upon a common passion for diversifying and expanding saxophone repertoire. With this in mind, the idea of SiP took root: A saxophone duo that centers itself in enriching and broadening saxophone music for players of all ages. Above all, we want to uplift voices that haven’t traditionally been featured in the classical music canon.
Four/Ten Media (Videographers)
FOUR/TEN MEDIA is a production company born from the partnership between filmmakers/percussionists Kevin Eikenberg and Evan Chapman. Kevin and Evan's unique background as classically trained percussionists has allowed the duo to create fresh and musically authentic visual representations of works in the contemporary classical and pop worlds. Their work has been featured by major press outlets including The New York Times, Alternative Press, NPR, Mental Floss, Paste Magazine, Q2 Music, and I Care if You Listen, among others.
Jerron Herman (Choreographer/Dancer)
Jerron Herman is a dancer and writer who is compelled to create images of freedom. His process is supported by personal histories and social legacies of disability aesthetics that undermine notions of production in favor of welcoming. The nuanced pieces Jerron exhibits contend with an early childhood desire to create many worlds in which others inhabit.
Jerron has served on the Board of Trustees at Dance/USA since 2017, most recently as Vice Chair. He’s been a Selection Committee member for the NY Performing Arts “Bessie’s” Awards and also served on panels for NYSCA, Dance/NYC, The Lark, Eyebeam, and Mid-Atlantic Arts Foundation.
The 2024 ~NOis Creative Fellows
Ezra Weisz
Ezra Weisz is a freshman in the electroacoustic music program at Senn High School in Chicago, where he plays bass guitar in his band, The Damons. Ezra has studied piano since second grade, and got his start as a composer through the film scoring program at Access Contemporary Music in 6th grade. Ezra plans to become a video game music composer.
Fabrizio Milcent
Fabrizio Milcent, 18, is a musician studying at The Chicago High School for the Arts, a performing arts high school. Fabrizio grew up in Little Village, a small neighborhood on the west side of Chicago. He began studying the bassoon at the Maria Saucedo Scholastic Academy in 2016.
He is currently a student of Bill Buchman, whom he studies with through the assistance of the Chicago Musical Pathways Initiative (CMPI), a training program for young musicians who wish to pursue music professionally. Fabrizio is also a member of the Chicago Youth Symphony Orchestra, where he has been performing with the CYSO Symphony Orchestra, the CORE Orchestra, and the Ambassadors woodwind quintet for two years.
Aside from performance on the bassoon, composition is a large part of Fabrizio's musical journey. He began experimenting with composition in 2021, having his first piece performed by students at the Kinhaven Summer Camp. Since then, he has continued to write and learn more about music composition. Notably, he has worked with Chicago, From Scratch, and collaborated with the NOIS Saxophone as a part of their Young Creators Fellowship.
What is the Young Creators Fellowship?
~Nois’ Young Creators Fellowship is an opportunity for talented and creative high-school aged students to create a new collaborative work with ~Nois. The two selected Fellows get private creative lessons with our mentor Joey Meland and participate in two in-person collaborative workshops with ~Nois. Winners each receive a $500 cash prize and a professional video recording of their piece.
Who helped make this all possible?
~Nois’ Chicago Season: the CURIOSITY & DISCOVERY Series is made possible by the supporters of the ~Nois General Support Fund.
The commissions of Sun Thrower by Darian Donovan Thomas are made possible by the supporters of the ~Nois New Works Fund.
Shakespeare’s Jesters by Augusta Read Thomas was made possible through the generous donation of an anonymous donor.
The video production of Sun Thrower by Four|Ten Media was made possible through the Alice M. Ditson Recording Fund.
~Nois’s 2024 Young Creators Fellowship was made possible by the support from Alice M. Ditson Fund, The Aaron Copland Fund for Music, and the ~Nois Young Creators Fund.
Next Chicago
Season Show
Sunday, October 27th | 8:30pm at Constellation Chicago
2024/25 Season Kicks off with
CURIOSITY VII
Music by Chicago artists & World Premieres by Alex Temple, Hans Thomalla, and Darlene Castro.