Bowerbird is pleased to present the NakedEye Ensemble performing a concert of music by Ben Nobuto.

PROGRAM

Lucid (2020) for piano and electronics
Tell Me Again (2022) for piano, electronics, and film
trio (for ivy house) (2024) for flute, cello, piano & electronics
Live at Leighton House (2023) for six players & electronics
Joy Replica (2022) for alto sax, bass clarinet and piano
Love Games (2023) for six players, electronics & video
Three Studies (2022) for percussion & electronics

ABOUT THE ARTISTS

Ben Nobuto (b.1996) is a British/Japanese composer and pianist from Kent, UK, with a distinctive style variously described as ‘postmodern’ (Nonclassical) and ‘utterly contemporary’ (Manchester Collective). His music celebrates the fragmentations from internet and pop cultures that disrupt (enrich?) our lives, the video games we play to escape (narrate?) ourselves. There is a naturalness in the chaos of quotations that exudes joy, playfulness, and a touch of irony that never devolves into judgement. “I try to make music that feels really transparent and clear in its intention because I like the idea that even very complex music can be accessible and enjoyable to anyone if it’s presented in the right way. I think that’s why I’m also drawn to things like brightness, joy, humour, playfulness and kitschy things – it gives the music a lightness and invites the listener in.” (Ben Nobuto, classical-music.uk)

At only 29 years old, Ben has created a significant body of work seductive in its story-telling and masterful in the way acoustic instruments, electronic sounds, and video work together. His Gen Z synthesized world of scattered internet pieces utilizes techniques that echo John Zorn (collage), Scott Johnson (phrase-painting), minimalism, but build to an experience that is uniquely Ben Nobuto. “A lot of my inspiration comes from trying to imagine these dreamlike scenarios where random things can coexist, like a virtual environment where you can place contradictory ideas side by side and somehow make them feel right. It feels a bit like how dreams work, in that you don’t question why surreal or impossible things happen until after you wake up, they just seem to make sense in that weird dream-logic way.” Ben graduated from the University of Cambridge in 2019, where he holds a Bmus and MPhil Distinction-award degree in Music. He was the recipient of the 2019 Bliss Prize for composition. Ben is currently working on recording and producing his first album of original works.

NakedEye is an electro-acoustic group with classical, rock, and jazz DNA on the forefront of cutting-edge and crossover music that defies conventional labels. Founded in 2013 and based out of Lancaster, PA, NakedEye has developed a fluid repertoire reflective of its DNA, commissioning projects, institutional and artistic collaborations, and its mission of musical exploration and innovation. NakedEye commissions work from young emerging composers such as Angélica Negrón, Molly Joyce, Florent Ghys, and Monica Pearce, as well as established composers such as Jerome Kitzke, Randall Woolf, and Zack Browning. NakedEye is also fortunate to count among its core members the multi-talented composers Richard Belcastro and Rusty Banks.

Three albums reflect the group’s stylistic diversity. “Storylines Crossing” (Starkland, 2018) explores the group’s blues and jazz expressions. This CD received Global Music Awards’ Best Debut Album and Best Ensemble Album of 2018. “Toy” (New Focus Recordings, 2019) takes the group’s focus on a miniaturist journey with original works featuring music for toy piano and toy instruments. “A Series of Indecipherable Glyphs” (New Focus Recordings, 2022) offers Zappa-inspired rock inflections and their unique virtuosic rendition of Sinister Footwear II.

In addition to its regular season concerts in the Northeast, NakedEye has been featured at New Music Gathering, Queens New Music Festival, The Chamber Music Society of St Louis, The DCCC New Music Series, Pikes Falls Chamber Music Festival, Tribeca New Music, as well as schools and universities in PA and DE.

NakedEye Ensemble is led by pianist Ju-Ping Song and is supported in part by The Russo Family Foundation, PA Council on the Arts, The Amphion Foundation, and New Music USA.