loadbang | about

group bio

New music chamber group loadbang, called "Exceedingly inventive" by Time Out New York, is building a new kind of music for mixed ensemble. Their unique lung-powered instrumentation (bass clarinet, trumpet, trombone, baritone voice) has provoked diverse responses from composers, resulting in a broad stylistic palette ranging from wordless microtonal meditations to broad political satire. In the past three years, they have premiered more than 40 works, including several written by members of the band, and a new arrangement by Pulitzer Prize-winning composer David Lang. They also perform works for indeterminate ensemble, including such New York School classics as Brown's December 1952 and Cage's Four6 and Song Books. Not content to dwell solely in the realm of notated music, loadbang is known for its searing and unpredictable improvisations, exploring the edges of instrumental and vocal timbre and technique, and blurring the line between composed and extemporaneous music. To this end, they have embarked on a project to record improvisations and works written by members of the band, designing fabricating and releasing hand-made copies in a limited edition. Recent performances include appearances at the Roger Smith Hotel on Talea Ensemble's iNSIDE Out series, a program of all premieres at Issue Project Room, and a performance of Cage's Song Books on the Avant Media Festival. The members of loadbang met as part of the first class of Manhattan School of Music's Contemporary Performance program. find loadbang on facebook, twitter, and myspace download loadbang's EPK

member bios

Alejandro T. Acierto is an active soloist, collaborative chamber musician, improviser, and composer whose innovative work in contemporary music and performance has led Time-Out New York to call him a “maverick" of new music. He is co-founder of New York-based ai ensemble and Chicago-based ensemble Dal Niente and also performs with Loadbang, and ThingNY. He has performed as a guest with International Contemporary Ensemble, MIVOS Quartet, Wet Ink Ensemble, and has worked alongside sopranos Tony Arnold and Lucy Shelton. Acierto has also played internationally in several festivals such as the Darmstadt Summer Course in Germany, the International Ensemble Modern Academy Festival in Schwatz, Austria and the Sonic Impact Festival in Chicago. As a composer, Acierto embraces an ambiguous aesthetic that integrates music, sound, performance art, and installation based on historical narratives and people’s stories. His works have been performed by the International Contemporary Ensemble, ThingNY, Loadbang, and the Student New Music Ensemble at DePaul. He recently won the Sidney and Mary Kleinman Prize in Composition for his work strangers in our own land and was granted a composers’ residency fellowship at the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts. Additionally, Acierto’s work has also recently been published by Trifecta Publishing in their premiere edition for art of various artistic mediums. Acierto holds a Masters’ degree in Contemporary Performance from Manhattan School of Music and received his Bachelors’ degree in clarinet performance and composition with a focus in Asian American Studies from DePaul University. His principal teachers include David Krakauer, John B. Yeh, Julie DeRoche, Wagner Campos and composers Reiko Fueting, Kurt Westerberg and Juan Campoverde. visit Alejandro's website

Jeffrey Gavett, baritone, is dedicated to the creation and presentation of new music as composer, performer and improviser. He has performed with a broad range of collaborators, ranging from the indie rock group Clogs to new music groups Ensemble de Sade, ICE, New Juilliard Ensemble, SEM Ensemble, Signal, Talea Ensemble, and Wet Ink Ensemble. His own mixed ensemble loadbang has premiered more than 25 new works in the past three years. In 2010 he founded the contemporary vocal ensemble Ekmeles. He has worked with composers Nick Didkovsky, Reiko Füting, Liza Lim, Somei Satoh, Steven Takasugi, David Lang, and Terry Riley, performing the music of the latter two at the 2008 Bang on a Can Summer festival, where he was a fellow.

Since his arrival in New York, Mr. Gavett has sung many premieres, including Somei Satoh's The Passion and Matt Marks's The Adventures of Albert Fish; US premieres of Liza Lim's Chang-O, Philip Maintz's Fluchtlinie, and Steven Takasugi's Strange Autumn; and works by Nils Vigeland and Susan Botti in a performance at Zankel Hall. Recently he performed at Merkin Hall with Signal, under the direction of Brad Lubman. In this performance he sang the US premiere of Harrison Birwistle's scena The Corridor and the premiere of Nico Muhly's Stabat Mater, and was praised for his "attractive" voice by the New York Times.

Mr. Gavett holds degrees from Westminster Choir College and Manhattan School of Music’s Contemporary Performance Program, where he studied with Lucy Shelton.

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Pittsburgh native Andy Kozar is a New York City based trumpeter, improviser, and composer. A strong advocate of contemporary music, he is a founding member of loadbang, a member of TILT Brass, and has performed with new music ensembles including Argento Chamber Ensemble, Talea, Signal, TACTUS, and Mark Gould’s Pink Baby Monster. He has performed alongside artists such as Dave Douglas, Todd Reynolds, Ken Thompson, Brad Lubman, David Cossen, and Caleb Burhans, worked closely with numerous composers including Helmut Lachenmann and Pulitzer Prize winning composer David Lang, and in the past two years, has had over twenty pieces written for him.

Equally well versed in the traditional repertoire, he was featured as a soloist with the Carnegie Mellon Baroque Orchestra, performed at Eastman School of Music’s ‘Rising Stars’ recital, is a member of New York City based orchestra Camerata Notturna, and in 2003, he served as principal trumpet of the Pittsburgh Opera Center Orchestra.

In addition to contemporary and traditional classical music, his versatility has also allowed him the opportunity to perform with the Grammy nominated Travis Sullivan’s Bjorkestra, the Dave Ravello Ensemble, and indie pop bands including the Generationals and Emanuel and the Fear. He has also performed on Broadway’s Mary Poppins.

His teachers include Anthony Pasquarelli, James Thompson, Brian McWhorter, Jens Lindemann, and Mark Gould. He has studied at Carnegie Mellon University, holds a BM from the Eastman School of Music, and a MM in contemporary performance from Manhattan School of Music, and, in addition to being a teaching artist for American Composer’s Orchestra, he is also on faculty at the Long Island Conservatory and the North Carolina Governor’s School for the Arts.

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Originally from Long Island, trombonist William Lang is an active performer, improviser, and teacher in New York City and Boston. He can be found playing in all setting and styles, from the avant-garde and classical to salsa and indie chamber pop. He has given unaccompanied trombone recitals throughout the United States, played concertos with large ensembles, and recorded with such artists as Philip Glass and Jónsi (of Sigur Rós.) Intensely passionate for chamber music, he regularly performs alongside his groundbreaking ensembles loadbang (an original and unique group of musicians interested in cutting edge music) and the Guidonian Hand (a trombone quartet dedicated to breaking boundaries within the brass community.) He is also a member of the Boston Microtonal Society, where he explores the definition of pitch and technique, working alongside like-minded composers.

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