Ghost Ensemble is a New York-based experimental new music ensemble composed of flute, oboe, accordion, percussion, harp, viola, cello, two contrabasses, and conductor. Frequently commissioning new repertoire that merges classically notated music and improvisation, the ensemble follows an aesthetic that has been described as "music composed for a deep listening that fixes you in the present"Wilhoite, Meg. 2018. "We Who Walk Again: CD Review" https://megsnewmusicblog.wordpress.com/2018/09/06/we-who-walk-again-cd-review Meg's New Music Blog. September 6, 2018. Web. 18 Jan. 2020. that "uses sound to seek an altered consciousness, from a meditative awareness to a look, perhaps, into a different dimension".Grella, George. 2014. "Ghost Ensemble Embodies the Spirit of Rugged Independence" https://newyorkclassicalreview.com/2014/05/ghost-ensemble-embodies-the-spirit-of-rugged-independence/ New York Classical Review. May 18, 2014. Web. 18 Jan. 2020. The ensemble is also closely connected to the music of Pauline Oliveros, who introduced several members of the ensemble before its inception.Joseph, Dan. May 14, 2014. "The Musical Ecologies Radio Hour: Ghost Ensemble" https://wavefarm.org/wf/archive/39vnf8 Wave Farm. May 14, 2014. Web. 18 Jan. 2020. The group frequently performs the work of Oliveros and advocates for her philosophy of

Deep Listening Pauline Oliveros (May 30, 1932 – November 24, 2016) was an American composer, accordionist and a central figure in the development of post-war experimental and electronic music. She was a founding member of the San Francisco Tape Music Center ...

.Wooley, Nate. 16 Nov 2013. "Ghost Ensemble on Deep Listening" http://soundamerican.org/sa_archive/sa7/sa7-ghost-ensemble-on-deep-listening.html Sound American 7. 16 Nov 2013. Web. 18 Jan. 2020.Meline, Gabe. 2018. "Ghost Ensemble and the 'Deep Listening' of Pauline Oliveros" https://www.kqed.org/arts/13831791/ghost-ensemble-and-the-deep-listening-of-pauline-oliveros KQED Arts & Culture. May 9, 2018. Web. 18 Jan. 2020.Carey, Christian. 24 Jun 2017. "Ghost Ensemble: We Who Walk Again (LP Review)" http://www.sequenza21.com/2018/06/ghost-ensemble-we-who-walk-again-lp-review/ Sequenza21. 24 Jun 2017. Web. 18 Jan. 2020. Ghost Ensemble's 2018 debut LP features work by Oliveros, ensemble director

Ben Richter Ben Richter (born 1986) is an American composer, accordionist, and director of Ghost Ensemble, an experimental chamber ensemble based in New York."Tides of the Wolf" http://imaginedtheatres.com/ben-richter/ Imagined Theatres. August 2019. Web. 1 ...

, and founding oboist

Sky Macklay Sky Macklay (born 1988) is an American composer of concert music and an oboist. She was winner of the Leo Kaplan Award (the top prize in the Morton Gould Young Composer Award of the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers) in 2013 an ...

; 2021 release '' Mountain Air'' features the Oliveros work of the same name and works by Marguerite Brown and Teodora Stepancic.Olewnick, Brian. 2018. "Ghost Ensemble - We Who Walk Again" https://olewnick.blogspot.com/2018/05/ghost-ensemble-we-who-walk-again.html Just Outside. May 27, 2018. Web. 18 Jan. 2020. Other composers commissioned by the ensemble include ensemble bassist

James Ilgenfritz James Ilgenfritz (born 1978) is an American composer, bassist, and multi-instrumentalist.Nastos, Michael. “James Ilgenfritz: Artist Biography” https://www.allmusic.com/artist/james-ilgenfritz-mn0002297215/biography Allmusic. Web. 18 Jan. 202 ...

, Liisa Hirsch, Elizabeth Adams, Kristina Wolfe, Andrew C. Smith, and Kyle Gann.Gann, Kyle. 11 May 2014. "Louder Sang that Ghost, “What Then?”" https://www.artsjournal.com/postclassic/2014/05/louder-sang-that-ghost-what-then.html Artsjournal: PostClassic. 11 May 2014. Web. 18 Jan. 2020. Performance collaborators have included

Carmina Escobar Carmina Escobar (born 1981) is an experimental vocalist, improviser, performance artist, multimedia artist, composer, and educator from Mexico City who lives and works in Los Angeles, California. Jeffrey Fleishman from the ''Los Angeles Times'' has ...

and

David Rothenberg David Rothenberg (born 1962) is a professor of philosophy and music at the New Jersey Institute of Technology, with a special interest in animal sounds as music. He is also a composer and jazz musician whose books and recordings reflect a lon ...

.SCV News. 13 Jun 2019. "CalArts Faculty to Perform in Apophenia Wolf Concert" https://scvnews.com/calarts-faculty-to-perform-in-apophenia-wolf-concert/ SCV News. 13 Jun 2019. Web. 18 Jan. 2020. Ghost Ensemble performs nationally at venues such as

REDCAT Roy and Edna Disney CalArts Theater (REDCAT) is an interdisciplinary contemporary arts center for innovative visual, performing and media arts in downtown Los Angeles, located inside the Walt Disney Concert Hall complex. Opened in November 2003 ...

in Los Angeles and Pioneer Works in New York.

Discography

*''Mountain Air'' - CD ( Indexical, September 2021) *''We Who Walk Again'' - LP ( Indexical, May 2018)Margasak, Peter. 21 Dec 2018. "The Best Contemporary Classical Albums of 2018" https://daily.bandcamp.com/best-of-2018/the-best-contemporary-classical-albums-of-2018 Bandcamp Daily. 21 Dec 2018. Web. 18 Jan. 2020. *''Lightbulb Ensemble & Ghost Ensemble Live at Pioneer Works'' ( Indexical, 2015)

References

{{Reflist

External links

Official web site

Ghost Ensemble page at Indexical site

Bandcamp Daily: The Best Contemporary Classical Albums of 2018
Contemporary classical music ensembles American instrumental musical groups Musical groups established in 2012 Musical groups from New York City 2012 establishments in New York City