invoke

By Dan Cook
Friday, June 6, 2014

Three years ago, former Free Times music editor Patrick Wall wrote an extensive story on Columbia, S.C., as "The Austin of Indie Classical" because of our city's burgeoning contemporary classical music scene.

Among the elements of that scene Wall mentioned: the award-winning Southern Exposure series at the University of South Carolina; new music concerts at Conundrum Music Hall in West Columbia; and the short-lived 21 Sounds new music series (which — full disclosure — this writer started).

For those unfamiliar with the term "contemporary classical," it is exactly as the name suggests — classically trained musicians playing recently composed music, (usually) on traditional orchestral instruments.

Well, last night at the Tapp's Arts Center, Columbia's status as a new music hub was strengthened and solidified as five contemporary classical ensembles performed for a crowded, enthusiastic First Thursday audience. Performing as part of the Savvy Musician in Action conference at USC, five groups performed: the Warp Trio, Ensemble 39, Duo Anova, invoke and The Fourth Wall.

All were innovative and talented ensembles — not quite at the world-class levels seen at the Southern Exposure series, but, in some cases, not far behind, either. All winners of the Savvy Musician in Action chamber competition (organized by USC's David Cutler), the groups were given their awards by Margaret Lioi, CEO of Chamber Music America.

The amplified Warp Trio offered violin, cello and electric piano — along with a drum kit. Musically, the group moved easily from modern classical idioms to piano-propelled jazz riffs and post-rock-style drone. Violinist Josh Henderson freely applied effects to his sound, at one point shredding through what was basically a metal guitar solo played on a violin. While the group could stand to fine tune its amplification — there are ways to be electrified without losing the warmth of natural strings — Warp Trio is a talented group that exemplifies the genre-obliterating direction of contemporary classical music.

Ensemble 39 is more of a "traditional" contemporary classical group, if there is such a thing. Although its instrumentation — clarinet, oboe, bass, cello, violin — isn't particularly common, it's basically a classical ensemble playing contemporary repertoire, and doing it extremely well. Children of the Fire, written by a friend of the group, Gabriella Smith, was especially moving, with a driving and intricately layered rhythm in the strings overlaid by melody in the clarinet and oboe.

After Ensemble 39, the concert moved from the back room in the upstairs of Tapp's to the downstairs bar, where cello-guitar group Duo Anova took the stage. Though it might seem unlikely that a cello-guitar duo could command the attention of a First Thursday audience with no chairs and beers in its hands, Duo Anova did exactly that. And, make no mistake, this was not an audience of hardcore classical enthusiasts — more an audience of the arts-curious.

Headlining the evening was the Fourth Wall Ensemble, winners of the Savvy Musician in Action chamber competition — the only such competition that includes innovation as a primary requirement. And Fourth Wall is innovative — primarily in its performance style rather than its music. The trio's show is basically a show — with audience interaction, dancing and physical comedy, in addition to 13 short pieces played in just 30 minutes — including not only classical works, but also an homage to pop hits from the 70s.

To this reviewer's mind, though, the show of the evening was the one immediately preceding Fourth Wall, by a group called invoke. On the surface, invoke is a traditional string quartet, with two violins, a viola and a cello. But the group dresses like an Americana rock band, plays original music in addition to other contemporary works and occasionally breaks out a banjo or mandolin that it seamlessly integrates into its classical framework. The highlight: Its reworking, with banjo, of a motet (sacred choral music) by 16th century composer Palestrina. If the goal was to make classical music relevant, it couldn't have proven the point any more clearly — and the crowd emphasized the point with its enthusiastic reception.

To but it bluntly — and this is only a slight exaggeration — last night, Columbia was the epicenter of the classical revolution. - - Columbia Free Times

I had a "Sunday Brunch" sneak preview of the new Ruut album, "Untold Stories" which hits the streets Friday. After hearing a single track I didn't hesitate to tell Ruut that I'm surprised not to see her skyrocketing up the pop charts.

Ruut came to Baltimore at age 16 by way of Northern Finland and as a little child drew appreciation for music from her nomadic missionary parents. Her emotional pop music is easy to identify with comparisons in style to Adele and Sarah McLachlan and a vocal tone I recognized from Aimee Mann.

Her new songs, while epic in scope, harbor a deep level of intimacy and reassurance. The new fan-funded album is buoyed by a versatile and musically adventurous, way more than classical string quartet called Invoke. I couldn't help but to think that Ruut, with the help of a big industry producer, could be a household name.

A few of her tunes have been featured in films, and one of the new songs, she said, is to accompany a short film. With a small family in her care, Ruut appears to be content to keep her music in the hands of mom and pop; free of financial, touring and deadline pressures. - Annapolis Capital Gazette