undr quartet photo by Matt Samolis

undr quartet

James Coleman (theremin), Liz Tonne (voice), Vic Rawlings (cello, electronics) and Greg Kelley (trumpet)

Thursday, March 22, 2007

8pm

admission free; suggested donation $5-$10

Boston's undr quartet was formed in 1997 by James Coleman (theremin), Liz Tonne (voice), Vic Rawlings (cello, electronics) and Greg Kelley (trumpet). The group played it's first concert in January of 1998, prompting an intense review from one local improvising musician stating that the music made him want to throw a chair through a window. Though the author of this review was aware of the music of Cage and Feldman and the possibilities of extensive silence in improvisation, something about the group's intensive exploration of microscopic soundworlds got under his skin. The explorations continued, bringing the group to numerous stages including those of the Autumn Uprising Festival (The ICA, Boston MA), Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (Troy NY), the Shoebox Loft (home to many of their earliest and most intimate performances), a series of concerts at the Lindsay Chapel at the First Church of Cambridge, Brandeis University, and many local galleries and arts spaces.

The members of the undr quartet perform together in various guises including the large improvising ensemble the BSC (including performances of graphic scores by Cardew and Christian Wolff [performing with Wolff himself no less]), but their performances as a quartet have become rare birds indeed and all the more special.