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Emily Beisel / Bill Harris solos
Thursday, May 11 @ 8:00 pm - 10:00 pm
$12 – $15
Emily Beisel – bass clarinet, amplifier
Bill Harris – drums/percussion, electronics
Emily Beisel is a Chicago based improvisor, curator and woodwind specialist. Beisel is known for her visceral bass clarinet performances combining extended instrumental techniques with heavy amplification and timbral effects. Her work is an intuitive recombination of fragments that range from noise and folk music, math-core, free jazz, contemporary classical and doom metal. Beisel is deeply committed to social change through curatorial practices. She runs the Pleiades Series which elevates women, trans and non-binary creative performers and includes a monthly improvisation workshop for femme and nonbinary musicians in the Chicago community. Beisel is a passionate advocate of new music and performs with the contemporary ensemble Fonema Consort premiering the works of living composers including James Dillon and Richard Barrett with recent performances in Sao Paulo, Brazil, NYC, and Chihuahua, Mexico. Beisel holds her Master of Music degree from Northwestern University and is a member of the American Federation of Musicians Local 10-208.
Bill Harris is a Chicago-based drummer and improviser working at the fringes of improvisation, noise, rock, folk, and bluegrass. His work has been presented at places ranging from centers for improvised and creative music such as Elastic Arts, Constellation, and ESS; to vital rock and indie clubs such as The Empty Bottle, The Hideout, Evanston Space, Beat Kitchen, and Spot Tavern; to concert halls and centers for the arts such as Lincoln Hall, Old Town School of Folk Music, Navy Pier, and The Chicago Museum Of Contemporary Art.
Some of his primary groups are Je’raf; an improvising trio with Jeff Kimmel and Ishmael Ali; Hearsay, with Allen Moore and Ishmael Ali; Joybird, with Jess McIntosh and Aaron Smith; and Errata, with Ishmael Ali and Eli Namay. Some of his most frequent collaborators include Ishmael Ali, Jake Wark, Carol Genetti, Emily Beisel, Allen Moore, Timothee Quost, Dave Rempis, Jess McIntosh, Jim Baker, PT Bell, Gerrit Hatcher, Eli Namay, Peter Maunu, Matt Piet, Brianna Tong, Wills McKenna, David Fletcher, Aaron Smith, Jeff Kimmel, Molly Jones, and Keefe Jackson.
