The Ascent of the International Contemporary Ensemble

From the Chicago Reader:

There are many groups devoted to contemporary classical music around the country, including Chicago-based ensembles like Eighth Blackbird, Third Coast Percussion, and Dal Niente. But ICE is more than simply a new-music ensemble. The group includes 33 members, and it’s routinely drawn upon loads of nonmembers so that it can accommodate any kind of work. The music ICE plays is usually eschewed by larger orchestras because it’s not widely known or because it’s deemed too challenging, but ICE has proven that there is indeed a real audience for avant-garde compositions, whether historical pieces by the likes of John Cage and Morton Feldman or new work by composers such as Philippe Manoury and John Luther Adams.

Related articles

• TCO Profile: Cory Smythe (anthonybraxton.wordpress.com)
• Tonight: Fay Victor Ensemble At University of the Streets (improvisedcommunications.com)