Ensemble in Process: Surrealist Dreamscapes | Arts + Literature Laboratory | Madison Contemporary Arts Center

Ensemble in Process: Surrealist Dreamscapes

Don't miss the Ensemble in Process: Surrealist Dreamscapes + Album Release Concerts featuring Cole Bartels and Brian Mark at Arts + Literature Laboratory on Sunday, May 8, 2022 at 1:00 and 4:00pm. Tickets $12 ($8 students/members) in advance online at https://dreamscapes.bpt.me until 2 hours before the show, and $15 at the door (doors open 30 min. before each performance).

Hailed for having “a fluid approach to presenting new music in fresh contexts and juxtapositions,” (The New Yorker), composer and pianist Brian Mark’s imaginative Ensemble in Process… concert series presents contemporary music at the intersection of film, electronics, visual art, spoken word, and dance. Surrealist Dreamscapes explores the ethereal, atmospheric, and expansive aspects of acoustic music, blended seamlessly with dreamy electronic soundscapes and stunning video installations.

Trombonist Cole Bartels, joined by the members of the Beltline Bones, will premiere two new works by Brian Mark at this event. One of those works, funded in part by a grant from the UW Division of the Arts, titled “You may say I’m a Dreamer” for solo trombone, digital delay processing, and fixed media, will utilize snippets of recorded interviews and musical quotations from iconic Beatles songs as source material, focusing on the late John Lennon's political engagements, peace activism, and fight for civil rights.

This concert will also feature works written by Eve Beglarian, Missy Mazzoli, Pauline Oliveros, David Lang, Michael Gordon, Erik Satie, and Yann Tiersen. Additionally, this concert is presented as a celebration of the public release (in late April 2022) of Cole Bartels’ debut solo album On the Brink.

Cole Bartels with Trombone

A native of Moorhead, MN, and winner of the 2021 American Prize Ernst Bacon Award, trombonist Cole Bartels is currently based in the Madison, WI area. He is the Instructor of Low Brass at Concordia University Wisconsin, and is a freelance performer and educator around the Midwest. Wearing many musical hats, he can be heard performing with ensembles such as the Madison Symphony Orchestra, the Latin Pride Orquesta, Ensemble Present, and in various churches, musical theatre productions, chamber ensembles, and other settings around the Midwest. Bartels will graduate from the University of Wisconsin, Madison in May 2022 with a Doctor of Musical Arts degree in trombone, and a minor in jazz studies. He also holds degrees and certifications from the University of Tennessee – Knoxville, and Concordia College (Moorhead, MN). His previous teachers include Mark Hetzler, Dr. Alex van Duuren, Dr. Nat Dickey, and Dr. Ed Huttlin. Cole has participated in master classes with renowned trombonists... Read More

Brian Mark by Huner Willis

NY based composer, pianist and video artist Brian Mark has been hailed as an “attractive and intelligible” artist (Boston Musical Intelligencer), whose work is “compelling” (London Jazz News), and "preserves the vibrancy and relevance of contemporary art music" (New York Examiner). In addition, his concert programming has been described as “a fluid approach to presenting new music in fresh contexts and juxtapositions” (The New Yorker).  Brian’s music have been performed by many notable ensembles, such as the BBC Singers, Psappha Ensemble, Chelsea Symphony, Ensemble Signal, Atlas Ensemble, Astoria Music Project, Choral Chameleon, both the Ligeti and Esterhazy String Quartets, Juventas Ensemble, Dither Quartet, members of the London Symphony Orchestra, among many others. His works have been presented around the world in festivals such as Bang on a Can, Oregon Bach Festival, London Contemporary Music Festival, Atlas Festival, Spitalfields Music Festival, i=u, June in Buffalo, the... Read More

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Arts + Literature Laboratory is located at 111 S. Livingston Street #100, Madison, Wisconsin, 53703.

Our galleries are open Tuesday through Friday 10am-5pm and Saturday noon to 5pm, and other programs take place throughout the week. Please check the events calendar and education section for details.

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