10th Wave, an emerging contemporary chamber collective based in the Twin Cities, is set to present their inaugural concert this Sunday, Feb. 11 at Studio Z. 10th Wave percussionist Bjorn Grina gives us a preview of the inaugural event and introduces us to the newest group on the Twin Cities new music scene.
This is 10th Wave's inaugural concert. How did the group come together?
Just about a year ago, 10th Wave was just a cool dream that we were bouncing off each other. Clarinetist Weily Shay, percussionist Eri Isomura, and I started having conversations about starting a new chamber music collective in the Twin Cities. It started as an idea to create a concert series that would present our favorite works of chamber music to audiences in a new way – different than going to an orchestra concert or a chamber music recital.
From that point Weily, Eri, and I began to have regular meetings to start planning what would eventually become 10th Wave, and here we are at the first concert. From that point, we reached out to musicians that we knew in the area to see if they were interested in performing with us. Now we’re here about to have our first concert. It’s surreal.
What plans does 10th Wave have for the future?
We’ve got a lot of exciting ideas on the horizon. We’re already starting to book some more shows in the spring. We’re calling these concerts Chamber Brews, where we take some of the music that we’ll be performing at our first concert along with some new stuff out into bars and coffee shops around the Twin Cities. Bringing this music out into unconventional concert spaces is one of the things that we’re most passionate about. We really believe in the importance of performing this amazing music for people who would otherwise never have the opportunity to hear it.
Aside from the Chamber Brews concerts, we’re busy brainstorming for our first full season, where we are hoping to play more concerts like this one.
Tell us about the program for Feb. 11th and what motivated the theme.
The core of our mission is about connecting with audiences and our community genuinely and authentically. Conflict | Perseverance came from something that everyone on the planet can relate to in their own way - struggling with and overcoming challenges.
We picked five pieces that deal with this subject matter in one way or another. Some of the pieces such as Golijov’s Mariel and Hatzis’s In the Fire of Conflict deal with subjects like death and violence. But there are other pieces, such as Kevin Puts’s And Legions Will Rise and Greenstein’s At the end of a really great day, that are about rising up to these difficult challenges and overcoming them. We want to take the audience through a musical journey of emotion with the hope that each person will be able to connect to the pieces through their own personal experiences.
10th Wave endeavors to create a unique musical environment. What should the audience expect that is different from the usual classical music experience?
The most obvious difference at this first concert will be how the pieces are presented. We’re going to have some literature in the form of poetry and quotes being read aloud before each piece is performed. We’ll also have that literature projected as we’re performing the pieces so the audiences can process both aurally and visually along with the music. We want to incorporate different artistic mediums in our concerts to accompany the music and enrich the experience for the audience.
Just about a year ago, 10th Wave was just a cool dream that we were bouncing off each other. Clarinetist Weily Shay, percussionist Eri Isomura, and I started having conversations about starting a new chamber music collective in the Twin Cities. It started as an idea to create a concert series that would present our favorite works of chamber music to audiences in a new way – different than going to an orchestra concert or a chamber music recital.
From that point Weily, Eri, and I began to have regular meetings to start planning what would eventually become 10th Wave, and here we are at the first concert. From that point, we reached out to musicians that we knew in the area to see if they were interested in performing with us. Now we’re here about to have our first concert. It’s surreal.
What plans does 10th Wave have for the future?
We’ve got a lot of exciting ideas on the horizon. We’re already starting to book some more shows in the spring. We’re calling these concerts Chamber Brews, where we take some of the music that we’ll be performing at our first concert along with some new stuff out into bars and coffee shops around the Twin Cities. Bringing this music out into unconventional concert spaces is one of the things that we’re most passionate about. We really believe in the importance of performing this amazing music for people who would otherwise never have the opportunity to hear it.
Aside from the Chamber Brews concerts, we’re busy brainstorming for our first full season, where we are hoping to play more concerts like this one.
Tell us about the program for Feb. 11th and what motivated the theme.
The core of our mission is about connecting with audiences and our community genuinely and authentically. Conflict | Perseverance came from something that everyone on the planet can relate to in their own way - struggling with and overcoming challenges.
We picked five pieces that deal with this subject matter in one way or another. Some of the pieces such as Golijov’s Mariel and Hatzis’s In the Fire of Conflict deal with subjects like death and violence. But there are other pieces, such as Kevin Puts’s And Legions Will Rise and Greenstein’s At the end of a really great day, that are about rising up to these difficult challenges and overcoming them. We want to take the audience through a musical journey of emotion with the hope that each person will be able to connect to the pieces through their own personal experiences.
10th Wave endeavors to create a unique musical environment. What should the audience expect that is different from the usual classical music experience?
The most obvious difference at this first concert will be how the pieces are presented. We’re going to have some literature in the form of poetry and quotes being read aloud before each piece is performed. We’ll also have that literature projected as we’re performing the pieces so the audiences can process both aurally and visually along with the music. We want to incorporate different artistic mediums in our concerts to accompany the music and enrich the experience for the audience.
10TH WAVE
CONFLICT | PERSEVERANCE
Performing their inaugural concert, 10th Wave is an emerging contemporary chamber collective based in the Twin Cities, dedicated to bringing a unique concert experience to new audiences. This concert consists of pieces written by modern composers with themes of "Conflict" and/or "Perseverance" that highlight unique ways these words can be observed, embodied, or reflected on through chamber music. The entire program runs for about 70 minutes with no intermission. Audience members are invited to a light reception following the performance.
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