Artists

Dither

DITHER, a New York based electric guitar quartet, is dedicated to an eclectic mix of experimental repertoire which spans composed, improvised and electronic music. Formed in 2007, the quartet has performed across the United States and abroad, presenting new commissions, original compositions, multimedia works, and large guitar ensemble pieces. Dither’s members are Taylor Levine, Joshua Lopes, James Moore and Gyan Riley.

Mary Halvorson

Guitarist and composer Mary Halvorson has been described as “a singular talent” (Lloyd Sachs, JazzTimes), ”NYC’s least-predictable improviser” (Howard Mandel, City Arts), “one of the most exciting and original guitarists in jazz—or otherwise” (Steve Dollar, Wall Street Journal), and “one of today’s most formidable bandleaders” (Francis Davis, Village Voice). In recent Downbeat Critics Polls Halvorson has been celebrated as guitarist, rising star jazz artist, and rising star composer of the year, and in 2019 she was awarded a MacArthur Fellowship.

Mivos Quartet

The Mivos Quartet, “one of America’s most daring and ferocious new-music ensembles” (The Chicago Reader), is devoted to performing works of contemporary composers and presenting new music to diverse audiences. Since the quartet's beginnings in 2008 they have performed and closely collaborated with an ever-expanding group of international composers and performers representing multiple aesthetics of contemporary classical composition, jazz, improvised, and electronic music.

Balún

Founded by composer Angélica Negrón and José Olivares, Balún is an indie band from Brooklyn by way of San Juan whose smart, joyous music is framed by the stateside Puerto Rican perspective. They beat the music journalists at their own game when they came up with “dreambow,” a portmanteau of “dream-pop” and “dembow,” to describe their airily propulsive sound: a bespoke version of reggaeton that is soft, supple, and deeply imprinted with global pop styles. Balún's latest LP 'Prisma Tropical' was one of NPR’s Top 50 Albums of 2018, placed #4 in Rolling Stone’s Top 10 Latin Albums of 2018, and The New York Times named the single “Años Atrás” one of the "Best 65 Songs of 2018".

EXO-TECH

EXO-TECH is a New York large ensemble collective formed by Australian musician / director Sophia Brous and NZ pop innovator Kimbra.

Exploring the intersections between improvisation and pop song composition, the group weave a kaleidoscopic vision of hypnotic rhythms and intoxicating melodic invention, as much influenced by modern pop and rnb as by jazz, free improvisation, no wave, post-punk, dub and film music.

Reminiscent of Talking Heads, Can and Gang Gang Dance, Exo-Tech is a cross-generational ensemble of of some of New York's leading musical luminaries, and has collaborated with David Byrne, Moses Sumney, Questlove, Bilal, Marc Ribot, Colin Stetson, Caroline Polachek, Greg Fox, Yuka Honda, Zeena Parkins, Greg Saunier and many more.

The group were invited to be Red Bull Studio's inaugural resident artists where they created a vast volume of music, featuring an extraordinary array of special guests including David Byrne, Sean Lennon, Questlove and Bilal.