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ARTISTSAriel
“Mobius Trio’s [programming] choices were substantive and captured the full range of their sonic potential as a guitar trio…they proved in every way that they were capable of holding their own, both as performers and curators of a new generation of music.” –Danny Clay, I Care If You Listen
“Chock-full of extended techniques, the acoustic works whirred, buzzed, and slapped their way into being. Belinda Reynolds’s Edges kicked things off with a flowing ostinato figure accented by off-beat interjections. A cradled scalar motive is shared, hocket-like, among the players, who carried it with delicacy and feeling. Brendon Randall-Myers’s Making Good Choices opens with an intense accretion of muted strums, strums above the neck, left hand slurs, slaps, all of which the ensemble bit into with flair.”
–Artificialist
“Mobius executes the dizzying array of techniques and technical challenges written for them with ease and expressivity…The trio
short bio
press
Described by the eminent
Sergio Assad as “the
most inventive and
exciting young guitar ensemble today,”
Mobius Trio has made it its mission to
fully integrate the classical guitar into
the 21st century’s adventurous musical
lexicon. The Trio exclusively performs
music that they have commissioned;
they seek to expand the guitar ensem-
ble’s repertoire to encompass all of the
myriad currents passing through
contemporary art music. Mobius Trio
has commissioned over three dozen
composers in their first few years of
existence, and that pace isn’t slowing.
Recent commissions include Sergio Assad, Luciano Chessa, and Ryan Brown, with more pieces and collaborations on the way.
Mobius Trio was formed in 2010 by guitarists Robert Nance, Mason Fish, and Matthew Holmes-Linder while studying at the San Fran-
cisco Conservatory of Music. They started things off with a bang, commissioning and learning five pieces within the span of a couple of
months, and performing many of those pieces at Washington, DC’s Kennedy Center the following April. Matt, Rob, and Mason are all
accomplished, competition-winning guitarists in their own right, and they all live and work in San Francisco. When not rehearsing, the
group enjoys home brewing, BBQ, hacky sack, and nature documentaries.
formed only in 2010, but from the unity of their playing and the constant musical conversation that is visible to the eye in performance one could easily believe that they had been playing together for much longer than that.”
–Sid Chen, New Music Box (Last Light CD release review)
“The natural ease of Mobius’s playing and their unforced integration of inventive ways of using their instruments into their solid base of traditional technique made for a consis-tently excellent evening. It’s clear from the unity of their playing that the members of Mobius genuinely love making music together, cuing each other with just the lift of an eyebrow or even a hint of a smile.” –Sid Chen, New Music Box
“The Mobius Trio are getting rave reviews from guitarists around the world for their dramatic performances and their bold commitment to commissioning new repertoire.”
–Scott Cmiel, San Francisco Classical Voice
P H O T O B Y A N N E M I L L E R
MOBIUS TRIO guitar trio
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ARTISTSAriel
GUITARISTIC GENRE OMNIPRESENCE
As the most popular, ubiquitous instrument in the world, everyone
knows what a guitar sounds like, right? Right? The guitarists of Mobius
Trio believe otherwise – that we’ve only just begun to explore full
capabilities of the instrument, and this program seeks to display the
breadth of what the classical guitar can do, so far.
Beginning with two completely revolutionary arrangements of “old
music” for three guitars, the Mobians show what they’re capable of.
Ravel’s String Quartet and Rodrigo’s Concierto de Aranjuez are two of
the most beautiful, recognizable pieces of the early 20th-century
repertoire, and it takes a slew of brand new guitar techniques to make
them happen on three guitars.
The second half of the program is three “Mobius Classics,” each
designed to utilize the guitar and the guitar trio in hitherto unheard
ways. Brendon Randall-Myers’s Making Good Choices turns the
ensemble into three out-of-control percussive guitar robots, while
Anthony Porter’s needle-play tells the surreal story of a postminimalist
fantasy. The program closes with Sergio Assad’s Kindergarten, which
must be heard to be believed.
(all-clasical)
Works to be performed on the “Guitaristic Genre
Omnipresence” program include:
Robert Nance, Plexus (2015)
Garrett Shatzer, The Transition (2009)
Belinda Reynolds, Edges (2013)
Maurice Ravel, String Quartet in F Major, ii. Assez vif (1903)
Brendon Randall-Myers, Making Good Choices (2011)
Anthony Porter, needle-play (2010)
Sergio Assad, Kindergarten (2014)
PRESCRIPTION DRUG NATION
Aaron Gervais’s Prescription Drug Nation is an evening-length
work, originally composed as music for dance in collaboration
with Here Now Dance Collective. A stunning musical work
with or without its accompanying dance, the work consists of
six musical portraits of the effects of being on some of the
most commonly overprescribed and/or abused prescription
drugs – Adderall, Ambien, Xanax, Prozac, Vicodin, and
Viagra.
With each, Gervais is “trying to give an immersive perspec-
tive, something that will be familiar and emotionally poignant
to anyone who has been on these drugs, but without any
specific interpretation or ‘judgment.’ There is no ‘moral
lesson’ or anything like that.”
Composed for a constantly rotating ensemble of classical,
steel-string, and electric guitars, all played by the three
members of Mobius Trio, Prescription Drug Nation is a musical
tour de force, juxtaposing the obsessive, maniacal energy of
Adderall with the sleepy, blissed-out lethargy of Ambien and
sheer drive of Viagra. There is absolutely nothing like this in
New Music, or any other type of music – a must hear.
(CLASSICAL, ELECTRIC, STEEL)
Aaron Gervais, Prescription Drug Nation (2015)
Adderall Ambien Xanax Vicodin Prozac Viagra
program offerings
P H O T O B Y A N N E M I L L E R
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ARTISTSArielprogram offerings (cont.)
DARK MATTER
Built around a set of beautiful, sprawling, cosmically meditative
pieces like Nick Vasallo’s Dark Matter and Joseph Colombo’s Initial
Darkness, the eponymous program shows that Mobius Trio can
create beautiful, mind-expanding music on whatever version of the
guitar is in their hands. In this case, each piece is composed for
electric guitars, though each has a completely unique soundworld,
created through use of interactive electronics, pedal effects, and in
one case, just a great big wall of amplifier feedback.
Don’t let those very un-classical elements fool you, though, these
are nuanced, classically-influenced pieces written by some of the
best young composers writing today, including Adrian Knight,
Ryan Brown, and Samuel Adams. From the most delicate, intimate
sounds an electric guitar can make (Bon Voyage, Study for Mobius),
to the biggest, Big Bangin’est, this music is an exploration of the
scope of the universe.
(ALL-ELECTRIC)
Works to be performed on the “Dark Matter”
program include:
Samuel Adams, Study for Mobius (2013)
Nick Vasallo, Dark Matter (2010/2014)
Mario Godoy, Infinite Earths (2014)
Ryan Brown, Possible Relatives (2016)
Adrian Knight, Bon Voyage (2012)
Joseph Colombo, Initial Darkness (2014)
MOBIUS TRIO guitar trio
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ARTISTSAriel
GUITAR MASTER CLASS
The three members of Mobius Trio are an unusual breed in the
guitar world: expert contemporary music players with years of
chamber music experience. In this master class, student guitarists
will perform solos or ensemble pieces for the members of Mobius
Trio and an audience and then receive feedback and detailed
coaching on their performance. The members of Mobius will give
the performer(s) advice on all aspects of performing guitar music –
presentation, phrasing, technique, ensemble playing, etc. This pro-
cess is rewarding and entertaining for both the performing student
and the audience, and it often leads to larger discussions of topics
that benefit every guitarist and musician in the room.
LECTURE/DEMONSTRATIONS
Mobius Trio often holds lectures and workshops on a variety of
topics, including writing for guitar, composer/performer relation-
ships and the commission process, extended techniques, and
their own unique repertoire and brand of chamber music. Ideas
and thoughts that come up in discussion will be expanded upon
through musical performance, and vice versa. This event can be
tailored (in terms of format, length, etc.) to fit the needs of the
presenter.
STUDENT COMPOSER WORKSHOP
Working with composers is a favorite part of their musical pro-
cess for the Mobius Trio, so they are very happy to share their
years of commissioning, workshopping, and musical trouble-
shooting experience with student composers in front of an audi-
ence of their peers.
In the workshop, Mobius will perform pieces that have been
submitted ahead of time, and then give the composer feedback
on a variety of topics (notational, musical, and otherwise), in
order to help create the best guitar piece possible. Writing for
guitar can be unfamiliar and potentially intimidating, so Mobius
will confer closely with the composer to make sure everything
works the way s/he wants.
additional offerings
P H O T O B Y A N N E M I L L E R
MOBIUS TRIO guitar trio