What is an ensemble? One might perhaps think of a group larger and more musically diverse then the average band, but not big enough to be considered an orchestra. One might also imagine performances of tightly arranged and rigid pieces that offer little room for variety or experimentation - things like Baroque or Romantic staples.
The Tufts New Music Ensemble (NME) takes all preconceived notions of what an ensemble is and should sound like and chucks them right out the proverbial window. In their performance Sunday night, they showed what a group of musicians can achieve by ignoring the limits of traditional Western musical doctrine. Instead, the NME hosts a style of music wherein a classical piano progression is just as valid a form of musical expression as the whisper of dropped flower petals. Sunday's show, "Noise and Speed" was an eye and ear-opening experience for every audience member in attendance - despite the fact that the title piece was not even performed in the set.
The NME will celebrate its tenth anniversary this spring with a special show. Formed in 1990, the Ensemble consists of two co-directors and sixteen musicians (including alumni as well as both undergraduate and graduate students) playing a variety of traditional instruments like the guitar, piano, theramin, and clarinet. What makes the NME stand apart from most musical ensembles is its constant emphasis on improvisation and even making music with everyday items - such as in an original percussive piece played entirely by shaking packets of Sweet'N Low.
When asked to describe the group and its style of music, John McDonald, co-director of the NME and chair of the music department, calls it "composing in real time," and co-director Donald Berman calls it a "playground for musicians."
Even the musicians themselves extol the virtues of the group's seemingly limitless possibilities for experimentation and musicianship. Keyboardist and clarinet player Lee Todd Lacks, a graduate school alumnus who has played with the ensemble since 1992, is thrilled about the improvisational and innovative nature of the group. He describes the music as "beyond the realm of tonal Western classical music."
Most of the pieces the Ensemble performed were quick and tense, often ending abruptly (and sometimes humorously) in an intense musical climax rather then just letting the piece wind down - which sometimes left the audience wondering if there was more to be performed.
One of the more surprising elements from this show was the lack of a drummer performing with the ensemble to set the rhythm. However, just because they choose to experiment with instruments and noise does not mean the members of the Ensemble are complete musical anarchists altogether. They perform their own material as well as arranging pieces written by other ensembles or artists.
One of the more memorable moments of the evening was their arrangement of Glenn Branca's Guitar Symphony (whose ensemble consists of a mind-boggling thirteen guitarists) into a great cacophony of noise that sounds like something off a Nine Inch Nails record. This was one of the few moments when all of the members of the ensemble played at once, with the rest of the show consisting primarily of two to five musicians playing at any given time. McDonald even played piano with the rest of the ensemble in an original piece titled "Like Rome" - the title being a reference to the fact that both Somerville and Rome were founded in an area within seven hills.
To enjoy the show, one must take in the music and performance with an open mind. Try to ignore the idea of popular music in the form of a three-minute radio single with a catchy chorus; the Ensemble's willingness to be different and go against the norms and expectations of traditional music is what makes it a group worth listening to. If you truly want to hear something different from traditional classical or jazz pieces or the pop and rap-metal craze dominating mainstream music, then the Tufts New Music Ensemble is definitely worth giving a chance.
