+ Press Sheet

Ariel
MOBIUS TRIO guitar trio
ARTISTS
short bio
D
escribed 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 ensemble’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
PHOTO BY ANNE MILLER
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 Francisco 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.
press
“Mobius Trio’s [programming] choices were substantive and
“Mobius executes the dizzying array of techniques and
captured the full range of their sonic potential as a guitar trio…
technical challenges written for them with ease and expres-
they proved in every way that they were capable of holding their
sivity… [T]heir unforced integration of inventive ways of using
own, both as performers and curators of a new generation of
their instruments into their solid base of traditional technique
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.
made for a consistently 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
Brendon Randall-Myers’s Making Good Choices opens with an
the world for their dramatic performances and their bold
intense accretion of muted strums, strums above the neck, left
commitment to commissioning new repertoire.” –Scott Cmiel,
hand slurs, slaps, all of which the ensemble bit into with flair.”
San Francisco Classical Voice
–Artificialist
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Ariel
MOBIUS TRIO guitar trio
ARTISTS
program offerings
PRESCRIPTION DRUG NATION
(CLASSICAL, ELECTRIC, STEEL)
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 perspective,
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.
Works to be performed on the “Prescription Drug Nation”
program include:
Aaron Gervais, Prescription Drug Nation (2015)
Adderall
Ambien
Xanax
Vicodin
Prozac
Viagra
GUITARISTIC GENRE OMNIPRESENCE
(ALL-CLASSICAL)
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 features 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 seen to be believed.
Works to be performed on the “Guitaristic Genre Omnipresence” program include:
Maurice Ravel, String Quartet in F Major, ii. Assez vif (1903)
Joaquin Rodrigo, Concierto de Aranjuez (1939)
Brendon Randall-Myers, Making Good Choices (2011)
Anthony Porter, needle-play (2010)
Sergio Assad, Kindergarten (2014)
PHOTO BY ANNE MILLER
SPIRITS TO ENFORCE
art to enchant
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Ariel
MOBIUS TRIO guitar trio
ARTISTS
program offerings (cont.)
DARK MATTER
(ALL-ELECTRIC)
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.
pleasing to play because it was composed by their mentor, Sergio
Assad, and written with their specific personalities in mind. Brendon Randall-Myers’s frenetic, slightly insane Making Good Choices
feels like home because it just took so much dang rehearsal time
to get right in the first place. Mobius’ first-ever concert saw them
premiere works by San Francisco Conservatory classmates Paul
Psarras and Anthony Porter. Anef Oron is the Trio’s second collaboration with Psarras, and Porter’s needle-play makes a return to
the Trio’s repertoire. Sadly the group was not able to attend school
with Maurice Ravel, but they did receive an outstanding arrange-
Don’t let those very un-classical elements fool you, though; these
ment of the second movement of his String Quartet from compos-
are nuanced, classically-influenced pieces written by some of the
er Winton White. Belinda Reynolds’s Edges evokes the rock guitar
best young composers writing today, including Adrian Knight,
that the trio grew up admiring. After more than six years of Mobius
Ryan Brown, and Samuel Adams. From the most delicate, intimate
Trio, the group will finally include a piece from one of its own. Rob-
sounds an electric guitar can make (Bon Voyage, Study for Mobius),
ert Nance’s Plexus utilizes the Trio’s outstanding interplay. Every
to the biggest, Big Bangin’est, this music is an exploration of the
piece on this program holds an extra special place in the hearts of
scope of the universe.
Mobius Trio, and they are proud to let you into their “home.”
Works to be performed on the “Dark Matter”
Works to be performed on the “Home Base” program include:
program include:
Robert Nance, Plexus (2015)
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)
HOME BASE
Paul Psarras, Anef Oron (2015)
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)
(ALL-CLASSICAL)
As an ensemble that ONLY plays commissioned
music that pushes the boundaries of its players
and their instruments, the concepts of “comfort,” “home,” and “ease” may seem anathematic to Mobius Trio. Everything is relative,
however, and the Mobians were happy to put
together this program of music that “feels like
home.” These pieces are their home base for a
variety of reasons – Kindergarten feels deeply
SPIRITS TO ENFORCE
art to enchant
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Ariel
MOBIUS TRIO guitar trio
ARTISTS
additional offerings
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
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.
Trio and an audience and then receive feedback and detailed
STUDENT COMPOSER WORKSHOP
coaching on their performance. The members of Mobius will give
Working with composers is a favorite part of their musical pro-
the performer(s) advice on all aspects of performing guitar music –
cess for the Mobius Trio, so they are very happy to share their
presentation, phrasing, technique, ensemble playing, etc. This pro-
years of commissioning, workshopping, and musical trouble-
cess is rewarding and entertaining for both the performing student
shooting experience with student composers in front of an audi-
and the audience, and it often leads to larger discussions of topics
ence of their peers.
that benefit every guitarist and musician in the room.
LECTURE/DEMONSTRATIONS
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
Mobius Trio often holds lectures and workshops on a variety of
order to help create the best guitar piece possible. Writing for
topics, including writing for guitar, composer/performer relation-
guitar can be unfamiliar and potentially intimidating, so Mobius
ships and the commission process, extended techniques, and
will confer closely with the composer to make sure everything
their own unique repertoire and brand of chamber music. Ideas
works the way s/he wants.
PHOTO BY ANNE MILLER
SPIRITS TO ENFORCE
art to enchant
www.arielartists.com G [email protected]