Lingua Franca
This new band of international, virtuosic Berlin-based musicians brought to life the detailed and breathless compositions by the New Yorker turned Berliner. The musicians of this project are not only well-established bandleaders in their own right, but are the type of adventurous musicians to join Ken Thomson as they fall headfirst together into the journeys of the compositions. The expressive vocalist Mirna Bogdanović who joins Thomson in the frontline of the band has won the Deutscher Jazzpreis twice — for Debut Album of the Year in 2021 and Album of the Year in 2023. Keisuke Matsuno and Simon Jermyn are two of the most in-demand musicians in the city, both performing with musicians such as Jim Black, Charlotte Greve, John Zorn and many more — and whose feel, time, and expression are matched only by their compatibility as rhythm section teammates. Drummer Ivars Arutyunyan has a dual career in his native Latvia, performing with a vibrant scene and winning the “Composer of the Year” prize from National Cinema Award “Lielais Kristaps,” alongside his work in Berlin; he, too, has played across the world and performed with Seamus Blake, Wanja Slavin, and others. Lingua Franca website
Anzû Quartet
Formed in 2020, the Anzû Quartet is an ensemble dedicated to the music of our time and the recent canon. A collaboration between internationally renowned performers of contemporary music, this new quartet pays homage to Olivier Messiaen’s Quatuor pour la fin du temps by actively commissioning and performing new works for this iconic instrumentation alongside Messiaen’s original masterpiece. The members of Anzû are veterans of New York City’s vital contemporary music community and have frequently collaborated with one another across a wide range of musical endeavors and acclaimed international performances. Olivia De Prato (violin), Ashley Bathgate (cello), Ken Thomson (clarinet) and Karl Larson (piano) have been lauded by critics and musicians worldwide, and have been instrumental in helping form and cement the work of important NY-based chamber groups such as the Bang on a Can All-Stars, Mivos Quartet, Ensemble Signal and Bearthoven.
Ken Thomson Sextet
My compositions for horns and rhythm section — I’m playing alto saxophone with Anna Webber, tenor, Russ Johnson, trumpet, Alan Ferber, trombone, Adam Armstrong, bass, and Daniel Dor, drums. New record out September 7, 2018 on New Focus/Panoramic Recording (Naxos), with American and European tours.
I’m on performance faculty here with an incredible team of colleagues. This festival, for emerging composers and performers, features inspiring student-fellows every summer, and is always a highlight of the year — with multiple daily concerts, packed rehearsal days, and an ending marathon concert all at the Mass MoCA museum in the Berkshires, Massachusetts.
Acclaimed internationally-touring electro-acoustic sextet for which I largely play clarinet and bass clarinet. This group, directed by the Bang on a Can collective in NYC, has worked with an exhaustive list of composers over 20 years, while focusing on the music of artistic directors Michael Gordon, David Lang, and Julia Wolfe. I have been a member of this fantastic group since 2013.
