[NewMusicEvents] Next Week: Robin Cox Ensemble in San Francisco

[Pamela Z]

Z Programs: ROOM
a new chambre music series
Royce Gallery, San Francisco

The Robin Cox Emsemble
Friday & Saturday, March 23 & 24, 2007, 8pm
Royce Gallery, 2901 Mariposa Street (between 
Harrison & Alabama), San Francisco.
Admission is $10 (at the door or through PayPal)
http://pamelaz.com/room.html

On Friday and Saturday, March 23rd and 24th, 
2008, at 8pm Pamela Z Productions presents LA's 
Robin Cox Ensemble in the second event in the new 
Z Programs chamber series, Room. In this rare Bay 
Area appearance, RCE will perform an evening of 
contemporary works, including several by Bay Area 
composers.

This quintet of violin, cello, clarinet, and two 
percussion performs the post-classical music of 
Robin Cox and other contemporary composers. In 
the last seven years this group with a 
one-of-a-kind instrumentation has held over one 
hundred performances, collaborated with many 
prominent choreographers, composers, and video 
artists, and has released two critically 
acclaimed recordings. It is quickly developing a 
reputation throughout the United States for 
innovative and compelling concerts, which speak 
to a wide range of audiences in performances that 
are as intriguing as they are surprising. They 
have commissioned works from a wide range of 
composers, collaborated in numerous multi-media 
events, and shared the stages with musicians and 
composers such as Eve Beglarian, Sarah Cahill, 
and Art Jarvinen.

In addition to three works by ROBIN COX (Faster 
Than That, Drive, and Square Feet) the ensemble 
will be performing a work Outerborough by New 
York violinist/composer TODD REYNOLDS featuring 
video by award-winning filmmaker BILL MORRISON, 
and two works by Bay Area composers- Big Dig by 
RYAN BROWN and Dust by BELINDA REYNOLDS. And 
PAMELA Z will join the ensemble in the 
performance of a third Bay Area work- Six Degrees 
of Non- Sequiturization- a structured 
improvisational piece she created for the 
ensemble in 2006. The Robin Cox Ensemble is: 
Robin Cox (violinist/composer/director), Erik 
Leckrone (percussionist), Eric Mellencamp 
(percussionist), Maggie Parkins (cellist), Marty 
Walker, (clarinetist), and Nic Chaffee (audio 
engineer).

"Šimpressive...a refreshingly diverse new musical encounter" -Los Angeles Times


"Šthe music is smart, but also warm to the ears." -Santa Barbara Independent


"Outstanding Classical Ensemble/Artist Nominee" 
-Los Angeles Weekly Music Awards 2003

Bios:

ROBIN COX is a composer and violinist known for 
performances of his own work and those of other 
contemporary composers. As director of The Robin 
Cox Ensemble, he has performed his music over one 
hundred times throughout the United States and 
produced two critically acclaimed CD recordings. 
He is also an active concert producer, leading a 
highly successful mixed-media presenting series 
in Santa Barbara as Executive Director of Iridian 
Arts, Inc.

Cox currently serves on the faculties of Cal. St. 
Long Beach and U. of California at Santa Barbara. 
He holds degrees from the U. of Texas at Austin, 
U. of Michigan, and the U. of Miami, studying 
with composers Leslie Bassett, William Bolcom, 
Donald Grantham, Dennis Kam, and Dan Welcher. For 
his efforts in promotion of contemporary American 
music, he recently received the 2004 ASCAP Deems 
Taylor Internet Award and articles in the Los 
Angeles Times and Symphony Magazine for his 
internet broadcasting on Iridian Radio. He also 
was awarded the 2002 and 2003 Lester Horton 
Awards for Outstanding Achievement in Music for 
Modern Dance and continues to collaborate with 
his wife, Stephanie Nugent, and many other 
choreographers and video artists.

His many commissions and grants include awards 
from the American Composers Forum, American Music 
Center, Cal St. -Long Beach, New Horizons Chamber 
Ensemble, Santa Barbara Dance Theatre, Livingston 
Dance, The Carolina Brass Trio, Pacific Chamber 
Soloists, Fairbanks Symphony Association, 
percussion solist Scott Deal, and The San 
Diego/Tijuana New Music Festival. He has 
previously served on the faculty of Valdosta 
State U., Cal. St. Los Angeles, Chapman U., North 
Carolina Governor's School, and coproduced the 
Miami contemporary music series Music at Twilight.

ERIK LECKRONE, percussionist, has performed with 
a wide variety of ensembles, and projects 
throughout the United States including the 
Sinfonietta Orchestra of Chicago, the Long Beach 
Symphony, the Elgin Symphony, the Torrance 
Symphony, Disney records "A World of Happiness" 
with artists Issac Hayes, Lisa Loeb, and Deborah 
Harry, "A Lou Rawls Christmas", and the 
soundtrack for the movie "The Grudge". He has 
performed for national tours with the California 
Theatre Company, the Madison Repertory Theatre 
Company, and the Northern-Light Theatre Company 
of Chicago, IL.

Originally from Middleton, WI, he received his 
Bachelor's degree in Percussion Performance from 
Northern Illinois University and his Masters 
degree in Percussion Performance from California 
State University, Long Beach. As an educator, 
Erik has been involved for several years with 
"Meet the Musicians", a performance outreach 
program for elementary schools throughout Orange 
County. Along with freelancing in the Los Angeles 
area, Erik is currently percussion instructor at 
Fullerton College and staff accompanist for the 
dance programs at Chapman Univ. and the Univ. of 
California, at Irvine.

ERIC MELLENCAMP, percussionist, has performed 
throughout the United States, Europe, and Asia. 
He was born and raised in the Los Angeles area, 
and earned his Bachelor's degree at California 
State University, Long Beach. While there his 
teachers included Gregory Goodall and Michael 
Carney. In addition to his work with The Robin 
Cox Ensemble, Eric's chamber music endeavors have 
included performing with the Contemporary Artists 
Percussion Ensemble and the Los Angeles 
Percussion Collective.

He has performed and recorded with numerous 
orchestras and ensembles, including the West L.A. 
Symphony, Los Angeles Metropolitan Orchestra, Bel 
Canto Opera Company, and the Burbank Chamber 
Orchestra. He performed at the Salerno Music 
Festival with the American Youth Symphony, and 
was a featured soloist with the South Coast 
Symphony on William Kraft's "Concerto for Four 
Percussion Soloists and Orchestra." Eric has also 
worked with such varied artists as Judy Collins, 
Jerry Goldsmith, Lynn Harrell, Michael Kamen, 
Zubin Mehta, Midori, Maxim Yengerov, and John 
Williams.

MAGGIE PARKINS, cellist, enjoys a busy musical 
life dividing her time between the concert stage 
and teaching. She has performed all over the 
world as an orchestral and chamber musician in 
such festivals as Spoleto, Banff, Sante Fe, 
Heidelberg, Taos, Cadaques Spain, and Tanglewood.

She has toured and recorded with accordianist Guy 
Klusevsek, her sister- composer improviser Zeena 
Parkins, and guitarist composer Elliot Sharp. In 
Los Angeles she has performed with chamber 
ensembles such as the Eclipse Quartet, a new 
music string quartet, the Mojave Trio, a piano 
trio doing standard and contemporary repertoire, 
and Quatracelli!, a cello quartet. She has also 
performed with Japan America Orchestra, LA Mozart 
Orchestra, and Riverside Symphony as well as in 
the Hollywood recording studios for film and 
television scores. Maggie is currently professor 
of cello at University of California at Irvine 
and has also taught at Concordia University.

MARTY WALKER, is a clarinetist who specializes in 
the performance new music. (He has premiered more 
than 80 works written especially for him.) Among 
the labels for which he has recorded are CRI, 
O.O.Discs, Tzadik, Cold Blue, Grenadilla, 
Echograph, New World, and Rastacan. Walker has 
toured and recorded with various new-music 
ensembles, including the California E.A.R. Unit, 
Some Over History, eXindigo, Viklarbo, and Ghost 
Duo. As a soloist, he has presented live radio 
concerts on NPR, Pacifica, and other radio venues 
and has performed at numerous new music 
festivals, including New Music America (Miami and 
Houston), the International Festival of New Music 
(Los Angeles), and New Music International 
(Mexico City), and noted new music venues, 
including Real Art Ways, FaultLines, the Monday 
Evening Concerts, and Wires. The Los Angeles 
Times called Walker's playing "masterfully 
expressive;"

El Nacional (Mexico City) wrote that his playing 
"took the audience to another musical dimension;" 
and Option magazine called him "one of the finest 
new-music clarinetists in the country." 21st 
Century Music magazine wrote of Walker's Cold 
Blue CD Dancing on Water "If people are best 
known by the company they keep, then clarinetist 
Marty Walker is blessed indeed. He keeps 
wonderful company with an excellent series of 
composers. . . . both the playing and the 
recording quality are sparkling."

NIC CHAFFEE, audio engineer, is accomplished as 
an engineer and as a musician. Born and raised in 
Long Beach, CA, he holds degrees in Jazz Studies 
and Composition from California State University, 
Long Beach. Nic has been the head audio engineer 
for the Robin Cox Ensemble since 2002, and has 
also worked on sound crews for professional 
ensembles such as the Long Beach Municipal Band 
and Vocalogy. He has also mixed literally 
hundreds of concerts and recordings for colleges, 
churches, and independent bands around the Los 
Angeles Area. Currently Nic is employed as a 
Product Manager in the Pro Audio division of 
Yamaha Corporation of America.

Nic is also an accomplished performer and 
composer. He works regularly as a free lance 
trumpet player with various ensembles playing 
nearly every style, including jazz, blues, funk, 
rock, and salsa, and has appeared on stage at 
venues such as the Verizon Wireless Amphitheater, 
the Grove of Anaheim, and the Disneyland Resort. 
While attending CSULB, Nic was awarded the Tom 
Talbert scholarship for jazz performance and the 
Paul C. Lindsay scholarship for composition. 
Nic's diverse musical background gives him a 
unique perspective on audio engineering. Because 
he has experience as a performer, composer, and 
engineer, he is able to balance several points of 
view and create mixes which are pleasing to all 
involved.

ROOM is a new chamber series taking place in the 
Royce Gallery, an intimate performance gallery in 
San Francisco's North East Mission Industrial 
Zone. In this new chapter in her "Z Programs" 
Series, Pamela Z hosts evenings with a variety of 
virtuosic, solo new music instrumentalists and 
chamber groups playing composed music of their 
own, that of other composers, as well as 
improvised music The first concert on this series 
was a duo concert featuring Pamela Z and Joëlle 
Léandre in November of 2006. Watch the ROOM page 
at pamelaz.com/Room.html for future concert dates.

INFO:
http://robincoxensemble.com
http://pamelaz.com/room.html

CALENDAR EDITORS NOTE:

WHAT:
Robin Cox Ensemble
WHEN:
Friday & Saturday, March 23 & 24, 2007, 8pm
WHERE:
Royce Gallery
2901 Mariposa Street, San Francisco.
(between Harrison & Alabama)
TICKETS:
Admission is $10
Available at the door or through Paypal

Robin Cox Ensemble's appearance is supported by Meet The Composer.




Pamela Z
Composer/Performer

Contact info:

Telephone: 415.861.EARS (415.861.3277)
Mobile: 415.5PAMELA (415.572.6352)
FAX: 415.861.FAKS (415.861.3257)
(I forward my land line to my mobile phone when I'm travelling)

pamelaz at pamelaz.com
http://www.pamelaz.com
http://www.myspace.com/pamelazcomposer

Skype: pamelazed   AIM: pamelazdotcom

Snail Mail:
Pamela Z Productions
540 Alabama Street Studio 213
San Francisco, CA 94110, USA

shipping address (for packages larger than a 9" x 12" envelope):
Pamela Z  2440 Sixteenth Street  PMB #171, San Francisco, CA 94103, USA

Pamela Z's CD "A Delay is Better" on the 
Starkland label is now available at 
http://www.amazon.com, http://www.starkland.com, 
and in stores near you.
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