Quince Ensemble heads to CIM advocating independent musical spirit

Not every singer aspires to join a chorus or opera company. Just ask Quince Ensemble, the next guest on CIM’s Perspectives series.  

The four women in this unique vocal group came together in 2010 out of a shared desire not only to advance contemporary music but also to use their voices in ways no other outlet allowed.  

They trained as classical singers at Bowling Green State University but also yearned to explore their instrument’s full range, to expand the very definition of singing.  

Choral and operatic music are great, but “I also love making other noises,” said soprano Liz Pearse, one of Quince’s founding members.  

“The kind of music that we’ve gotten to explore...really does invite using everything available to you...We communicate a lot of different sounds...with or without the benefit of language.”  

Often, this quest has entailed bringing new music into existence.  

In their early days, freshly inspired by the otherworldly sounds of Anonymous 4, Quince “didn’t have much to choose from” when it came to programming, said soprano Amanda DeBoer Bartlett. 

But they didn’t let that deter them. From the start, and later using their Quince New Music Commissioning Fund, the group invited composers to challenge them with original music outside the box.  

If the music you want doesn’t exist, “I hope that Quince can serve as a model that you can create [it],” Bartlett said. “There’s so much potential to add your perspective to the music industry.” 

All of this will be evident on Quince’s CIM program, which Pearse said traces the cycle of life in a manner both celebratory and sincere.  

At the center of that cycle is Requiem, a 2019 work by 2023 MacArthur Fellow Courtney Bryan that taps multiple religious and cultural traditions to offer a memorial unlike any other.  

“It is meaningful to work with Quince not only because of their impeccable artistry, but also because of who they are as people and a lot of the conversations we've had,” Bryan wrote.  

“This performance at CIM means a lot because each performance is a new experience, and I love that Quince is sharing it with students of CIM.” 

The feeling is mutual. Meaningful to them in its own right, Requiem has taken on even greater significance to Quince as the first work the group had to call off at the start of the pandemic.  

“There’s something about Courtney and her music that it’s always just right on the pulse of something that the world needs to hear, and needs to think about,” Pearse said.  

Long after the sounds of Requiem fade from Mixon Hall, Bartlett and Pearse said they hope something of the Quince Ensemble endures in the hearts and minds of CIM students.  

Specifically, they hope to spark in young artists – whatever their instrument – a sense of independence and a willingness to defy convention.  

“The voice isn’t designed just to sound pretty all the time,” Bartlett said. “It’s so complex and rich...The voice is its own character, and that’s something I’d love students to be thinking about...Having this perspective on singing can only enrich other forms of music.”  

 

Wednesday, October 16 

7:30pm | Mixon Hall 

Quince Ensemble 

   Kulas Foundation Visiting Artists

STEENBERGE   The Four Winds  (2015) 

REMINICK   "Aún" from In Dreams (2018) 

BLANKENDAAL   Your space has echoes (2022) 

WILLIAMS   Dust Bowl (2021) 

BRYAN   Requiem (2019) 

Reserve free seating passes at cim.edu/events.