Winter Term Contemporary Improvisation Workshop to Present Two Concerts: Sunday, January 16 and Sunday, January 30, 4 P.M., in Kulas Recital Hall The Work of the Millennium Collective and Con Students to be Showcased Story by Linda Shockley Photos by Michael Chipman
	Workshop Participants: • Eddy Choi - clarinet/piano • Leah Corn, saxophone • Dan Davis - trumpet • Ian Faleer - piano • Jamie Graves - bass • David Hughes - piano • Steve Klosterman - trombone/drums • Gavin Kovite - bass • Ian Macdonald - clarinet • Patia Maule - piano/flute • Katherine Roberts - voice		The Contemporary Improvisation Workshop, a Winter Term project directed by Peter Silberman OC '86, Visiting Instructor of Aural Skills, will present two concerts during Winter Term: Sunday, January 16 and Sunday, January 30. Both performances are free and open to the public. The first concert, slated for Sunday, January 16, 8 p.m. in Kulas Recital Hall, will be feature a performance by the Millennium Collective, a quartet of improvising musicians. The Collective - consisting of pianist Silberman, guitarist Anton Machleder, saxophonist Damon Lee, and percussionist Florian Conzetti - met while students at the Eastman School of Music. Machleder is now an instructor of guitar at Houghton College, Lee a doctoral student in composition at Cornell University, and Conzetti is completing a master's degree in percussion at Eastman. Silberman and Machleder performed at Oberlin last November under the auspices of the Improvisation Concert Series. Silberman, who returned this year to teach at his alma mater, says of the Collective, "We've known one another for a long time. These long-time friendships help in the musical communication. As our personalities come together onstage, we tend to come together musically. Improvisation involves a great deal of listening and responding to the other musicians on stage. It also involves a lot of trust - in vision, in talent - and in understanding that your fellow collaborator won't hog the show." The second concert is scheduled for Sunday, January 30 , 4 p.m., in Kulas Hall. Members of the Contemporary Improvisation Workshop will present a concert highlighting improvised music performed by the 11-member workshop ensemble, and by smaller chamber groups of workshop participants. "Workshop participants have spent Winter Term learning to improvise in a style that combines progressive jazz - for example, the music of Ornette Coleman and Cecil Taylor - with contemporary classical music," Silberman explains. "The Workshop ensemble includes a vocalist and performers on the saxophone, clarinet, trumpet, trombone, electric and acoustic bass, and keyboards." He adds, "There's lots of variety, lots of color, and there's a hot percussionist with lots of toys. Some pieces will be easy to listen to, others so. We vary the program so that it's quite different and unpredictable each time. And there's always an interesting interaction among musicians."
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