Ear Pollen Pt. 2|Atlanta Contemporary

The Ear Pollen Series started at Gallery 378 in 2020. Klimchak curated the monthly performances by selecting 3-5 musicians to perform a totally improvised concert together. The series was just getting started when Covid hit and ended it. At Atlanta Contemporary, Klimchak has revived the series in a minimalist compact form while retaining the improvised format. For the Ear Pollen Series, Pt 2, Klimchak is performing in a series of duets each month with a different partner and featuring different instruments. In many ways, the duet is the perfect vehicle for improvisation, as it allows the performers to treat their playing as a form of conversation, introducing new ideas, batting those ideas back and forth, and taking them to new places to keep the dialog flowing. Part 2 becomes a 2 part conversation for the audience to witness and enjoy.

Bios

Klimchak

Klimchak is a composer known for his use of electronics & homebuilt instruments. His work has been seen in dance, theater & solo performances around the world. In 2011, he was given a grant by Idea Capital to make a series of compositions for home-built percussion instruments with lights incorporated in them. They were performed in 2012/2013 as flash percussion performances, titled Klimchak’s Lebeato Lounge. In March, 2015, Klimchak premiered his solo show, CooksNotes, in which he makes music on kitchen implements while cooking dinner for the audience.

Klimchak regularly performs solo shows featuring the Don Buchla designed Marimba Lumina. Only about 100 of this very rare instrument were made. With the Marimba Lumina the percussionist is able to perform live music that would normally take at least 4 musicians. His multi-instrumental compositions are played with 4 separate mallets, six foot pedals and a breath controller. As added touches, his sets usually include 4 or 5 small percussion instruments, some chanting or tuvan throat singing and at least one solo on the theremin.

Katherine Young

Katherine Young uses expressive noises, curious timbres, and kinetic structures in her electroacoustic music and sonic art; relationship building is central to her practice. The LA Phil, Internationales Musikinstitut Darmstadt, the University of Chicago’s Smart Museum of Art, and others have commissioned her work. She has a 2021 Guggenheim Fellow in Music Composition. Katherine has documented her work as a bassoonist and improviser on numerous recordings. She teaches composition, improvisation, and electronic music at Emory.