The Spring Artist Series will commence tonight in the Wesley Chapel, featuring the band Wooden Cities. Adjunct music professor Megan Kyle plays the oboe in the ensemble and will be performing tonight as well.
The group has gained regional acclaim since their inception in 2011, performing in venues throughout Buffalo including the Albright Knox Art Gallery, Silo City, Hallwalls Art Center, PAUSA Art House, and the State University of New York at (SUNY) Buffalo.
The ensemble defies easy definition, according to a Buffalo Rising review. They are typically categorized as avant garde classical, improvisational ensemble, or a new music collective. “We have a strong interest in improvisation in various forms, which is the focal point around which we’ve organized this concert”, Kyle stated. “While what we do is rooted in the classical tradition that forms the foundation of much of the Greatbatch School of Music’s curriculum, our repertoire represents a sampling of more recent developments in classical music, including cross-pollination with other musical genres, offering students and community members an opportunity to have a new, hopefully exciting and interesting, musical experience.”
The University at Buffalo, which boasts several alumni as members of Wooden Cities, noted that the group is well known for inviting audience participation after, and sometimes during performances. The purpose of these interactions is to “help widen the circle of contemporary music appreciation,” the ensemble hopes.
Artist Series performances cover a wide range of genres, according to music performance major Derek Chase ‘19. “They’ve had everything from a Brazilian jazz group to the Navy Chorus to a saxhorn band. While they might not all appeal to everyone, I feel that everyone can at some point see [a performance] that has their specific tastes.”
Wooden Cities “seeks to increase the performance and awareness of contemporary classical music in Western New York through uniquely engaging presentations,” according to the band’s website. This includes performing a mix of work by young composers, as well as “underrepresented” 20th and 21st century composers. The group said they seek to emphasize Buffalo composers, having recently performed the new composition “Examples of Excess” by University at Buffalo music professor James Currie. Wooden Cities also revived Buffalo native Lejaren Hiller’s 1968 work Avalanche in their first full length tour last summer.
Wooden Cities also expands the traditional demographic of classical music audiences. Their most recent performance was at Greece Olympia School in Rochester, NY- and was done in cooperation with ameteur high school musicians. A Rochester City Newspaper review stated, “…the Wooden Cities vocalists performed it with poise and gusto. Their willingness to be vulnerable and silly was laudable…”
Wooden Cities will begin their performance tonight at 7:30 and are expected to play until 9:00. Tickets to the event are $15 for adults and $7 for youth 18 and under.
“I’m not really sure what to expect,” Chase said. “[Wooden Cities] seems to be a great mixture of contemporary music and classical, so I guess we’ll just have to wait and see.”