Event

Nief-Norf Knoxville Concert Series: Fresh Ink

Nief-Norfs cellist Ashley Walters and percussionist Andrew Bliss will give the world premiere of a new composition from Lewis Nielson.

About Lewis Nielson:

Lewis Nielson studied at the Royal Acadamy of Music in London, Clark University in Massachusetts and the University of Iowa, where he received his Ph.D. in music theory and composition in 1977

He served as a professor of music composition for 21 years at the University of Georgia while directing the University of Georgia Contemporary Chamber Ensemble. in 2000, he joined the faculty at Oberlin Conservatory, where he taught until 2015

Lewis currently lives in Ithaca, New York where he continues to write relentlessly.

About Ashley Walters:

Ashley Walters has been described as performing "with the kind of brilliance that beckons a major new performer on the new music scene" (Mark Swed, L.A. Times). She has been praised for her "imposing talents" (Sequenza 21) and "impressive" (Pitchfork) and "beautiful playing" (All About Jazz). Walters maintains a uniquely diverse career, performing music that blurs the boundaries between classical, avant-garde, and jazz, breaking new ground in repertoire with microtonality, extended techniques, alternative tunings, and improvisation.

About Andrew Bliss:

Andy Bliss is a solo artist, conductor, curator, and educator who maintains a dynamic career of musical collaboration. Residing in Knoxville, TN, his performances have been heard locally at the Tennessee Theatre and the Knoxville Museum of Art, and abroad in locations such as the Darmstadt Summer Course for New Music (Germany), the Banff Centre for the Arts (Canada), the Patagonia Percussion Festival (Argentina), the LiveWire Festival in Baltimore, and Stanfords Cantor Center for Visual Arts. He is proud to be a Yamaha Performing Artist and thanks Zildjian, Innovative Percussion, Evans, Black Swamp, and Meinl Percussion for their generous support.

The Knoxville Concert Series is funded in part by a grant by the Paul R. Judy Center for Innovation and Research at the Eastman School of Music.