Bent Frequency

Bent FreQuency

Atlanta-based Bent Frequency is the Southeast’s premiere contemporary music ensemble. Founded in 2003, the group brings the avant-garde to life through adventurous and socially conscious programming, cross-disciplinary collaborations and community engagement. Committed to exploding marginalized programming in classical music, one of BF’s primary goals is championing the work of historically underrepresented composers - music by women, composers of color, and LGBTQIA+. Hailed as “one of the brightest new music ensembles on the scene today” by Gramophone magazine, BF engages an eclectic mix of the most adventurous and impassioned players in Atlanta. Its programming, educational outreach, and community events aim to be inclusive of the diverse and dynamic community they are a part of.

As an ensemble-in-residence at Georgia State University, BF has become the most active and visible contemporary music ensemble in the Southeast. BF has collaborated with some of the most groundbreaking composers today and has produced large-scale events such as: Ricardo Zohn-Muldoon’s chamber opera Comala at the International Cervantino Festival and Fiestas de Octubre in Mexico, Juan Trigos’ fully staged chamber opera DeCachetitoRaspado, and a three-day festival -New Music From Mexico.  BF has appeared as ensemble-in-residence at the Nürnberg Tage Aktueller Musik , Sam Houston State New Music Festival, Charlotte New Music Festival, University of Georgia, and New Music on the Point in Vermont.

BF continually seeks to create programs that will connect with new and diverse audiences. Our previous season, "AMPLIFY" is a perfect example, featuring 100% music from composers traditionally under-represented communities in classical music; women, composers of color, and LGBTQ+ composers.  BF’s extensive programming ranges from formal performances in concert halls to museums, galleries, bike trails, and even on the Atlanta Streetcar! BF has produced numerous community-inclusive events such as: Sila: the Breath of the World (80 musicians performing in Woodruff Park), A wave and waves  (an immersive concert featuring 100 percussionists performing in a south downtown parking deck), "Music for a Captive Audience" (14 concerts on the Atlanta Streetcar), and "A Bicycle Built for 111" (involving a "band" of 111 community cyclists performing on the Beltline).

Another primary goal is cross-disciplinary collaboration and partnerships to create unique public art performances, socially conscious programming, and community outreach. BF has collaborated with internationally recognized musicians, dance groups, and visual artists. With the support of national foundation grants, BF has commissioned more than 30 original works and performed them countless times on national and international stages. Recent collaborations include: Berlin-based sound artist Michael Fowler, Atlanta Poet's group, artist Craig Dongoski, CORE Dance.  We have also partnered with The Center for Civil and Human Rights, Georgia Innocence Project and UGA Law, Art and Music Schools to produce The Innocents, addressing wrongful convictions and injustices in the US penal system.  Through concerts, conversations, and lectures, we examined social justice, civil and human rights, and art’s role in advocacy. Other recent partnerships include Chinese New Year celebration concerts with The Confucius Institutes at GSU and Emory Universities, with composer Dorothy Hindman on Trademarking Trayvon, addressing the epidemic of gun violence, and with the Plaza Theater and transgender composer/filmmaker Sarah Hennies on Contralto, examining the relationship between gender and sound. In 2017 and 2018, BF brought together musicians and neighbors for a 21st-Century version of holiday caroling, where participants strolled through Historic West End with cell phones and boomboxes broadcasting Phil Klein’s environmental soundscape Unsilent Night. Many productions include community-oriented activities like composer/performer lectures/talkbacks, workshops for 7th-12th grade students, college students, and the general public.

BF has been awarded numerous, prestigious national and foundation grants including French American Cultural Exchange (FACE), Barlow Foundation, Copland Foundation, Amphion Foundation, Ditson Foundation, Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation (National Endowment for the Arts/Andrew Mellon Foundation), and Culture Ireland.

Bent Frequency is run by Co-Artistic Directors, Jan Berry Baker and Stuart Gerber.    www.bentfrequency.com