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"Since 2010 this invaluable Chicago ensemble directed by composer Nomi Epstein has been the city’s most stalwart advocate for post-John Cage experimental music" - Chicago Reader
In 2010, I founded a•pe•ri•od•ic, a Chicago-based performance collective featuring post-Cagean notated, acoustic, experimental music, in which I program, direct, and perform. a•pe•ri•od•ic's repertoire explores the indeterminacy of various musical elements including instrumentation, structure, pitch, and/or duration. Drawn to works of sparseness, contemplation, and quietude, and described by the Chicago reader as "the city's most stalwart advocate for post-John Cage experimental music." I founded the group to focus on scores primarily notated with prose. The ensemble has commissioned, premiered, and recorded works by composers such as Michael Pisaro, Catherine Lamb, Heather Frasch, Eva-Maria Houben, Jürg Frey, Christiane Wolff, Olivia Block, Laurence Crane, and Pauline Oliveros. I regularly partner with institutions like the Goethe Institute of Chicago, the Gray Center for Arts and Inquiry, and local Universities to bring in internatinoal composers to work with the ensemble direclty for residencies, concerts and festivals. a•pe•ri•od•ic released its debut album, more or less, featuring the music of Frey in 2014, and its second album featuring 4 works written for the ensemble in 2019, both which I executive produced, released under New Focus Recordings.
As the founder, artistic director, and board president of the ensemble, I oversee all apsects of the ensemble. I work regularly with an international network of composers and performers such as Italian cellist, Deborah Walker, British double bassist, Dominic Lash, German composers Kunsu Shim and Gerhard Staebler, and Wandelweiser composers Jürg Frey, Michael Pisaro, and Eva-Maria Houben.
From September - December 2016, a•pe•ri•od•ic gained Sponsored Artistship at High Concept Labs, a Chicago based artist residency and incubator. There, we worked on preparing the US premiere of Tim Parkinson’s ‘trash’ opera Time With People, which took place in February 2017. I arranged several tours with this opera, and the ensemble performed it at Oberlin, the University of Iowa, Beloit College, and the Arts Club of Chicago. a•pe•ri•od•ic also gave performances throughout the Chicago area as part of multiple festivals.
