BOTCH Ensemble

In Residence:
June 1, 2016 - June 15, 2016
Discipline:
Performance, Theatre
Country:
United States

BOTCH Ensemble was formed in 2010 by Joe Diebes to rigorously explore spoken language as a basis for a new kind of opera. Over the course of a three-year artist residency at HERE Arts Center, Joe Diebes and the ensemble (Christina Campanella,  John Rose, and Saori Tsukada) developed a unique method and vocabulary for parsing and processing speech sounds in surprising and virtuosic ways. In May 2015, the group began an eight-year lease at their new rehearsal and performance space at 226 Green Street in Greenpoint, Brooklyn.

 

Joe Diebes creates performance work that fuses sound, visual media, and the human voice into a unique form of contemporary opera. From 1996-2003, he was a core member as well as the musical force behind the hybrid arts group GAle GAtes et al. described by The New York Times as “an adventurous troupe with one foot in the world of postmodern art and the other in downtown performance.” His opera environment, Strange Birds, received its U.K. premiere at Tramway (Glasgow 2005) and his sound-theater collaboration with Phil Soltanoff, I/O, was presented at Fusebox (Austin 2007) and Theatre Garonne (Toulouse 2008). Other recent projects include a new opera WOW (BRIC Media Arts 2014) with director David Levine and poet Christian Hawkey. His 2013 “broken-word opera” BOTCH (developed during a HARP residency at HERE Art Center, NYC) was the seed for the new performance group BOTCH Ensemble. In addition to his own works, he is currently collaborating with the dance/performance group LEIMAY and will premiere a new score for BORDERS in February 2016 at The Brooklyn Academy of Music. He has received support from NYSCA, NYFA, LMCC, Franklin Furnace, The Jerome Foundation, and the Netherland-America Foundation. Residencies/fellowships include, The Watermill Center, Yaddo, Djerassi, HERE, LMCC, BRIC Media Arts, STEIM (Amsterdam), and the Independent Study Program at the Whitney Museum of American Art. He has also exhibited internationally his sound installations, video, and works on paper for art galleries, museums, and public spaces including Paul Rodgers/9W (New York), The ’06 Olympics (Torino, Italy), Yuanfen Gallery (Beijing), Prix Ars Electronica (Honorary Mention 2009, Linz Austria) and the Liverpool Biennial.

 

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