Kinetic Ensemble

Hailed for its “agile virtuosity and vibrant sound” and “visually arresting… brilliantly executed” performances (Arts and Culture Texas), the artist-led, artist-curated Kinetic Ensemble visits MIT to celebrate creative collaboration and new beginnings, and to explore music inspired by human invention, cultural heritage, and the natural world. Founded and directed by Natalie Lin Douglas (Associate Professor of Music at MIT), Kinetic premieres two new works by MIT faculty members Miguel Zenón (GRAMMY® Award winner; Guggenheim and MacArthur Fellow) and Evan Ziporyn (Kenan Sahin Distinguished Professor; Director of the Center for Art, Science & Technology), and presents the Boston premiere of The Wilderness Anthology for string orchestra and soundscapes by guest composer Patrick Harlin, whose interdisciplinary work combines the fields of musical composition and soundscape ecology.

Kinetic’s residency includes an interactive open rehearsal demonstration illustrating the ensemble’s intensely collaborative approach to music-making, masterclasses for MIT’s student musicians, and a public concert in the newly completed Performance Lab featuring the works of Zenón, Ziporyn, and Harlin. Additionally, guest composer Patrick Harlin gives a presentation on his research into soundscape ecology and how that has shaped his creative output.

The residency is part of the the MIT Artfinity Arts Festival and the inaugural season of events in the Edward and Joyce Linde Music Building at MIT.

New Zealand-born violinist, educator, and arts entrepreneur Dr. Natalie Lin Douglas is the founder and artistic director of Kinetic Ensemble, the Houston-based conductorless ensemble. Committed to amplifying diverse, under-represented, and newly composed classical music through flexible chamber and orchestral ensemble performances, Kinetic has been coined “Houston’s indie, conductorless orchestra” (Houston Public Media) and praised for its “visually arresting… brilliantly executed” performances (Arts+Culture Texas). Under her leadership, Natalie has commissioned and premiered numerous works by composers of our time, including Karim Al-Zand, Daniel Temkin, Giancarlo Latta, Alexandra T. Bryant, and Daniel J. Knaggs.

Biography: MIT Music and Theater Arts
Website: natvln.com

Patrick Harlin’s “aesthetics capture a sense of tradition and innovation…” (The New York Times). His music is permeated by classical, jazz, and electronic music traditions, all underpinned with a love and respect for the great outdoors. His works have been performed by the St. Louis Symphony, the Kansas City Symphony, the Kinetic Ensemble, the Rochester and Calgary Philharmonic Orchestras, Collegium Cincinnati, and Calidore String Quartet, among others. Harlin is the inaugural composer in residence with the Lansing Symphony Orchestra (2019–2023). His interdisciplinary research in soundscape ecology—a field that aims to better understand ecosystems through sound—has taken him to imperiled regions around the world, including the Amazon rainforest and the Book Cliffs of Utah. His baseline recordings for ecological impact studies are also the fodder for artistic inspiration. This work has been supported by a Graham Sustainability Institute Doctoral Fellowship, a Theodore Presser Award, and private support, among others. These pieces draw parallels between the sounds of the natural world and those of the concert hall, seeking to bring awareness to the importance of sound in our environment. Harlin grew up in Seattle, holds a doctorate in music composition from the University of Michigan, and currently resides in Ann Arbor. 

Website: patrickharlin.com
Socials: Instagram | Sound Cloud | X

Multiple Grammy Nominee and Guggenheim and MacArthur Fellow Miguel Zenón represents a select group of musicians who have masterfully balanced and blended the often contradictory poles of innovation and tradition. Widely considered as one of the most groundbreaking and influential saxophonists of his generation, he has also developed a unique voice as a composer and as a conceptualist, concentrating his efforts on perfecting a fine mix between Latin American Folkloric Music and Jazz.  Born and raised in San Juan, Puerto Rico, Zenón has released eight recordings as a leader, including Oye!!! Live in Puerto Rico (2013) and the Grammy Nominated Alma Adentro (2011). As a sideman he has worked with jazz luminaries such as The SFJAZZ Collective, Charlie Haden, Fred Hersch, Kenny Werner, David Sánchez, The Mingus Big Band, Bobby Hutcherson and Steve Coleman. Zenón has been featured in articles in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Los Angeles Times, as well as gracing the cover of Downbeat Magazine. He has also toped the Rising Star Alto Sax category of the Downbeat Critic’s Poll on four different occasions and was chosen by both the 2012 Jazz Times Reader’s and Critic’s Poll as the top Alto Saxophonist of the year. As a composer he has been commissioned by SFJAZZ, The New York State Council for the Arts, Chamber Music America, The John Simon Guggenheim Foundation, and many of his peers. Zenón has given hundreds of lectures and master classes at institutions all over the world, and is a permanent faculty member at New England Conservatory of Music. In 2011 he founded Caravana Cultural, a program which presents free-of-charge Jazz concerts in rural areas of Puerto Rico. In April 2008 Zenón received a fellowship from the prestigious John Simon Guggenheim Foundation. Later that year he was one of 25 distinguished individuals chosen to receive the coveted MacArthur Fellowship, also known as the “Genius Grant.”

Bio: MTA

Website: miguelzenon.com

Evan Ziporyn is a composer/clarinetist who has forged an international reputation through his genre-defying, cross-cultural works and performances.  At MIT he is Inaugural Director of the Center for Art, Science and Technology (CAST), founder & Artistic Director of Gamelan Galak Tika, and curator of the MIT Sounding performance series.

His music has been commissioned and performed by Yo-yo Ma’s Silkroad Ensemble, Brooklyn Rider, Maya Beiser, Roomful of Teeth, Bang on a Can, Kronos Quartet, Wu Man, the American Composers Orchestra, Sentieri Selvaggi, the American Repertory Theater, Steven Schick, So Percussion, Gamelan Sekar Jaya, Sarah Cahill, and the Boston Modern Orchestra Project.  They have been presented at international venues including Lincoln Center, Carnegie Hall, London’s Barbican Center, the Holland Festival, Brussels Ars Musica, the Singapore Festival, the Sydney Olympics, the Bali International Arts Festival, and Big Ears.  His opera A House in Bali (directed by MIT colleague Jay Scheib) was featured at BAM Next Wave in 2010; that same fall his works were featured at a Carnegie Hall Zankel Making Music composer’s portrait concert. His multimedia interactive stallation, Arachnodrone (a collaboration with Ian Hattwick, Christine Southworth & Isabelle Su) is currently exhibited at the MIT Museum, following its 2018 debut at Palais de Tokyo in Paris.

From 1992-2012 he was a founding member of the Bang on a Can All-stars (Musical America’s 2005 Ensemble of the Air), finishing his tenure with the group with an appearance on an episode of PBS’ Arthur.  His long-time work with the Steve Reich Ensemble led to sharing a 1999 Grammy for Best Chamber Performance for their recording of Music for 18 Musicians.  He is also the featured multi-tracked soloist on Reich’s Nonesuch recording of New York Counterpoint.  Other awards include a 2012 Massachusetts Arts Council Fellowship, the 2007 USArtists Walker Award and the 2004 American Academy of Arts and Letters Goddard Lieberson Fellowship.

His puppet opera Shadow Bang, a collaboration with master Balinese dalang Wayan Wija, was premiered at MassMOCA and was the centerpiece of the 2006 Amsterdam GrachtenFest.  Recordings of his works have been released on Sony Classical, Cantaloupe Music, Islandia Music, New Albion, New World Records, Koch, Innova, CRI, and numerous independent labels. He has collaborated with some of the world’s most creative and vital living musicians, including Brian Eno, Paul Simon, Ornette Coleman, Iva Bittova, Maya Beiser, Thurston Moore, Meredith Monk, Bryce Dessner, Philip Glass, Terry Riley, Louis Andriessen, Shara Worden, Sandeep Das, Kelley Deal, Cecil Taylor, Henry Threadgill, Wu Man, Matthew Shipp, Wayan Wija, Kyaw Kyaw Naing, and Ethel.

Recent projects include 2023’s telematic Poppy 88, two 2022 solo albums, Bowie Symphonic: Blackstar  (w/Maya Beiser), and daily podcast music for acclaimed filmmaker Caveh Zahedi. His compositions and arrangements were featured throughout Ken Burns’ Vietnam; his arrangements were also featured on Silkroad Ensemble’s Grammy-winning CD, Sing Me Home.  Other recent recordings include Terry Riley’s Ki, Eviyan: Nayive (w/Iva Bittova & Gyan Riley), and collaborations with DuoJalal, Czech composer Beata Hlavenkova, and Polish jazz masters Waclaw Zimpel and Hubert Zempel.  His performance with the MIT Wind Ensemble of Don Byron’s Clarinet Concerto, commissioned by MIT, and released on Sunnyside Records, received a 5-star Downbeat review.

Bio: MTA

Website: ziporyn.com

Dubbed “Houston’s indie, conductorless orchestra” (Houston Public Media) and “Best Chamber Orchestra of 2023” (Houston Press), the artist-led, artist-curated Kinetic Ensemble has gained increasing recognition as an innovative and dynamic force in Houston’s music scene, and an important advocate for the diversification of classical music repertoire. Formed in 2015, the 16-member, conductorless string ensemble has been hailed for its “remarkably varied and rich strata of string colour” (Choir & Organ), its “visually arresting… brilliantly executed” performances (Arts and +Culture Texas), and its “thoughtful, incisive programming” (Arts and Culture Texas). With a commitment to amplifying diverse, under-performed, and newly composed classical music, Kinetic has premiered over 20 new works by emerging and established composers of our time, including Karim Al-Zand, Patrick Harlin, Daniel Knaggs, Paul Novak, Nicky Sohn, Daniel Temkin, and more. Kinetic’s self-titled album, featuring four premiere recordings, was released in 2023 and debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard Traditional Classical charts.

Website: kineticensemble.org 
Social: Facebook | Youtube | Spotify | Instagram

“…remarkably varied and rich strata of string colour from Kinetic”

–Choir & Organ (Gramophone UK), Spring 2024

“Houston’s Indie, Conductorless Orchestra” and “A kind of ‘indie rock band’ in classical music”

–Houston Public Media (Radio), January 2020

“…agile virtuosity and vibrant sound” and “…thoughtful and impactful programming”

–Arts and Culture Texas, September 2022

“Once again, Kinetic demonstrated it can handle anything from the Romantic to the modern to the futuristic”

–Paper City Magazine, June 2023