HereNowHear (formerly Ensemble 32), Ryan MacEvoy McCullough and Andrew Zhou, pianos
HereNowHear, formerly Ensemble32, consists of Ryan MacEvoy McCullough and Andrew Zhou, who first met at Tanglewood and subsequently at Cornell University. Compelling and dedicated performers of new works, the ensemble regards itself as a laboratory for compositional experimentation. Its core mission is to reinvigorate the repertoire for two pianists through commissioning and educational projects involving close, committed collaborations with composers, using traditional instruments to activate new sonic paradigms.
Program to feature Karlheinz Stockhausen's Mantra (1970), Toshi Ichiyanagi's Two Existence, and a work by Harold Blumenfeld.
Transformations for Piano (1963)
Annual Harold Blumenfeld Event
American pianist Ryan MacEvoy McCullough has developed a diverse career as soloist and collaborator, comfortable with music ranging from standard repertoire to electroacoustic improvisation. He has appeared as concerto soloist with orchestras including the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Sarasota Festival Orchestra, Colburn Conservatory Orchestra, Orange County Wind Symphony, and World Festival Orchestra, working with such conductors as Fabien Gabel, George Benjamin, Charles Dutoit, Larry Rachleff, Mischa Santora, Joshua Weilerstein and Christoph Eschenbach.
Mr. McCullough has worked closely with many of today's leading composers, including George Benjamin, John Harbison, Hans Thomalla and Andrew McPherson, and has had works written for him by John Harbison, James Primosch, Carter Pann, John Liberatore, Jenny Beck, and Dante De Silva. In 2013, Ryan was featured on an Innova Records release of composer Andrew McPherson's Secrets of Antikythera for magnetic resonator piano, is currently in the throes of recording the complete piano works of Australian composer Nicholas Vines, and will be recording piano works of American composer John Liberatore on Albany records.
Ryan holds his B.A. from Humboldt State University and M.Mus. from the University of Southern California, as well an Artist Diplomas from the Colburn Conservatory and The Glenn Gould School. He has studied primarily with Dr. Deborah Clasquin, David Louie and John Perry, in addition to influential work with Stephen Drury and Leon Fleisher. Ryan is currently a doctoral candidate in Keyboard Studies at Cornell University where he works with Xak Bjerken.
For more information, visit www.RMMpiano.com
Pianist Andrew Zhou has been noted for his “great sensitivity” and luminous technique” (Anaclase), as well as performances of “extraordinary energy” (ResMusica). Finalist and laureate of four prizes at the Concours International de Piano d’Orléans (France), including the Prix Chevillion-Bonnaud jointly awarded to Christopher Stark for the best performance of premièred work, Mr. Zhou has worked closely with leading composers of our time, including Unsuk Chin (Austrian premiere of her Double Concerto), Jacques Lenot, Tod Machover, Tristan Murail, Matthias Pintscher, Christian Wolff, and Walter Zimmermann, and has been the dedicatee and first performer of works of countless composers of a younger generation.
Mr. Zhou received degrees in international relations and music from Stanford University and piano performance from New England Conservatory, where he was awarded a Beneficent Society Scholarship, and is finishing doctorate work at Cornell University. Primary teachers include Xak Bjerken, Bruce Brubaker, and Thomas Schultz, alongside influential work with Stephen Drury, Pierre-Laurent Aimard, Tamara Stefanovich, and members of Ensemble Modern and Ensemble Intercontemporain. Recent appearances include the Lucerne Festival, the New York Philharmonic Biennal, le Théâtre des Bouffes du Nord, and residencies at the Avaloch Farm Institute and the Tanglewood Music Center. His album, “Vienne et après,” featuring premiere recordings of works by Pintscher and Olga Neuwirth, was released in 2014. He also moonlights as a regular cruciverbalist for the New York Times.
For more information, visit www.andrew-zhou.com