Ben Duinker Mark Morton Ben Reimer Alessandro Valiante

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1 Ben Duinker Mark Morton Ben Reimer Alessandro Valiante

ABOUT ARCHITEK PERCUSSION is a Montreal-based quartet dedicated to the development and performance of avant-garde, experimental, minimalist, and electroacoustic music.

2 ABOUT ARCHITEK PERCUSSION is a Montreal-based quartet dedicated to the development and performance of avant-garde, experimental, minimalist, and electroacoustic music. Founded in 2012, Architek has emerged as a dynamic exponent of Canadian chamber music, equally comfortable performing classic repertoire and exploring new terrain through premieres. In addition to self-producing concerts in Montreal, Architek has recently appeared as guests of Ottawa New Music Creators, Live@CIRMMT (Montreal), Innovations en Concert (Montreal), Matralab (Concordia University), Pointe-a-Calliere Museum (Montreal), the Schulich Year of Contemporary Music (McGill University), and the Cluster Festival (Winnipeg). In October 2013 they toured the Maritimes, performing and conducting workshops at several universities in the region. In 2014/15, Architek will appear in collaboration with Montreal/Nouvelles Musiques festival, Codes D Acces, New Music Edmonton, Cluster Festival (Winnpeg), Scotia Festival (Halifax), and the Percussive Arts Society International Convention (USA). Architek Percussion is ardently devoted to premiering new Canadian music, having recently done so with works by Christos Hatzis, Nicole Lizée, Adam Basanta, Eliot Britton, Beavan Flanagan, Nicolas Hyatt, and James O Callaghan. Their current repertoire includes works for both pitched and non-pitched percussion instruments, and reflects the cultural and stylistic diversity of North American contemporary music.

3 MEMBERS BEN DUINKER is a performer, researcher, educator, composer, and choral tenor. As a percussionist, he has won prizes at competitions in Canada and abroad, among them the OSM Standard Life Competition, Percussive Arts Society Solo Competition, the Universal Marimba Competition, and the Prix D Europe. His performances have been describ described as played with breath-holding holding physical grace (Chronicle Herald) and as revealing exceptional dexterity and precision (La Presse). Duinker holds master s degrees egrees in Performance and Music Theory from McGill University. University He currently resides in Montreal,, where he divides his time between the pursuit of a PhD in Music Theory and professional performing and composing activities. MARK MORTON is a multi-instrumentalist instrumentalist devoted to several streams of music making. As an orchestral percussionist, he has performed perfo with Symphony Nova Scotia, I Musici, and l Orchestre de la Francophonie. He has worked with world renowned percussionists like Steven Schick and Allen Otte, as well as the ensembles Tambucco, Percussions Claviers de Lyon, and Percussions de Strasbourg. He is also a frequent guest artist at Scotia Festival of Music. Mark Strasbourg. holds a Master of Music in orchestral and chamber percussion from McGill University and a Bachelor of Music in piano from Dalhousie University. He also enjoys singing in choirs in the Montreal M area. BEN REIMER is a versatile percussionist who blurs the boundaries between popular and contemporary music.. A recent graduate of McGill University s doctoral program, his main focus of research and performance has been to demonstrate how the drumset, traditionally an improvised instrument, has recently emerged as a solo instrument with prescribed notation. notation Reimer has recently premiered four drumset concerti across Canada wi with th ensembles such as the Kitchener-Waterloo Waterloo Symphony, SMCQ, Torq Percussion, and Architek Percussion. Previously based in Winnipeg, Rerimer was the Coordinator of Percussion Studies at Brandon University University. He holds a Bachelor of Music from McGill University and a Master of Music from SUNY Stony Brook. ALESSANDRO VALIANTE has been submerged in his native Montreal s beautiful and diverse culture for his whole life. He is a versatile performer performer, active in genres such as classical c chamber music, rock, musical theatre, theatre world music, and hip-hop. Valiante was a featured soloist in the Random Walks Xenakis Festival (Toronto) and has frequently collaborated with Sixtrum (Montreal) (Montreal). Valiante holds Bachelor and Master degrees in music from McGill University, where he established himself as a specialist in the chamber repertoire of Steve Reich, Iannis Xenakis, Mark Applebaum, David Lang, and John Jo Cage and worked with a diverse set of composers including Vinko Globokar and Thierry De May May. Valiante is a founding member of Architek Percussion.

4 PROGRAMS 1) BLIPS AND BEATS Featuring repertoire composed for or inspired by the drumset, Blips and Beats explores a world where rhythm is king. This program showcases works that groove in unconventional ways, exploiting the vast possibilities of four drumsets alongside one another. Shifty Dennis DESANTIS CaDance Andy PAPE Of Those Beneath Duncan SCHOUTEN Three Identical Forms Beavan FLANAGAN Dark Full Ride Julia WOLFE October 8, 2013 Halifax NS October 9, 2013 Antigonish NS October 10, 2013 Wolfville NS October 12, 2013 Moncton NB 2) MELODICA Melodica is a diverse program for mallet instruments covering themes such as video game music, mass transportation, flamenco music, and electronica, to name a few. Featuring repertoire from three continents, this program showcases subtle nuance not commonly associated with percussion playing. Bit Canon Eliot BRITTON Four Lines Ben DUINKER Odd World Christos HATZIS BeFORe John 5: Jose Aurel HOLLO Fast Twitchy Organs Nico MUHLY Drum Dances John PSATHAS November 30, 2013 Montreal QC 3) THE MEANING OF A FORMAT A concert for percussionists and live electronics, The Meaning of a Format focuses on the evolution of technology and the perception of our audible past. This production was developed and initially presented with the assistance of the Centre for Interdisciplinary Research in Media Music Technology (CIRMMT) at McGill University. Metatron Eliot BRITTON Works by Nicole LIZÉE January 31, 2015 Edmonton AB February 18, 2014 Montreal QC April 4, 2015 Winnipeg MB

5 4) THE PRIVACY OF DOMESTIC LIFE Centered on a 35 minute work of the same name for percussion and scenographic elements, this program challenges the boundaries of musician/actor, technology/environment, and installation/performance. The members of Architek go beyond traditional percussion boundaries, using a selection of daily household objects as instruments. The Privacy of Domestic Life Adam BASANTA New work Oren BONEH Residual Productivity Fredrik GRAN May 8, 2015 Toronto ON June 12, 2015 Montreal QC 5) TAYLOR BROOK: PORTRAIT In collaboration with violinist Mira Benjamin, this program features repertoire borne from the dynamic creativity of Canadian composer Taylor Brook. Influences such as microtonality, Hindustani classical music, and guitarsas-percussion instruments figure in Brook s work, where the musicians are often required to go beyond their comfort zone, resulting in dramatic and virtuosic performances. Repertoire (all by Taylor BROOK): Stagger, for violin and electronics Vocalise, for violin and electronics Prosody, for percussion quartet Ecstatic Music, for violin and percussion Faith in Numbers, for violin and percussion April 27, 2015 Montreal QC 6) ZIG BANG: READINGS AND MEDITATIONS (THE SUITCASE SHOW) This full-length program features new repertoire for amplified percussion quartet, all performed on instruments and objects small enough to fit into a suitcase. It focuses on the relationship between sound and speech, with the performers exploring this relationship through a set of newly-commissioned miniatures. The repertoire both consists of and is inspired by Zig Bang, a book of texts by Greek/French composer Georges Aperghis. Selections from: Zig Bang Georges APERGHIS March 1, 2014 Winnipeg MB March 14, 2014 Montreal QC June 16, 2014 Montreal QC Miniatures by: Ashkan BEZADHI Hugo Arne HARMENS Patrick HART Lukas LIGETI Jason SHARP Stine SØRLIE Harry STAFYLAKIS

TESTEMONIALS Architek is made up of the finest young percussionists on the Montreal scene, known for their ability to play the repertoire standards while pushing the frontiers of their craft.

6 TESTEMONIALS Architek is made up of the finest young percussionists on the Montreal scene, known for their ability to play the repertoire standards while pushing the frontiers of their craft. - Aiyun Huang, Professor and Chair of Percussion, McGill University Quirky, virtuosic, and thoroughly engaging - Bachtrack.com The School of Music was blown away by the musicality and virtuosity of Architek Percussion. They inspired everyone, not just the percussionists, to see the world of percussion and drum set in a whole new light. - Mark Adam, Acadia University Architek s performance ended with Julia Wolfe s Dark Full Ride for four drumsets. As the piece went on, every time I considered the possibility that the quartet didn t have another gear, they found one. I wish my car had such a transmission. - D Arcy Gray, Dalhousie University

7 CONTACT For general inquires and information: Architek Percussion 8265-B, St. Denis Montreal QC H2P 2G

Duinker, Ben and Denis Martin. In Search of the Golden Age Hip- Hop Sound ( ). Empirical Musicology Review (forthcoming).

Duinker, Ben and Denis Martin. In Search of the Golden Age Hip- Hop Sound ( ). Empirical Musicology Review (forthcoming). Ben Duinker music theory / percussion / choral music benjamin.duinker@mail.mcgill.ca www.benduinker.com www.architekpercussion.com I: Education Studies: 2014 PhD, Music Theory McGill University Supervisor: