Syzygia
Syzygia is a Chicago-based quartet that performs freely improvised music, bridging spontaneity with ideas and aesthetics from contemporary classical music. The group treats improvisation as extemporaneous composition, informed by the concepts, textures, and structures of 20th- and 21st-century classical music. Each member contributes a distinctive voice to the ensemble, shaped by their extensive histories in classical, jazz, and new/creative music.
Syzygia is Robbie Lynn Hunsinger - winds and strings, Jamie Kempkers - cello, Jeff Chan – flute and clarinets, and Michael Perkins – piano
$20 / $10 w/ Student ID - Tickets Available at the Door
Artist Bios
Robbie Lynn Hunsinger
Robbie Lynn Hunsinger is an interdisciplinary artist, composer, multi-instrumentalist and educator. She performs with Eastern and Western oboes, single reeds and fiddle often incorporating reactive visuals, micro-controlled motors and hacked game controllers. Her interactive art weaves original music and new media into playable environments using sculpture, projections, sensors and motors, creating frameworks for compelling sensory exploration. Conservatory trained as an oboist, she toured internationally as a classical and avant-garde instrumentalist with a career that includes concerts, tours and a Grammy with the Chicago Symphony and performances with the Atlanta Symphony, the Metropolitan Opera, Marlboro Music Festival, the Chicago Jazz Festival, FMP Festival, the Chicago World Music Festival and SXSW. She has played with Evan Parker, toured with Michael Vorfeld, studied with Roscoe Mitchell and her Trio album with Joseph Jarman and Tatsu Aoki received 4 stars from Downbeat Magazine. Her interactive installations have been written up in Make Magazine, supported by the NEA and exhibited at the MCA, ISEA and Thomas Blackman Gallery. This year she was selected to participate in the Chicago International Puppet Festival's Puppet Lab cohort and has active duet projects with Tatsu Aoki and Tim Daisy with soon to be released recordings. She is an environmental and animal activist and founded the Chicago Bird Collision Monitors. You can find out more about her @robbiehunsinger on FB & IG and at robbiehunsinger.com
Jamie Kempkers
Jamie Kempkers was a former student of classical cello repertoire who now finds creative fulfillment in improvisation and compositional experimentation in collaborative and solo work. He studied cello with Dr. Robert Ritsema and recorded with John Erskine at Hope College in Holland, Michigan. He has been living in Chicago, playing improvised and/or experimental music since 2001. Currently, he is a member of Tatsu Aoki's Miyumi Project and is also a frequent collaborator on the experimental dance projects of Yoshinojo Fujima. Jamie has just released a new album with Tatsu Aoki on Asian Improv Records, "The Amazing Music of Jamie Kempkers" https://www.asianimprovrecords.com/product-page/air119-d
Michael Perkins
Since the late 90s pianist/composer Michael Perkins has been regularly performing and recording in the punk, electronic, and jazz scenes in and around Chicago. He’s worked as a session musician on many recordings for bands like Atari Star, Das Kapital, and The Lavellas as well recording with his own groups such as Sig Transit Gloria, Written in the Sand, Far Rad, and Mr 666. Michael spent 7 years as a sound engineer working at various live venues throughout the city, and spent 3 years as the resident recording engineer for Harold Arts Artist Residency in south Eastern Ohio. After leaving Harold Arts, Michael and his partner Heather Lynn started Templehead Gallery, first in Humboldt Park and then later in Pilsen, and for 5 years provided a venue for young artists/musicians who were looking for their first solo art show. Since then, Michael has been continuing to play jazz and blues on a regular basis in addition to the occasional free improvised electronic music set.
Jeff Chan
Chicago multi-instrumentalist/composer Jeff Chan is committed to sharing the Asian American experience through music. With a discography of more than 20 recordings as a leader, sideman and producer, Chan has performed extensively in the Chicago area, across the nation and in Europe. Critics have said that Chan is “… a voice to be reckoned with… (Brian Gilmore, JazzTimes)” and that his work is “music of uncommon majesty, spirituality and emotional depth (Howard Reich, Chicago Tribune).”