GHOST ENSEMBLE fosters groundbreaking music that blurs borders of genre, style, and scene, expanding our perceptual horizons through shared immersive experience. Collaboration with living composers is its primary focus. Since its 2012 inception, the ensemble has commissioned 34 new works by a diverse range of highly original composers who share a belief in music’s potential for individual and community transformation. Rethinking the norms of composer/performer collaboration, Ghost Ensemble conducts innovative workshops to nurture adventurous new music over the course of multiple seasons. The resulting work often straddles contemporary classical, experimental chamber music, avant-garde jazz, sound art, and territories in between.
MUSICIANS
Ghost Ensemble’s core nonet lineup features Margaret Lancaster (flute), Sky Macklay (oboe), Ben Richter (accordion), Lucia Stavros (harp), Chris Nappi (percussion), Martine Thomas (viola), Tyler J. Borden (cello), James Ilgenfritz (contrabass), Kyle Motl (contrabass), and Carl Bettendorf (conductor), with frequent collaborators including flutist Alice Jones, violists Cassia Streb and Carrie Frey, cellists Laura Cetilia and Lester St. Louis, and bassist Rebekah Griffin Greene.
Composers who have created new works with the ensemble include Elizabeth Adams, Marguerite Brown, Somna M Bulist, Laura Cetilia, Kyle Gann, Assaf Gidron, Liisa Hirsch, James Ilgenfritz, Catherine Lamb, Sky Macklay, Miya Masaoka, Ben Richter, Leonie Roessler, John Rot, Andrew Christopher Smith, Teodora Stepančić, Lester St. Louis, Cassia Streb, Lucie Vítková, and Kristina Wolfe.
The ensemble has also collaborated with performers Tomasz Arnold, Damon Loren Baker, Jen Baker, Jennifer Bewerse, David Bird, David Bloom, Tessa Brinckman, Somna M Bulist, Meaghan Burke, Martha Cargo, Shayna Dulberger, Carmina Escobar, Breana Gilcher, Maria Hadge, Robert Karpay, Kevin Kay, Nathan Koci, Hannah Levinson, Annea Lockwood, Tyler Mashek, Joanna Mattrey, Joshua Morris, Helen Newby, Daniel O'Connor, Pauline Oliveros, Katie Porter, David Rothenberg, Sara Schoenbeck, Joe Tucker, Thomas Verchot, Lucie Vítková, Ross Wightman, and Scott Worthington; and composers Alyssa Aska, Kittie Cooper, Daniel Grantham, Anthony R. Green, Jordan Dykstra, James Falzone, Kevin Kay, Guy Klucevsek, Phill Niblock, Pauline Oliveros, David Rothenberg, Marc Sabat, Wilfrido Terrazas, and Yasunao Tone.
ORGANIZATION
Artistic & Executive Director
Ben Richter
Board of Directors
Sky Macklay
Lauren Pratt
Ben Richter
Andrew Christopher Smith
SUPPORT
Aaron Copland Fund for Music
Amherst Cultural Council
Chamber Music America Classical Commissioning Program
Earthdance
Ernst von Siemens Music Foundation Grant-in-Aid
Foundation for Contemporary Arts FCA Emergency Grants
I-Park Foundation
Indexical
Massachusetts Cultural Council Cultural Sector Recovery for Organizations
Massachusetts Cultural Council Festivals & Projects
Oak Spring Garden Foundation
many generous individual donors
Ghost Ensemble is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization.